Chapter 1

I, Emily Hart, was stuck in a love-hate romance story, with one goal: to win over the second male lead, Daniel Reed.

For five years, I cared for him, supported him, and finally, he opened up to me. He even got me pregnant.

I thought I had succeeded until the heroine, Charlotte Summers, returned.

"You're hard to kill. You'll survive," Daniel said

Later, I discovered that even my unborn child was part of his plan, to be a donor match for Charlotte's younger brother.

If they all wanted their perfect ending, then on the day I gave birth, I'd die with my twins. And my death would haunt their happy ending forever.

*****

"Emily, will you marry me?" Daniel was down on one knee, holding out a diamond ring.

All around us was a sea of roses he'd arranged with care, and in the night sky, drones spelled out our names.

I covered my mouth, tears streaming down my face, before I could stop them.

I had been in this world for a full five years.

My mission was to win over Daniel, the second lead in this tragic romance. Make him fall for me, and keep him from throwing everything away for Charlotte.

I was like the clingiest ivy, using every ounce of strength to slowly, bit by bit, wrap myself around his cold, unfeeling heart.

When his stomach problems flared up, I'd stay up all night making him food. When his family tried to crush him, I used the system's startup funds to help him make a comeback.

Every time Charlotte broke his heart, and he became a late-night drunken mess on the streets, I was the one who dragged him home from the freezing cold.

Five years, over eighteen hundred days and nights. I thought he was an iceberg that would never thaw for me. But now, he was down on one knee, proposing to me.

"I do," I choked out, nodding through my tears, my voice trembling.

He stood up, slipped the ring onto my ring finger, then pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Emily, thank you," he whispered in my ear. "Thank you for being with me these past five years."

I buried my face in his chest, feeling the strong, steady thump of his heartbeat.

The icy voice of the mission system echoed in my mind. [Congratulations, host. Daniel's love for you has reached 90%. The mission is almost complete.]

I thought I'd managed to rewrite the story, and finally found someone who truly loved me.

A month later, I found out I was pregnant. Daniel picked me up and spun me around, his joy so real it was impossible to fake.

He started decorating the nursery himself, bought me all sorts of pregnancy essentials, and every night, he'd lie his head on my belly and talk to our unborn baby.

He'd say, "Baby, grow up fast. So many people are waiting for you."

Back then, I was so caught up in happiness that I didn't catch the deeper meaning in his words. I just thought he meant our families were excited for the baby.

That all changed when Charlotte came back. She was the absolute heroine of this story, Daniel's first love. The day she returned, Daniel was with me at my prenatal checkup.

But after he got a call, all the warmth vanished from his face. "Emily, I've got something urgent to take care of. I'll have the driver take you home," he said, not even waiting for me to respond before he hurried off.

I stood alone in the hospital corridor, watching him walk away without a second glance, his cold, resolute back fading into the distance. A deep sense of dread twisted in my gut, leaving me feeling utterly lost.

That night, I saw him on the news. He was at the airport, pulling a petite woman close, using his body to keep the reporters away.

That woman was Charlotte. The way he looked at her, with a tenderness and anxiety I'd never seen before.

That was when it hit me. Five years by his side, 90% love value, and it still couldn't stand a chance against the way his first love looked back at him.

My whole body went cold. Turns out, I never won, not even once.