Chapter 1

The party was loud, the music so strong it vibrated through the floor. Everyone at Vance Architecture was celebrating the firm's biggest project win in a decade. Ethan Vance, my husband and the CEO, stood in the center of the room, a glass of champagne in his hand. He was smiling, but the smile wasn't for me. It was for Sophia Miller, who stood so close to him they were almost touching.

She was beautiful, just like in the photos he kept. She had just returned to the city last week, and it felt like she had never left. It felt like I was the one who didn't belong.

He raised his glass, and the room went quiet. "To Sophia," he said, his voice warm and full of a feeling I had never heard him use for me. "For coming back. The firm wasn't the same without you."

Everyone cheered. I stood by the wall, holding a glass of juice I hadn't touched. No one looked at me. It was like I was invisible. In this moment, watching him look at her, I knew it was over. Not just our marriage, but my entire effort here. I was done. I decided to leave this world.

A quiet, mechanical voice sounded inside my head, a voice only I could hear. [Host, your mission completion is at 99%. Are you certain you wish to terminate the task? The final 1% is within reach.]

It was the System.

I didn't answer out loud. My thoughts were enough. Yes, I'm certain.

[Termination is an irreversible process,] the System stated, its tone flat and without emotion. [Abandoning the mission at this stage is illogical. Please reconsider.]

There's nothing to reconsider, I thought back, my eyes still fixed on Ethan. He laughed at something Sophia whispered in his ear, his hand gently resting on the small of her back. It was a casual, intimate touch he had never given me.

You say it's 99%, but that last 1% is a canyon I can never cross. He doesn't love me. He loves her. All this time, he was just loving her through me. My effort was a joke. Every smile I gave him, every late night I spent helping him with his work, every time I thought we were getting closer, it was all for nothing. I was just a placeholder.

[Understood. Processing request for termination. A 30-day buffer period has been initiated. You may leave this world at any time within this period. After 30 days, termination will be automatic.]

The System's voice faded. The noise of the party returned, but it sounded far away. My mind drifted back to the beginning, to the day I arrived in this world.

I wasn't Chloe Davis originally. I was a soul from another reality, given a chance by the System. My task was to win the 100% affection of a target to have my greatest wish granted: to go back to my real home, healthy and whole, to my real parents.

My first mission target in this world was my adoptive family, the Davises. The original Chloe Davis had been their daughter. I thought winning a family's love would be easy. I was wrong. They were cruel. They saw me as a tool, a way to make connections. When I didn't perform as they wanted, they locked me in the basement. They didn't feed me for days.

One night, after a particularly bad beating, I escaped. I ran until I couldn't run anymore and collapsed in an alley, cold and bleeding. That's where Ethan Vance found me. He was like a hero from a movie. He gently lifted me up, wrapped me in his expensive coat, and took me to the hospital.

He paid for everything. He found me a place to live. He visited me every day, bringing me food and books. He listened to me. He told me I was strong and talented. He looked at me with such gentleness, and I felt a warmth I had never known in this world.

He told me I looked just like someone he used to know, someone he had lost. At the time, I thought it was just a sad coincidence.

He encouraged my passion for architecture and offered me a job at his prestigious firm. He became my mentor, my friend, my entire world. One evening, after we closed a major deal, he took me to the top of the skyscraper we had designed together.

"Chloe," he said, his voice serious as he took my hands. "I know you look like her. At first, that's all I saw. But it's not like that anymore. I've fallen in love with you. With Chloe."

He got down on one knee and proposed. I cried. I believed every word. I truly believed he loved me for me. I was so sure. I went into the System and officially changed my mission target from my abusive adoptive family to him.

The progress bar jumped instantly to 80%. Over the next five years of our marriage, it slowly climbed. 90%. 95%. Then 99%. It stayed there for a whole year, never moving. I didn't understand why.

Then, last week, Sophia returned. And last night, I got my answer. I couldn't sleep and went to his study to get a book. I heard him on the phone, his voice low. It was with his best friend.

"I don't know what to do," Ethan was saying. "Sophia's back. Seeing her... it changes everything." There was a pause. "Chloe? She's been a great wife. But she was always a substitute, you know? She looks so much like her. It was a way to cope. I never thought Sophia would actually come back."

My world shattered. A substitute. Five years of my life, my love, my devotion... all because I looked like another woman. The 99% wasn't for me. It was for a ghost he saw when he looked at my face.

The party music swelled again. I put my untouched juice glass down on a nearby table and walked towards the exit, not looking back. I didn't need to. I already knew he wouldn't notice I was gone.