**Chapter 1**
Everyone knew Liam Henderson adored me more than life itself.
He would turn down every woman who tried to get close to him.
He named his new jewelry collection after me.
He’d faced severe consequences from his family, nearly losing his inheritance and status, all because he feared me enduring the pain of childbirth.
Yet, this man, who loved me so fiercely, ended up in bed with his best friend’s sister.
After countless times he broke his promises to me for her, I decided to leave.
“System, I’m the daughter of Host 12138. I request to leave this world.”
It was a cold winter night, the fire in the fireplace roaring, casting dancing shadows on the white wall.
I stared at the swirling snowflakes, slowly took off the simple silver necklace from my neck, and spoke softly.
Moments later, a cold, mechanical voice abruptly echoed in the quiet bedroom.
“Received. System is processing. You will be removed from this world in 15 days.”
The instant the words faded, I realized the necklace in my palm had vanished into thin air.
At the same time, the TV began broadcasting an interview with Liam Henderson.
“The new jewelry collection being launched today is named ‘Love Aurora,’ Mr. Henderson. Does it have any special meaning?”
Hearing the host’s question, Liam, the main guest, showed an extremely gentle smile, his eyes filled with warmth.
“Aurora is my wife’s name. The meaning behind this collection name is simple: I will love her for a lifetime.”
The host, caught off guard by such a loving declaration, couldn’t hide her flirty smile.
“I hear from online news that you and your wife were each other’s first loves, and you got married as soon as you were old enough. Five years into your marriage, your relationship is still so stable and sweet. Do you have any relationship secrets?”
“Secrets? Well, perhaps it’s listening to my wife in everything, always replying to her messages instantly, preparing surprises for her every day…”
Liam’s series of relationship tips drew envious cheers from the studio audience.
“Oh my god, I wish heaven would grant me such a dominant and devoted boyfriend!”
“Liam Henderson is one in a million. When will it be my turn to be Mrs. Henderson!”
Listening to the endless exclamations below, Liam’s eyes curved into a smile, his voice soft. “Sorry, Liam Henderson belongs only to Aurora.”
A wave of thunderous applause erupted as the interview drew to a close.
Watching Liam’s figure gradually blur and recede, I turned off the TV, a sarcastic smile twisting my lips.
Liam Henderson belongs only to Aurora?
Perhaps in the past, that was true.
After all, we grew up together as childhood sweethearts, started dating at fifteen, and married at twenty-two. Our love story began in school and led all the way to the altar.
Everyone around me envied me for finding such a faithful and devoted partner.
He would fill his Ins feed with my photos, actively keeping his distance from all other women.
He spared no expense, arranging a spectacular fireworks display that lit up the entire city for our wedding, just to declare to the world that he had married the girl he loved most.
When I was diagnosed with kidney failure, he didn’t hesitate to donate his kidney to me, simply because if I died, he wouldn’t want to live either.
Seven years of dating, five years of marriage – he truly hadn’t broken the vows he made when he proposed.
But what did it matter now?
People change.
My father was like that, and Liam, he’s no different.
My father, Richard, at twenty-seven, betrayed my mother, getting involved with his secretary, causing my mother to lose heart and completely leave this world.
Liam, at twenty-six, similarly betrayed me, secretly taking his best friend’s sister as his mistress behind my back.
The exact same script, playing out again more than twenty years later.
And this time, I made the same choice as my mother.
If he betrays me, I disappear!
I touched my empty neck, suddenly remembering what my mother told me before she left.
“Aurora, Mom isn’t from this world. I came here to complete a mission, and now that it’s done, and your father has betrayed me, Mom has to go home. Before I leave, I’m giving you this necklace. Whenever you feel unhappy, use it to summon the System and leave this world forever, to be with me.”
Leave this world forever?
Just as I wished.
I gave a soft laugh, slowly took off my wedding ring, and tossed it into the fireplace.
The moment I closed the door, a soft click came from behind.
Liam, covered in wind and snow, pushed the door open, carrying a bouquet of vibrant red roses, a smiling gesture as he handed them to me.
“Aurora, I was late coming back from the meeting today. I’m sorry to make you wait so long for me.”
I received such beautiful flowers every day.
But today’s bouquet had an unusually strong scent, as if trying to conceal something.
I placed the flowers on the table and then caught a whiff of the strong perfume on him.
So, it was to cover up her scent.
I suppressed the pain in my chest, looked up, and saw the faint red mark on his collar.
My tears had already run dry, so this time, I only glanced at it before looking away, speaking calmly.
“It’s fine. From now on, you can come back whenever you want. Or not at all. You don’t need to worry about my feelings.”
Just as he didn’t need to know that I only had fifteen days left in this world.
**Chapter 2**
Hearing me speak those words in such a flat tone, Liam’s heart suddenly pounded.
“Aurora, please don’t be angry with me. I promise I won’t come back late again. I swear, if you forgive me, I’ll do anything.”
It was the smallest of matters, yet he held me, pleading and coaxing, placing my slightest feelings above all else.
I didn’t understand why a man who loved me so terribly would also betray me.
But I had to endure this charade for another fifteen days, so I forced down the pain in my heart. “I’m really not angry. I just think you don’t need to prioritize my emotions so much.”
“How could I not prioritize them? I love you so much, Aurora. The whole world means nothing to me compared to you.” He smiled, continuing to whisper sweet nothings in my ear.
I said nothing, but Liam suddenly noticed my neck was bare.
“Aurora, where’s your necklace?”
He knew it was something my mother had left me before she disappeared, something I cherished and always wore, never taking it off.
My body stiffened slightly. I lowered my eyes, my voice barely a whisper. “It broke. I sent it in for repairs.”
Seeing my expression, Liam assumed my unhappiness today was because the necklace reminded me of my mother. He quickly offered words of comfort.
“It’ll be fixed, Aurora, don’t be sad. Your mother will come back to you too. Even though she vanished into thin air all these years, I’ve never given up searching for her. How could someone just disappear from this world for no reason? She must be hiding. Believe me, I’ll reunite you two.”
I forced a thin smile.
I would indeed be reunited with my mother very soon.
“How’s my father doing lately?”
Liam paused for a moment, then sighed softly. “Same as usual. He’s disoriented in the mental hospital, constantly muttering your mother’s name.”
“He deserved it.”
I uttered those three words, one by one.
Then I looked up at the person whose face had subtly changed.
“Liam, my mother and I are alike. On our wedding day, I told you: if your heart changes, I will also disappear, and you’ll never find me again…”
These words, falling on Liam’s ears, made his heart pound with increasing panic.
He didn’t want to hear any more, so he quickly pulled me into his arms, his tone firm.
“No, Aurora, I won’t betray you, and I won’t allow you to leave like your mother did.”
Hearing him make such a solemn promise again, my voice was calm. “What if that day truly comes?”
“That day will never come. Even if you were to vanish without a trace, I would search every corner of this world and beyond, stake everything I have, and I would find you.”
His words were like a declaration of fate, foretelling the future we were bound to confront.
I closed my eyes, my voice barely audible.
“I’ll be waiting for that day.”
Liam hadn’t heard clearly and asked something, his voice trembling.
I shook my head, broke free from his embrace, and turned into the bedroom.
“Nothing.”
Early the next morning, a knock on the door woke both Liam and me.
Opening the door, Chloe stood outside with her suitcase, her big, teary eyes instantly pleading.
“Brother Liam, there were rats in my apartment last night, and I was too scared to stay. Can I crash at your place for a few days?”
Liam rejected her without thinking. “No, Aurora doesn’t like strangers staying here. Go to a hotel.”
Chloe’s face immediately fell, and her eyes welled up.
“You won’t help me? If you don’t let me stay, I’ll tell my brother! You promised him you’d take good care of me! Aren’t you worried about me, a young girl alone in a hotel?”
Hearing this, Liam rubbed his temples. “Chloe, don’t be unreasonable!”
I sat nearby, quietly watching the two of them pretending to be mere siblings.
They had already done every intimate thing possible, yet they were still putting on this act in front of me.
Perhaps seeing that Liam wasn’t budging, Chloe immediately looked at me with a pitiful expression: “Sister Aurora, please let me stay for a few days. I promise I won’t cause any trouble.”
I looked up at her. “Fine. Make yourself at home.”
Hearing that, Chloe cheered, dragging her suitcase inside.
She didn’t stand on ceremony, walked right over to the dining table, and sat down, her eyes sparkling at the sandwiches on the table.
“Brother Liam, did you make all these? You’re so amazing!”
Liam slapped her eager hand away, moving the plate in front of me.
“If you want to eat, have the maid make something. What I make is only for Aurora.”
Chloe’s lips immediately drooped in a pout, and she lowered her head, walking silently into the kitchen.
I glanced at the breakfast on the table but didn’t touch it.
Liam noticed immediately. “Aurora, why aren’t you eating breakfast? Don’t you like what I made?”
I gently shook my head, coming up with a casual excuse.
“No, I just feel like having the croissants from ‘The Daily Crumb’ downtown.”
Liam immediately picked up his car keys and went to the entryway to change his shoes.
“I’ll go buy them right away.”
Chloe, who had just come out, heard this and quickly put down her plate, skipping after him.
“The food at home doesn’t suit my taste either. I want to eat out too.”
Watching their backs as they left, one after the other, I forced a bitter smile.
Half an hour passed, and Liam hadn’t returned.
I had a premonition. I took out my phone and accessed the dashcam footage.
The screen was still loading when a sultry gasp echoed in the quiet room.
“Brother Liam, easy… easy…”
In the cramped car, the two people who had been at odds moments ago were now naked, wrapped in each other’s arms.
Liam thrust his hips wildly, his eyes red-rimmed, fingers digging into Chloe’s soft, yielding waist. “How can you be satisfied if I don’t go harder, huh? It’s bad enough you shamelessly seduced my best friend, but now you brazenly move into my home? Just to cling to me?”
“I’m telling you! I don’t love you at all, you’re just a tool for my release. Aurora is my bottom line. If you dare make a scene about us in front of her, you’ll face the consequences.”
**Chapter 3**
The moment Liam finished speaking, Chloe’s sobbing began on the video.
“Yes, I was delusional. I knew you were married and only had eyes for Sister Aurora, but I still couldn’t give up, insisting on clinging to you, letting you torment me like this every day! Do you think I want this? If I didn’t like you so much, why would I degrade myself?”
Watching her cry, her face streaked with tears, Liam’s thrusting movements suddenly stiffened. Though his tone remained harsh, his actions softened slightly.
“Can’t take a single word? So fragile? Where’s all that fire you had when you were trying to seduce me? Didn’t you say you only wanted my body, not my heart?”
Chloe didn’t respond, instead crying even harder.
Liam, exasperated, finally leaned down and kissed away her tears one by one. “Alright, be good. What gift do you want? I’ll buy it for you.”
Chloe whimpered pitifully. “I… I want the necklace you bought for Sister Aurora, and the breakfast you just bought for her!”
Liam’s brow furrowed. “Choose something else.”
“Why not? I just want those.”
Seeing her pout again and start tearing up, Liam had no choice but to give in.
“Alright, you can have it. Anything you want, just don’t cry, okay? Be a good girl, let me kiss you.”
Though I already knew Liam had betrayed me, seeing this scene unfold, I was still ripped apart by pain.
My heart tightened, a sharp, suffocating ache that made me curl up, drenched in sweat.
I bit down hard on my lip, but couldn’t stop the choked sobs rising in my throat.
Liam,
Oh, Liam.
When we were fifteen, you stammered out a confession, saying I was the only girl who ever made your heart race.
When we were twenty-two, you knelt before me with a ring, promising to give all your love to me, and only me, for a lifetime.
Turns out your “lifetime” was only a few years.
My sharp fingernails pierced my skin, drawing blood.
But my knuckles kept pressing harder, deepening the wounds, as if only this could barely quell the bone-deep agony in my heart.
I sat stunned at the dining table, motionless.
Tears streamed down my face like rain.
I don’t know how long passed before my phone screen returned to normal.
A short while later, Liam, fully dressed, pushed open the door.
“Aurora, I’m back…”
His gentle voice cut off abruptly. Seeing my tear-streaked face, his heart lurched, and he rushed to my side.
“Aurora, why are you crying?”
I struggled to control my emotions, pulling out a tissue, my voice incredibly hoarse.
“It’s nothing. I just watched a really touching TV show and cried.”
Liam quickly took the tissue, gently wiping away my tears, his eyes filled with heartache.
“What show? It made you cry so much.”
“Do you want to see?”
Liam paused, then playfully ruffled my hair. “Sure, let me see. I’ll have someone take that show off the air later. How dare it make my sweet girl cry.”
As he spoke, he reached for my phone.
But just as his finger was about to tap the screen, I suddenly spoke. “Where are the croissants you bought?”
Liam’s movements froze for an instant, then he quickly embraced me, apologizing profusely.
“I’m so sorry, Aurora. They were all sold out by the time I got there, and the shop was closed. I’ll go buy them for you tomorrow, okay?”
No sooner had he spoken than Chloe walked in, carrying a bag, her face beaming with triumph as she held it up.
“I bought the very last croissant, Sister Aurora! Do you want me to give it to you?”
I said nothing, my gaze fixed on her neck.
The pure silver necklace Chloe was wearing looked very much like the one my mother had left me.
It seemed Liam had stayed up all night to find a similar one, planning to cheer me up.
But Chloe had simply used a little manipulation, a little pout, and he had given it to her.
Noticing my gaze, Chloe walked right up to me, pulling the necklace for me to admire, a cheerful smile on her face.
“Isn’t this necklace pretty? I just bought it. Sister Aurora, do you think it suits me?”
I stared at it for a long time, then laughed, tears streaming down my face.
“It suits you.”
With that, without looking at their expressions, I turned and went upstairs.
In the evening, I ate a light meal and returned to my room.
As soon as I sat down, I felt a cramping pain in my lower abdomen, as if it were filled with lead.
I felt weak, slumped onto the sofa, and cold sweat slowly seeped through my clothes, soon dampening my sweater.
Liam, who had followed me up, saw my pained expression. Knowing it was my period, he quickly went downstairs to make brown sugar water.
After feeding it to me spoonful by spoonful, he gave me some medicine and then rubbed his hands together to warm them, gently pressing them against my stomach.
He held me, wishing he could bear the pain for me, his eyes overflowing with heartache.
“My sweet girl, let’s not have children, okay? I can’t stand to see you in so much pain during your period. If you were to give birth, I can’t even imagine.”
I lifted my pale, paper-white face, looking at him quietly, my voice extremely weak.
“No children, what will your parents think?”
“I don’t care what they think! Nothing is more important than you! If they insist on forcing me, I’d rather leave the Henderson family and give up all my inheritance!” He declared, while passionately kissing my neck. “Aurora, I told you, in this life, you alone are not enough for me to spoil. You are my child, and I’ll spoil you for life.”
**Chapter 4**
Every word was sincere, utterly earnest.
I almost believed him.
But then I remembered the videos from this morning, and I felt nothing but mockery.
His love for me was clearly not fake, so why could he do something so deeply hurtful to me?
Tears streamed down my face. I buried half my face in the pillow, my consciousness growing hazy. Unbeknownst to me, I drifted off to sleep.
When I woke up again, it was already midnight.
I felt the space beside me and realized I was alone. I paused, then picked up a glass, planning to go downstairs for water.
But as soon as I left the bedroom, I heard faint creaking sounds from next door.
The study door was ajar. I tiptoed over and saw two figures entangled on the desk.
Chloe’s skin was pale as snow under the lamp. Her face was flushed, and she was panting softly, her fingers ceaselessly clawing at the tabletop.
“Brother Liam, isn’t… isn’t Sister on her period? You’re not with her, and you’re tormenting me again…”
“Shut up!”
Liam intentionally lowered his voice, but his movements didn’t stop.
This unexpected scene hit my chest like a heavy blow, making every breath a tearing agony.
Could he really not control himself? Every moment, he had to be with Chloe…
I looked away, no longer thinking of getting water. I stumbled back to my room.
Half an hour later, my bedroom door opened.
Liam, after showering, lay down beside me and pulled me into his arms again.
“Aurora, my sweet, your husband’s here. It won’t hurt anymore.”
I didn’t answer him.
I closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep.
But tears streamed down my cheeks, dampening my temples.
The person behind me, thinking I was asleep, continued to gently rub my lower abdomen.
I felt the burning warmth of his fingertips, and all my strength seemed to drain away, leaving only endless pain.
I counted down in my mind, over and over.
Only thirteen days left.
Just hold on, Aurora, only thirteen days, and you’ll have nothing more to do with this man.
During my period, Liam canceled all his work and stayed home with me.
Once I slowly recovered, he reluctantly let go of me and went to the company to handle the piled-up affairs.
After he left, I took my ID and went to the civil registry office to process the cancellation of my household registration.
The clerk looked surprised. “Miss, only deceased persons can apply for this service.”
I nodded. “I will be completely leaving this world in ten days. Please help me process it in advance.”
The clerk thought I had cancer, gave me a sympathetic look, and eventually processed it for me.
Holding the stamped documents, I sighed in relief, a smile of liberation on my face.
Soon, there would be no Aurora in this world.
And Liam would never find me!
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