Chapter 1
When I was left at the orphanage gate, a line of comments flashed across my vision.
[If any of these kids just rushed up and yelled "Dad," they'd hit the jackpot!]
[Ugh! Why can't I get transported into the story? I'm dying to call him "Dad."]
My eyes lit up, and I scrambled over on my short legs.
"Dad, do you want a daughter?" I asked Charles Foster.
After I was adopted, before I could even settle in, the comments popped up again.
[Alas, the villain who can't have his love still ends up killing himself. He just tosses away tens of billions of dollars like nothing.]
Wait, what? That was supposed to be my inheritance!
I ran over and threw a tantrum, rolling around on the floor. He had to hit pause on his suicide drama and came over, softening as he tucked me in and soothed me to sleep.
After pulling this stunt a few times, I expertly whipped out a stack of photos of random men and asked Charles, "So, which one do you think would make a good new dad for me?"
After that, not only did he stop trying to die, but he dedicated himself entirely to taking care of me.
*****
I was abandoned at the trash can by the orphanage gate.
That was when I saw Charles, the villain from the story, there for some charity thing.
He stepped out of his fancy car, dark and handsome and brooding, surrounded by a crowd.
I clutched my stomach, which was growling like crazy.
Honestly, I wasn't admiring his looks at all. All I could think about was food.
I watched as the whole crowd headed into the orphanage.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out inside.
Crying. Not just one kid, but all of them, wailing like a fire alarm had gone off.
Just as I was wondering what was happening, a bunch of floating words popped up in front of me.
[The author really wants us to hate the villain, huh? Even the kids are scripted to cry at the sight of him.]
[They're crying their way out of a mansion.]
[If any of these kids just rushed up and yelled "Dad," they'd hit the jackpot!]
[Ugh! Why can't I get transported into the story? I'm dying to call him "Dad."]
My eyes lit up.
I didn't pick sides—hero or villain. I went where the bread was. Anyone with a full wallet could be "Dad".
So I scrambled out of the trash can.
Then I dashed to the orphanage gate and waited, my eyes full of longing.
Soon enough, Charles came out with a scowl on his face.
I lunged at him like a starving little gremlin, grabbing onto his pant leg and refusing to let go.
With tears shimmering in my eyes, I pleaded, "Dad, do you want a daughter?"
Everyone sucked in a breath at the same time.
Refusing to give up, I kept laying it on thick.
"Wow, Dad, you're so good-looking. If you were my dad, I'd be the luckiest kid ever!"
Charles glanced down, his brows knitting as he eyed the dirty spot on his pant leg where I'd clung to him.
I pulled myself back, all nervous.
The next moment, he suddenly grabbed my skinny wrist.
People shot me mocking looks.
They all thought he was going to shake me off.
But he didn't. In one smooth motion, he scooped me right up into his arms, his eyes gentle as he asked, "Did you just call me 'Dad'?"
I shouted, "Dad!"
The screen flooded with questions.
[Wait, this scene wasn't in the original plot.]
[No way. She actually did it. She just hit the jackpot!]
From the comments, I pieced the story together. Charles was the real heir, switched at birth by his father's mistress.
He got dumped at the orphanage and had to survive on his own since he was a kid.
Years later, when the mistress' own son needed a kidney, she brought him back to the Grant family. She passed him off as nothing but a bastard child.
He got nothing but cold stares and abuse at the Grants', so he turned out dark, twisted, and vicious.
When the truth finally came out, his mom, Beverly Grant, just couldn't accept that the person she'd tortured all these years was actually her own son. She chose to play the madwoman, to plead ignorance, rather than face what she'd done.
The whole world turned against him then. Only Andrea Knight, the story's heroine, showed him a shred of kindness. She became his sole flicker of light. That was why he clung to her so desperately, and why he went to war with Donald Carlson, the male lead.
In the end, Andrea grew to hate Charles. Lost in that despair, he chose to end his own life.
Seeing all this, I instinctively hugged Charles' stiff but burning chest even tighter.
No way. I just latched onto the most powerful guy. I couldn't let him go down like that.
I was not about to get tossed back into the trash can and shipped off to the orphanage.
Just as Charles was about to set me down, my little hand clung to his shirt, crying and pleading.
I said, "Dad, please take me home. Don't leave me behind. I promise I'll be good."
He froze, his brooding eyes going a little wide, caught off guard.
Seeing how dirty and ragged I was, Peter Grant's assistant, Simon Hughes, stepped forward with clear concern.
"Mr. Foster." Simon offered. "Shall I take her?"
Putting on my most timid voice, I said the boldest thing ever. "Dad, you look so nice. Will you hold me, please?"
Even after Charles picked me up and put me in the car, Simon was still totally stunned.
Once Charles set me down in the car, he sat up straight, pulled out his laptop, and started working like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
When Simon nervously asked what to do next, Charles just replied with a blank face, "Why are you just standing there? Go and file the adoption paperwork."
Simon just stood there, totally dumbfounded.
The comments exploded.
[Wait, he's actually going through with it? The villain doesn't do "soft". And isn't he, like, a total germaphobe? He's not even mad. He's holding her like she's made of glass.]
[Maybe he sees a bit of his younger self in her.]
[But this little girl is something else. She just snagged herself the richest dad in the whole story.]
[Man, this is like being born with a cheat code. Jealous doesn't even begin to cover it. Next life, sign me up for this kind of luck!]
[Same here.]