Chapter 2

Unfortunately, the miracle of modern medicine dragged me back from death's door yet again.

I came to in the ICU, a tube jammed down my throat, and my stomach on fire, like someone had gone at it with a wire brush a hundred times over.

The system snarked in my head: [Host, how many times do I have to say it? Taking sleeping pills is such a dumb way to die, and it hurts like hell.

[If you're really going to bail on the mission for that 30-million bucks, can't you at least make it quick and painless?]

I rolled my eyes in my mind. "You think I don't want to? I can't even find a good enough place to jump off."

Yeah, I was a mission-bound tasker stuck with the perfect wife system.

Ten years ago, the system told me that if I could win over Thomas, Ruby, and Thomas's younger brother, Daniel Evans, maxing out their affection and redemption value to 100%, I'd score a 30-million bucks and return to my original world.

I busted my ass playing a gentle, virtuous wife, a filial and sensible daughter-in-law, and a generous, caring sister-in-law.

I stuck with Thomas through the grind of building his company from scratch to going public, landing in the hospital three times with stomach bleeding.

I endured Ruby's endless demands, washing her feet and massaging her, no matter how unreasonable she got.

And I bailed Daniel out of trouble more times than I could count. I even took a knife for him from the debt collectors.

All three of their progress bars were stuck at 99%, and victory was right in sight.

Just then, Thomas's first crush, Lucy, came back from abroad.

The moment Lucy showed up, it was like Thomas, Ruby, and Daniel had become total fools.

Lucy said she was afraid of the dark, so Thomas ditched me in the middle of the highway at midnight to go comfort her.

Lucy said she wanted to eat my cooking, so Ruby forced me, while I was burning up with a fever, to stand in the kitchen for three hours.

Lucy said she liked my necklace, and Daniel broke into my jewelry box and handed it over to her.

Then, the system's alert blared in my head like a death sentence: [Warning, Thomas's affection reset to zero. Ruby's affection reset to zero. Daniel's affection reset to zero.]

Ten years of my hard work were all gone in an instant because of Lucy.

I totally lost it and asked the system what the hell I was supposed to do.

The system replied: [There's a loophole in the rules. Since you failed the mission, if you die accidentally in this world, you'll still be considered as having escaped. You'll get your 30-million payout, no problem.]

That was when it hit me. I gave up this whole mission at once. The sooner I died, the sooner I could get out of here and cash out. That was the real deal.

I was griping to the system when the hospital room door was kicked open.

Daniel stormed in in his rage, lugging a heavy claw hammer.

He shot me a look full of disgust. "Wren, quit faking it. Don't think chugging some weird stuff and getting your stomach pumped is going to win you any sympathy. Lucy's out there bawling her eyes out."

He raised the hammer, pointing it right at my face. "If you pull any more stunts with Thomas or piss Lucy off, I'll smash your head in with it."

Instead of getting angry, I was so fired up that I was literally shaking.

I ripped the IV out of my hand, practically fell off the bed in a mess, and snatched the hammer right out of his hand.

"What the hell are you doing?" Daniel jumped back, totally freaked out.

"Aren't you going to smash my head in? Come on, hit right here." I pointed at my temple, eyes shining as I stared him down. "Don't hold back. Make it count. Go for the kill. You're not leaving here until you smash my head open."

Daniel was completely stunned. Never in his life had anyone asked him for something this insane.

He desperately tried to pull the hammer away, but I was freakishly strong, holding on for dear life.

"Let go, you crazy woman." Daniel's voice was trembling with fear.

"Stop wasting time. Do it," I snapped, grabbed the wooden handle of the hammer, and slammed it hard against my forehead.

There was a dull thud. Blood instantly streamed down my forehead, blurring my vision.

Daniel let out a scream that could shatter glass, dropped straight to the floor, and scrambled backward on all fours. A huge wet patch spread across his pants. He'd actually pissed himself from terror.

"Wren!" Thomas burst through the door in time to see the chaos. His eyes went wild with fury as he rushed over, snatching the hammer out of my hands like a madman.