Chapter 1
Sylvie Clarke realized she was just the villainess in a story on the day she died in the middle of a bitter winter. As death closed in, her short 26 years flashed before her like a movie reel.
When she was seven, she met Soren Parker for the first time and was instantly drawn to him. He was her handsome yet aloof childhood friend.
At 15, she followed him around like a shadow, but his indifference toward her never changed.
At 18, the Parker family went bankrupt. Soren’s parents, Rodney Parker and Joyce Fanning, jumped to their deaths. The once-promising Soren, now crushed by overwhelming debt, lost everything.
Sylvie found Soren at the bar where he was working to pay off his debts. She cleared his balance and made him sign a financial agreement that turned him into her kept man.
“You’re mine starting today,” she told him. “You’ll never leave me for the rest of your life.”
By the time Soren turned 22, he’d fought his way back to the top, rising to the highest ranks of global wealth. But just then, he fell for Zoe Lasky, an intern with nothing but her fierce determination.
He tried to buy his way out, offering Sylvie ten times the original amount he’d owed. All he wanted was to break free from the toxic relationship and start over with Zoe.
Soren upped his offer again and again, but Sylvie wouldn’t budge. Her answer never changed. “You promised me a lifetime. I won’t settle for even a second less.”
When Zoe turned 25, heartbreak sent her fleeing overseas. But her plane crashed in a tragic accident, and her remains were never found.
Devastated by the loss of his beloved, Soren sought revenge. He systematically destroyed every company under Clarke Group, driving Sylvie’s parents, Larry Clarke and Carolyn Warner, to take their own lives.
At the age of 26, after enduring a year of Soren’s relentless torment, Sylvie met her end. Snow covered her lifeless body, and in her last moments before darkness swallowed her, she saw the impossible.
Zoe was alive after all, weeping as she ran into Soren’s arms. “Soren, I survived! The plane fell into the ocean, but I was rescued… It took me so long to find you…”
Meanwhile, a cold, mechanical voice echoed in Sylvie’s mind. “Soren and Zoe are the chosen leads of this story, Sylvie. You exist solely as a plot device, a villainess meant to drive the story forward.
“You were claiming what was never yours to take. Your time is up. Countdown initiated. Ten, nine…”
Those seconds dragged on forever, each heavy with the weight of a lifetime.
When Sylvie’s eyes fluttered open again, she came to a startling realization—she hadn’t reached the end of her story after all. She’d been given a second chance at life!
Roy Harding, Soren’s assistant, stood before her, sliding a bank card across the table with a detached professionalism.
“Ms. Clarke, this is my third visit as Mr. Parker’s representative to discuss terminating the financial agreement. Mr. Parker has significantly increased his offer. You would receive five billion dollars for releasing him from your agreement…”
His flat delivery slowly cut through the fog of confusion in Sylvie’s mind. The memory of that cold, mechanical voice before her death made her shiver uncontrollably.
Had she traveled back three years in time?
Roy had delivered the message exactly as instructed. Noticing Sylvie’s stunned expression, he braced himself for yet another rejection.
As he leaned down to gather the items from the table and leave, she suddenly placed her hand over his. “I accept the terms.”
Roy’s eyes widened in shock at her response, his voice betraying surprise. “You’re willing to terminate the agreement and let Mr. Parker go?”
Sylvie signed the papers confidently. Then, she took the bank card and slipped it into her pocket.
Once Roy had left, her hands began to shake while unshed tears glistened in her eyes. She immediately reached for her phone to call Larry and Carolyn.
“Mom, Dad, you need to apply for permanent residency abroad right away and transfer all assets under your names overseas. I’m moving us out of the country for good.”
Larry and Carolyn froze at her abrupt demand. “What’s wrong, Sylvie? Did something happen?”
Sylvie didn’t know how to explain her rebirth and was desperate. She quickly came up with an excuse and said, “I had a nightmare last night. I dreamed that our family would be ruined if we stayed in the country, and we’d die with nowhere to be buried.”
Larry and Carolyn couldn’t make sense of her reasoning, so they tried to talk her out of it. But Sylvie kept insisting on moving abroad and even started crying.
Since Larry and Carolyn had always indulged her, they eventually gave in. After the call ended, Sylvie wiped away her tears, and the heavy weight in her chest finally lifted.
Yet the very next moment, Soren, who had been missing for a long time, pushed the door open. When he saw her tear-streaked face, his expression turned cold.
“You still haven’t signed it? I admit that breaking the agreement is my fault, but five billion dollars is more than enough compensation. What else could you possibly be unhappy with?”
Sylvie froze momentarily when she heard his steely tone.
It hit her suddenly. Roy must not have told Soren she’d already agreed to terminate their financial agreement. That explained why Soren still thought she hadn’t signed the papers.
She wanted to explain, but he cut her off mid-breath. Scowling, he seized her wrist and yanked her through the doorway.
“You’re coming with me,” he said.
The car sped through the streets until it reached a hospital. Sylvie was dragged to the emergency room doors. There, she heard a doctor speaking gravely.
“Mr. Parker, we’re ready to begin Ms. Lasky’s kidney transplant surgery.”
Suddenly, everything came flooding back to Sylvie. In her previous life, she’d been in a car crash that injured her kidney, forcing her to undergo emergency surgery.
At that time, Soren hadn’t even visited her once—the memory was so painful, it was still fresh in her mind. But none of this mattered to her now.
Why had Soren brought her here?
Sylvie suddenly shuddered, as if struck by some thought. “Did you bring me here to make me donate a kidney to her?”
Soren glanced at her and said flatly, “Not yours, mine.”
“Yours?” Sylvie’s shock deepened.
His attention moved to the fragile form behind the operating room window. “The accident destroyed Zoe’s kidney. I’m a compatible donor.”
Sylvie had already decided to leave him behind, but upon discovering he’d go to such extremes for Zoe, she still felt like a knife was twisting in her chest.
“Do you actually… love her that much?”
“Absolutely. That’s why you’re here. You’ll stay where I can see you. No funny business while Zoe’s fighting for her life!”
With a quick gesture, he motioned for his security team to hold Sylvie back. Then, he changed into a hospital gown and walked into the operating room by himself.
The status light turned red as the surgery began. Sylvie sat numbly in her chair, waves of dull pain throbbing through her chest.
A group of nurses walked by arm in arm, chatting about the hit TV show everyone had been talking about.
“That villainess was pure evil. Losing everything and having a mental breakdown was exactly what she deserved. How could she not see the main characters were meant to be together?”
Sylvie listened without a word, her lips curling into a faint, bitter smile. The main characters were always supposed to end up together. That was how these stories usually went.
And that was exactly why she was determined to take control of her own future in this new life she’d been given. She was done playing the villainess and refused to be just a side character in someone else’s story!
