Chapter 1

Chapter 1

At that moment, I stood beside my own body as a ghost. I knelt down and leaned in to look at myself; the terrifying wound on my forehead was still oozing blood.

Actually, being dead wasn't so bad. This world really had nothing worth holding onto for me.

But this way of dying was far too humiliating.

I had slapped my husband Ryan Bennett's "white moonlight"—the woman he'd always pined for—and he had kicked me out of the house.

What I didn't expect was that late at night, as I walked down the street, someone suddenly covered my mouth and nose and dragged me into a van.

Four burly men took me to a desolate alley, far from any village or town.

Filled with panic and helplessness, I fumbled in my bag for my phone, but they snatched it away from me.

They tore at my clothes like mad dogs. In desperation, I threw myself headfirst into a broken stone brick nearby.

At that moment, I thought: even if I die, I won't let them violate me.

Then everything went black. When I opened my eyes again, I had become a ghost.

Those four beasts were nowhere to be seen.

I glanced around the dark alley—there was no one in sight. It would probably be daytime before someone found my body.

Sigh. My whole life... I should have died a long time ago. My existence always seemed unnecessary, like an extra.

As a ghost, I had no idea where to go. There were no legendary "Black and White Impermanence" come to claim my soul. Was I doomed to be a wandering spirit forever?

Just as my mind was racing with these thoughts, my phone—thrown away by those beasts earlier—suddenly lit up in the distance.

I drifted over. Had someone sent me a message?

When I looked, I saw it was from my husband, Ryan Bennett. He said: What will it take for you to agree to a divorce?

To others, Ryan Bennett was flawless. He came from a wealthy family, had a handsome face, became a professor at a young age, and was even a business prodigy.

Me? I had an ordinary family background and an ordinary job. When Ryan Bennett first said he wanted me to marry him, I could hardly believe my ears.

But after we got married, he was always cold to me. At first, I thought that was just his nature.

That was until I met Sophia Wilson—Ryan Bennett's "white moonlight." The look in his eyes when he looked at Sophia Wilson was a tenderness he had never shown me. It was then that I finally understood why Ryan Bennett had married me: I looked seventy to eighty percent like Sophia Wilson.

Who would have thought that I would end up in such a cliché scenario—being someone's replacement? How cheesy.

Ryan Bennett brought Sophia Wilson home and said to me: Let's get a divorce. I'll give you appropriate compensation.

Who did he think he was? He could marry me whenever he wanted and divorce me just as easily? Did he take me for an object?

Ever since I was born, people around me had never treated me well. I had thought Ryan Bennett would be different, but he only saw me as a substitute. Overwhelmed by emotion, I refused to divorce him no matter what.

He wanted to divorce me so he could be with Sophia Wilson openly, but I was determined not to let that happen.

That night, Sophia Wilson came to see me. She said I was nothing but her replacement, that I should be grateful for having enjoyed a few good years thanks to her, and that it was time for me to step down as Mrs. Chen—I was totally unworthy of being Ryan Bennett's wife.

Every word she said was a mockery. The more I listened, the angrier I got. I couldn't hold back and slapped her. But just then, Ryan Bennett walked in. He slapped me back, kicked me out of the house, and I watched as Sophia Wilson hid behind him with a triumphant look in her eyes. I knew then—I had been tricked.

And to make matters worse, not long after I left the house, I ran into those four beasts.