Chapter 1

I could have married Beatrice Sherbird six years ago.

She just never knew that I was the one who orchestrated every missed chance between us.

That was because I had woken up to the truth.

This world was nothing more than a tragic novel.

Beatrice was the female lead. My brother, Aldric Quimby, was the male lead.

I was just a lovesick fool of a side character.

Our families had been close neighbors for years. Both Beatrice and Aldric were three years older than I was.

She and I could barely be called childhood friends.

Still, Beatrice had always looked after me with extra care since we were little.

I assumed she had feelings for me.

From a very young age, she had been there through my lows and my highs.

She had been part of my life for a full twenty-two years. Loving her felt as natural as breathing.

I could not even remember when I had first started falling for her.

I still recalled playing house as children.

Beatrice had said she would be my mother. Aldric would be my father, and I would be their little darling.

I had cried and thrown my toy car to the floor, insisting that I should be the father instead.

I had announced that I would marry Beatrice someday.

Aldric had laughed and given me a gentle push toward Beatrice. “Alright, alright. You marry her, then.”

Back then, Beatrice never turned me down either.

She called me “dear” as she placed her grandmother’s floral scarf on her head like a bridal veil.

I was only five years old that year.

From the moment I saw that veil on her, I started a beautiful dream. That dream went on for seventeen years.

It continued until Valentine’s Day of my junior year in college. That day happened to be a weekend.

I was out shopping with my roommate. That was when I saw Beatrice and Aldric walking together.

She gently picked a leaf out of his hair.

She even bought Aldric some chocolate.

“Conan, Beatrice actually gave him chocolate! Do you think she likes him? Does he know you like her?”

That day, my whole world felt like it was falling apart.

People could turn bad in an instant. I felt like nobody loved me anymore.

Jealousy was like a seed. After it sprouted, it grew completely out of control.

I could not accept that the woman I had loved for so many years had feelings for someone else.

So, at my graduation celebration party, I slipped something into Beatrice’s drink.

I took her away early and brought her back to my place.

She was unable to control herself. The moment we walked through the door, she grabbed me and pulled me into the bedroom.

The kisses came fast and heavy. They moved from my lips down to my stomach and slowly spread all over my body.

I felt excited, but I was also terrified.

I did not only want to have her for myself. I also wanted Aldric to walk in and see this mess.

This scheme would have forced Beatrice to marry me.

But right then, I woke up to a strange awareness.

Scenes from years later flooded my mind.

Beatrice thought she had slept with me while drunk and that her reputation had been ruined. She agreed to marry me soon after.

Not long into our marriage, she found out the truth.

From that moment on, she resented me. Our life together fell into complete disarray.

During one heated argument, she pushed me down the stairs. I ended up paralyzed and unable to care for myself.

Aldric, on the other hand, never married anyone.

Later, he died in a traffic accident while on a trip. A vehicle struck him and took his life.

On the day of his death, Beatrice rushed out of the house like a madwoman.

She abandoned me in my gravely ill state.

No one stayed to look after me. I died alone in my bed.

Only after death did I realize that this world was a tragic novel.

All because of my jealousy alone, every single person lost in the end. None of us met a good ending.

“What’s on your mind? How could you zone out at such a time?” Beatrice’s soft voice pulled me back to the moment.

I felt her warm breath against my ear.

I reached up and touched her cheek as tears ran down my face.

Her eyes were stunningly beautiful. But she never truly loved me.

The woman who had been so full of desire looked panicked.

“Why are you crying? Don’t you feel the same way about me...?”

I did like her.

I loved her with every fiber of my being.

I might be the villain, but I was not cruel enough to want everyone to die.

“Beatrice, I’m regretting this. I’m sorry. We should stop this right now.”

She was at a loss. In the next instant, she lost her composure.

Aldric walked in right as we were tussling.