Chapter 1

I transmigrated into the novel as the spoiled daughter of a wealthy family.

I didn't make life difficult for the heroine. On the contrary, I protected her at every turn and even married the playboy second male lead.

Life after marriage was peaceful. I thought I had found my true love until I was organizing the study and glimpsed his diary hidden in a secret compartment.

The words on the first page stabbed my eyes. He had retained memories from his previous life.

The decade of tender devotion and the love that seemed so real were all to protect the heroine.

*****

On our fifth wedding anniversary, I was told I had mid-stage stomach cancer.

I stared at the diagnosis report in my hand, completely at a loss for how to break the news to my beloved husband, Cameron Moody.

I had been in this strange world for fifteen years. There were so many times I wanted to give up and leave, but now, I finally had something worth staying for.

I got into a car accident and woke up in this novel world, as the notorious villainess with the same name—infamous for all her evil deeds.

But luckily, when I landed here, the plot hadn't kicked off yet.

I hadn't bullied Sophia or tried to steal Cameron yet.

Because of my cheerful personality, everything started to change for the better.

Not only did Sophia get drawn to me and become my closest girlfriend, even Cameron ended up as one of my good friends.

Just like Sophia teased, I turned into their number one shipper, and in the end, I actually managed to match up the real couple.

I started out just trying to survive, but somehow ended up catching the attention of the novel's infamous bad boy, the second male lead.

He didn't bother with Sophia like the story said he would. Instead, he poured all his care and spoiled me rotten.

Fifteen years went by, and I finally knew what it meant to be someone's one and only. Honestly, I got totally hooked on it.

But now, everything I had was about to fade away.

I was diagnosed with cancer.

I wasn't going to last much longer.

The diagnosis report in my hand felt scorching hot.

I agonized over it for so long, but in the end, I just couldn't bear to break the news to them.

All I wanted in my final days was to see their smiling faces.

Almost as if something was guiding me, I wandered into the study.

Whenever Cameron was feeling down, he'd always lock himself away in here for a while.

Maybe if I did the same, just for a while, it would ease the ache in my chest.

Maybe Cameron was just swamped, but his desk was so messy that I couldn't take it anymore.

I started straightening things up without thinking, and accidentally hit some kind of hidden switch.

Under the desk, a secret compartment popped open.

There it was, a diary with Hello Kitty on the cover, looking ridiculously cute.

I carefully picked up the diary.

Cameron had never kept any secrets from me since the day we met, so I started reading it without any hesitation.

Besides, I pressed my lips together, feeling a bit embarrassed as I lowered my head with a shy smile.

Hello Kitty was always my favorite plush toy.

Could it be that Cameron wrote down all his love for me in here?

I took a deep breath and, for real this time, opened the first page.

Just one glance, and my mind went completely blank.

Cameron's bold, striking handwriting on the first page jumped out at me, making my heart ache.

It read: [To the one I love most, Sophia Jordan.]

Sophia Jordan was the main character in this story.

Suddenly, it felt like I couldn't breathe. I just stood there, frozen, my blood running cold.

Not even when I was diagnosed with cancer did I ever feel so utterly helpless.

As I flipped through the pages one by one, Cameron's teenage thoughts and feelings unfolded right in front of me.

I knew it.

This diary really was Cameron's record of his love for Sophia.

But the heroine of this diary wasn't me.

The diary was thick, but if I summed it all up, it came down to just one line.

Cameron loved Sophia so deeply that he would have sacrificed everything for her, but in the end, she was always out of reach.

Cameron retained the memories from his previous life, and the only reason he stayed close to me was to keep an eye on me, ensuring I wouldn't hurt Sophia again.

So that was how it was.

Turned out, all the love and devotion I believed in was nothing but a joke.

Cameron never loved me.

It was always Sophia. She was the only one he ever cared about, from start to finish.

I suddenly laughed.

Was fate just playing a joke on me?

It knew I couldn't let go of everything here.

So it made sure I found out the truth, just so I could finally walk away without regrets.

Was that it?

All the hurt, sadness, and jealousy twisted together, forming a suffocating web inside me.

That web closed in, wrapping me up so tight I couldn't move, couldn't even breathe.

I'd never felt this messed up before.

So all my love was just a joke.

Everything I gave, everything I sacrificed—it all ended up being worthless.