Chapter 1
Guests swarmed around the crime lord’s bride, their celebratory chatter meaningless to me.
I easily found a secluded spot.
My broken leg screamed in protest, each movement a tearing agony as I hoisted myself over the railing.
What was a little pain, if it meant seeing Grandma?
With a relieved smile, I resolutely jumped.
In the frigid embrace of the ocean, I looked back on fifteen years of absurd existence.
I had been thrust into this world with a mission: to save the male leads driven to madness by the heroine.
If I could successfully save just one of them, I could escape a fatal car accident in my real world.
But in the end, I failed all four.
Every time Isabella, the world’s chosen heroine, reappeared, all my efforts at redemption were instantly erased.
Seawater flooded my nose and mouth.
I thought I could finally find release.
But then, a strong arm clamped around me, holding me tight.
Through the haze, I saw his frantically worried face.
Then, I completely blacked out.
When I woke up, my throat burned.
Staring at the unfamiliar white ceiling, I knew I hadn’t died.
Why was even dying so difficult?!
I turned my head and saw an exceptionally handsome face.
His gaze was downcast, his expression utterly blank. He looked like a marble statue, or an ancient deity stepped out of a forgotten legend.
Wait, wasn’t this Julian?
One of my targets.
The Julian who once told me, “Without you, I would have already fallen into hell.”
As if possessed, I reached out and touched the blessed wooden bracelet I’d gotten for him years ago, still on his wrist.
His eyes snapped open, a sharp gaze piercing me. “Scarlett, what game are you playing now?”
I pulled my hand back as if burned, my heart seizing in my chest.
He thought I was trying to manipulate him again, to win his pity.
But he’d forgotten.
Fifteen years ago, it was Isabella, the woman he deeply loved, who framed him, destroying his family.
He’d plunged into utter despair, retreating from the world.
It was I who stayed by his side, day and night, tirelessly caring for him, shielding him from all the ruthless debt collectors, helping him rebuild his life bit by bit.
He’d once held me tight and said he wouldn’t exist without me.
But now, his eyes held nothing but disgust and contempt for me.
All my sacrifices, in his eyes, were utterly worthless.
Julian spoke with chilling indifference:
“Isabella has always been frail.”
“And she’s been busy all day. She’s not feeling well now and needs your blood.”
The doctor nearby tried to interject, “Miss Scarlett just fell into the water, she’s very weak…”
“She’s perfectly fine. She’s got a thick skin, a little blood is nothing,”
He brutally cut off the doctor. “This is the only way she can help Isabella. She should be grateful.”
I stared at Julian, a bitter taste spreading through my heart. “If you love her so much, why aren’t you by her side?”
“Watching her marry Roman, becoming his hidden shadow… are you truly content with that?”
The System said he was going to turn dark, that I needed to save him.
But this pathetic, self-sacrificing devotion for love… how was this “turning dark”?
“Isabella is different,”
His features softened instantly.
“Back in the orphanage, she was the only one who gave me warmth.”
“That kindness, I’ll never forget it.”