To cover my mother's hospital expenses, I sold myself to a cold, self-restrained billionaire.

That night, the sheets were drenched and had to be changed three times. Used condom wrappers were scattered all over the floor.

Isaac Robinson nearly wore himself out on me.

On the day of our wedding, he suddenly called it off.

Why? Because the girl he'd cherished for ten years wanted to visit a haunted house.

He ordered me, "Go with us. Don't give anyone a reason to gossip.

"And by three o'clock tomorrow afternoon, you'll announce at the press conference that it was you who called off the wedding. I won't let Eloise get dragged through the mud."

I didn't cry or beg. I just nodded calmly.

He held Eloise close, shielding her carefully—then, without hesitation, pushed me out the door as if I meant nothing.

***

I panicked and ran toward the door, trying to find someone who could handle ghosts.

But turning a corner, I saw Isaac hugging Eloise.

I tried to run, but he caught me. He explained it to me for the first time.

"She's been terrified of ghosts since she was little."

I bit down on my tongue. The pain helped me hold back the tears of grievance.

After escaping death, he didn't ask if I was fine or even wonder if I'd been scared.

He just explained logically that leaving me behind made more sense.

Then, Eloise tugged on his sleeve and acted coquettishly.

"Izzie, I want her protective charm."

Isaac gently wiped my tears and said flatly, "Name your price."

After my father passed away, he left me three things.

Last year, Isaac let Eloise use my father's medical notes as a coaster.

Three months ago, a thank-you banner from one of my father's patients became a pee pad for her dog.

This charm was all I had left of him.

Isaac knew that.

"It's not for sale," I said, forcing the words out. My fingers trembled as I clutched my dress.

Isaac's face turned cold.

He looked annoyed, like he couldn't believe that the soft, obedient girl he was used to was suddenly standing up for herself.

"I'll give you 1.5 million. You know what happens when I get pissed."

I bit my lip hard, tears building up in my eyes.

Last year, at Eloise's birthday party, she made me strip in front of everyone, but I refused.

The result? My mother's ventilator was shut off for ten minutes. She nearly died.

Swallowing my reluctance, I gave in and took off the charm.

Isaac gave me a rare smile. "I'll be there with you tomorrow."

His presence at the press conference would help handle the media and dodge many awkward questions.

Eloise snorted coldly and yanked the charm from my hand.

The edge cut my palm, leaving blood on it.

"Raelynn Scott! You got blood on my stuff! Apologize!"

Isaac stared at me coldly, and I knew exactly what he expected.

I dropped to my knees and bowed, like I was hollow inside.

I couldn't risk being even a second late. My mother might get hurt.

"Is that enough?"

Suddenly, Isaac grabbed my chin and made me look at his eyes.

He swallowed, and his gaze darkened.

"Raelynn, is this your way of throwing a fit now?"

I lifted my pale, messy face and met his eyes head-on, refusing to back down.

I had feelings for Isaac.

He pulled me out of trouble, guided me through the messy world of power and fame, and even showed me how to read people during casual conversations.

But I resented him too.

He used my mother's life as leverage to bend me to his will, and he didn't hesitate to hurt her just to calm Eloise's rage.

He stole what mattered most to me and crushed whatever love I had left.

Still, I had no right to hate him.

He paid a million to buy a thousand days of my company and hired a doctor to treat my mother.

In a way, those extra days she lived were because of him.

In the end, I had no one to blame but myself for falling for a sugar daddy.

Fortunately, there were only three days left until the thousand-day deadline.

That gave me just enough reason to leave.

My tears finally fell, landing heavy on his fingertips.

Isaac abruptly shoved me away, like I had burned him.

I hit the ground hard, staring blankly at them as they left me behind.

Not long after, I was the only one left in the creepy haunted house.

The dim moonlight crept into the wrecked house, chilling and creepy, like it had claws ready to strike.

In the shadows, I spotted a weird, blurry figure standing off to the side.

"Who's there?!"

I never found out.

I blacked out from sheer terror.

While unconscious, I dreamed of the day I turned 24.

Isaac gave me a star.

He hugged me close and showed me how to fix the telescope's focus.

That night, I made a silent wish to the stars in my beloved's arms.

I hoped our love could last forever, just like those stars above us.

Soon, he asked me to marry him and said we'd be together forever.

Then, Eloise returned to America.

***

I regained consciousness the next morning.

Someone had changed me into a silky nightgown, placed a towel on my forehead, and left fever meds and water beside the bed.

It felt like someone had stayed by my side.

But I didn't have time to think about any of that.

I hurried to the press conference.

When I got there, the only one left was Isaac, and he looked furious.

"Isaac, I didn't mean to be late. I—"

He slapped me hard.

He let out a mocking laugh as he loosened his tie.

"Raelynn, don't forget—if it weren't for Eloise, you and your mom wouldn't have made it this far.

"You've got no right to be mad at her."

He was right.

I was a thief who took what wasn't mine.

If Eloise hadn't fought with him two years ago, he wouldn't have gone drinking and ended up in bed with me.

He wouldn't have stayed with me just to hurt the girl who went overseas.

I had no reason to expect him to choose me.

Holding my burning cheek, I picked myself up and dropped to my knees at his feet.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault. I deserve all this.

"Tell me what to do. I'll talk to every media outlet. I'll do whatever it takes—even sleep with their bosses.

"Please, Isaac. My mother is the only family I have. Please let her go..."

The room was dead silent. Only my desperate voice echoed back at me.

Isaac looked down at me, his expression unreadable.

"I sent the reporters up to the rooftop banquet hall.

"You go and fix this. This is your last shot."

A moment later, he let me wear a designer dress.

It was the Nightfall Butterfly—the one I lingered over at fashion week last month.

I bit my lip hard to hold back my tears.

He always did that.

Right when I was ready to give up, he'd toss me a bit of favor to keep me hooked.

That repetition hurt like hell.

But I always fell for it and couldn't bear to leave.

As soon as I stepped into the banquet hall, the crowd hit me with malicious looks and smug smirks.

I walked up to the podium, trembling.

When I saw the speech in front of me, my eyes widened.

I glanced toward Isaac, the man who once promised to shield me from harm.

But down in the crowd, he wasn't even looking. He had Eloise in his arms, whispering to her.

They looked like they were meant to be.

For a second, I dropped my gaze, forcing every emotion down.

One sentence at a time, I confessed to things I never even did.

"Yesterday, I ran away from my wedding.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let Ms. Leonard take the fall. Now she's facing all the heat meant for me.

"I shouldn't have lost control of my urges, gone to a haunted house, started livestreaming... stripping... and doing those things to myself..."

The reporters exploded. They stormed the stage, shouting in my face.

Their spit flew everywhere, and the smell of their breath nearly made me pass out.

"I seriously don't get what Mr. Robinson sees in someone like her! She's not even half of what Ms. Leonard is!"

"If I were him, I would've stripped her down and dragged her through the streets! I would have tossed her in the sea and killed her!"

The trending topic blew up.

The slanders comments toward me sat right at the top of the trending topics. My socials were drowning in insults.

My info got leaked, and everything I ever said or did was twisted into some new story.

In no time, I became the villain of the century.

I just kept my head down and let it all hit me.

Eventually, when people ran out of things to yell, they dispersed.

I peeled off that disgusting, wine-soaked, trash-covered dress and tossed it like garbage.

It never belonged to me anyway. Why keep it?

At the hospital, my mother was still unconscious.

I pulled out my phone to check the hospital transfer process.

Suddenly, the lights went out. I bolted from the ward.

"Doctor! Nurse! Someone help! The ventilator is down!"

But the corridor was dead silent. Only my voice echoed back at me.

I ran from floor to floor, looking desperately for someone.

At the nurse's station, two nurses were chatting casually.

"Can you believe it? Mr. Robinson used drones to put on a light show!"

"I heard the whole city's power got rerouted for that. Ms. Leonard is so lucky."

"Good thing we've got a backup generator. I need Wi-Fi!"

I slammed against the counter. "Where's the backup generator?!"

They looked at me like I was dirt.

"Oh, it's you? The power is out because of you!

"If you hadn't upset Ms. Leonard, Mr. Robinson wouldn't have gone all out to cheer her up.

"If your mother dies because of it, she has it coming!"

I didn't have time to argue. I shoved past them, grabbed the generator, and ran.

The box's sharp corners tore into my shoulder. Every step up the stairs left a trail of bloody footprints behind me.

By the time I made it to the 16th floor, I was coughing up blood.

But I was already too late.

My mother was barely holding on.

Her hand shook as she reached up to wipe my tears.

"Rae... don't cry... Stop saving me."

After she finished speaking, she was gone.

"No!"

I threw myself over her and started CPR.

As I counted compressions, my tears came pouring out.

"Mom, wake up... Please don't leave me alone..."

Morning came.

My lungs burned, and my shoulder was ripped open. I couldn't feel my hands anymore.

But even after every single one of her ribs had snapped under my palms, she didn't come back.

I was curled up next to her when Isaac barged in.

"Raelynn, I've been searching for you all night!"

He yanked me off the bed in a rage. But when he saw the blood-soaked sheets, he froze and let go.

My voice came out raw, broken, like some animal in pain.

"Get lost!"

Isaac signaled to the people behind him.

"Note the time of death. Get everything ready for the cremation."

I lunged toward my mother, but he caught my wrist and held on tightly.

"She's not gone!

"She's... just sleeping..."

They'd already covered her with a white sheet. The staff moved fast, wheeling her away from the ward.

Even though Isaac had cuffed my hands to a nearby rack, I used it to drag myself across the floor, refusing to stop.

The metal bent and twisted under the pressure, and my wrists ended up at awful angles.

But I didn't feel any of it.

All I could see was their backs as they took her away.

They took my mother.

Isaac's voice shook. "Are you trying to break your hands?!"

I dropped to the ground, my eyes burning red.

The doctors told me my mother was getting better. They said she might be released soon.

I finally decided to leave.

But if her death was already set in stone, what was the point of holding on for a thousand days?

"Isaac... my mom is gone..."

He tried to hug me. "Rae, you've still got me."

I sank my teeth into his shoulder until I could taste blood.

"I hate you, Isaac!

"You shut down the entire city's power! Did you forget she needed that machine to breathe?!"

His voice was a bit shaky as he clutched me even tighter.

"Rae, I'll arrange the best funeral for her."

The tears came quietly. I had no strength left.

Expecting anything from him had always been a mistake. It was my fault.

***

It rained on the day of the funeral.

A steady drizzle soaked the air, leaving behind a bone-deep chill.

Umbrella in hand, I walked up to my mother's crystal coffin. Her face looked calm, like she was caught in a happy dream.

It was the 1,000th day. The day she passed.

And also...

My phone suddenly buzzed. It was a scheduled message from my mother.

"Rae, I'm going to be with your dad.

"I couldn't stand watching you stuck by my side, drowning in hospital bills and sadness.

"My sweet girl, be free.

"Take that half-finished trip plan in your notes, grab the strength and bravery buried deep inside you, and carry our love and blessings with you.

"Happy birthday, Raelynn.

"May you always live wild and free."

My phone slipped from my hand.

I tried to bend down and pick it up, but my hands were shaking so badly I couldn't grip a thing.

"Rae, I swear I'll make this right," Isaac said softly, pulling me into his arms. "I'll make you happy."

I smelled the special magnolia scent on him that belonged to Eloise.

My voice came out rough and broken, soaked in grief.

"Yeah, I think that's what Mom would've wanted for me."

Isaac smiled. "Then marry me, Rae—"

"Let's break up, Isaac."

He froze for a while. His eyes tightened in shock.

"What did you say?"

Isaac gripped my arms hard, his fingers shaking slightly.

He was trying to keep it together, but the panic in him was obvious.

"Raelynn, that's not funny."

I replied softly, "Yeah, sorry."

He let out a breath of relief and wrapped his arms around me. "You freaked me out, Rae. I—"

Eloise's voice suddenly cut through the moment, soft and sweet.

"Izzie, my puppy is about to have her babies!"

She glanced over at the coffin and sneered.

"I wonder which poor soul gets reincarnated into one of them."

I snapped. Shoved out of Isaac's hold, I stepped forward and slapped her face.

"This slap is for disrespecting the dead and your elder!"

She covered her cheek in disbelief. "You—"

Isaac quickly stepped between us, his face darkening.

"You've gone too far, Raelynn. I guess I've indulged you too much."

At his signal, the staff came forward right away. They picked up my mother's coffin and began carrying it out.

"I was going to let you stay with her a little longer. But I don't see the point anymore."

And just like that, my mother's ashes were released into the wind.

Something snapped inside me.

I lunged forward, reaching helplessly into the air as if I could catch them.

But the wind was too strong. The rain poured too hard.

In seconds, she was gone completely.

I dropped into the mud, my eyes locked on the dull gray sky above.

Isaac had destroyed my mother's remains just to please Eloise.