The moment the servants scattered, the last wisp of air left my lungs.

My soul drifted weightlessly out of my body.

I hovered in a daze, half-transparent, and softly asked the system in my mind, 'Can you transmit me now? I want to go home.'

But the system's mechanical voice was flat and unyielding: [Only once the male and female leads acknowledge your death can you exit this world.]

I paused for a moment, then let it go. I'd survived decades—what was a little more waiting?

I was certain that Nathan, who couldn't stand to be apart from me for even a minute back then, would come looking for me like a madman within half an hour at most.

But I waited from dawn to dusk, and from dusk until ice formed on the pool. His familiar figure never appeared.

Something hollowed out in my chest. Against my will, I drifted toward the villa.

The moment I passed through the door, a warm scene unfolded before me.

Nathan had his arm gently around Vivian, leaning down to teach her how to paint.

Our son, Nathan Jr., curled up beside them, his face full of adoring smiles.

And the woman in the painting—she looked almost like me. Except for one detail: at the corner of her eye, there was a delicate, alluring mole.

My heart clenched violently. A bitter sting flooded my eyes.

So my life and death weren't even worth the time it took to paint Vivian a picture.

All my certainty from before suddenly turned into a blade aimed at my own chest.

I fled the courtyard in humiliation, heading for the peach grove in the back—my favorite spot, where I'd hoped to find some small comfort.

Instead, I found the servants swinging shovels, hacking at the roots of the peach trees.

One worker, hesitating with a saw in hand, asked uncertainly, "Did Mr. Hartwell really order this? I remember—he had these trees shipped all the way from Sovelle City ten years ago, just to make Madam Elena happy."

The head butler scoffed and sneered, "That's ancient history!

"These days, the lady of the Hartwell house is Vivian Gray—the eldest daughter of the Gray family. That has-been from the brothels? She doesn't deserve to set foot in a place this nice, let alone keep it.

"Chop away. Mr. Hartwell and the young master only have eyes for Madam Vivian now."

With that, the peach trees crashed to the ground one by one. Delicate pink blossoms scattered across the dirt, trampled underfoot, ground into dust.

Staring at the ruin before me, decades of memories surged back like a tidal wave, drowning me.

The butler was right.

Nathan loving me—that was a very, very long time ago. Ten years ago, his heart belonged to no one but me. When we first met, he bid on my first night and bought my freedom.

He took on his family's punishment, enduring their opposition, just to marry me.

Back then, he held me close and whispered, "Elena, from now on, I'll never let you be alone again."

For the first five years of our marriage, after I gave birth to Nathan Jr., we were still as in love as ever.

Then the patriarch of the Gray family came looking for me, and I learned the truth: I was the twin sister of Vivian Gray, the famous university professor back home.

She cried and apologized, saying it was her fault that I'd been separated from our family all those years ago. And to make up for it, she insisted on moving into the Hartwell house to help care for and educate my son.

And she lived up to her reputation as the only female professor at Sovelle University.

Within two weeks, Nathan's gaze was glued to her.

Our private conversations—once filled with the small, ordinary details of our life—became nothing but Vivian this, Vivian that.

He'd always say, "If you'd never ended up in the nightlife scene, would you have been like your sister—brilliant, accomplished, captivating?"

Even my son, Nathan Jr., began to pull away. The clingy little boy I once knew turned into a cold, distant young man.

He even forbade me from picking him up at school anymore, because my background had made him a laughingstock among his classmates.

Back then, I swallowed the bitterness and told myself they were just protecting their pride.

But then, on my birthday, I found Vivian—disheveled and half-dressed—curled up in Nathan's arms.

And I knew.

Everything had changed.

That night, I completely fell apart.

At the Hartwell family banquet, I went mad—overturning tables, smashing everything within reach. Shards of glass sliced across my arms, and blood instantly soaked through my sleeves.

Nathan rushed over, pulling me into his arms, his face full of anguish and regret. He even pounded his own chest with his fists.

"Elena, I was drugged. I never meant to betray you."

His voice was low, pleading, every word earnest.

But once I'd calmed down slightly, his tone turned heavy. "Vivian was wronged. I have to take responsibility for her."

He said he'd only make Vivian his wife for five years.

I refused—refused with everything I had.

In those days, I raged at him day and night, each word dripping with blood and tears. I called him ungrateful, a traitor to the vows he'd made, someone who'd turned into another woman's refuge in the blink of an eye.

He tried to soothe me with patience, but he never wavered.

Not until I nearly killed myself from self-harm did he finally agree to cut ties with Vivian.

But fate had other plans. Vivian turned out to be pregnant.

I could no longer stop it. All I could do was watch helplessly as he took her overseas to register their marriage, making her the other lady of the Hartwell house.

Then came the recognition banquet in Loween City. Vivian finally dropped her fragile act. Her words came out cold as ice. "I lost you on purpose back then. Elena, why were you smarter than me as a child? Why did you hoard all of our parents' affection? There's only room for one cherished daughter in the Gray family—and that's me."

She didn't bother hiding her true intentions. She wanted our parents' love all to herself. She wanted all the glory and beauty the world had to offer.

So when she learned I was happy, she sent our father to find me, to get close to my home, to take everything I had.

I never imagined my gentle, kind sister could be this monstrous. I was shaking with rage.

Before I could collect myself, she dug her nails into my arm and threw herself into the pool.

And that scene was witnessed by the Gambling King—the patriarch of Loween City's most powerful dynasty.

Struck by Vivian's beauty, the old man's lust got the better of him. He demanded she become his thirteenth concubine.

The Grays were a minor family. They didn't dare refuse.

On the spot, Vivian miscarried. She would never bear children again.

She collapsed before me, sobbing pitifully, "Fine, you didn't want me to marry Nathan—you made that clear with all your schemes. But why did you push me into the water, make me lose my child, and force me into the Gambling King's bed?"

I couldn't defend myself. And no one around me was willing to believe a word I said.

My son shoved me hard.

Nathan's gaze toward me turned utterly cold—empty of any remaining trust.

Looking at the marriage contract sent by the Gambling King, Nathan said sternly, "Elena, when you do wrong, you have to make it right."

As his fingers traced over my face—identical to Vivian's—his eyes were as indifferent as if he were examining something worthless.

"The Gambling King won't be able to tell you apart."

And just like that, he pushed me into the abyss with his own hands, forcing me to take Vivian's place and marry into the Gambling King's household in Loween City.

Everyone knew the Gambling King had beaten several of his concubines to death.

Under his endless torment, I nearly died more times than I could count.

And it was in that despair that all my memories finally came flooding back.

I remembered: I was really Pearl Gray—an ordinary college student from another world.

Twenty-five years ago, to save my mother from cancer, I'd made a deal with the system to come to this world. My role was to play Nathan Hartwell's disposable ex-wife—a character everyone despised.

My mission: to stir up conflict, push the male and female leads together, and die before them exactly ten years into the marriage.

At first, I'd come with that mission in mind—but somehow, I'd lost my memories and fallen hopelessly, genuinely in love with Nathan.

Now, two sets of memories clashed inside me. I couldn't tell if I was Pearl or Elena Gray.

Just then, my mother's voice reached me across time and space. "Baby, Mommy is waiting for you to come home."

And then I was awake. From that moment on, I stopped fighting the Gambling King's abuse. I stopped sending messages to the outside world. I stopped hoping Nathan would remember our past and rescue me.

For five years, I watched coldly as he and Vivian built their perfect love story, as I clawed my way into becoming the matriarch of the Gambling King's household.

Because if I wanted to complete the mission, first I had to survive.

Five years passed in the blink of an eye. I survived that devouring Loween City dynasty—and then the Gambling King died suddenly.

Nathan and Nathan Jr. finally sent word: I was permitted to fake my death and come home.

But the three conditions attached to that message were nothing but humiliation.

Even the servants were outraged on my behalf.

But all I wanted was to go home—to return to my mother's side.

So I faked my death and came back to the Hartwell house, becoming exactly what they wanted me to be: silent, submissive, invisible.

No more fighting. No more tears.

After all, I was never anything more than a traveler who was desperate to go home.

Now, I was truly dead.

And the moment Nathan found out, I could leave this world for good.

So why should I keep grieving over everything that came before?

I brushed away the last trace of dampness at the corner of my eye, turned my back on the ruined peach grove, and felt nothing—not a single ripple in my heart.

Over the next few days, I drifted like an outsider, watching the three of them—father, mother, son—live their perfect, harmonious life.

No one in the Hartwell household mentioned me. No one noticed I was gone.

Not that it surprised me. After all, my living quarters were in a storage room in a small building several hundred yards from the main villa. Hardly anyone ever went there. It made perfect sense that no one knew I'd died.

And Vivian, of course, wouldn't let me be forgotten for long. She'd make sure Nathan grew to despise me completely before she was satisfied.

But there was one thing I never expected: The first person to find my body was the very boy I'd protected and nurtured with everything I had back in the Gambling King's household.

That boy was now the head of Loween City's most powerful dynasty. His name was Sebastian Young.

He stood tall by the pool, cradling my long-cold body in his arms, his expression dark and unreadable.

My heart faltered for a moment. I remembered the day he took over the Gambling King's empire—how he'd looked me in the eye and sworn, "I will never let you down, for as long as I live."

Back then, I'd faked my death partly to escape that very feeling—a feeling I could never return.

People always develop feelings when they've been through the fire together. But I had only one goal: to leave. I could give him nothing.

I turned away, ready to drift elsewhere—when suddenly, a roar of fury erupted from the main courtyard. It was Nathan's voice. It drew me back like a magnet.

There he was, clutching a pale, trembling Vivian in his arms, barking orders at the servants, "Go get Master Channing!"

I knew that name. The most feared exorcist in the circles we moved in—ruthless, brutal, a man whose very reputation made people shudder.

Before I could piece it together, I heard Nathan grind out through clenched teeth, "That venomous woman Elena dared to put a curse on Vivian!"

So that was it.

I didn't flinch. I just watched Nathan panic, watched Nathan Jr. run around in circles like a frantic little bird.

"Don't be scared, Mama Viv. Dad will protect you. Once you're better, I'll have her locked up in some remote villa forever so she can never hurt you again."

The teenager's eyes were red as he made that vow.

Vivian weakly touched his cheek, shook her head gently, and spoke in a voice so soft it was almost a whisper. "Don't be cruel to Elena. She's still your birth mother.

"Really, this is all my fault. I can endure the curse. I just don't want to see my sister stripped naked, hung up, and burned..."

She didn't even finish the sentence before she coughed up a mouthful of blood and went limp.

Nathan's eyes blazed red. He pressed his hand over her lips, his voice savage with pain. "Stop defending her! If anyone owes anyone, she owes you! If I hadn't met her first, the woman I married with honor and ceremony would have been you."

They clung to each other—tragic, devoted, desperately in love.

I hovered above them and let out a quiet, bitter laugh.

Nathan had always despised schemes and underhanded tricks. If he ever found out about all the filth Vivian had done behind the scenes, his face would be a picture.

But more than that, I was glad because he was finally coming for me.

I watched him kick open the door to my shabby little room, watched him rage when he couldn't find me there.

My smile grew wider and wider.

And then—just as he was fuming in frustration—the butler, whom he'd sent to search the entire estate, came running back in a panic. "Mr. Hartwell, Madam Elena is by the pool, but..."

The man was trembling so hard he could barely speak. Nathan didn't wait for him to finish. He stormed toward the pool.

Before he even got close, he was already bellowing, "Elena, if you dared to curse Vivian, don't blame me for handing you over to Master Channing and making you wish you were better off dead!"

Nathan Jr. was right behind him, his eyes dripping with disgust. "We never should have allowed you to come back!"

They were coming for me with nothing but vengeance on their minds—ready to drag me to the exorcist to break Vivian's curse.

But as they got closer, Sebastian slowly turned around.

"Mr. Hartwell," he said, his voice flat and cold, "why don't you tell me—how could a woman who's been dead for seven days have cursed your wife today?"