Chapter 1

I woke up and found myself the heroine of a brutal romance novel.

The day I slashed my wrists, the male lead was picking up his idealized first love, Genevieve, who had just returned from overseas.

He sneered, "Didn't you say you'd put up with anything just to marry me? Can't even handle something this trivial?"

Genevieve purred, "He loves me. If you hadn't threatened his mother's life, he would never have been with you. It’s time to return what was mine."

His mother, Patricia, whose life I’d saved, coldly added, "Here's your money back. Can you please just let my son go? It's better for everyone if you two divorce."

But I wouldn't leave him.

Because he was about to die.

I woke up lying in a bathtub.

Blood was everywhere.

My phone was on speaker, and Julian’s angry voice blasted from it:

"I’m home. Where the hell are you? Is it fun constantly creating drama like this?"

I hung up, dialed 911, and the next time I woke, I was in a hospital room.

The doctor said, "Another five minutes, and we wouldn't have been able to save you. Luckily, your will to live is strong."

"Yeah, I know."

I had transmigrated into a dark romance novel.

The original heroine, Maya, had desperately loved Julian, but he never returned her feelings.

His constant emotional abuse had left her with severe depression and strong suicidal tendencies.

Tonight, Julian was throwing a lavish welcome-home party for his idealized first love, Genevieve.

Maya, pushed to her breaking point, had felt she couldn't take it anymore and called him to come home.

He was the one who had ignored her desperate plea for help.

Her life was supposed to end today.

But not anymore.

"Your phone kept ringing. The caller ID said 'Husband.' We notified your family, and he's on his way."

"Doesn’t matter. How's the baby?"

Maya had been pregnant when she tried to kill herself.

"The fetal heartbeat almost stopped, but fortunately, the baby's will to live is as strong as yours. For now, it’s out of danger. The detailed report will be ready soon."

"Thank you."

A while later, Julian, impeccably dressed in a suit, pushed open the door.

He took one look at my bandaged wrist and scowled, his handsome brows furrowed.

"Playing this game again? Maya, you try to kill yourself every other day. Why aren't you dead yet?"

"You're not dead, so I'm not in a hurry," I calmly looked at him. "I'll be sending you off first, Julian."

In the original novel, after Maya lost both her and the baby, Julian seemed to suddenly fall in love with her.

He was filled with belated regret.

All that belated, overflowing affection.

A year later, Julian died of stomach cancer.

A year. Not long. I could wait.

Julian had never heard such venomous words from Maya. He froze for a second.

"I just went to a reunion with an old friend. Is it really that big of a deal?"

His "old friend" was his idealized first love, Genevieve.

Of course, I didn't care.

"The desire to kill someone can't be hidden. Whatever you do, I want you dead. It has little to do with who you meet or what you do."

Julian shook his head in disbelief. "Maya, are you crazy? Constantly talking about dying, but don't drag others into it."

"What kind of talk is that? She's a depression patient. And you keep saying 'die.' How is that any different from attempted murder?"

The doctor scolded him, then softly said to me, "Here’s the report. The baby is fine. You two are incredibly lucky. Mother and child are both safe."

"You're pregnant?" Julian was stunned, then his face turned cold. "I told you I didn't want kids. I always used protection. What did you do to the condoms?"

"The best birth control is not to do it at all. Don't you know that basic fact? Or are you saying I deliberately forced myself on you? If so, go call the police. Accuse me of marital rape."

Maya had always been a gentle, quiet woman.

This was the first time Julian had seen her so sharp-tongued.

He was so furious he could barely speak. "...You're being unreasonable."

"Men who are terrible at arguing are boring. They’re useless beyond a pretty face, just annoying."

I pulled the covers over me and went to sleep, wondering what Maya ever saw in him.

Julian stared at my back. His phone rang, and I faintly heard Genevieve's voice:

"...Julian, I'm drunk. I don't know how to get to the hotel..."

Julian glanced at me. "It's not a good time tonight."

"It is. Go on, get lost," I interjected.

Julian was supposed to be with Genevieve tonight anyway.

And Maya was supposed to bleed out, slowly.

"Haven't you made enough of a scene?" Julian's voice was always laced with annoyance when he spoke to me.

"You're truly impossible to please. When I clung to you, you found me disgusting. Now that I don't want to see you, you stick to me like superglue. What, have you fallen for me?"

Julian glared at me, then stormed out, slamming the door.

A moment later, he brought in a bedside chair, set it next to me, and lay down without a word.