Chapter 1

After failing to win Bryce's heart ninety-nine times, I finally gave up.

When he wanted to spend our fifth wedding anniversary on vacation with Kendra, I let him go.

When he asked for a divorce to give Kendra the status of his lawful wife, I signed the papers without hesitation.

Even when he wanted to take away the newborn daughter I had nearly died delivering and hand her over to Kendra, I simply nodded.

Seeing how pale I was, Bryce knelt beside my hospital bed, his voice gentle and soothing.

"Kendra is terminally ill and infertile," he whispered. "Her biggest dream in this life is to build a family with me."

"Don't worry. Once she passes away, I'll remarry you immediately. We will be a happy family again."

He didn't know that we had no future left.

I had already abandoned my mission.

In three days, the system would wipe my existence from this world, and I would leave forever.

Seeing my silence, he tightened his grip on my hand, his eyes full of concern.

"Avery, why aren't you saying anything? Are you in pain?"

"Are you blaming me for letting Kendra raise the baby?"

"The baby is still small. Once Kendra is gone, we'll remarry and raise her together. She will still know you're her mother, and our lives will go back to the way they were."

Remembering my daughter's faint cries, I gripped the blanket beneath the sheets, refusing to let my tears fall.

What did our past look like?

During our five years of marriage, I went to prenatal checkups all alone while he was busy helping Kendra care for her newborn puppies at the vet.

When I was in labor for over ten hours, the nurses called him dozens of times. When he finally arrived, he only gave me a quick, careless pat before stepping outside to answer Kendra's call.

Whenever Kendra and I were in the same room, he always assumed I was trying to harm her.

When Kendra broke out in a rash, he publicly demanded to know what I had slipped into her drink.

When Kendra fainted at a party, he accused me of trying to kill her.

When I kindly handed her a glass of water, he was convinced I had poisoned it.

I had endured all of it.

The system had promised me a massive cash reward if I succeeded in winning his love, enough to start a wealthy, peaceful life back home.

Yet I had failed ninety-nine times.

In those ninety-nine lifetimes, I had played every role: the gentle wife, the mysterious siren, the doting partner, even altering my own style to mimic Kendra.

Every time he was on the verge of falling for me, Kendra would appear. And as the destined male lead, he would instantly fall for her at first sight.

No matter what I did, I remained the villainous wife in his eyes.

So in this hundredth cycle, I had carefully avoided crossing paths with Kendra.

Yet their fate was like reinforced steel. Without my knowledge, they fell in love all over again.

I had never even met Kendra in this life, but because Bryce shared the lunch I packed for him with her, he blamed me when she fell ill.

Under the guise of making amends for my supposed sins, he claimed every wish of Kendra's had to be granted.

I went through hell to find proof that Kendra was faking her illness, but he tossed the evidence into the fireplace without a second thought.

He sighed, looking down at me with cold pity.

"Avery, do you really think I would believe fabricated evidence?"

"Be a good girl and don't pull stunts like this again."

At that moment, my heart turned to ash.

He simply refused to see the truth because he was desperate to be with Kendra.