Chapter 1
After I transmigrated, I set my sights on Vernon Loxley, the guy everyone said was cursed to never have kids.
Thanks to my miraculous fertility, I ended up pregnant with twins, finally breaking the Loxley family's nine-generation streak of only children.
We got married first, and love came later.
By then, I'd already maxed out his favorability for me.
But after I decided to stay, something strange happened.
Out of nowhere, a stream of comments started scrolling across my vision.
A person wrote: [Vernon is so whipped for Page!]
Another wrote: [He actually sent his own wife to Dustin's cousin just to cheer her up!]
Someone wrote: [Honestly, his wife totally had it coming.]
Someone else wrote: [She knew Page was miserable because she couldn't have kids, but she kept showing off her miraculous fertility, making everyone in the Loxley and Kinsman families obsessed with her.]
A person wrote: [Well, now she loves having babies, so let her have as many as she wants.]
Another wrote: [Anyway, in the end, Page will effortlessly snatch one of her babies, and Dustin will pamper her.]
I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
But after the amniocentesis, everything changed.
I said, "System, I don't want to stay anymore.
"I'm choosing to leave by dying in childbirth. I want all three of us to go together."
*****
"Host, are you sure you want to go through with this?
"Just so you know, your affection for Vernon is maxed out too.
"System analysis shows you hesitated when you said that. Are you really sure that's what you want?
"Are you truly ready to part ways with Vernon?"
The cold, mechanical voice rang out in my head.
It shattered my fake composure in an instant.
Tears spilled down my cheeks, splattering onto the DNA test result, the one that said Vernon and the baby weren't even related.
Just the thought of leaving and never seeing Vernon again made my heart twist painfully.
My heart hurt so bad, it felt like someone was squeezing it.
The barrage of comments in my head and the truth in my palm, the DNA report, reminded me of reality.
I had to let go, even if it broke my heart.
If Vernon could use my love and my child to fulfill Page without a shred of guilt, then I'd tear apart that fake happy ending with my own death.
I'd destroy that illusion of perfection, even if it meant dying.
I could live with the fact that he once loved someone else.
But I couldn't stand that he ignored my feelings and couldn't let go of his own past.
"That's why I'm certain about my decision," I said, firm and unwavering.
Though it tore me apart inside.
At that moment, the system pulsed with a faint glow.
That cold, robotic voice echoed in my mind once more.
"Intent confirmed. Beginning the severance process.
"Your lifespan in this world, once set at eighty years, has now been slashed to just twenty-eight days."
Since my death had to look natural, the system started tweaking everything behind the scenes.
It began to rewrite my reality.
Almost instantly, I went from perfectly healthy to weak and frail.
It felt like my bones and muscles had been hollowed out, my whole body was so limp, I couldn't even hold myself up.
Just lifting my hand to toss the DNA report into the trash can drained every last bit of energy I had left.
Exhaustion crashed over me in waves.
I just wanted to get out of the hospital.
But suddenly, my vision kept fading in and out, and before I knew it, my body just gave out and I fell back, completely powerless to stop it.
Somewhere in the haze, I heard panicked shouts exploding around me.
The sharp scent of disinfectant washed over me, and I felt like I was drifting in and out, lost in a deep, endless sea.
It wasn't until I heard someone mention Vernon's name and I felt a gentle hand holding my wrist that the dizziness finally settled.
Just like before, no matter what I was going through, he always showed up for me right on time.
Now, his familiar presence wrapped around me like a blanket, and all I could sense was his worry.
I could hear the nurses and doctors whispering nearby, unable to hide the envy in their voices.
A person said, "Vernon treats his wife like a queen. The second he got the call, he rushed over, didn't even bother with his coat."
Another said, "Yeah, he's been glued to her side all night, hasn't left for a second."
Someone said, "If that's not true love, I don't know what is."
Their comments made me think back.
During our five years of marriage, Vernon always made me his top priority, no matter what.
When I started bleeding early in my pregnancy, he dropped everything, even an international meeting, and stayed with me in the hospital for three days straight, never leaving my side.
If I craved food from the south side in the middle of the night, he'd drive two hours through pouring rain just to get it for me.
These moments of kindness warmed my heart, but made it even harder for me to let go.
Right then, I wanted so badly to open my eyes and ask Vernon why he used me and betrayed me for someone else if he really cared about me.
But my eyes just wouldn't open.
The comments kept rolling in, ruthless as ever.
A person wrote: [Vernon will always be the forever lovesick second lead for Page.]
Another wrote: [Even after tying the knot, he'll always give in to Page.]
Their mocking words made me freeze.
It reminded me that Vernon and I were worlds apart.
I was someone from another world.
He was supposed to be the brilliant, talented second lead in the story, meant to shine, but instead left miserable and lovesick because he could never win Page's heart.
So, once I knew my mission was to capture his heart and help him out of his misery, I started playing cupid for the main couple.
I did everything I could to push Dustin and Page together.
When Vernon got drugged, I took the plunge and got pregnant.
Thanks to my miraculous fertility, I ended up pregnant with twins, finally breaking the Loxley family's nine-generation streak of only children.
Once he found out he was going to be a dad, he married me right away.
He looked me straight in the eye and promised he'd let go of everything from his past.
Over the five years of our marriage, we fell in love after tying the knot.
I managed to max out his affection meter for me.
But just when I was finally ready to stay and spend the rest of my life with him, the barrage of comments hit me all at once.
That was when I learned that the baby I'd been carrying for nine months wasn't even Vernon's.
The child turned out to belong to Dustin Kinsman, who was Vernon's cousin.
It was all because Vernon couldn't stand seeing Page pitied and judged for not being able to have kids.