Chapter 1
I was terminally ill, so I made a deal with the system. It let my consciousness be reborn into a parallel world inside a newborn. To survive here, I had to earn the genuine affection of at least one person in that world.
At three years old, my parents' affection for me was zero.
By eighteen, my fiancé, Christopher Grant's affection was also zero.
Now, at twenty-two, even the dog I raised from a pup showed zero affection.
I was completely hopeless, so I asked the system if I could just give up on the quest.
The system responded almost instantly.
It said in my mind, "Are you certain? If you terminate the mission, you will die in this world seven days from now. Your consciousness will then be returned to your original world."
"Yes," I said.
*****
The system's robotic voice chimed in.
It said, "Ding! Request received. I've triggered the terminal illness in your body. You'll be able to leave in five days."
The moment it finished speaking, agony exploded inside me, shooting through every inch of my body.
The pain drained all my strength, and I crumpled to the floor.
"Who said you could sleep?" A furious voice suddenly shouted from nearby.
Before I could even react, a pair of strong hands grabbed me and hauled me to my feet.
"No wonder Emmy's condition suddenly flared up. It's all because you weren't here praying for her like you're supposed to," someone shouted.
Emily Yeats was my older sister.
When I was born, just because I smiled at our parents, she burst into tears, saying she hated me and didn't want me stealing any of their love.
Because of that, my parents dumped me in a distant town and didn't care about me for seventeen years.
Later, when the Yeats and Grant families arranged a marriage alliance, I got rushed through months of crash-course etiquette training for high society. On my eighteenth birthday, I finally got engaged to Christopher.
Later, when his enemies came after him, I put my life on the line to save him three times. I even bargained ten years of my life with the system for a device that would hide him from danger forever.
I watched helplessly as the affection meter above his head slowly filled up until the moment he saw Emily.
The instant their eyes met, I saw awe and regret flashing in both their gazes.
And just like that, my affection meter instantly reset to zero.
After that, out of nowhere, Emily had a bad asthma attack and got rushed to the hospital.
To help her get better faster, Christopher basically dumped me at a church and made me pray for her 24/7.
And I was stuck there for four years straight.
My robe was already threadbare, and when he yanked it, it ripped with a harsh sound.
I frantically tried to grab my robe back.
Christopher looked even angrier, his grip tightening until I could barely breathe.
He said, "Why are you moving? You think I'm blaming you for nothing?
"Emmy's resting at home right now. You're coming with me, and you're going to be grounded at the front door and pray for her blessings.
"You're going to walk all the way home, bowing your head to the ground at every single step. Got it?"
My face went red with shock as I stared at him, completely unable to believe what I was hearing.
The church was over 37 miles from the Yeats estate.
He loomed over me, his voice icy with warning.
He said, "You'd better pray you make it home before Emmy wakes up, or I won't let you off the hook."
He let go, flinging me aside. I clutched my chest, gasping for air.
Thinking about how the system said I only had five days left before I could be gone for good, I didn't even bother to argue. I just replied meekly.
"Okay," I said.
He froze for a moment, eyeing me up and down with suspicion. He said, "Hurry up and keep up. And don't even think about trying anything funny."
By the time I finally made it down the road, he was leaning against the car, impatience written all over his face.
My spirits lifted. I was just about to open the door.
But he stuck out an arm to block me, his brows furrowed.
"Who said I was giving you a ride?" he said coldly.
He got in the car, and another man stepped out, coming to stand right next to me.
"I'm not giving you a ride. He's here to keep an eye on you," Christopher said coldly.
The guy was huge, like a mountain looming over me. He looked down at me, his voice icy.
"Start, Ms. Yeats," he said.