Chapter 1: The Breakup Heard 'Round the World

I spent three years chasing after the messy, chaotic villain before he finally agreed to date me. Three years of heartache for one impossible love. That was me—hopeless, but relentless.

Looking back, I can’t help but wonder if I was out of my mind, or just plain stubborn. Three years pouring my heart into someone who barely let me in—and when he finally caved, I thought I’d hit the jackpot. Turns out, the prize was a dud, the kind that makes you laugh and cry at the same time.

But we didn’t even get two days of anything close to a happy, intimate life together.

We didn’t even make it through a two-day honeymoon. Not enough time to figure out if we liked the same takeout—hell, not even enough for a lazy Sunday in bed. The universe didn’t even let us have a single morning of just us.

The next time he turned me down in bed, suddenly, snarky livestream comments started scrolling across my vision—like a Twitch chat gone wild:

[Does the side character really think the big bad likes her? Haha, he has to take pills just to be with her—does she call that love?]

[And the villain is a vampire, super lustful by nature. Just how much does he hate her if he needs pills to get it up…]

[She doesn’t get it. The villain’s only putting up with her to get business secrets and help the real heroine succeed!]

It felt like being roasted on national TV—except only I could see the comments, and every jab hit way too close to home. My cheeks burned, my stomach twisted, and I suddenly felt like the punchline to a joke everyone else already knew.

After I dug some pills and a stack of my family’s confidential documents out of his drawer, my hands started shaking as I called the villain:

“Your palm’s heart line is too shallow. We should break up.”

My voice sounded steady, but my heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst. The words were ridiculous, but it was all I could say that wouldn’t give everything away. I needed to end it before I lost my nerve.

I hung up on Sebastian Crowley right away. If I hesitated, even for a second, I knew I’d lose my nerve.

My thumb hovered over End Call for a split second, trembling. I refused to think about his reaction—if I did, I’d cave. I always caved before.

After all, he was someone I’d cherished at the center of my heart for three whole years.

Three years is a long time to keep someone on a pedestal. Three years of wishing, hoping, making excuses for every cold shoulder and every missed birthday. I’d built a shrine to him in my heart, and now I was tearing it down with my bare hands. Brick by brick.