Chapter 1

What are you supposed to do when you're forced into a billionaire romance script with your sworn nemesis?

On live television, my bitter rival wraps his arm around me, calling me his sweet little wifey with every breath, and even throws down threats at my former first love.

Buried against his chest, I looked dead inside.

Under my ex’s completely shell-shocked gaze, the two of us were catapulted to the top of the trending topics.

Yet nobody bought that we were genuinely a couple.

I mean, come on, does really no one believe pure love can bloom between sworn enemies?

Jaxon and I were notorious industry rivals.

He’d comment on my selfies claiming I warped the doorframe with Photoshop, and I’d comment on his workout videos telling him not to push so hard if his stamina was that weak.

"Harper."

It wasn't until Jaxon ground out my name through clenched teeth across the table that my mind snapped back to reality.

We had been forcefully bound by an overbearing-billionaire-and-his-pampered-wife system.

Because of our terrible relationship, the system had linked our minds together.

Put simply, we could read each other's thoughts.

However, Jaxon and I had unanimously decided to slack off completely and ignore whatever the hell the system wanted.

"Will the hosts please call the waiter over to settle the bill," a pair of childish, robotic voices chirped simultaneously in our minds.

Jaxon took out his phone and opened PayPal.

The system's voice chimed in out of nowhere:

"Jaxon, pay the bill using your Centurion Black Card, and say to Harper: 'Little creature, you see this? It's a black card with no limit...'"

Jaxon pretended not to hear it, stubbornly continuing to scan the payment code.

Suddenly, lightning cracked and thunder roared outside. "If you refuse the quest, you will both be instantly obliterated!"

Damn it, how could such sweet, cute voices spit such horrific threats?

I saw a muscle twitch in Jaxon's temple. He put his phone away, slammed his hands on the table, and abruptly shot to his feet under the server's utterly bewildered gaze.

Moving like a glitching robot, Jaxon pulled a gold-trimmed black card from his pocket and handed it to the server.

"Little creature, you see this? It's a black card with no limit."

Spurred on by the unrelenting system prompts in his head, he turned toward me, his jaw clenching so hard it looked painful.

"As long as you submit to me... all of this... all of this will be yours."

God only knows how hilarious his beet-red face and the waiter's dropped jaw were!

Schadenfreude comes with a price. The very next second, the sweet female system voice purred out my mission.

Screw it. I stood up, caught Jaxon's hand, and threw myself into his arms.

"Oh wow, you're so amazing, babe! I love you so much!"

The instant the waiter stepped away, I dropped Jaxon's hand like a piece of burning garbage, and Jaxon furiously scrubbed at his palm with a scowl.

When we walked out of the café, the sky had already cleared up.

"Congratulations to both hosts for completing your first quest!

The reward for completing this quest is securing mentor seats on the hit music competition show, The Perfect Pitch."

"The massive smash-hit show produced by Hugo Hill?"

I was pretty shocked. After all, neither Jaxon nor I were top-tier industry legends yet; we were just established mainstream singers.

"Correct! And there will be wonderful rewards every time you finish a quest!" For the first time, that cutesy voice sounded like angelic music.

Our phones buzzed at the exact same moment. The frantic, ecstatic voices of our managers proved this wasn't some sick joke.

"Might as well take what we can get. Only an idiot turns down free perks. Jaxon, whatever happened between us in the past, let's call a temporary truce for the upcoming gig. Deal?" I extended a hand toward him.

Jaxon looked a bit awkward, but he reached out and shook it. "Deal."