Chapter 1

"Babe, I went through hell to find this pain-transfer system. It's the only way to save Maia. I'm asking you to make this sacrifice."

The familiar voice was right in my ear. Bruno Howell was staring at me with loving eyes, waiting for me to agree.

Looking at this two-faced man, I felt my teeth itch with hatred.

In my last life, he'd done the same thing. When our daughter, Maia Howell, was in the ICU, Bruno acted as if he were dying of a stroke and got hospitalized, too. Right before surgery, when I was panicked and out of ideas, he pushed the system on me and said it was the only way to save Maia.

I had bound myself to the system to save her. And look how that had ended.

I sneered at Bruno and asked, "Maia isn't only my responsibility. Why should I be the one to bind?"

Bruno didn't expect me to refuse. After all, I had quit a great corporate regional manager job to take care of Maia, and I had treated her like my whole world. I couldn't stand to see her suffer.

He quickly recovered and pulled out the line he'd rehearsed. "You and Maia are the two people I love most. I can't stand to see either of you in pain. Do you think I want you to bind? It's just that this stupid system only binds to women. There's nothing I can do."

"Really? Is this advanced system sexist?" I asked. "Maybe it's lying to you."

I walked to Bruno's hospital bed, grabbed the vial from his hand, and prepared to drip it into his mouth.

The binding was simple—just swallow Maia's core blood.

Bruno panicked and forgot to dodge at first. The moment I forced his chin up to feed him, he sprang out of bed and wiped his mouth like crazy, terrified he'd swallowed Maia's blood.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Bruno snapped, furious and embarrassed.

I mocked him, "What are you afraid of? Didn't you say the system only binds to women?"

Bruno's face turned gray and then red as he stammered, "I-I'm just afraid of wasting Maia's core blood. You know how fragile she is. Her blood is precious."

Worried I might try something else, Bruno started firing off insults like a machine gun. "I’ve never seen a mother like you. Maia’s lying there, barely alive, and at the one chance to save her, you’re playing games! I think you’re trying to kill her!

"I’ve always thought you didn’t care about Maia or this family. Do you think she’s a burden? I bet you’ve been planning to run off with someone and have a healthy baby!

"Anyway, her illness can't be cured. You're her mother; if you won't save her, I'm done. Once she dies from this disease, I'll bury her and then divorce you. If you wanna have another child, go ahead—Maia and I won't be a burden to you!"

Back when I was thriving at work, Bruno used to gaslight me like this too. I had blamed myself and thought I wasn't doing enough, which was why I gave up my career to take care of Maia.

Maia often lost her temper because of the pain. After every blowup, she would cry in my arms and apologize, acting soft and clingy while whispering that I was the person she loved most in the world.

Her sweet words had kept me under their spell for years. I worked myself to the bone for her for over a decade.

Now that I look back, they were both cut from the same selfish, poisonous cloth.

"Hey! Stop spacing out! Go and bind yourself to the system right now. Do you wanna watch Maia die?"

Bruno's urgent push snapped me back. I looked at him and gave a warm smile. "Fine. I'll bind."

Bruno handed me the vial and got wheeled into surgery. He didn't watch me drink Maia's core blood, so he didn’t know that I turned and took the vial out to a pig farm on the edge of town.

"Hello. Do you have any dying pigs?"