Chapter 1
When Emily made up her mind to give up her mission and stay by Ethan's side, the System gave her a punishment as a consequence.
If Ethan ever stopped loving her, she would be wiped out—erased from existence.
Emily trusted Ethan's vow to love her and only her, no matter what. So she stayed, stubbornly refusing to believe that the punishment would ever come to pass.
Five years after their wedding, Emily suddenly saw a chilling death timer pop up right before her eyes.
The System said: [Ethan Rivers has changed his heart.
[Punishment in effect. Host, you will be wiped out in three days.]
After all this time, the cold, robotic voice of the System echoed in Emily's mind once again.
Her hand froze, piping bag still in her grip.
It was so unbelievable that Emily wondered if the System had glitched, or if someone was playing a joke on her.
But that countdown timer hovered right in front of her eyes, impossible to ignore.
The countdown read: [Death countdown: 2 days, 23 hours, 50 minutes, 33 seconds.]
The seconds kept ticking away, mercilessly.
Emily's grip tightened without her even realizing it, and a drop of frosting slipped off her hand.
With her hands shaking, she hurriedly wiped away the mess, barely thinking as she instinctively grabbed her phone and dialed Ethan.
No answer the first time. So she dialed again. Then again. Again. Mechanical, desperate—she just kept going.
On her tenth try, finally, someone picked up.
Ethan sounded annoyed and impatient as he snapped, "If you're so bored, why don't you go shopping or something? I'm in a meeting here. Seriously, do you ever think about how stressed I am?"
Emily's chest tightened as she nervously eyed the System's countdown timer.
This wasn't just some trivial thing—her whole life was at stake.
Emily smoothed her voice, trying to sound gentle. She said, "Are you coming home tonight? I picked up some of your favorite seafood."
But Ethan's tone had changed; he was colder than she'd ever heard before. He said, "I told you, I'm swamped right now. Just go to bed early, okay?"
Emily felt a burning bitterness flood her chest, as if her heart had been clenched and forced to swallow the most bitter pill.
She couldn't hold back. Her voice trembled a little as she pressed on, "Ethan, do you even remember what today is?"
Before she could finish, Ethan had already hung up on her.
The busy signal droned in her ears, and those careful letters—Happy 5th Anniversary—on the cake in front of Emily seemed to laugh cruelly at just how pointless all of her efforts had been.
Then, the cold, robotic voice of the System echoed in Emily's mind once more, sharp and emotionless.
The System said: [Host, time to face reality. He doesn't love you anymore.]
The brutal truth Emily had spent all this time running from was shoved right in her face by the System, with zero mercy.
A wave of bitterness surged up from deep within her, drowning out everything else.
Emily's eyes were red and puffy, but she refused to give up—her hands kept moving as she finished decorating the cake, clinging to routine as if it could hold her world together.
"He'll come back," Emily murmured, the words trembling out of her, more hope than conviction.
She didn't even know anymore if she was lying to herself or trying to fool the System.
She finished decorating the cake, set out a spread of seafood, fixed up the living room, and climbed up the ladder all by herself to hang the Happy 5th Anniversary banner—every bit of it, alone.
By the time everything was ready, it was already eight o'clock at night.
Emily sat by herself at the dining table, keeping an eye on the door and glancing at the clock, waiting for Ethan to come home.
The hours dragged by—eight, nine, ten...
By midnight, she was still sitting all alone in that empty house.
Ethan never came home. All Emily got was a video from someone anonymous, dropped into her inbox out of nowhere.
In the video, Ethan was wearing the wedding ring that symbolized their vows, yet he was passionately claiming another woman as his own, completely indifferent to the betrayal.
The woman in the video teased, "Mr. Rivers, do you like me more or your wife?"
Ethan just gave a lazy chuckle, like he couldn't care less.
That careless, almost playful laugh cut right through Emily's heart—it felt like a knife twisting deep inside her.
A metallic taste flooded her mouth.
Emily bolted for the bathroom, heart hammering in her chest. She gagged once, then a vivid red spray hit the sink—blood everywhere, so bright it felt like someone had punched her in the gut.
She froze, eyes glued to the blood. All the while, the filthy sounds from her phone echoed relentlessly. Panicking, Emily hurriedly hit delete.
This wasn't the first time she'd gotten a video like this.
She used to think she could just delete them, act like she never saw a thing, and keep her life with Ethan rolling like it was all fine.
But now, with the System's ruthless countdown staring right back at her, Emily realized there was no way she could lie to herself anymore.
Emily just kept staring at the blood for what felt like forever, numb and lost. Finally, she grabbed her phone, took a shaky picture, and sent it straight to Ethan.
She texted: [Ethan, if you still don't come home, I swear I'm done for.]