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But now, Sophia was different—her social media accounts were pulling in serious cash.
Meanwhile, without my family's backing, the Millers' business kept going downhill.
It was only a matter of time before Sophia and Ethan split—I just didn't know exactly when.
After that little interruption, I dove back into work.
I kept reminding myself: this was my powerful female lead era. I couldn't get distracted.
Those two irrelevant side characters could destroy each other for all I cared.
But life doesn't always follow the script—maybe they were the mini-bosses I needed to defeat to level up.
I ended up witnessing Sophia's cheating in person.
I was at a resort hotel outside the city for a business meeting. On my way out, I saw Sophia walking arm-in-arm with some young guy into a hotel room.
I didn't see his face, but I knew it wasn't Ethan.
And I definitely didn't think they were there to talk.
I overheard two girls at the front desk gossiping: “That's her fifth or sixth guy in two months. Kinda jealous, not gonna lie.”
“Why? She's probably an escort—that's why she always has different ‘clients'.”
“No way. Those guys act like she's the boss. She's the one calling the shots. How does she have so much money? What does she even do?”
This was a golden opportunity dropped right in my lap. I couldn't waste it.
I leaned in like I was curious. “Oh, I know her. She's Sophia—that ‘pure love' influencer on TikTok. Her husband is disfigured and… well, not fully functional, but she stays by him. It's honestly moving.”
“You must have it wrong. Sophia loves him—she'd never betray their love.”
Then I opened the app and showed them Ethan's photos. They were horrified but kept watching.
In the videos, Ethan still tried to act loving, despite his scary appearance.
I poured it on: “I heard Sophia's account makes millions a year. But she deserves it—how many people are that devoted these days?”
I could see the jealousy flash in their eyes.
You can't motivate people with right and wrong anymore.
But if you tell them someone's getting rich by lying? They'll do anything to tear them down.
I mentally cheered them on: Don't let me down, girls.
They didn't. That same night, they posted exposé videos.
They revealed Sophia's fake persona. To make it believable, they included photos of her and the guy leaving the room together.
They even took pictures of the used condoms in their trash.
They also got hold of security footage showing Sophia checking in with different men recently.
Getting that footage meant they were all in. These girls had decided to use Sophia to boost their own fame.
If being an influencer paid so well, why shouldn't they try?
I paid to boost their videos, pushing the topic to trending.
Sophia stayed silent.
While people speculated that she was hiding because she'd been caught, an anonymous tip claimed she'd been spotted at a hospital—beaten black and blue.
She apparently said her husband did it.
A few days later, another source said they saw her at a police station.
She'd been arrested for trying to poison her husband.
He was still in critical condition.
Hearing that, I prayed Ethan would pull through.
Not because I cared—because death would be too easy for him.
Him living in misery? That's what I wanted.
I thought that was the end of it—until the police called me.
They said Sophia wanted to see me.
I didn't know why, but I'd never say no to watching her downfall.
I went.
When I saw Sophia, I was shocked. She didn't have visible injuries, but her expression was even more terrifying than Ethan's.
When she saw me, her blank stare turned to rage.
“Olivia, you're reborn too, aren't you? You were supposed to be the one who got hurt—not Ethan!”
“Once you were dead, your family's money would've been his. We could've been together forever. You ruined everything! If you die, maybe things will reset!”
So she was reborn too.
But I wasn't about to admit something that insane.
I played dumb. “Reset? What are you talking about? You mean back to the fire?”
Hearing that, she seemed to remember—in the timeline where I was injured, she didn't get a happy ending either.
Sophia completely lost it.
Not long after, I got news that Ethan's surgery was successful.
But the poison damaged his organs—his vocal cords were destroyed, so he'd never speak again. His esophagus was too damaged for him to eat normally.
He'd be confined to bed, too weak to ever get up.
I was satisfied with that outcome. It'd be perfect if he went blind and deaf too.
I looked up at the sky and yelled, “Thank you, universe! I'll make the most of this—I'm going to become the queen everyone admires
