Chapter 1

After I became the love-obsessed heroine in a toxic romance novel, I decided to let it all go.

My husband, Jeffrey Riley, was a clueless CEO with a heart forever reserved for his "dream lover."

And me? I was the pitiful heroine who got trampled on in the first half of the story. I did all sorts of humiliating things out of blind devotion, only to be kicked out of the family and left to die in misery.

What garbage plot was that? I wanted a divorce.

I wanted to get rich, beautiful, and single.

But to my surprise, my husband refused to sign the divorce papers.

Instead, he started "turning over a new leaf".

Sorry, but his love was too late, and I didn't want it anymore.

So I went all in and gave myself several boyfriends, fully embracing my role as the master of the dating game.

1

It was the day Jeffrey returned from abroad.

He was a CEO and always bossy.

I even picked up that novel randomly.

If I'd known I'd end up part of the story, I would've chosen something a little more normal.

Now I had to be one character in the story.

The original female lead, Scarlett Crawford, in the story was so hopelessly love-obsessed. She loved Jeffrey so much that she lost all sense of reason. She did one ridiculous thing after another for him.

She devoted herself to him for four years, and he was still indifferent to her.

When his "dream lover" left the country, Scarlett finally got her chance to be the stand-in.

She was willing to live as someone else's shadow just to stay with Jeffrey.

Jeffrey, on the other hand, spent his days reminiscing about his dream lover while coldly mocking Scarlett. He reminded her that no matter how much she tried to imitate his lover, she couldn't even compare to a single strand of her hair.

In the third year of their marriage, Jeffrey's lover suddenly returned.

Jeffrey instantly became a hopelessly infatuated fool, while Scarlett spiraled into a series of dramatic meltdowns.

Eventually, Jeffrey had had enough and kicked her out of the family.

Scarlett was heartbroken and wandered the streets like dead meat until she died of hunger and cold.

In short, she gave everything and ended up with nothing.

When I read the story, my head ached so much that I wanted to reach into the book and wake up Scarlett.

But when I opened my eyes, I found myself inside the story and became Scarlett.

Damn it.

But there was no way I was following her path.

While Jeffrey was away on a business trip, I broke free and started living my best life. I sold everything in the house that could be sold and managed to scrape together enough money to live comfortably forever.

With my bank card safely tucked in my pocket, I finally felt safe.

So I could get divorced.

I could be free as long as Jeffrey came back.

2

I had everything planned out.

The moment Jeffrey walked through the door, he smirked at me with mockery and disdain. I then shed tears because of sorrow and despair. I told him that I would leave for love and asked for a divorce.

But what I didn't expect was for him to stride in and immediately pull me into a tight embrace.

He hugged me so tightly that I almost rolled my eyes from lack of oxygen and felt a sharp pain in my chest.

It hurt so much.

I couldn't take it anymore and slapped his back a few times. I said through gritted teeth, "Hey, pal, if you choke me to death, how are we supposed to get divorced?"

Maybe my words hit his nerve, and Jeffrey finally let go of me.

He stood there silently with a complicated expression. His dark eyes were heavy with unspoken emotions.

It was fine. I knew what he was thinking about.

He wanted to divorce me, but he didn't want to be the one who abandoned me.

It was fine. I could say it first.

I took a deep breath and was about to tell him I wanted to divorce him when Jeffrey said, "I love you, Scarlett."

I was shocked.

I seemed to have been struck by lightning and stood there still in a daze.

Under his warm gaze, I felt my face blush. I stammered, "You..."

Jeffrey gave a confident smile.

I took a deep breath again and said, "Are you out of your mind?"

He was really stupid.

And I would never be fooled around by him.