Chapter 4

When I woke up again, I could hear the soft patter of rain outside.

I pulled out my phone, feeling totally at ease. Just as I expected, thousands of notifications were already flooding in.

About half were from friends Michael and I shared—some just here for the drama, others actually concerned. The rest were messages from Michael and Emily.

My parents were super chill. They just wanted me to call them once I was up.

I picked out a few messages from people who genuinely cared and replied to those, and then blocked Michael and Emily before finally calling my parents.

I thought they'd blame me.

But instead, the first thing I heard was the sound of someone crying on the other end.

They could barely get the words out through their tears, telling me they never knew I'd suffered so much.

They said I did great, standing up for myself and defending my own rights, and that they'd support every decision I made.

I didn't shed a tear when I saw those photos and chat logs, but now, talking to my parents, tears just started streaming down my face.

After fighting in those crazy novel worlds so many times, I'd almost forgotten I actually had someone who supported me. For Michael, I was ready to trade my life for his.

I couldn't bear to think what my parents would do if something really had happened to me back then.

I couldn't help but feel relieved that Michael kept coming up with lame excuses and never actually made things official with me.

If we'd really gotten legally married, breaking up would've been a whole lot messier.

I thought Michael and Emily would be knocked out for two or three days. This villa was so private that nobody would even notice them out there.

But the rain ruined everything. It woke them up.

Good thing my inside source isn't slacking off. The system was streaming everything to me live. After leaving my place, Michael drove home. He dragged Emily inside and declared he was going to marry her. If his parents didn't agree, he'd cut ties with them for good.

I almost burst out laughing. Seriously, I started doubting if I'd gone too easy on those two. They still had the nerve to stir up drama.

Guess I was just too soft-hearted.

But seriously, how did I ever end up falling for that clueless idiot?

I always thought Michael knew the Grant family wouldn't be where they were if it weren't for my family. His parents were groveling on the phone, apologizing.

I honestly suspect he spent all his time at work sweet-talking Emily instead of actually doing his job.

I glanced around. Traces of our life together were everywhere. I didn't want to see any of it, so I got the cleaning service to pack up all of Michael's stuff and toss it all out.

"Miss, should we throw these out too?" the cleaner asked.

I looked up and froze for a second.

It was the thousand and one letters Michael had written to me.

Michael's parents only got married for business, and after he was born, they each had their own lovers. They've had enough lovers to lap the planet ten times.

Our families lived in connected villas side by side. My mom saw that Michael always left alone with the nanny, so she'd invite him over to be my playmate. His parents didn't mind at all.

Growing up together, we were the perfect match in everyone's eyes. From childhood, he was always my most loyal knight.

On the night of my eighteenth birthday, he nervously invited me out, his face tinged with a shy blush.

He knew I was obsessed with Tales from the Thousand and One Nights and the book Love Letter, so he totally swept me off my feet by writing me a thousand and one love letters.

Coming back to reality, I could still see Michael's hands shaking and his face all red with excitement after I agreed to be with him.

Looking at those love letters, I couldn't help but feel a little sad, but also a sense of closure.

No matter how sweet those memories were, they didn't change the fact that Michael was now just a loser.

"Just throw them all away," I said.

Even I couldn't believe how fast I managed to pull myself together and get over it.

But sometimes, in the middle of the night, I still dream about the way Michael used to be—so sincere, so passionate. His body felt so warm, and his hands were sweating.

What really blew my mind was that, in just half a day, Michael and Emily had already leveled up their drama—Michael was actually ready to disown his own parents for Emily.

He knew he was their only kid, so he could do whatever he wanted without worrying about consequences.

Just thinking about Michael still having two more days of easy living made me feel sick.

To make sure he didn't even get those two days, I went all in and even threw another fifty points at the system.