Chapter 2

I let out a long breath and reached back to close the door. That was when I noticed a girl stumbling out of another room down the hall.

She was muttering under her breath, as if she was talking to someone who wasn't there.

"System, didn't you say the main guy was supposed to be locked up nearby? I've knocked on a few wrong doors already. If I keep this up, security's gonna throw me out.

"I can't let somebody else find him first! If I can't win him over, how am I supposed to get home?"

My eyes locked on the girl walking toward me. It was Vanessa Dennis, the heroine of this story.

She was the one I could never beat, no matter what I tried.

She was set to be the one who would save Ryan, to make him love her like she was his whole world, and strip away his perfect image to show just how obsessed and possessive he really was.

She was here.

On the outside, Vanessa looked soft and fragile, when in truth, she was sharper, trickier, and way more dangerous than I, the so-called evil side character, was.

The biggest difference between us was that Vanessa knew how to hide her true self from Ryan, while I kept digging holes for myself.

At first, Vanessa only got close to Ryan because she had to complete some task she was assigned to by her "system". But the more she used the system, the more she liked the perks. And with Ryan giving her a rich, comfortable life, she gave up on going back to her old world.

She chose to stay and be with him forever.

And the biggest obstacle standing between them… was me.

So, she went after me and crushed me every chance she got.

We fought like hell, but in the end, I lost.

I, the foster daughter of the Cobbetts, was destroyed by my own actions and erased by the system.

But I refused to be erased, and I refused to let Ryan fall in love with anyone else.

If I was destined to be the villainess in this story, then I would play that part this time.

A sharp knock hit the door.

I opened it and found myself face-to-face with Vanessa. She didn't recognize me.

"Can I help you?" I asked, keeping my voice calm.

"Uh… is this your room?" Her eyes darted past me, trying to peek inside. She was staring hard at the bathroom door.

But I'd already shut it tight.

"Yup. Who are you looking for?" I asked, smiling faintly.

"Sorry, I got the wrong room." She stuck out her tongue, embarrassed, and hurried off. But even as she walked away, she was still mumbling complaints to her invisible system.

My smile faded. I closed the door quickly and picked up the phone on the bedside table.

I told the front desk there was a suspicious girl creeping around, knocking on random doors, and suggested they deal with her.

After hanging up, I sat on the bed for a moment, lost in thought.

Then I heard a heavy thud from inside the bathroom.

I rushed in.

"Ryan…"

He was awake.

Ryan had dragged himself out of the tub, but he didn't have the strength to stand. He collapsed onto the floor, his body too heavy and weak to move.

That was Melvin's plan: to use the drug to make sure Ryan couldn't fight back. Then, Melvin would send in a few guys to record some unsightly videos, and later, "accidentally" barge in with others as witnesses.

It would ruin him.

If the scandal broke, no company would touch his inventions, no one would invest, and no one would work with him. Ryan's career and his whole future would be buried for good.

In my past life, Melvin had almost pulled it off, but Vanessa showed up first. With her system, she found Ryan in time, pulled him out of danger, and even used her own body to break the drug's hold on him.

Melvin's plan failed, but for Vanessa and Ryan, that was the beginning of their story.