Chapter 1

A month before I was supposed to marry Caleb Grayson, I got an anonymous email.

It held a video of him and his assistant, Chloe, in a steamy embrace.

The boy who swore he’d love me forever was covered in kiss marks, his eyes hazy.

He looked straight into the camera, his voice cold. "Audrey Hayes? Ten years? I’m so over her."

I smashed the carefully chosen gifts. Then I jumped in my sports car, needing to blow off steam. But I crashed into a guardrail. Hard.

As I lay in the hospital, I saw Caleb standing outside my room, his face etched with pain. I was about to rip into him.

But then, a few lines of text floated before my eyes.

[System, you jerk! You said staying away from the side character would keep her safe, but she still got hurt!]

It hurt.

A searing pain tore through my whole body.

I curled up into a tight ball, my nails digging deep into my palms.

"Audrey, Audrey, I’m so sorry, please… just be okay."

Someone knelt by the bed, their fingers trembling as they brushed my sweat-soaked hair.

I tried hard to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt like lead.

Warm liquid dropped onto my cheek.

Through a hazy blur, I saw Caleb’s face.

His expressive eyes, usually twinkling with humor, were now bloodshot, looking like they were about to bleed. Tears streamed down his face.

I wanted to tell him to get lost, to stop pretending.

But in the end, before I could even speak, I slipped back into unconsciousness.

When I woke up again, it was two days later.

Caleb sat by my bed, his suit crumpled like an old rag.

His collar was loose, revealing a fresh scratch on his collarbone.

My nails. I’d done that.

"Stop playing dead."

My voice was hoarse.

"Had enough of your little act, Mr. Grayson?"

He snapped his head up, his eyes a stark, painful red.

I wanted to scoff, but then I saw a line of glowing text float above his head:

[Male lead’s heart pain value is at 99%! System warning: If he keeps crying, it will trigger forced hibernation!]

"What…?"

Before I could even process it, a torrent of messages flooded my vision:

[System, you jerk! You said staying away from the side character would keep her safe, but she still got hurt!]

[The male lead and his assistant are innocent! He hasn't even held her hand! That video was AI-generated to fool her!]

[Sweetheart, look at the male lead's phone! His screen saver is your 18th birthday photo!]

What system? What side character?

What the hell were these pop-ups in front of me?

I looked up at Caleb, wondering if he could see this bizarre display.

Caleb was watching me too, his eyes swirling with an emotion I couldn't understand.

[Sweetheart, the male lead truly loves you so much! He's like this because of this damn system.]

[The assistant is a system-controlled "conqueror." Her mission is to marry the male lead.]

[If the male lead marries you, sweetheart, you'll be erased on your wedding day. That's why he put on this act, to make you give up.]

[Waaaaah, my poor OTP! You worthless system, come out and get what's coming to you!!!]

The messages suddenly scrolled wildly, and my eyes widened in shock.

Oh my God, what was going on?

Had I hit my head in the crash and gone crazy?

"Ca-Caleb, can you see that?"

I stared intently at the endlessly scrolling messages above his head, my voice trembling with tension.

"See what, Audrey? What’s wrong with you?"

Caleb reached out to touch my forehead but froze midway.

The messages suddenly exploded into a blood-red warning:

[Sweetheart, you are the villainous side character, but the male lead defied the main plot and fell in love with you!]

[Every time he gets close to you, one year will be taken from both your lives.]

[Sweetheart, quickly pretend you hate the male lead. That's the only way to fool the system's monitor.]