Chapter 2

“Good thing we didn’t get far. We almost forgot about this little thing!”

“If you want someone to blame, blame your mother for crossing the wrong people. The remnants of the Bennett family never should’ve existed in the first place!”

The moment I realized my baby was dead, the last bit of strength holding me together finally disappeared.

System: [Warning! Warning! The Female Protagonist’s life force has dropped to five. Survival instinct has reached zero. Death expected within 30 seconds!]

[If the Female Protagonist dies, this world will enter an irreversible self-destruction sequence. Within twenty-four hours, the entire dimension will collapse into a black hole. All living beings will cease to exist forever!]

The System’s warning exploded in my ears like nonstop sirens, but I felt nothing. I lay motionless on the ground, staring blankly upward like a corpse whose soul had been ripped away. Scenes from the past replayed before my eyes one after another.

Dean and I had grown up together. We were childhood sweethearts, engaged since we were young, and everyone in our social circle believed we were destined to marry. The year we graduated from college, Dean wanted to continue his studies overseas, but my father suddenly fell seriously ill, forcing me to take over the family company early.

Back then, Dean had wanted to stay behind with me, but I encouraged him to go abroad. I told him to pursue his career first, and we could get married after he returned. In the end, my support only gave him the chance to fall in love with another woman.

The day I caught him in bed with her, he didn’t even try to deny it. He simply told me that Claire was lively and cheerful, just like the version of me from before my family responsibilities changed me. Even then, I painfully chose to forgive him and gave him another chance. However, after we got married, he never cut contact with Sophia, and from that moment on, strange disasters began happening to me one after another.

At first, I thought I was just unlucky. I never thought that Dean had awakened some kind of System, one that kept transferring all the misfortunes meant for Sophia onto me instead. The man I once believed would protect me for the rest of my life had actually been the source of every storm that destroyed me.

I couldn’t understand it. How could someone who once loved me so deeply become cruel enough to do this?

Just before I lost consciousness, I heard hurried footsteps rushing toward me. The next second, Dean trembled as he pulled me into his arms.

“Sophia, don’t be scared. I’m here to save you! Please hold on. I won’t let you die. I swear I won’t!”

As he spoke, the harder he shook. Hot tears fell onto my blood-covered face one drop at a time. He looked so heartbroken and deeply in love, as if I were still the most precious person in his world and he couldn’t bear for me to suffer even the slightest pain. However, wasn’t he the one who caused all of this in the first place?

The intense hatred and agony inside me almost tore my soul apart. If I had even a little strength left, I would’ve pushed him away and never allowed him to touch me again. However, as darkness swallowed me whole, all I could do was close my eyes.