The Wrong Person

Eden Hawthorn was never the type to oppose anything Jaime Barthes said or wanted. If he forbade her to speak to men, she would go to great lengths to have her assistant collect reports from male employees rather than interact with them herself. She would never cross any boundaries Jaime set.

When Jaime developed a chronic heart condition, she searched every part of the country as well as overseas for a suitable heart transplant candidate for him.

However, when she finally found a candidate who fit the criteria, she instead chose to have the heart transplanted to another man named Jericho Brown.

“Jaime, Jericho's condition suddenly worsened. He can’t afford to wait any longer, so… I decided to let him have the heart transplant instead.”

Everyone in Hartow City expected Jaime to erupt with rage.

After all, someone like Jaime, who was known for his utterly possessive treatment of Eden, would not possibly tolerate her giving away the heart that was supposed to save his life to another man.

To their surprise, all he did was look up and glance calmly at Eden. Her profile was beyond angelic, but also bore a hint of what seemed like guilt in her eyes.

Jamie did not lash out at her. There was none of the dramatic theatrics of smashing objects, cursing, or even so much as a frown. Instead, all he did was regard her calmly, “Alright, I understand.”

Eden was stunned, for this was not the reaction she expected. Ironically, it only heightened her sense of guilt.

She stepped forward to gently stroke his cheek while dropping her voice to a low and coaxing tone, “Jaime, don't be angry. I assigned people to contact all the hospitals in the country and overseas. I’m sure we’ll find a matching heart for you soon. I promise, nothing will happen to you.”

All Jaime could do when he looked at the trace of concern in her eyes was to pull a face without uttering a word.

None of what Eden had done was necessary anymore. The hospital diagnosis claimed he only had seven days left to live.

Noting Jaime’s continued silence, Eden clenched her fingers and reassured him without being prompted, “Jericho understands you are upset about this too. He had someone prepare a special cardiac tonic sourced from his hometown for you. He says it will help with your heart condition and speed up recovery.”

With a brief gesture, an attendant showed up with a glass of liquid she described.

The sharp, bitter scent made Jaime's throat twitch and tighten. In an instant, he felt a discomforting feeling creeping up his throat, which he had to suppress with a forced cough.

Suddenly, the system was activated.

[An irritant likely to accelerate organ failure is detected in the soup.]

Jaime ran his fingers along the rim of the bowl while wondering if it was going to hasten his death.

The system continued, as if to address his concern.

[The irritant is very likely to shorten the host’s lifespan.]

With that, Jaime tilted the bowl at an angle without hesitation and finished the bitter soup in one gulp.

He could feel the concoction burning the walls of his throat as it streamed down. Yet, it was nothing compared to the glacial feeling he felt deep inside.

Eden felt a wave of relief seeing how decisively he had drunk the soup.

Then, she feigned distress, “Jaime, something urgent came up at work. I’m going to need to work overtime. I’ll come back to see you later.”

Jaime knew there was no such thing as overtime. This was all an excuse for her to visit Jericho at the hospital.

Regardless, he nodded and sent her off. “Alright, go on.”

Eden was taken aback and could not help blurting out, “You’re okay with me going?”

In the past, Jaime would not have tolerated her leaving at such an hour. He would either insist on going with her or make her stay within his line of vision at home.

Jaime smiled softly.

“Even if I keep you with me, I could not possibly stop your heart from wandering off.”

Though he had spoken with a casual cadence, it struck Eden with the force of a thunder strike. She felt her heart drop while a wave of panic washed over her.

Before she could even speak, Jaime braced himself against the couch to get up, then turned to head toward the bedroom upstairs.

His silhouette from behind seemed unusually frail. Every step he took seemed to require a monumental amount of effort. Despite all that, he managed to walk with impeccable balance and did not look back even once.

When Eden watched his figure disappear at the top of the stairs, she felt the unease inside her growing like a lump.

Ultimately, the uneasiness could not overcome her desire to be with Jericho. After another moment of hesitation, she finally turned and speed-walked out of the house.

The moment she shut the front door, Jaime’s strength gave out. He held on desperately to the doorframe before launching into a violent coughing fit.

His coughing was so violent that crimson drops of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto the white cashmere carpet.

Then, the mechanical voice of the system played in his mind again.

[The host’s physical condition is deteriorating rapidly. The lifespan countdown has been updated to five days.]

Jaime expressionlessly wiped the blood from his mouth.

He had a secret. He did not belong to this world.

He was what was known as a transmigrator who was reborn into the world of a tragic novel. He had taken on the role of the male supporting character who was destined to be sacrificed for the sake of the plot. His sole mission here was to save Eden Hawthorn, who was cast as the schemer.

He had to prevent her from being caught with the original male lead, Jericho Brown. He had to steer her away from being betrayed by Jericho, which would lead to the demise of her family and ultimately to her dying in the streets.

To accomplish this mission, he had meticulously laid out his plan to intercept all of the plot points in the original story. He was forcefully rewriting their story from the start.

However, his methodical solutions rubbed readers the wrong way. They were upset with the deviation from the original plotline and ended up petitioning for the “uncooperative supporting male lead” to be punished.

With that, the author caved and revised the plot. He was dealt the fate of being afflicted with an incurable heart condition.

While he was being treated in the emergency room, the story unraveled out of his control. Jericho, who was also rushing to the hospital with a hand clenched over his heart, had bumped into Eden.

With that, the original plot was revived. All of Jaime’s hard work was being undone.

Ironically, Jericho had the exact same condition as he did.

Meanwhile, Eden had also reverted to the original plot. She began to shower all of her affection on Jericho.

She went as far as to give Jericho a second life. Without hesitation, she gave away the medicine specially formulated for Jaime to Jericho instead.

Jericho was given access to the hillside villa for him to recuperate from his condition.

Finally, she had given Jericho what was supposed to be Jaime’s final lifeline, a heart transplant.

When Jaime leaned against the doorframe with his eyes shut, the system notification went off in his mind again.

[If you complete the mission, you will be given a chance to be reborn in the real world with many rewards to start with.]

The only thing Jaime had in his mind was to give up.

“I want to give up on the mission. I don't want any of the rewards.”

He was tired. He did not want to save Eden anymore.

Her fate had nothing to do with him.