Chapter 1

When the system returned, I had just finished arguing with John. The bedroom was in shambles, torn paper and glass shards making it difficult to even walk.

He had just returned from a trip with a mistress he was meeting outside, and the first thing he thought of doing upon returning home was to have his way with me.

He pulled me into his arms, pressed kisses upon my body, and allowed his hands to wander, yet when I pushed him away with disgust in my eyes, he reacted like a provoked beast, his eyes becoming red in anger.

He glared at me. "Do you know how they suck up to me outside? What's the act for, huh? Didn't you say you always wanted to be with me? Why are you acting like a nun now?"

I stared at him in disbelief, unable to believe the comparison he was drawing. He was the one who was cheating, yet he was standing there and berating me for not going along with him.

I couldn't bring myself to do something so vile, to endear myself to him at my expense. Had he even thought about me when he drank day and night outside, lavishing other women with money?

"You're disgusting, so don't touch me!"

My emotions were high, and every fiber of my being rejected having him near me. I wanted nothing more than for him to disappear right that instant.

John scoffed, grabbing my hand and roughly pressing me against the vanity, grabbing my face and forcing me to look at my own reflection in the mirror.

"Take a good look at yourself, Elodie. Do you still think you're the school beauty that everyone fawned over back in the day? Wake up! You're just an old hag now, with nothing that can tie me to you! Other than your body, do you think I would even give you a second glance?"

I looked at my reflection, registering my disheveled state, wrinkles appearing on my once-beautiful face, and my eyes filled with endless sorrow.

Truly, there was no way I was winning against the university student he was pampering. She was young, after all, and she knew exactly what to say to pull at his heartstrings.

Meanwhile, I was a thorny rose, unable to speak a single nice word to him, nor lower myself to please him.

However, I hadn't even changed, ever since the very start. In fact, he even told me that he liked this part of my personality.

"What difference do you have now from a random hag down the street? You're just like your mother!"

His words shattered my pride, threw it into the dirt, and trampled it mercilessly for good measure.

Like a woman gone mad, I shook myself free from him, mustering all the strength I had to send one tight slap on his face as tears flowed down my cheeks.

Bewildered by my reaction, John raised his hand to hit me, but was stunned by my pained expression, shocked by my tears.

I had always been a very prideful person, never shedding a single tear in front of him, so this was the first time he'd ever seen me cry to such an extent.

I had been with him for five years by now, and had already gone through enough hardships and sorrow, yet I had never felt he had crossed the line more than I did in this moment.

"Tell me what you said just now, I dare you!" I choked on my words, and he didn't make a sound. "Come on, talk!"

I hated him to the bone. I hated how useless he was, how he cheated on me, and how he said I was the same as my mother. He knew, better than anyone, that it was a very sore topic for me and my bottom line, yet he was willing to exploit it so easily just so he could mock me.

Perhaps he'd wanted to say those words much sooner, so they slipped out the moment tensions ran high.

He scoffed, clearly not thinking that what he did was much of a big deal, and that I was kicking up a fuss for no good reason. "There's nothing for us to say anymore, Elodie. I mean every word I said.

"Look at yourself. Did I lie?"

My heart felt like it was stuck in my throat, and my entire chest hurt, my field of vision blurry with tears. My fingernails dug into my palms so hard they almost chipped, yet I didn't feel any pain, all of my senses were drowned out by an overwhelming sense of suffocation.

I couldn't even clearly register what he was saying.

"Is that why you cheated on me, John? How could you treat me like this?!"

As I spoke, Ivy's youthful face couldn't help appearing in my mind's eye, her eyes filled with youthful energy and splendour, along with ambition that couldn't be hidden.

She really was beautiful. She was constantly filled with energy, radiating a charm that no one could ignore nor resist. It was only a matter of time before John fell for her.

"Have I not done enough? Be good, and I can continue being married to you. You don't have anyone else to rely on other than me, after all.

"It's true that Ivy's better than you in every way, but she's nothing more than a game to me. She won't threaten your position, so what are you worried about?"

John leaned in close, whispering in my ear lowly as he wiped the tears from my face with surprising patience. "So don't cross the line, got it?"

My heart felt like it was being gripped tightly as I listened to his words. The man in front of me was truly a bastard, not only playing with my emotions, but other women as well.

"Besides, going out with her makes me look better." He looked up and down at me before laughing out loud. "You're past your prime, Elodie. Bringing you out would only be shameful."

I lowered my head, not saying a word in response.

As his patience ran out and he was turning to leave, I muttered, my voice raspy and ugly. "Do you love me, John?"

He paused, then slammed the door shut without any hesitation, plunging the room into deafening silence.

After an eternity, I choked out a short, bitter laugh.

What a joke.

In the end, the emotions that I'd kept hidden deep inside erupted. I screeched at the top of my lungs and wailed, shattering everything I could get my hands on.

In the end, I curled up on the floor weakly, looking at everything around me and allowing my sadness to swallow me whole.

Suddenly, my system, which had gone silent for ages, returned. Its voice was like an angel from the heavens, or maybe the whispering of the devil.

"Come home, Host. Your mission is over."