Semua Bab The Prankster's Fitting End: Bab 1 - Bab 8

Just a wall away, I could hear Shirley Hunt's voice lift with excitement. "Prank number 96 is a success!"Marvin Chambers's tone held a sharp, unfamiliar sarcasm. "Did you enjoy it?"One of Marvin's buddies chimed in, laughing. "Marvin's so sweet to get back at Serena for you, Shirley. But she brought it on herself for stealing your national scholarship and that game design competition trophy."Once he hits 100 pranks, he's going public with you!"My whole body froze."I've got to hand it to Marvin—pretending to have amnesia just to mess with Serena is a genius move."Remember the first prank, where he made her search in the rain for that bracelet, just to hand it off to Shirley? You should've seen her face..."My nails dug into my palm.That emerald bracelet had been a gift from my mother on her deathbed. Marvin said he lost it during the move.I spent seven hours looking for it in a storm that day. I had a 104-degree fever by the end.Another friend laughed. "The best one w

At the birthday party, Marvin's friends crowded around me in the private room and pushed the biggest slice of cake right in front of me. "Marvin says you love cake. Have some."Marvin looked away, pretending not to notice.The moment the cake touched my lips, a sharp bitterness rose in my throat, and nausea hit me hard.But Shirley pressed me down while shoving the unfinished cake back into my mouth. "It's my birthday today. It'd be rude for you to spit out my cake. Come on. Finish it!"Suddenly, my lower stomach clenched with pain, unbearable and sharp.Marvin's friends started teasing and laughing, treating me like part of some cruel joke.After finishing the cake, I rushed to the bathroom, vomiting until I felt the world spin around me. From the private room came satisfied laughter—clearly, it was another prank of theirs."Is your stomach still bothering you?" Marvin handed me warm water with mint leaves floating inside, an old remedy for nausea he taught me when we first met

I glanced at my phone one last time, eyes locking on a new post from Shirley's secret X account.[Apparently, Marvin's putting together a prank compilation for our wedding, featuring someone's ugly crying face as the grand opening.]The picture showed a safe in Marvin's apartment, neatly stacked with 99 voice recorders.Seeing all those missed calls from Marvin, I smiled as I pulled out the SIM card.He still had no idea about the plane crash—he only knew I had uncovered his prank game.Was he suspicious? Angry? Panicked? Perhaps uneasy or confused?But none of it mattered anymore.My father said making a private plane disappear from radar would be like wiping my fingerprints off our wedding photo frame. He told me to trust him completely.And soon, I would disappear from Marvin's life just as thoroughly.When Marvin heard about the crash, he ran headfirst into the wreckage, ripping apart smoking metal with his bare hands. His tailored suit was shredded by steel bars.Firefig

The next day, while I was preparing for the Ashen Mythos game auction, I suddenly received a call from Fronville Hospital.Marvin had slashed his own leg. When the paramedics arrived, he was lying in a pool of blood, laughing uncontrollably, mumbling, "Now Serena will forgive me."The hospital staff said he insisted on speaking to me and refused treatment unless I came in person. His wound was still bleeding heavily, and the floor was soaked red.But I couldn't bring myself to forgive him so easily—not after being lied to, tricked, and humiliated 100 times two years ago.I politely declined the nurse. "I don't know him. If he refuses treatment, maybe you should contact a funeral home for him."On the other end of the line, Marvin cried out, trembling, "Selene, my leg hurts so bad, I think I'm dying. Please, I'm begging you, just come see me. You used to care about me so much…"Feeling sick, I hung up without a word.The old Serena would have dropped everything the moment she hea