My wife was a transmigrator. The System sent her into this book world to win over the Male Lead, but instead, she fell in love with me at first sight—his teammate, his brother.
After we got together, the System engineered a car accident to tear us apart.
I was burned. Disfigured. Strapped to a catheter bag. The doctors said I'd never stand again.
Even so, my wife still loved me.
So the System bankrupted her.
Without money, she took care of me herself.
During the worst stretch, she survived on a single bread roll over three days while hooking me up to nutrient IV bags that cost three thousand dollars a pop.
It broke my heart. I tried to kill myself.
After they brought me back, she held me so tight she could barely breathe through her sobs.
"Patrick Sawyer, I can't live without you. If you die, I won't go on either."
For her sake, I threw myself into rehab. The progress was almost nonexistent.
Still, I believed I'd get better someday.
Until the day Kenneth Heath came to visit me, and I accidentally took a few too many pills.
Summer Fisher snapped. She grabbed a bottle of medication and shoved it into my mouth.
"I already told you there's nothing between me and him anymore. Why do you keep doing this?"
"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have lost everything. You want to die so badly? Fine. Then go ahead and die!"
She forced the entire bottle down my throat and slammed the door on her way out.
Then her System appeared before me. It said she'd already fallen in love with the Male Lead. It asked if I was willing to die so the two of them could be together.
I thought about it.
"Yes," I said.
...
The System froze for a few seconds before speaking again. "I wasn't actually asking you to die. You must have noticed by now—Summer only stays with you out of obligation. If you're willing, I can send you to another world. Give you a new body."
"Stop," I said. "Just give me a way out."
The moment the words left my mouth, a fruit knife appeared in my hand.
I was about to plunge it into my chest when the bedroom door swung open.
Summer had come back.
She pried my mouth open first, digging out the pills one by one.
I hid the knife before she could see it.
Then she brought a basin of water and brushed my teeth, washed my face, wiped down my body.
Before, she would have kissed me between each motion, murmuring that she was sorry for yelling, that she'd been awful to me today.
But this time, after she finished everything, she turned off the light, lay down on the cot beside my bed with her back to me, and took out her phone. She didn't say a single word.
In the dark, I turned my head to look at her.
"Summer."
The instant I called her name, a voice came through her phone:
"Summer, today I—"
She killed the volume fast, but not fast enough.
The message was from Kenneth Heath. The Male Lead of this world. The man the System had sent Summer to win over.
I didn't know what world Summer came from, but the very first time I met her, she confessed to me.
She told me she was from another world. That she'd been sent here to pursue Kenneth. But she liked me too much, so she wanted to give up on Kenneth and come after me instead.
At the time, I thought she was joking.
It wasn't until Summer and I were actually together—married—that her System appeared inside my mind.
It told me that if I gave Summer up, it would grant me a happy marriage, a thriving career, and a long life.
I refused without hesitation. The next second, I was in a car wreck, and I woke up looking like this.
Remembering what the System had said earlier, I couldn't stop myself. "Summer, have you fallen in love with Kenneth?"
The room went quiet for a few seconds. Then Summer sat up abruptly.
Just as I thought she was about to say something, she took her phone and walked out of the bedroom.
The door didn't block sound. I heard Kenneth's voice on the other end of the line: "Summer, my friends all want to meet you. Can you come over?"
