Chapter 1

I was a 'strategist,' sent from another world. My mission? To make Serena, the second female lead of this story, fall in love with me – even though her heart already belonged to someone else.

Nine years. I poured every ounce of myself into our relationship, but she never truly loved me – not for a single moment.

It wasn't until I saw her, with my own eyes, snatching away my daughter’s ransom money just to save Julian’s son first, that my heart turned to ash. Any will to live simply drained from me.

I calmly accepted the System’s erasure.

But why was she losing her mind, the woman who never loved me?

“BOOM!”

A deafening explosion ripped through the air, followed by a pillar of fire shooting skyward.

My daughter’s tiny body was quickly engulfed by the inferno.

“No!” I shrieked, a gut-wrenching sound tearing from my throat.

When the firefighters finally pulled Lily out, there wasn’t a single piece of her skin left intact. She was a horrific sight, disfigured beyond recognition.

I crumpled to the ground, large, heavy tears streaming down my face.

Just moments before the kidnapper realized the police were there and detonated the bomb, Lily had been desperately screaming in his arms, “Mommy, don’t you want Lily anymore? Please, save me…!”

But Serena, her own mother, remained stone-faced. She simply turned her back, scooped up Julian’s son, and walked away.

My hands trembling, I fumbled for my phone and called Serena. It rang three times before she finally picked up.

Before I could even speak, her impatient voice snapped, “What is it? Spit it out, I’m busy taking care of Noah.”

The thought of our daughter lying dead while she coddled another man’s child ignited a firestorm of rage within me. I roared into the phone, “The kidnapper and Lily are dead! Our Lily is gone! She’s dead!”

“How dare you use *my* ransom money to save Julian’s son? Are you even Lily’s mother?!”

I had never spoken to Serena with such venom. The line went silent for a long moment before her voice returned.

“Leo! How dare you yell at me?! I already called the police, Lily couldn’t possibly be in trouble. Don’t use such ridiculous excuses just to get me to come home!”

“Now, stop wasting time and bring a bowl of chicken soup to the downtown hospital. Noah was startled, he needs something good to recover.”

Then, she hung up on me.

I scoffed, a bitter, self-deprecating laugh escaping my lips. My desperate pleas for her to see reason, my furious accusations – they fell on deaf ears. There was no reflection, no remorse.

Anything connected to Julian and his son, and Serena would drop everything.

I was a 'strategist' from another world, sent here to complete a mission: to make Serena, the story’s second female lead, fall in love with me.

According to the original plot, she was destined to love Julian, the male lead, her entire life.

Julian would marry her after returning to the country with the female lead's child, but once the female lead came back, he’d be in for a brutal battle to win her back.

Like most romance novels, the male and female leads would eventually live happily ever after.

Serena, however, was fated to be hit and killed by a large truck on her way to win Julian back.

I had changed the plot, marrying Serena while Julian was abroad.

The System never declared my mission a success. After Lily was born, it went into a long hibernation.

It wasn't until a year ago, when Julian returned, that the long-dormant System chimed back to life.

It warned me: if Serena didn't love me by the end of this final year, I would be erased.

I couldn’t help but feel how utterly I had failed.

All these years, Serena had never loved me.

After cremating Lily's body alone, I cradled the urn and made my way to the hospital.

I pushed open the door to find Serena fussing over Noah, meticulously wiping him down, then sitting by his bedside, peeling a pear.

That tender, doting expression was something Lily and I had longed for, day and night, but never received.

I walked closer, taking in Noah’s condition. Just a minor scrape.

Serena turned, saw me, and her gentle demeanor vanished instantly.

She shielded Noah like a protective mother bear, her eyes sharp and wary.

That small gesture sent a chill, colder than any winter, through my heart.

She snapped at me, “Are you deaf? I told you to bring a thermos with chicken soup. What are you doing carrying a box?”

Lily’s death had drained every ounce of strength from me. I couldn’t fight anymore. I just choked out, “Serena, let’s find a burial plot for Lily together, and lay her to rest properly.”

“Clang!”

Serena’s hand trembled, and the small knife clattered to the floor.