I Died Before My Targets Regretted Everything

"Now, let us welcome the bride as she walks toward the groom."

At the wedding venue, the emcee was conducting the ceremony with impassioned fervor.

Wave after wave of cheers rose higher and higher.

But I stood outside, separated from all the excitement by a single door, hearing only the system's ice-cold mechanical voice.

"Maxine, your 23rd birthday is fast approaching, and you're about to fail the conquest mission."

On the flower-decked wedding platform inside, William Griffith solemnly slipped the ring onto Evelyn Swanson's finger with a twinkle in his eyes.

He was one of my conquest targets and also my very last hope for survival.

Unfortunately, he had fallen in love with Evelyn.

When I was very young, the system found me and told me I would die on my 23rd birthday.

To change my fate, I had to obtain a perfect affection score from any one of my assigned conquest targets before that day arrived.

The system successively assigned me three targets, but I failed them all.

When I was 18 years old, the true heiress of the Swanson family, Evelyn, was found. And just like that, my identity as the fake heiress was exposed.

One after another, my conquest targets fell for Evelyn.

A single word or a tear from her could instantly reset their affection scores for me to zero, turning all their past warmth into pure malice.

Even today, as Evelyn chose to marry William, the other two targets vowed to remain unmarried for life just to honor her.

There was no need to wait for my birthday. I'd already failed my mission.

"System, can I choose to end my life now?"

The system was silent for a long time before answering me.

"You may. However, after your physical body dies, your soul will still have to wait until the predestined time of death to leave this world."

I gave a faint smile. "That's still better than being alive. At least I can end this nightmare a few days early."

I turned and walked toward the tall building behind me, but I was blocked.

An impatient voice, dripping with disdain, cut through the air.

"Maxine Swanson, what are you doing here? Don't you dare ruin Evelyn's wedding. Get lost!"

It was Leonard Monroe, one of my conquest targets. I'd known him since high school, and he was three years younger than me.

When I first saw him, he was a skinny teenager being chased around by his classmates, who jeered at him, calling him a broke loser and an unwanted wretch.

I couldn't just stand by and watch, so I stepped forward to defend him. At that exact moment, the system told me Leonard was a conquerable target. So, I proactively stayed close to him and sponsored his education and life in the name of the Swanson family.

I protected him fiercely for three years, watching him grow from a scrawny boy into a young man taller than me.

But when Leonard turned 15, Evelyn was found and brought back. And he, a teenager at the age of first love, fell for her in a mere month.

Later, Evelyn tearfully claimed that I'd ruined her hands—the hands she used to play the piano. Leonard believed her without hesitation. From then on, the way he looked at me was filled with nothing but disgust, as if I were the one who had murdered his father.

I shook off his hand. "Don't worry. I won't disturb them."

Without waiting for his response, I walked away, heading in the opposite direction from Evelyn's wedding venue. Leonard, as expected, didn't bother to follow.

I climbed all the way up to the rooftop. The sweltering wind blew harshly against my face.

Twenty stories up, the air felt exceptionally thin. The glaring sunlight forced my gaze downward. In the distance, people and cars looked like insignificant specks of dust.

As if possessed, I walked over and climbed over the safety railing.

One after another, the cold, mocking faces of the people I had spent my life trying to please flashed before my eyes.

None of them would care if I died, right?

I closed my eyes and prepared to jump.