I had been following Hudson Carter around since I was a child.

The people around him laughed at me for being a mute social climber.

Hudson didn't care about their jokes at all.

"I can have any kind of woman I want. Do you think I'd like a mute?"

Everyone said that I loved him so much that I didn't care about my dignity.

Even Hudson himself thought so.

But there was something they didn't know.

When I could speak again, Hudson would become a beggar.

In the bar, men and women were dancing wildly on the dance floor.

The loud noise was deafening me.

Just now, I received a message from Hudson.

"Boozy Bar. I'm drunk."

Over the years, he had done this kind of thing many times.

Last year, he deliberately called me in the middle of the night.

He asked me to pick him up in the mountains because he and his friends looked at the stars and were drunk.

But when I got there, I saw him and his friends.

There was also a group of rich young men.

Seeing me, they covered their stomachs and laughed as if they had heard a joke.

"What an idiot! She really came. She didn't use her brain."

"It's all because Hudson is too charming!"

"Well done, Hudson!"

I was mute, but I wasn't deaf.

I heard all of their teasing.

Hudson didn't care about it at all.

Instead, he drank with them and snickered at me.

"Go back. I'm not drunk yet."

Hearing his words, I hesitated and stepped forward to persuade him.

I signed to him slowly.

"Hudson, no more drinks. It's not good for your health."

Unexpectedly, Hudson pushed me away in front of them.

I lost my balance and fell to the ground along with the bottle.

Glass shards pierced through my palm and blood flowed all over the ground.

I looked at him with tearful eyes. Even the people around me couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to help me.

However, Hudson stopped them with a glare.

That night, I walked back from the mountain with the untreated wound.

The next day, I had a high fever.

In a daze, I saw Hudson come to my bed.

"The distress level has reached 50%, and you are another step closer to success, Claire."

A familiar voice came into my mind. It took me a lot of effort to hold it back.

If I didn't want Hudson to feel sorry for me, I would have taken a taxi.

I walked down the mountain alone.

However, when I thought that I was one step closer to success, I was overjoyed.

As long as Hudson fell in love with me and his love for me reached 100%, all of his money would be mine.

...

Thinking of this, I felt all the grievances I had suffered were worth it.

"Claire, Hudson is over here!"

A male voice pulled me back to reality.

I followed him into the private room.

All the people present were Hudson's good friends.

I had seen this countless times.

I did this for money, but I had to endure their probing gaze every time.

I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable from the bottom of my heart.

The only difference was that Hudson seemed to be drunk this time.

There was a girl sitting next to him.

Under the light, I could tell at a glance that she was the actress who was rumored to be Hudson's girlfriend a few days ago.

I stood by the door and no one paid attention to me.

As if they couldn't see me, they hooted and wanted to see Hudson kiss Freya.

Their noise was so loud that it drowned out the music outside.

Freya looked shy and slipped into Hudson's arms.

From time to time, she looked up at him and then hesitantly leaned closer.

Unexpectedly, Hudson moved a little away from her.

"You! Come here!"

He pointed in my direction.

Freya was embarrassed when Hudson asked for me.

The smile froze on her face as she stared at me with widening eyes.

Under their gaze, I slowly walked toward Hudson.

As I got closer to his seat, he reached out his hand.

He pulled me into his arms.

Even Freya was nudged out of way.

Unexpectedly, in the next second.

Hudson pressed his lips closer to mine.

Subconsciously, I turned my face away and his lips brushed my hair.

My disgust for him was expressed through my actions.

However, I was not a professional actor.

Sure enough, my behavior annoyed him.

I was pushed to the ground.

At this moment, Freya, who was unhappy just now, was looking down at me with contempt.

I looked straight at Hudson on the sofa with dull eyes.

There was sadness in my eyes.

"Hudson, I've caught a cold. Don't."

It was a short sentence, but I gestured madly to express it.

I felt disgusted.

Before he could pick up the glass of wine, I immediately rushed forward to grab it.

I was no longer as weak as I had been when I was pushed onto the ground.

I gestured quickly at Hudson.

"Hudson, you can't drink anymore, or you'll get a stomachache again."

He had a stomachache, and I kept it in mind.

Every time he drank, I would use this disease to scare him.

It couldn't be more useful.

There was a bang.

One of his friends slammed a bottle of wine down on the table.

He looked at me with malicious intent.

"We're here to discuss a project today."

"If you don't let Mr. Carter drink, are you going to drink?"

He finished speaking and waited for my answer with a smile.

I pretended to be uneasy and looked at Hudson as if asking him for help.

Just like before, he acted as if he didn't see me asking for help.

He even waved casually at Freya.

I glanced at the wine on the table and decided to drink it.

Fortunately, I had taken some hangover pills before coming here.

I'd had enough experience to do something like that.

I closed my eyes and took the bottle of wine in my hand.

Everyone hooted, and I downed half a bottle in one go.

As I drank, I paused from time to time and coughed at Hudson.

Tears streamed down my cheeks.

My heart was filled with bitterness.

Money was too difficult to earn.

I drank more than half a bottle of wine, but I was not drunk.

However, I had to pretend to be drunk.

I peeked down at the floor and found it clean. Then, I slumped down onto the floor.

Just as I was about to speak, I itched all over.

Even my breathing became heavier.

Seeing me sitting on the ground in pain, Hudson was still talking and laughing with the man who had just spoken.

But he didn't know that the System had already revealed his true thoughts to me.

"The task has been completed by 95%. Good luck, Claire."

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to rejoice over this good news.

My discomfort pulled me back to reality.

I had an allergic reaction.

I lay on my face and crawled toward Hudson.

He was the only one who could save me in this place.

I didn't expect it to get to this point

And he still looked indifferent.

Seeing that I was short of breath, he immediately kicked my knee.

He told me to stand up and not embarrass him.

I was disappointed by what he did.

After all, we had lived under the same roof for more than ten years. How could he joke about my life?

Before I fainted, he rushed over to hold me up.

If he didn't do it, I'd wondered if there was something wrong with the System.

He looked anxious, and the corner of my mouth kicked up.

Great. I would complete my mission soon.

When I woke up in the hospital bed, Hudson was right next to me.

When he saw me open my eyes, he furrowed his brows.

"I thought you were dead. You're really spoiled."

My face was pale. He glanced at me and wouldn't let it go.

"You almost died after drinking wine. What a loser!"

When I woke up, he looked worried.

I thought that if I pretended to be weaker, he would feel more sympathy for me.

I didn't expect that his words would hurt me so much.

Even after so many years, I was still not used to it.

I lay on the hospital bed and looked at him opposite me.

For a moment, I felt a little familiar with this scene.

I finally remembered something.

When I was a child, my mother was a nanny hired by the Carter family.

The first time we met, Hudson put me in the hospital.

It was the first time I had seen such a big mansion.

I was extremely curious about everything inside. No matter how long I looked around, I was not tired at all.

"Claire, stay outside and wait for me. I will go in and greet Mrs. Carter."

I was obedient and didn't move at all.

However, in less than a minute, someone threw stones at me.

I turned around and the stone hit my forehead.

Immediately, I bled.

I couldn't speak, so I cried silently.

But seeing this, Hudson acted as if he had seen something strange.

He was even more excited.

He pointed at my nose and laughed.

"A mute? You're a mute!"

He walked around me and shouted,

"You know sign language? Show me."

At that time, he was already one head taller than me, so I could only pace anxiously.

The next second, a stern voice was heard.

"Hudson Carter! Get over here!"

With the roar, I fainted and fell to the ground.

Later, I found out that she was his mother Margot.

When I woke up from the hospital again, there was an additional system in my body.

It told me to get Hudson to fall in love with me.

As long as he loved me dearly, I would be able to speak again.

And I could also get great wealth.

Margot felt very guilty because her son hit me the first time we met.

In the following days, she took good care of me.

"I'm leaving. Stay in the hospital yourself."

Hudson's voice pulled me back to reality.

When I looked up again, he already left.

Looking at his back, I couldn't help but ask the System again.

"Is he really the person I'm trying to get?"

"Yes, you're 95 percent done."

As I made more progress, I asked the System many times.

Because I couldn't understand why a man who loved me more and more would keep hurting me.

...

However, even the System could not answer this question.

After Hudson left, I fell asleep again.

In my dream, my mom was combing my hair.

When I woke up, she was gone.

She would never come back.

At the gate of Carter Mansion, Hudson and Margot quarreled.

Hudson ran away from home in a huff.

Unexpectedly, a car rushed over from the opposite side in the next second.

At this critical moment, my mother rushed out.

He fell to the ground and just had a slight concussion.

However, my mother was gone from this world forever.

They said that the driver was going to kill Hudson because he had been fired by the Carter Group.

He lost his job in his middle age and was rejected everywhere.

He went mad, followed Hudson's father Fred back, and hit Hudson with his car that afternoon.

That was why Margot recognized me as her goddaughter.

I could live in Carter Mansion for the rest of my life.

...

My cell phone suddenly rang.

Speak of the devil. It was Margot.

"Claire, where are you?"

Before I could finish editing the text message, she interrupted me.

Her tone was anxious.

"Oh, I forgot that you can't speak."

"I don't know where Hudson is now. Keep an eye on him for me."

"What's wrong with Freya? I'll never allow her to marry my son."

"There are photos of them together. Claire, you're very close to him. Please talk some sense into him."

She kept talking without giving me a chance to speak.

Even after I hung up the phone, she had not thought of asking about my situation.

However, this happened all the time.

Sometimes, I thought that even if my mother hadn't been killed because of him, Margot might also keep me and my mother at her house.

...

There was no other reason. In Margot's eyes, I was Hudson's sidekick.

I could keep an eye on him every day.

And because I was mute, she didn't have to worry that he would fall in love with me.

The next second, the photo mentioned by Margot was sent to my phone.

At the same time, there was another piece of news.

"They're at the beach now. Claire, hurry there. I don't like Freya."

In fact, even without Margot's request, I would still follow Hudson.

She really got the right person.

I endured the intense discomfort at the gate of the hospital and hailed a taxi to go to the seaside.

On the beach, many couples were holding hands intimately.

But no matter how hard I tried, there was no sign of Hudson.

A gust of wind blew and I shivered.

My allergy had not subsided yet, and I felt dizzy.

I probably had a fever.

Before I left, I looked around again, but I still didn't see them.

I could only give up.

Unexpectedly, I turned around and my head was spinning.

And I heard someone say, "Be careful."

Then, I fell into the arms of a strange man.

Against the sunlight, I couldn't even see his face clearly.

"Are you all right?"