Chapter 1

When Laura Evans opened her eyes, it felt like an entire novel had been crammed into her head. Lines and lines of text flashed past her eyes, every word stinging like a needle.

She saw her own name, Laura Evans, the heroine of an old-school tragedy romance. In that book, she was framed, misunderstood, abandoned, and hurt by everyone around her.

She had knelt in the rain, cried in a hospital bed, and been humiliated in public at her own wedding.

She had taken a knife for Charles, donated a kidney, and in the end had even given her corneas to Charlotte.

And Charles Renner was always absent when she needed him most, silent when others framed her, and cold enough to tell her, "You had it coming," when she was covered in wounds.

And the ending of the novel?

Laura Evans died. She died in Charles Renner's arms, and even with her last breath, she smiled and said, "Meeting you in this life is something I'll never regret."

Charles Renner then held her body and sobbed his eyes out. After that, he spent the rest of his life alone by her grave, becoming the tragic hero readers could never get over.

By the time Laura finished the last word, goosebumps had crawled all over her body. She shot upright in bed, gasping for air.

Her phone screen was still lit, and the date on it was crystal clear: October 15, 2024. There were less than two days left before the first gut-wrenching scene in the novel.

In the original story, the Renner Corporation charity gala was the day after tomorrow.

Charlotte Sinclair would set Laura up so she would "accidentally" stain Charlotte's gown in front of everyone. Then Charlotte would smile sweetly and say, "It's okay. Laurie definitely didn't mean it."

And Charles would coldly say in front of everyone, "Laura, can you stop being so immature?" That was the first time Laura was publicly humiliated, and the moment she began swallowing her pride to keep that relationship alive.

Laura stared at the contact on her phone saved as "Charles" and took a deep breath.

She remembered.

She remembered how she had ended up inside this novel, and who she had originally been: an ordinary office worker who had dropped dead from overwork and somehow become the heroine of this book.

The old "Laura" had been controlled by the plot, dragged through every miserable twist like a puppet on strings.

But now, the plot had broken, and she had awakened.

"You've got to be kidding me." Laura threw off the blanket and got out of bed, bare feet landing on the cold floor as her mind raced.

"You want me to take a knife for some manipulative jerk, give up my kidney, and hand over my corneas too? You want me tortured for three hundred chapters and still smiling in the grave?"

"If that's such a blessing, you can keep it."

Laura tossed her phone onto the bed and started packing. She yanked open the closet. Her suitcase was sitting at the very bottom.

Passport, ID, bank cards. Everything was there. In the original story, this version of Laura was a rich heiress whose parents had left her a massive inheritance.

But she had poured all of it into Renner Corporation for Charles. Looking back on it now, she was the world's biggest sucker.

As she stuffed clothes into her suitcase, she ran through everything in her head.

After the gala, Charlotte would fake a fall and pin it on her. Charles would make her kneel in the rain all night, force her hands into boiling water, and later demand one of her kidneys.

A kidney.

Laura pressed a hand to the left side of her waist and calmly zipped up the suitcase.

She picked up her phone, opened the ticket app, and searched for the earliest international flight leaving tomorrow.

A one-way economy ticket popped up on the screen. Departure: 7:50 a.m. Destination: Harbor City.

Laura paid without a second thought.

Only after buying the ticket did she remember something. She searched through her nightstand and found her passport.

When she opened it, the visa was still valid.

The original author had given the heroine a 10-year visa just so she could chase the hero overseas. Who knew it would end up benefiting the awakened heroine instead?

She called a housekeeping and property service company and scheduled someone to come by at ten the next morning to take over the apartment.

Then she emailed the bank she usually used and booked an appointment for a large transfer.

After finishing all that, Laura lay back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

Her phone buzzed a few times. It was a message from Charles Renner.

[The gala's the day after tomorrow. Dress appropriately.]

Five words. Not even the punctuation had any warmth to it.