Chapter 1

On the day my husband welcomed another woman into our home, my sons stood beside her—and watched me fall into the river without stopping me.

For eighteen years, I held this family together.

I changed a man’s fate, raised children not born of my body, and sacrificed everything to keep them from destruction.

Yet the moment she returned, my devotion became a crime, and I was cast as the villain who deserved to disappear.

When everything finally collapsed, the System told me I was allowed to leave this world.

I leaned forward, letting myself fall into the icy, bone-chilling river.

I was a strategist, tasked with saving the antagonist and his family from tearing themselves apart over the heroine.

What was tragic was that once the original male lead was gone, my husband and sons were eager to bring the widowed heroine into our home.

The System's voice chimed in: [Master, the mission has failed. Once your physical body in this alternate universe perishes, your real-world body will awaken. However, your time there is running short. Are you sure you want to leave here?]

I nodded slightly. With the little time remaining, I just wanted to spend it with my family and friends.

But the expected suffocation didn't come. A strong hand grabbed my arm from behind and pulled me up.

"What are you doing? Today is Sister Serena's special day, and you're pulling this stunt?"

I turned around to see my stepson, Ethan, panting heavily, his bright eyes aflame with anger.

He was one of my targets in this world and later became the most fervent antagonist in the story.

He would become obsessed with the heroine, turn against his family, and ultimately become someone everyone shunned.

When I became Victor's second wife, Ethan was just six years old.

His birth mother had passed away, and his father was always busy with work. As a child, he caused trouble in the streets, seeking attention but often ending up bullied.

I brought him home, cleaned him up, and planned his future.

Ethan wasn't interested in studying, so I encouraged him, saying a man could achieve great things in business.

For the first time, young Ethan had a dream. His eyes reddened, and he asked, "Can I call you Mom? They all laugh at me for not having a Mom, saying I'm a wild child..."

With my permission, he hugged me gently.

"Mom, when I grow up and make a lot of money, the first thing I'll do is buy you a big house and give you a good life."

But when he actually achieved his dream, his first request was to make Serena his new mom.

He stopped calling me Mom. He even hated me because Serena said it was my fault she got kidnapped by bad people and couldn't come back to see him.

The handsome young man in front of me overlapped with the child who used to call me Mom, but his eyes were now filled with coldness.

"Stop pretending. You're just trying to get our attention, right? If you really wanted to die, why choose the road where I'd be coming home from work, perfectly timed?"

I was speechless. I just wanted to find a not-too-ugly way to leave, in a place with a nice view. I never expected to run into Ethan.

Seeing that I didn't reply, Ethan mocked, "If you really want to die, find a place further away. Sister Serena loves this river. She takes walks here when the weather's nice, so don't..."

He suddenly stopped.

I quickly dashed to the other end of the broken bridge and jumped off.

Serena likes this river, right?

Then I hope she never comes here again. Every time she does, I hate it more.