Chapter 1

"Have you made up your mind, Hailey Paltrow?" the system asked. "If you decide to abort the mission now, you won't be allowed to change your mind later."

The system sighed, finding it quite a pity. After all, the system had only come about because of my great wish to save Clayton Amos from his terrible ending in the novel. At the time, I had felt so sorry for him and wanted to change his outcome.

I pressed my hand against the bleeding wound and felt my vision starting to blur.

"I've done my best…"

Clayton was the main antagonist of this novel. He had grown up in a loveless family, which contributed to his twisted personality.

After he turned into an adult, he quickly turned into Gladys Dawson's lapdog and would go to great lengths just to please her. After all, she was the main protagonist of the story.

At the end of the novel, he lost all four of his limbs trying to save her and was left alone to rot, living through a fate much worse than death itself.

After transmigrating into this world for five years, I made sure to jot down all of his likes and dislikes, his highs and his lows, and always stayed by his side so that I could save him from his terrible fate.

Everyone knew that I was in love with him. I was the only one who stayed unafraid even after seeing his darkest side.

At the very beginning, he acted very hostile toward me. He refused to believe a word I said and only had eyes for Gladys.

I knew that Clayton was a terrible human being. Yet, when he purposely rushed toward me with a knife, I didn't avoid him and let him plunge the knife into my chest, just missing my heart by half an inch.

The wicked grin on his face stiffened at one. He looked both shocked and confused at the same time.

I then smiled and told him that he wasn't the only one who would die for another person in this world. I was willing to die for him, too.

My bet ultimately paid off. He personally rushed me to the hospital and stopped treating me terribly after that.

He loved racing, but I knew nothing about it. Still, I worked my ass off at my part-time jobs and saved up enough to buy him a globally limited edition helmet just so that he would smile at me. Because of that, I barely slept more than three hours a day.

However, during my fifth year, he suddenly went missing after an accident while he was out racing. I searched for him high and low for the entire day without rest.

When I finally found him, he seemed to be regaining consciousness. He looked at me with red eyes and gently cradled my face in his hands, whispering gentle nothings in my ear.

He then hugged me tightly in his arms like he was going to crush me. A while later, I could hear him sobbing quietly against my ear. Almost instinctively, I circled my arms around him in return, comforting him.

When he was finally discharged from the hospital, the first thing he did was to hold my hand tightly, his eyes dim and somber as he said, "We'll get married in the future. You won't be able to escape me anymore when that time comes."

His tone was light, but he sounded vaguely threatening at the same time. His words seemed to inexplicably root me to the ground for quite some time. I just couldn't come back to my senses for a long while after that.

My heart thumped wildly against my chest, and I could even hear my pulse ringing in my ears. My face grew red and heated, too.

A long time later, I squeezed his hand in return and looked at him urgently. "I'm going to hold you to your word. We're going to get married for sure!"

I immediately started preparing for our wedding as soon as we got home that day.

I took all matters into my own hands—from choosing the wedding venue to picking out the garlands and boutonnieres for the occasion. I was greatly looking forward to how everything would come together nicely on our wedding day.

In fact, I even invited Gladys to attend our wedding. I initially had enough faith that Clayton wouldn't go after her.

However, the moment the chandelier snapped and fell, my dream immediately shattered into pieces.

I held my hand against the bandages that the doctor had wrapped around my neck and felt the wound still pulsing in pain. Quietly, I lowered my head and hid my tears from everyone else.

I took my phone out and told the vendors that the wedding was canceled. Then, I took off my wedding dress and accessories, carefully keeping them away.

I initially thought that Clayton would treat me a little better since we'd been through life-and-death situations together. However, I'd greatly underestimated his love for Gladys.

It didn't matter how long I'd spent with him or how much I'd sacrificed for him. As long as Gladys was in the picture, I was immediately out of the running.

The system couldn't stop itself from asking, "Hailey, are you really planning to go back home?"

I nodded.

"Why don't you tell me how much longer until I can get home instead?" I asked.

"About a day later," the system replied. "The tunnel will be activated then. While waiting for it to activate, you can do whatever you want with your time left here. Don't leave with any regrets."