Chapter 1

I spent ten years trying to win over Lawrence, but in the end, he still wanted to divorce me for his first love.

Even when I was hospitalized after a car accident, he went off to celebrate the her birthday.

The system announced that I had failed my mission and was about to be wiped out.

Right before I died, I texted him, begging him to come back.

But Lawrence just shot back, annoyed, "Trying to pull the death card again to get my attention? I really couldn't care less."

It wasn't until much later that Lawrence finally realized I existed.

But by then, all he had left of me was my ashes.

He clung to my gravestone, sobbing in regret, but I was gone for good.

*****

"Host, this is your last chance. If Lawrence doesn't come, I'll erase you from existence immediately," the system warned.

In the hospital room, I heard the system's warning loud and clear.

I opened my eyes and reached for the phone by my bed.

But I'd just been in a car accident, and the anesthesia from the surgery made my movements sluggish. After fumbling around for a while, I still ended up dropping the phone on the floor.

The system let out a helpless sigh, seeing me like this.

Too bad it didn't have a physical form, so it couldn't help me out.

I struggled to prop myself up on the bed and reached out to grab the phone.

When I turned it on, there were tons of messages, just none from Lawrence, my husband.

I tapped on Lawrence's pinned chat, and with shaky, numb fingers from the anesthesia, managed to type out a message.

[I was in a car accident. Can you come to the hospital to see me?] I sent it, hoping he'd care, even just a little.

This was my last shot.

If Lawrence would just show up at the hospital for me, I wouldn't have to die.

But Lawrence replied almost instantly.

[Really, Chloe? Are you trying to use your accident to get my attention again? I couldn't care less.]"

[Did you forget we're already divorced? We're nothing to each other now.]

Those two icy lines sent me straight to rock bottom, crushing me completely.

I let my hand fall, and the phone slid out of my grasp, crashing to the floor with a loud bang.

The system sighed again at the words on the screen, then tried to comfort me. "Don't worry, Host. I'll make sure it won't hurt too much when you die."

After spending so many years chasing after Lawrence, I still ended up like this.

I accepted my fate, lying quietly on the hospital bed, waiting for the end.

But I never expected that even with the system trying to ease the pain of dying, it still hurt like hell.

It was as if my heart was being torn out raw, with no anesthesia to numb the pain.

I endured the agony, wanting to scream, but the pain was so overwhelming I couldn't even cry out.

Finally, my soul broke free from my body.

At the same time, I watched the monitors blare out alarms, and doctors and nurses rushed in, grabbing the defibrillator and starting CPR.

It was useless.

I was already dead.

Ten years ago, when I got thrown into this novel world, the system gave me one mission: win over Lawrence.

If I succeeded, I'd get to live. If I failed, I'd be erased from existence.

The first time I saw Lawrence in high school, I had a crush on him at first sight.

It wasn't because he was the guy I was supposed to win over.

It was just that Lawrence had that irresistible charm.

From the very first day of high school, I started getting close to Lawrence, trying everything I could until we finally became each other's best friends.

After school, we'd head to the coffee shop near campus, helping each other out with our weakest subjects until it was dark outside.

We'd even skip class together just to catch a concert of our favorite star.

We promised each other we'd go to the same college.

Back then, Lawrence genuinely cared about me.

If I called, he'd drop everything to be by my side, no matter what he was doing.

Whenever there was a special occasion, he always wanted me with him.

Back then, I thought I was pretty much done with the mission, until Gloria Bacon came back.

Gloria was the one Lawrence could never forget, his unreachable muse.

I heard about it from Lawrence's buddies.

They said Lawrence had a childhood sweetheart before he even started high school.

They grew up together, being part of every milestone in each other's lives.

But when the Bruno family ran into trouble, Gloria just disappeared to study abroad, no goodbye, no explanation, and she cut off all contact with Lawrence completely.

It was like Gloria just ran away when Lawrence needed her the most, leaving him high and dry.

So when I finally met Gloria, she didn't seem like any kind of threat to me.

But I never imagined Lawrence would be so into Gloria that he dumped me the day after she returned.

I was the one who made my dad set up a marriage with the Bruno family. And when Lawrence tried to fight it, I played the suicide card, forcing him to marry me.

From that moment on, Lawrence's hatred for me only grew.