I looked at him.

Sure, in the real world he’d be an absolute walking felony. Kidnapping, coercion, emotional manipulation—he should be rotting in a federal facility somewhere.

But this was a no-morals reverse-harem novel.

And in these stories, apparently sleeping together equals character development.

So right now, I loved him.

Deeply.

Stupidly.

Plus he was the male lead.

And he was beautiful—Greek-statue-who? level beautiful.

And stupidly powerful.

In the early chapters he was cold and untouchable.

Later, he supposedly melts into a desperate softboy who fights other men for my affection.

Daniel frowned slightly. “What’s your name?”

“Wendi Silver,” I said, enunciating every syllable. “Silver as in the metal. Wendi with an ‘i’. I’m not your first love’s stand-in. I’m just a housekeeper. Whatever you think is going on between us needs to end.”

I shot a wounded glare at Wendy Gold.

She snorted.

I glared harder.

Daniel gave her one look and she immediately shut her mouth.

Everyone else around the room was trying not to laugh behind their hands except for an older couple watching me with real concern.

Wendy’s parents.

Experienced, calculating, and already noticing how Daniel seemed… overly affected by me.

They were probably terrified their daughter was about to lose.

Wendy leaned toward Daniel and whispered, barely containing her amusement:

“She’s quoting one of the novels she sent me. Oh, Daniel… good luck.”

I stared at their picture-perfect silhouettes, letting dramatic sadness wash over me.

Only Wendy could shine that brightly next to Daniel.

I lifted my chin at a perfect forty-five degrees, presenting a tragic, elegant profile.

Just like the book described.

I held the pose.

For a long time.

Nobody reacted.

Instead, everyone comforted Daniel—the perfectly fine billionaire—while the victim of mushroom poisoning sat ignored on the hospital bed.

Eventually, everyone left.

Daniel drove me back to his estate.

The moment we got home, I tied on an apron and marched into the kitchen.

Hardworking live-in housekeeper mode: activated.

The staff froze when they saw me.

“Ma’am, please let us cook. You just got out of the hospital from poisoning yourself. Please don’t risk it again!”

I tuned them out.

They were trying to be kind. They probably heard Daniel “torturing” me at night and pitied me.

Daniel always called me his plaything—someone he could use however he wanted—while keeping Wendy pristine and sacred.

I cried so hard reading those chapters.

But now that I’d transmigrated, there was no way I was letting him ruin my life again. After I got my paycheck at the end of the month, I was gone.

Escape was the soul of this genre.

His friends weren’t bad, though.

And since this was a reverse-harem story, I had to respect the original plot.

If I didn’t follow the plot, I might disappear.

Or get smited by lightning.

Or zapped by the system.

That’s how transmigration worlds usually go.

I had just started washing vegetables when I felt eyes on me.

I turned.

Daniel stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets.

“Take a shower first,” he said quietly.

I still feared him.

So I removed my apron, nodded, and followed him upstairs.

But when he tried to open the bedroom door, I pressed a hand to his chest.

“I know you think I’m cheap,” I said, voice trembling but determined. “That I exist for you to use. But I’m done with that.”

He raised an eyebrow, clearly amused, silently encouraging me to go on.

Tears filled my eyes.

“Go be happy with Wendy. She might be a terrible person, but you like her, and that’s what matters.”

He let out a low, incredulous laugh.

I was crying, and he was laughing.

My anger spiked—partly for the original heroine, partly because I now was the heroine.

“You’re torturing me now, but one day you’ll regret it!” I declared dramatically. “You’ll be groveling for my love, and I won’t even look at you! Hmph!”

I slammed the door with righteous fury, then marched into the bathroom and showered like I had something to prove.

After I washed up, I realized I’d forgotten to bring pajamas.

I was about to wrap myself in a towel when someone knocked.

I jumped.

This was exactly the point in the plot where the male lead would do something unforgivable.

“What do you want?” I snapped. “I’m not the old me anymore! Don’t you dare try to sleep with me!”

His voice came through the door, calm and maddeningly unbothered.

“I brought your clothes.”

…Oh.

Why did I feel disappointed?

I cracked the door open.

Sure enough, he was holding my pajamas.

I snatched them out of his hand.

He smiled faintly. “A little disappointed I didn’t do anything?”

Then he leaned in, his breath brushing my cheek.

“Should I come in and do something now?”

My face instantly went hot.

The moment he leaned closer, all those explicit scenes from the book thundered through my brain like a stampede.

I slammed the door in his face, heart racing, changed clothes, and stormed out—

Only to find him sitting on the sofa, scrolling through my phone.

I lunged. “Why are you in here? And why are you going through my phone?!”

Then it hit me—

In the novel, he monitored my phone.

He controlled my entire life.

My eyes filled with tears of pure injustice.

This time, he actually acted like a human being.

He pulled me onto his lap, one arm around my waist.

“What’s wrong?” he murmured. “Tell your husband.”

“You are NOT my husband,” I choked out. “You’re a controlling jerk who locked me up and used me as a stand-in!”

His mouth twitched, as if he wanted to argue but couldn’t.

Because everything I said was true.

After dinner, Daniel casually tried to put us in the same bedroom, just like in the book.

I pushed his hand away. “I’m just your housekeeper. You don’t own me. Respect my boundaries!”

He looked around the room, then back at me, completely unfazed.

“I’m worried you’ll kick off the blanket and catch a cold.”

Then he simply guided me into the room and shut the door.

When he reached for me, I shoved him back.

“I’m a respectable human being!”

He let out another low laugh.

And then just like the novel promised, his hands were on me, the plot steamrolled forward, and…

Well.

I was the reverse-harem heroine.

Soft, delicate, easily seduced.

The laws of this genre were undefeated.

The next morning, I glared at him with every ounce of shame and indignation in my body.

He raised a brow. “What’s with that look? Didn’t you say you’re my housekeeper?”

“I quit!”

“…And your mother’s surgery?” he asked lightly.

My eyes filled instantly.

He was a villain.

A monster.

Weaponizing my mom’s medical bills against me.

If I ever tried to leave, he’d definitely threaten her safety.

That was absolutely within his villain skill set.

He brushed tears from my cheeks, the warmth of his palm short-circuiting my brain.

It had to be some kind of protagonist-halo seduction buff.

His voice dropped, low and a little hoarse.

“You really like playing the tragic heroine, don’t you?”

I blinked, confused.

He stood, guided me to the sink, squeezed toothpaste onto my brush, and even filled a cup with mouthwash.

See, that was the thing about him.

Cold, distant, stingy with words—but when he took care of someone, he did it meticulously.

Watching us brush our teeth side by side in the mirror, my heart twisted painfully.

He would eventually live happily ever after with Wendy Gold.

I was just the stand-in.

Eye for an eye.

If he treated me like a stand-in, then I’d cheat on him for real.

When we went downstairs, Wendy’s mother was already waiting in the living room.

The moment she saw us, she put on an overly warm smile. “Wendi, sweetheart, are you feeling better?”

“Save the fake concern,” I snapped. “Don’t worry. The moment Daniel lets me go, I’m out of here. I’m not a threat to your daughter.”

Wendy’s mom stared at me like I’d grown a second head. Then she looked at Daniel.

“What’s wrong with her eyes? Why is she crying?”

Daniel’s tone toward her was surprisingly gentle. “She’s acting out a tragic drama. Says she’s our housekeeper, Wendi Silver. She cried for a while.”

Wendy’s mom gave me a full ‘are-you-stupid’ stare. Her voice went cold.

“Wendi Silver, since you’re sitting in my daughter’s place, drink this soup and get better. Then leave. We don’t house weak little maids in my son-in-law’s home.”

My eyes instantly welled up.

I thought of my real mom in the hospital, waiting for me to pay those medical bills.

If she were still healthy, she’d definitely fuss over me like this too.

Wendy’s mom rushed over and grabbed my hand. “Why do you cry at everything? Are you depressed? Do we need to take you back to the hospital?”

“Mom, it’s fine,” Wendy cut in. “She was dramatic even before she ate the poison mushroom. She’s committed to her soap-opera era.”

I needed to recover.

Then leave as fast as possible.

I gulped down the soup. Three huge gulps.

It tasted like… mom.

I blinked at Wendy’s mom.

Could this story secretly have a ‘switched-at-birth’ twist?

Maybe I was the real heiress?

Or maybe Wendy and I were sisters?

But no—this was a reverse harem smut novel.

I’d read it more than once.

There were multiple hot guys and zero morals, but no long-lost-daughter plotline.

During dinner, Wendy’s mom said, “She’s a mess right now. Don’t let her go to work yet. She was already a little clueless, and after the poisoning she barely has a brain left.”

Daniel said, “I was thinking the same thing. Except she insists she wants to move out.”

“Don’t listen to her.”

---

Later that afternoon, Daniel pulled me toward the door.

“Wendy’s brother is back. Her mother wants us over for dinner.”

I perked up immediately.

Wendy’s brother?

Another handsome man destined to fall for me.

And maybe… he would be my ticket to freedom.

Daniel was still in his forceful villain era, but once I escaped, he’d enter his “begging for forgiveness, crying in the rain” arc.

I would absolutely make him suffer for it.

When we got to the Gold family home, Wendy’s brother took one look at me, eyes lighting up, and pulled me into a hug.

Daniel’s expression froze.

Wendy’s brother, Henry, adored me.

He bought me gifts.

He even patted my head like I was precious.

Wendy stood there watching with a smug “this is going to be fun” smile.

When her parents drifted out of the room, Wendy leaned toward her brother and whispered loudly,

“FYI, she currently thinks she’s living inside an erotica novel where any attractive man under thirty automatically sleeps with her.”

Wendy really didn’t know how to shut up.

I didn’t hear a word she said—her lips were just moving in my peripheral vision—but I absolutely knew it wasn’t anything nice.

But the moment she finished, Henry’s entire body stiffened.

He quietly stepped back from me.

Daniel watched me with narrowed eyes.

I felt betrayed.

I looked at Henry with full tragic-heroine heartbreak.

Was he planning to do a “win her back after pushing her away” arc too?

He was exactly my type—gentle, elegant, soft-spoken.

I could easily see myself favoring him in later chapters.

A moment later, Henry excused himself and went upstairs to take a call.

I told Daniel I was going to the bathroom. As expected, he didn’t follow.

The moment he turned away, I slipped out, took the back staircase, and headed straight for the third floor to find Henry.