Prologue

On a dark night, Sojin gazed out the window as she took a sip of wine.

In contrast to the gently flowing river, a subtle sense of unease rippled through her heart.

Sojin checked the time on her phone.

Seven o’clock. Dohyun would be arriving soon.

When Sojin raised her hand, a server approached and handed her a menu.

“Would you like to order?”

“…Another glass of this wine, please. And a cheese platter.”

Sojin ran her fingers along the cold wineglass and glanced toward the door.

Just then, Dohyun opened the door and walked into the restaurant.

He was the male lead of this drama—and the fiancé she was supposed to break up with.

Sojin forced a smile and waved at him.

Dohyun smiled as he approached her.

“You got here before me.”

“I just arrived. I ordered some wine, so it should be here soon.”

“Wasn’t this supposed to be dinner?”

“…We’ll eat a little later.”

We probably won’t be in the mood for dinner anyway.

Sojin swallowed the rest of her words along with her wine.

A moment later, the server brought over the wine and cheese platter.

Dohyun took a sip of wine and glanced around the restaurant.

He let out a faint chuckle.

“So, this is the place. The one where you threatened me, insisting that we get married immediately, next month.”

Sojin’s face flushed bright red.

That wasn’t my choice!

She stammered,

“T-That was a long time ago.”

“Well, let’s say it was.”

Just as Dohyun casually speared a piece of cheese with his fork and popped it into his mouth, the sound of typing filled the air, and strange characters appeared out of nowhere.

It was a horrifying dialogue window visible only to me—a window that kept me shackled in place.

[Sojin (Fiancée): I want to break off our engagement.]

Sojin set down her glass, concealing her nervousness.

Putting on a cold expression, she spoke.

“The reason I asked you to meet me is…”

Dohyun lifted his head and looked at Sojin.

For some reason, his gaze was unusually tender, causing her to hesitate for a moment.

But she soon steeled herself and opened her mouth again.

“…I want to break off our engagement.”

Silence fell.

Dohyun’s gaze instantly darkened. He slowly set down his fork.

His reaction was far colder than she’d expected, and she nervously swallowed.

Who knew the male lead would react this coldly? Shouldn’t he be happy about this instead?

Soon, the next line appeared.

[Sojin (Fiancée): I’ve come to want to marry your younger brother.]

Sojin’s eyes widened. The outrageous line left her mouth bone-dry.

Even so, she couldn’t stop her lips from moving.

“I want to break off our engagement… and marry your younger brother.”

I’d actually said it. That insane line.

The atmosphere froze in an instant at the bombshell she’d just dropped.

Dohyun smiled coldly. He slowly turned her words over in his mind.

“You want to marry my younger brother?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Even though you were obsessed with me until just a week ago?”

Sojin clenched her fists tightly.

“…Love is fickle, after all.”

“Ha…”

He slowly rose from his seat. Then he strode toward Sojin.

She instinctively leaned back, recoiling from him.

Dohyun bent down even closer and stared straight into her eyes.

His shadow fell over her.

“You want to break off our engagement?”

“…”

“Do you really think I’ll just agree to that?”

“…Y-Yes. I-I suppose…?”

He gave a faint chuckle and loosened his tie.

“What do you take me for…?”

He spoke slowly and firmly.

“That will never happen.”

Startled, Sojin hurriedly raised her head.

At a distance so close that their noses nearly touched, she could see the burning intensity in Dohyun’s eyes.

Dohyun leaned close to her ear. With the finality of a period at the end of a sentence, he whispered firmly,

“So stop thinking about running away.”

Sojin’s eyes gradually widened.

“…W-What? W-What do you…?”

She flinched and trembled.

Since when has the male lead been looking at me like this?

Dohyun rubbed the white flower drawn on Sojin’s wrist, slowly, as though feeling her pulse.

Sojin swallowed hard. There was no reason for him to know about this mark, yet it was chillingly as if he knew everything.

“I have absolutely no intention of giving you up to my younger brother.”

Sojin cried out desperately,

“Y-You hated me! You wanted to break off our engagement, too!”

“My feelings have changed. I believe you were right when you said love is fickle.”

“That… That can’t be. Originally…”

You were supposed to want to break off our engagement.

Just then, a server passing by her suddenly stumbled and staggered for no apparent reason.

The dishes in the server’s hands flew straight toward Sojin’s head as if they had been deliberately aimed at her, shattering on their own.

Crash!

“…!”

Dohyun abruptly wrapped an arm around Sojin’s waist as she sat in her chair and yanked her toward him.

Her face was buried against his firm chest, and she heard the sharp sound of glass shards scattering across the floor.

Dohyun whispered into her ear.

“You’re my fiancée. I can never let you go to someone else.”

His whisper sounded like the words of the Grim Reaper himself.

Sojin gasped for breath as she stared at the glass shards.

The dishes had shattered in midair, without colliding with anything.

And the shards had been aimed directly at me—the villainess.

It was undoubtedly a warning from the original story.

A warning not to stray from the plot.

A warning that the male lead’s confession would soon bring death.

One of the petals of the white flower on Sojin’s wrist flushed red.

Two of the four petals had now turned red.

The “45%” written in the center of the flower glimmered and increased to “50%.”

I was…

destined to meet my death…

having possessed the body of the male lead’s villainous fiancée.

Chapter 01

I couldn’t believe it.

“That’s the story our team developed! We spent six months running around trying to secure investment… You know how hard we worked on this, Manager Kim.”

Why was Son Yeji’s name listed as the team leader who developed the IP instead of her own? Even the names of her team members had been left out.

Manager Kim sighed, wearing the expression of someone who had just been saddled with an annoying problem.

“Well, one of the executives at Aive Company is Team Leader Son’s parent. And Team Leader Son will soon become an executive herself. What exactly do you expect me to do?”

“What?”

“Besides, she’s only sitting in the team leader position temporarily to learn how the company works. Just put up with it a little longer. We even gave you a generous incentive.”

“This isn’t about money. My career is on the line! And what about my team members? Do you have any idea how much time we invested in this project…?”

“You need to be flexible about these things if you want to succeed!”

It was a load of unbearable bullshit.

Just then—

“Manager Kim!”

The sound of high heels echoed from far away.

“Manager Kim.”

Son Yeji approached them, her gorgeous brown hair swaying as she walked.

Manager Kim’s expression brightened at the sight of Yeji.

“Team Leader Son! Right, you two talk things out. I’ve got something urgent to take care of, so I’ll be off.”

Delighted to have escaped an uncomfortable situation, Manager Kim hurried back into the office.

Yeji was dressed from head to toe in outrageously expensive designer brands.

There was no way an ordinary office worker could afford all that, so she must have bought them with her parents’ money.

Yeji spoke first.

“Why are you giving the manager such a hard time? He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Ha. Right, you’re one to talk. I forgot that this is all your fault. Go on, then. Give me an excuse for this situation.”

“It’s the job of subordinates to work for their superiors, isn’t it? Just think of it as working for me, someone who’s about to be promoted to an executive position.”

Sojin let out an incredulous laugh.

She couldn’t understand why someone who already had so much kept stealing what belonged to her.

“You haven’t changed a bit since you were twenty, have you?”

Yeji had bullied Sojin ever since they attended the same university, and even now, at thirty, she was still exactly the same.

She had always stolen what belonged to Sojin, and the people around them had always taken Yeji’s side.

Yeji stepped closer to Sojin.

The two glared at each other.

“Just think of it as fate. Just as it was your fate to be born a complete orphan, it was mine to have wonderful parents.”

“Watch what you say. Before I make this whole incident public.”

“You couldn’t do it even if you tried. Just keep your mouth shut. Don’t go running around threatening to report me or whatever again. You don’t want to end up like last time, do you?”

Sojin couldn’t help sneering.

“You got into this company through nepotism, and now you’re stealing someone else’s achievements because you have no talent of your own. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

Yeji’s face flushed bright red.

“The world only cares about results!”

“Only incompetent people say things like that. You’re someone who can’t do anything unless someone else helps you.”

“You! If I just tell my parents…!”

“Your parents again? And what are you going to tell them? To get me fired from this company? Go ahead. I’ve got nothing left to lose.”

Yeji scowled.

Sojin had nothing left to lose, and she wasn’t afraid of some big shot’s daughter anymore.

Perhaps caught off guard by Sojin’s unexpected reaction, Yeji hurriedly turned and storm