Chapter 1
On our wedding anniversary, Edward Sterling flew overseas overnight to buy a pink diamond necklace worth millions.
He dropped to one knee, his gaze full of unmistakable affection.
"Charlotte Lane, I love you," he exclaimed.
Tears were already welling up when, out of nowhere, a flood of pop-up comments flashed before my eyes.
[Charlotte, the villainess, had an affection score of 99. One point away from max.]
[Edward is about to finish his plan. He can finally get rid of Charlotte.]
[He's been grinding for this for five whole years.]
[Emily Linwood has suffered enough. Just die already, Charlotte.]
[Relax. Once Edward pulls this off, Charlotte's luck runs out. He's ending her for good.]
*****
I blinked away my tears in an instant.
I stood there, stunned, my mind dazed by the flood of messages.
Edward clicked his tongue softly.
"Charlotte, are you daydreaming? Come on, take the necklace," he said.
I was about to take the necklace when the pop-up comments flashed across my vision again.
[LOL, what an idiot! She can't tell the necklace is a fake.]
[She's totally obsessed with Edward. No way she'd notice. The real pink diamond is with Emily, and even if Edward has to play along with Charlotte, he'd never let Emily suffer.]
[That's odd. Why hasn't Charlotte's affection score changed? It's just one point short of maxing out.]
[Did she catch on that the pink diamond is fake? Uh-oh, this isn't good. Looks like the whole thing is going to drag out longer.]
My head felt fuzzy. I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed them hard.
The pop-up comments didn't go away. They just kept flooding the screen nonstop.
Everyone was trying to guess why I hadn't taken the necklace, and why my affection score was stuck.
The barrage of comments claimed our whole world was a novel.
Edward was the male lead, and Emily was the female lead.
And I was the villainess, trying to ruin their love story.
Edward was from the real world and had to finish his task before he could get his happy ending with Emily.
His whole task was to make me fall for him.
As soon as my affection score hit 100, he'd be done.
He'd kick me to the curb and marry Emily.
That was the moment I became the villainess.
I'd have to sabotage their love and set Emily up.
My fate was downright tragic.
Edward would hand me over to his business rival.
The guy was a twisted old pervert who loved to torture people, and he'd torment me until I died.
Edward would bankrupt my family.
My parents would die in a car accident.
And Edward was behind it all.
My face went pale, and I clenched my fists hard.
Would the man I've loved for five years really do this to me?
Edward couldn't take it anymore and got up, irritation written all over his face.
"Charlotte, what's that supposed to mean? Are you really getting a kick out of seeing me kneeling here like some joke?" he snapped.
My son, Lucas Sterling, came running down the stairs, gave me a little push, and started bawling.
"Mommy, you're bad. Why won't you take Daddy's gift? You're bad," he cried.
Watching him sob like that made my heart ache.
If he ever learned what Edward was up to, he'd be devastated for a long time.
I was about to comfort Lucas when I caught sight of the pop-up comments in my peripheral vision.
[Charlotte is about to break down from heartbreak. Her affection score is at 99.5. Lucas is almost there.]
[Come on. Lucas, cry louder.]
[Once her affection score hits 100, he'll finally get to call Emily Mom all he wants. Even though Charlotte is his real Mom, he doesn't care about her at all.]
[He wishes Emily were his real Mom.]
[Am I the only one who thinks Charlotte is tragic? She treats Lucas so well, but his heart has only got room for Emily.]
[Yeah, you're the only one. Emily is perfect and deserves to have a baby like Lucas.]
I swayed on my feet, feeling like I might collapse.
I'd raised Lucas for five years, and I asked myself if I'd been a good Mom.
I never had it in me to hit him or scold him. If he wanted something, no matter how impossible, I would do everything I could to give it to him.
The pop-up comments said that after I died, someone asked Lucas if he missed me.
Lucas said, his voice thick with disgust. "Don't even mention that woman. The biggest mistake of my life was being born her son."
Lucas's eyes were red from crying, but all I could see in his stare was pure hatred.
My heart ached.
Seeing that I didn't say anything, he rushed over and bit me.
Lucas yelled, "You're a bad woman. I don't want to call you Mommy anymore."
He sank his teeth into my arm, biting down so hard that blood instantly welled up.
Normally, I'd rush over, scoop him into my arms, and apologize without a second thought.
I always blamed myself, thinking I must have done something wrong to make Lucas so angry and hurt.
If I did that now, the affection score would probably hit 100.
Then he could shamelessly start calling Emily "Mom" like it was nothing.
I dropped my gaze, forcing myself to stay calm as I headed to the living room, grabbed the first aid kit, and quietly disinfected the bite on my arm.
Still, I couldn't help but notice Edward out of the corner of my eye.
Maybe his System had given him some bad news because his face looked a little off.