Chapter 1

The day Paige Prescott tried to force me to sign the divorce papers, a Death-Seeking System bound itself to my mind.

The system barked an order into my head: "Slap her across the face and tell her to get the hell out."

I stood there, trembling in terror.

Paige was ruthless and cold-blooded. If I dared stand in the way of her reunion with her first love, she would tear me apart until there was nothing left of me.

Then the system threatened me: "If you do not start courting death right now, you are going to die immediately."

Driven by sheer panic, I swung my hand and slapped her hard across the cheek.

Terrified of her wrath, I bolted out of the house the second my hand left her face.

Once I hit the street, the system ordered me to smash a police cruiser parked by the curb.

At that point, I was convinced the system was trying to get me killed.

Yet, after I shattered the cruiser's side mirror, I finally understood.

The life the system wanted to put on the line was never mine.

1

I stared at the police cruiser in front of me, completely in disbelief.

"I cannot smash this. That is a federal crime!"

The system's cold voice echoed in my head: "If you do not court death, you will die."

At first, I had not believed a single word it said.

Just half an hour ago, that robotic voice had suddenly appeared in my mind out of nowhere.

It told me that I was the tragic male lead in a twisted melodrama novel.

According to the plot, once Paige's first love, Felix Mercer, returned from abroad, I would be kicked out of the house penniless.

After enduring endless physical and psychological torture, forced blood donations, and organ theft, I would be beaten half to death by thugs and left to die in the gutter.

A cold shiver ran down my spine because Felix really had returned to the country last month.

Over the past four weeks, Paige had spent several nights away from home.

Whenever she looked at me, her mind wandered, and strange bottles of men's cologne began appearing in her jacket pockets.

She even started stepping outside to answer certain phone calls in secret.

I knew our hollow marriage had reached its bitter end.

Earlier today, Paige had tossed a divorce agreement in front of me.

"Felix refuses to see me these past few days. He says I am married, and he needs to keep his distance."

"You know how frail his health is. If no one takes care of him, something terrible will happen."

"Sign the papers, Logan."

I glanced down and saw that the agreement did not allocate a single cent of the marital assets to me.

All my savings had been drained years ago when I helped Paige rebuild her fallen business empire.

In recent years, she had banned me from working outside because she claimed my background was embarrassing. If she threw me out on the street, I would not even have money for dinner.

I had originally wanted to negotiate with her, but the system forced me to slap her instead.

Everyone in the city knew Paige was a cutthroat CEO who crushed anyone in her way. Slapping her truly felt like courting death.

The system's voice buzzed with urgency: "Smash it, now!"

Terrified that the gruesome storyline would come true, I grabbed a loose brick and hurled it at the cruiser's side mirror.

With a loud crash, the mirror snapped and hit the pavement.

The siren blared instantly, and three officers bolted out from the corner diner.

I immediately raised both hands, ready to surrender.

The lead officer gestured, and they hauled me straight into the precinct.

In the interrogation room, an officer reviewed my drug and alcohol panel.

"Zero alcohol, clean drug screen, completely sane. Why did you smash a squad car?"

"Do you have any idea you committed a crime?"

I recited the exact lines the system fed me: "Yes. It was deliberate. I knew exactly what I was doing."

The young female officer gave me an exhausted look.

"What is going on with you? A bad breakup?"

I answered honestly: "No. I am getting a divorce."

The officer cleared her throat. "Full restitution for the damages, a one-thousand-dollar fine, and ten days in county detention."

"Call a family member to post your bond, and do not pull this stunt again."

I pulled out several credit cards, but every single one was declined.

Paige was already cutting off my funds to teach me obedience.

The officer told me to call my family, but after dialing ten times, nobody picked up.

When I tried again, my number had been blocked.

The female officer picked up the landline and dialed Paige's number, but she was cut off the second she stated my name.

Paige's voice, once gentle years ago, was now cold enough to freeze blood: "Logan Pierce? Call me back when he is dead."

The officers in the room exchanged uneasy looks.

The female officer checked my background file and noticed the word printed under family history: Orphan.

Her expression softened with pity. "Take him to holding."

Those ten days in detention were not nearly as agonizing as I had imagined.

Following the daily routine kept me busy, leaving little time to dwell on Paige.

When they finally returned my personal belongings, my phone was flooded with dozens of missed calls from Paige and her executive assistant.

I dialed her back.

Paige's furious voice barked through the receiver: "Where the hell are you?"

"Where did you hide the confidential project files from my office desk?!"