Chapter 1

I stood at the gates to my daughter's kindergarten, feeling like I had been plunged into icy waters.

Catherine Langdon and Gabriel Linner were holding Natalie Jackman's hands as they participated in the family activities together. All of them had blissful smiles on their faces, as though they were a happy little family of three.

Even though Catherine was my childhood friend and lawful wife, and Natalie, the daughter I had painstakingly raised, neither of them wanted me.

A wave of despair rose within me, spreading through my body and chilling me to the bone. I could already predict what fate awaited me.

At that moment, a familiar mechanical voice spoke up in my mind, sounding as indifferent as ever. "Good day, Host. You have failed your mission, so you will be eliminated."

In my original world, I had a happy, fulfilling life, but an accident had left me paralyzed. That was when the System sought me out.

It said that if I were to succeed in winning the hearts of any of the female leads before I turned 30, it would reward me with five million dollars and give me a healthy body again.

Unsurprisingly, I agreed.

However, in the past 30 years, no matter what I did, every time Gabriel appeared, he would instantly steal everyone's attention.

This time, I gave up. I refused to go after any of the female leads anymore. Instead, I stayed in the most luxurious presidential suite I could afford and quietly waited for death.

In this world, I was actually born to be the heir to a prestigious family, a son my parents placed all their hopes on. I had an astronomical fortune to inherit, but for the sake of winning the female leads' hearts, I spent lavishly on them.

Now, I only had enough money to pay for a presidential suite.

I suddenly realized how pointless it had all been. It wasn't worth it for me to go through all this. In the pursuit of love, the first thing I lost was my own heart.

A tear gathered at the corner of my eye, while my heart throbbed dully.

However, despite waiting for a long time, I still didn't die.

Confused, I questioned the System about it.

After a few seconds of static noise, the System slowly said, "Host, are you really not going to try again? Maybe put in a little more effort? Perhaps you'll succeed this time."

For the first time ever, I detected a hint of sympathy and regret in the usually indifferent voice.

"Thank you, System."

Now that I thought about it, it seemed like the System was the only source of comfort left in my life after Gabriel showed up.

"But I'm just too exhausted. Loving one person is already enough to drain half of my life, not to mention I loved four people in the short span of 30 years."

The System was silent for a long while before it finally spoke.

"Host, if you die at the hands of any of the female leads, I'll allow you to see your family from your original world again."

Hearing that, I abruptly sat up.

I would get to see my parents again?

I immediately started thinking about whom to choose to kill me.

At that moment, the door opened, and my older sister, Leslie Jackman, stormed toward me with a dark expression.

"Noah Jackman, who are you here with?"

Fury radiated from Leslie in waves as she started to turn the room upside down in her search for someone. She didn't even forget to check under the bed and in the closet.

Once she had searched every nook and cranny and found no one, she breathed a sigh of relief. Nonetheless, her face remained twisted into a scowl.

"Don't go causing scandals on me. We're at a crucial point in our collaboration with Langdon Hospital. If you dare ruin it, I'll kill you."

Langdon Hospital was Catherine's hospital.

As my eyes locked onto Leslie's sinister gaze, I couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out of me.