Chapter 1

I spent ten years with the brooding, disabled Julian Thorne, pouring my heart into making him fall for me.

And I felt a deep pity for him.

So, when the system declared the mission a success, I didn't leave that world.

Instead, I used all my earned points to give him a healthy body. Julian believed it was a miracle. He started to thrive, and in just a few years, he became a rising star in the business world.

At the same time, the faint scent of other women's perfume started clinging to him.

I saw him kissing another woman at an exclusive club. When someone mentioned me, he sneered, "She's way out of my league now."

I turned away. "System, I want to leave this world."

The System replied, "But you don't have enough points."

"Then switch that healthy body back. I don't need it anymore."

I was stopped at the entrance of the elite club.

"Cassie, Mr. Thorne isn't here."

Marc Reynolds, Julian's loyal subordinate, kept his head down, not daring to meet my eyes. He knew how flimsy his lie was.

I looked at him calmly. "When you were at rock bottom, I was the one who gave you a way out."

Years ago, Marc had lost everything to a devastating con that wiped him out. Homeless and with nowhere to go, it was me who bought him a meal and introduced him to Julian's company.

He was capable, though, quickly becoming Julian's fiercely loyal dog within a few years.

Marc's face flushed crimson, and the hand blocking my path trembled slightly.

After a few seconds, he slowly lowered his arm. "Mr. Thorne's in the penthouse suite."

...

No one dared to stop me on the way up.

I stood outside the suite door, listening to the familiar voices inside, a complex knot of emotions tightening in my chest.

"Mr. Thorne secured that suburban project. He's a hot commodity in Veridian City now."

"Right? Don't forget to give us a leg up when the time comes, brother!"

Julian's voice remained lazy, unaffected by the fawning. "You're joking. I'm just an ordinary guy."

But he wasn't ordinary at all now.

In just five years, he'd transformed from a penniless nobody into a formidable presence in Veridian City's upper echelons, a highly sought-after business mogul.

He had the courage, the strategy, and the ruthlessness.

A woman's giggle drifted out. I looked up. Julian was leaning back, letting a glamorous woman light his cigarette.

They were incredibly close, the atmosphere thick with unspoken desire.

He let her lean in, leaving an intimate lip print on his neck.