Chapter 1
In the third year of my secret marriage to Brennen Caldwell, the System suddenly informed me it had made a mistake.
It was not about the target, but the heroine.
It said: [There's been a glitch. The intended female lead was supposed to be Cheyanne Sears—not you. You're just a non-Player Character.
[Cheyanne landed today. She'll be here soon. There's no need for you to stay by Brennen's side anymore. Just step aside and give her your place.]
I closed my journal and locked it away. "Okay," I said quietly.
Maybe that was for the best.
After all, Brennen had never loved me.
This marriage—hidden, hollow, and built on nothing—should have ended a long time ago.
*****
The lock snapped shut with a soft, crisp sound.
With a slight turn of my wrist, I pulled out the key.
The metal piece dropped into the trash can at the foot of the bed.
All those diaries filled with three years of longing. I wasn't keeping any of it.
To prove it was telling the truth, the System connected me straight to Cheyanne's audio feed.
A faint crackle of static whispered through.
Then, a familiar deep male voice filled my ears.
It was Brennen.
He never wasted words with me and always kept it brief.
Even when we were intimate, all I got were cold, curt orders.
But now, through the static, his voice was surprisingly soft.
He sounded patient and tender—something I'd never heard from him.
"Relax, the car's already here to pick you up," Brennen said. "The passcode for Lorienvale Manor is your birthday now. Everything inside's been set up just the way you like it. Go take a look and see if it feels right."
Cheyanne's voice came through, sweetly timid and delicate.
There was an instinctive dependence in her tone.
"Brennen, it's been three years. I thought you'd long forgotten me," Cheyanne said.
A soft, almost inaudible laugh came through the line.
"How could I?" Brennen answered without missing a beat.
Just those three words erased everything I'd poured into him over the past three years.
After holding onto that cold stone for three years, I thought it might finally show a hint of warmth.
Turned out, he wasn't naturally distant, and he knew perfectly well how to be gentle.
He just saved the softest, most tender part of himself—completely untouched—for someone else.
I was nothing more than a decoy, just a convenient cover to help him get through those three empty years.
The System cut off the audio.
Its lively, mechanical voice came through, sounding perfectly matter-of-fact.
"See? I told you they were true love. All your efforts these three years were for nothing," the System said.
I didn't even have the strength to laugh at myself, let alone argue.
Even an emotionless System could see right through it, Yet I kept my eyes closed and lied to myself for over a thousand days and nights.
For three years, I dutifully kept myself hidden away in this cold, empty house.
I made all kinds of soups to help his digestion, always changing up the recipes.
I always left a light on for him whenever he came home late after his social engagements.
I even kept track of every reason he frowned, just to understand what troubled him.
I always believed that if I waited long enough and behaved just right, maybe—just maybe—he'd finally soften towards me, even for a fleeting moment.
Thinking about it now, I found it was almost laughable how foolish I was.
The ticking of the wall clock echoed softly in the quiet room.
The second hand marked the hour—2 AM.
The warm yellow light by the entryway was still glowing.
For three years, that warm glow was the last bit of belonging I left for Brennen every night.
The early autumn breeze crept in through the cracks in the window, stirring up a hint of chill in the air.
I stood up, my bare feet against the wooden floor.
Slowly, I made my way to the entryway.
The wall switch felt slightly cool beneath my fingers.
I pressed it.
The warm glow went out for good.
I made my way back into the shadowy master bedroom.
With every step I took, the weight in my chest felt a little lighter.
Letting go of my obsession hurt like hell, but it also made me feel more awake than I'd ever been.
If that place was always meant for Cheyanne, then I'd just let her have it.
I wasn't going to be part of this farce anymore.
I pulled the blanket up and wrapped myself tightly in bed, shutting out the world.
The phone next to my pillow vibrated.
The screen flashed on, its cold blue light making my eyes ache.
It was Brennen.
Just over two hours ago, I was sitting at the dining table.
Staring at the steak growing cold, I asked him when he'd be home tonight.
It was our third wedding anniversary.
It was also the last time I tried to reach out to him.
After making sure Cheyanne was taken care of, Brennen finally replied to me, almost as an afterthought.
There were only two words.
Brennen said: [Don't wait.]
The phone screen dimmed, its blue glow fading away.
I didn't reply.
I set the phone face down on the nightstand.
In the trash can at the foot of the bed, the thick diary lay half-open, its pages exposed.
The broken drawer lock was resting on top of it.
The gold-embossed letters on the cover shone harshly in the moonlight, almost glaring.
Inside, every page was crammed with all my silly ramblings from the past three years.
I even wrote down the way he liked his coffee, right down to the temperature.