Chapter 2

I'm a Target Raider. Ten years ago, a car accident left me in a coma until the System picked me out and dropped me into this new world.

The only way to get back home is to capture William's heart.

If William agreed to marry me, then I would finally be able to return to my old world, back to my family who've been waiting for me all this time.

After a whole year of suffering in that rehab center, he was about to marry the girl he'd always cherished. Everything I'd worked for had gone up in smoke.

At that moment, I was utterly crushed.

If things had come to this, I wouldn't keep fighting in this unfamiliar world.

I glanced up at William, who looked down from his pedestal, and let out a sigh, dropping my eyes.

"I know I was wrong. I won't ever hope to marry into the Carter family again," I said.

As soon as the words left my mouth, the System's icy voice echoed in my mind. [Host has voluntarily abandoned the mission. In eight days, all traces of the host will be erased from both worlds.]

Even though I'd seen this ending coming, it still stung inside.

I sat down on the cold floor, barely managing a weak smile.

"Congratulations, Mr. Carter and Ms. White. Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness together," I said.

William looked caught off guard, his body tensing for a moment.

Honestly, if this had happened before, I would've made a scene the moment I found out he was marrying someone else.

But now, it all just felt meaningless.

He gave me a disbelieving look, his tone cold.

"Since you love performing so much, here's your stage. Go on," William said coldly.

At his command, his men hauled me off to the Carter family's private garden.

They shoved me up against the fountain, ignoring my struggles as they drenched me with ice-cold water, leaving me soaked to the bone.

Someone yanked me by the hair, slamming me down onto the cold marble and forcing me to get down on my knees at the fountain's edge.

The crowd's jeers and laughter echoed around me, and my collar was pulled so tight I could barely breathe.

Whatever defenses I had left inside just shattered completely.

Suddenly, I burst out laughing, sprang to my feet, broke free from their grip, and rushed straight for the center of the fountain.

I tore off my drenched clothes, grabbed the paint by the fountain, and slathered it all over myself like a madwoman.

Just like that, I stood bare-skinned in the middle of the fountain, staring right back at everyone, unflinching.

They wanted to see me humiliated.

They wanted to watch me fall apart.

I was right here.

I locked eyes with William, who looked absolutely stunned, and shouted,

"Are you satisfied now?" I demanded.

Maybe my crazy stunt really set him off, because he furiously ordered his men to toss me into some abandoned factory way out in the sticks.

I knew exactly what he was after. He wanted to force me to bow down and beg for forgiveness.

But I didn't care anymore. I only had eight days left anyway.

The air reeked of damp and rot. Moss crawled up the factory walls, and from time to time, I could hear rats scurrying through the crumbling remains.

Maybe it was better to just be stuck here and let this pointless existence end sooner.

In a daze, I slipped into unconsciousness.

My memory flashed back to the very first day William was about to send me off to the rehab center for some soul-searching.

"Finley, do you even know what you did wrong?" William asked, his voice cold.

Back then, I was still naive enough to think I actually meant something to him.

I got jealous without even realizing how out of my depth I was.

"What did I do wrong? You're just playing favorites with Hadley," I shot back.

I never knocked over that bottle. Hadley totally framed me.

William didn't even give me a chance to explain. He just smacked me across the face and stormed off.

"Looks like you've been spoiled for too long. Fine, go spend some time at my sanatorium and reflect on your actions," he said coldly.

What he didn't realize was that after he left, there was no therapy waiting for me, only a group of predators with sinister intentions.

They descended on me like a pack of ravenous wolves.

Three months later, William showed up in front of me again.

When I just sat there in silence, ignoring all his questions, he completely lost it.

"So after a few months here, you're just going to pretend you can't hear or speak? Still as stubborn as ever, huh?" William said.

He had no idea that after he left, those people tormented me around the clock, never giving me a moment's peace.

My cries of agony lasted the whole night, relentless and raw.

Eventually, they got fed up and started slapping me over and over, hurling insults and calling me worthless, until my ears bled.

I thought about giving up, but every time I remembered my family waiting for me in the other world, that was the only thing that kept me going.

They locked me up in a bare, cramped room, and eventually, they even stopped giving me food.

They said once I was too weak for my annoying screams, I wouldn't bother them anymore, but the torture never let up.

When I woke up again, I was somehow back at my home.