Hailey stared straight at Lin Xin'er, her lips slowly curling into a cold, bitter smile.
"Well done," she said with biting sarcasm. "That performance? Truly Oscar-worthy. You were hoping to win their sympathy, weren't you? Play the helpless victim and make me—Hailey Hai—look like the jealous, violent monster."
Lin Xin'er's face flushed a bright red, whether from guilt or fury, it was hard to tell.
"You… You've gone too far!" she stammered, voice trembling. "You hit me without reason, and now you're accusing me again? You keep humiliating me like this—how could you be so cruel?!"
But Hailey wasn't done. Not even close.
Her smile widened with venom. "Cruel? You think that was cruel? Trust me, I can be so much worse. You want another slap? I'd be happy to oblige."
She raised her hand again, her fingers taut with rage.
"Hailey!"
A firm grip clamped around her wrist.
She turned to find herself face-to-face with Ethan Yu. His dark brows were drawn together in a thunderous frown. His voice was ice.
"What the hell is wrong with you today? I thought you'd changed. But I guess it's true what they say—some people never change."
Hailey slowly turned to him, her eyes glowing with hurt and scorn.
"You're right," she said, each word dipped in poison. "This is the real me. Vicious. Unreasonable. Irrational. Isn't that exactly what you believe? So go ahead. Protect her. She's soft, she's gentle, and she cries on cue. A real damsel in distress—just your type, right?"
He said nothing.
Hailey's expression darkened. "Then stay with her. Protect her for the rest of your life. I promise you, I won't stand in your way."
Her voice was resolute, like steel forged in heartbreak.
Ethan's jaw clenched. "Hailey, do you even hear yourself? You're not making any sense! You've changed so much, I barely even recognize you anymore!"
She laughed bitterly, her eyes glistening.
"Of course you don't. You never really knew me to begin with. You only saw what you wanted to see."
Then, without waiting for a reply, she yanked her wrist free and stormed away.
Didn't even look back.
"Hailey—!" Jo Ning called out, chasing after her, but Hailey was too fast, her steps too determined, like she was running from something that was eating her alive.
Hailey kept running.
She didn't know how long she ran or where she was going, but she couldn't stop.
When her legs finally gave out, she was in the middle of some unfamiliar street, cars zipping past like streaks of light. Her chest heaved, and tears silently began to fall. Hot. Endless. Burning.
She walked. Slowly. Aimlessly. Tears streaming down her cheeks.
For the first time since her rebirth, she cried like she had never cried before.
Not because she was afraid.
Not because she was hurt.
But because she finally realized how blind she had been.
In her past life, she thought the pain she suffered was her own fault. That everything—her broken marriage, her tragic death—was just the result of her being impulsive, naive, and reckless.
But now she saw the truth.
She died… for nothing.
She had been played. Manipulated. Broken down piece by piece.
And the one who orchestrated it all?
Lin Xin'er.
That woman had always worn a mask of kindness, but behind that mask was something terrifying. She knew how to pull the right strings. She took Hailey's worst traits—her impulsiveness, her stubborn pride—and fed them. Slowly. Calculated.
Until Hailey destroyed herself… and Lin Xin'er walked away with everything.
How could she not have seen it? How could she have been so blind?
God must have taken pity on her—letting her live again, just so she could finally understand the truth.
Just so she could rewrite her ending.
Because now she saw everything clearly.
She wasn't the villain of her story.
She was the pawn.
And now, in this life, she was going to flip the board.
⸻
Hailey collapsed onto a bench at a quiet park corner. The air was damp with the scent of rain and earth. Her shoulders trembled, but her eyes burned with clarity.
In her past life, she really had been foolish. After marrying Ethan, she was immature, constantly demanding, always expecting his love without understanding how to earn it. She thought that just loving him hard enough would be enough. It wasn't.
She remembered how, in the beginning, she was loud and reckless. Every thought she had, she would say out loud. Every feeling—anger, jealousy, disappointment—she would throw at him like a tantrum.
And Ethan? He had no idea how to deal with that version of her.
That was when Lin Xin'er started appearing more and more.
At first, she didn't suspect anything. Xin'er was just… always there. Smiling. Listening. Understanding.
And she… Hailey… looked like the crazy one. Again.
But she wasn't stupid. Eventually, she realized that her wildness only pushed Ethan further away. So she tried to change. She tried being gentler. More understanding. She stopped yelling. Started listening.
She gave up so much of herself—her pride, her temper, even her voice.
And for a while, it worked.
Ethan softened. He started coming home earlier. He remembered her favorite drinks. Sometimes, he even smiled.
But in the end… none of it was enough.
Because someone had already planted the seed of doubt in his heart. And it grew.
Now, in this life, Hailey was done chasing shadows.
She wasn't going to bend over backwards to prove herself to a man who never tried to understand her in the first place.
She wasn't going to fight for the approval of people who only ever saw the worst in her.
No more pretending. No more begging.
If they wanted to believe she was the villain?
Fine.
She'd become one they'd never forget.