Chapter 3

That night, I completely fell apart.

At the Hartwell family banquet, I went mad—overturning tables, smashing everything within reach. Shards of glass sliced across my arms, and blood instantly soaked through my sleeves.

Nathan rushed over, pulling me into his arms, his face full of anguish and regret. He even pounded his own chest with his fists.

"Elena, I was drugged. I never meant to betray you."

His voice was low, pleading, every word earnest.

But once I'd calmed down slightly, his tone turned heavy. "Vivian was wronged. I have to take responsibility for her."

He said he'd only make Vivian his wife for five years.

I refused—refused with everything I had.

In those days, I raged at him day and night, each word dripping with blood and tears. I called him ungrateful, a traitor to the vows he'd made, someone who'd turned into another woman's refuge in the blink of an eye.

He tried to soothe me with patience, but he never wavered.

Not until I nearly killed myself from self-harm did he finally agree to cut ties with Vivian.

But fate had other plans. Vivian turned out to be pregnant.

I could no longer stop it. All I could do was watch helplessly as he took her overseas to register their marriage, making her the other lady of the Hartwell house.

Then came the recognition banquet in Loween City. Vivian finally dropped her fragile act. Her words came out cold as ice. "I lost you on purpose back then. Elena, why were you smarter than me as a child? Why did you hoard all of our parents' affection? There's only room for one cherished daughter in the Gray family—and that's me."

She didn't bother hiding her true intentions. She wanted our parents' love all to herself. She wanted all the glory and beauty the world had to offer.

So when she learned I was happy, she sent our father to find me, to get close to my home, to take everything I had.

I never imagined my gentle, kind sister could be this monstrous. I was shaking with rage.

Before I could collect myself, she dug her nails into my arm and threw herself into the pool.

And that scene was witnessed by the Gambling King—the patriarch of Loween City's most powerful dynasty.

Struck by Vivian's beauty, the old man's lust got the better of him. He demanded she become his thirteenth concubine.

The Grays were a minor family. They didn't dare refuse.

On the spot, Vivian miscarried. She would never bear children again.

She collapsed before me, sobbing pitifully, "Fine, you didn't want me to marry Nathan—you made that clear with all your schemes. But why did you push me into the water, make me lose my child, and force me into the Gambling King's bed?"

I couldn't defend myself. And no one around me was willing to believe a word I said.

My son shoved me hard.

Nathan's gaze toward me turned utterly cold—empty of any remaining trust.

Looking at the marriage contract sent by the Gambling King, Nathan said sternly, "Elena, when you do wrong, you have to make it right."

As his fingers traced over my face—identical to Vivian's—his eyes were as indifferent as if he were examining something worthless.

"The Gambling King won't be able to tell you apart."

And just like that, he pushed me into the abyss with his own hands, forcing me to take Vivian's place and marry into the Gambling King's household in Loween City.

Everyone knew the Gambling King had beaten several of his concubines to death.

Under his endless torment, I nearly died more times than I could count.

And it was in that despair that all my memories finally came flooding back.

I remembered: I was really Pearl Gray—an ordinary college student from another world.

Twenty-five years ago, to save my mother from cancer, I'd made a deal with the system to come to this world. My role was to play Nathan Hartwell's disposable ex-wife—a character everyone despised.

My mission: to stir up conflict, push the male and female leads together, and die before them exactly ten years into the marriage.

At first, I'd come with that mission in mind—but somehow, I'd lost my memories and fallen hopelessly, genuinely in love with Nathan.

Now, two sets of memories clashed inside me. I couldn't tell if I was Pearl or Elena Gray.

Just then, my mother's voice reached me across time and space. "Baby, Mommy is waiting for you to come home."

And then I was awake. From that moment on, I stopped fighting the Gambling King's abuse. I stopped sending messages to the outside world. I stopped hoping Nathan would remember our past and rescue me.

For five years, I watched coldly as he and Vivian built their perfect love story, as I clawed my way into becoming the matriarch of the Gambling King's household.

Because if I wanted to complete the mission, first I had to survive.

Five years passed in the blink of an eye. I survived that devouring Loween City dynasty—and then the Gambling King died suddenly.

Nathan and Nathan Jr. finally sent word: I was permitted to fake my death and come home.

But the three conditions attached to that message were nothing but humiliation.

Even the servants were outraged on my behalf.

But all I wanted was to go home—to return to my mother's side.

So I faked my death and came back to the Hartwell house, becoming exactly what they wanted me to be: silent, submissive, invisible.

No more fighting. No more tears.

After all, I was never anything more than a traveler who was desperate to go home.