Chapter 1

Seeing that I wasn't saying a word, Quinn Langley held my hand even more tightly, concern in his eyes. "Why aren't you saying anything, Arie? Are you feeling unwell? Are you blaming me for letting Melody raise our daughter, too?

"Don't worry. Our daughter is still young. After Melody passes on, we can remarry and raise her properly. She'll definitely still see you as her mother, and we can live as we always have."

The memory of my daughter's cries had me clenching my fists under the quilt as I held back my tears.

So, how had we always lived?

Five years after getting married, I visited the hospital for a prenatal checkup alone. At that time, Quinn was over at Melody's, helping her take care of her dog, who had just given birth.

I spent over ten hours suffering in the delivery room while the nurse made dozens of phone calls to Quinn.

When he finally arrived, he simply said, "You did well."

Immediately afterward, he turned to take a call from Melody Langley, the woman who had his heart.

For as long as Melody and I were together, he would always mistakenly assume that I wanted to harm her.

When Melody claimed that she'd developed a rash, he publicly questioned why I would scheme such a thing.

When Melody fainted at a gathering, he sternly asked if I was trying to kill her.

When I kindly tried to get Melody a glass of water, he assumed I would poison the drink.

I put up with every single incident.

I did it because the system informed me that as long as I could successfully win Quinn's heart, I would receive a generous bonus that would allow me to live a better life.

However, I'd already failed 99 times.

Throughout these 99 attempts, I tried various approaches—being gentle and considerate, playing hard to get, and even going so far as to imitate Melody.

But Melody would appear every time Quinn was just about to fall in love with me. As the main protagonist, he would always fall in love with her at first sight.

No matter how hard I tried, I would always be the wicked wife in his eyes.

Therefore, for this 100th attempt, I carefully avoided letting him and Melody meet each other.

Yet, the connection between them was as strong as steel, and before I knew it, they'd fallen in love again.

Even though I'd never even met Melody this time, Quinn was adamant that I'd caused her terminal illness because he'd given the lunch I made for him to her.

He claimed that he had to fulfill all of Melody's wishes in the name of atonement on my behalf.

With painstaking effort, I found evidence that Melody was faking her illness, only for him to burn it to ashes.

He sighed and looked at me with a cold, exasperated gaze. "Did you think I'd believe you if you falsified evidence, Arie? Behave a little, and don't do this again."

At that moment, I was filled with despair.

Quinn refused to believe the truth and insisted on being together with Melody.

That was when I finally understood that the fates of the male and female protagonists were beyond my control.

The fact that he immediately gave my daughter to Melody because the latter wanted to raise a child, with complete disregard for my well-being, was a case in point.

I'd given up on trying to win his heart anyway.

I looked up at Quinn. "It's alright. It's what I owe Melody anyway. After I'm discharged from the hospital, I'll move out of your house so you can live together as a family."

He was shocked. "Why are you so indifferent now, Arie? You used to always cry and kick up a fuss."