At this very moment, he was prepared to die for the woman he loved. I couldn't stop him physically. So, I lay on a hotel bed and painted a fake hickey on my neck with makeup. Then, holding my phone at a deceptive angle, I snapped a photo of myself "sleeping." I switched to a burner account, adopted the persona of a deadbeat skater-boy, and texted the photo to my brother: “Yo, your sister smells amazing. I think I’m gonna keep her. I know I’m just a broke skater with a record, but I’ll make her happy. You can stop controlling her now, right?” “Also, she’s so obedient. My little kitten. Since she’s pregnant with my baby, I’ll make sure to give her lots of kisses every day.” My brother, Sterling, had a gun to his temple. He was seconds away from pulling the trigger. Then his phone buzzed. He saw the messages. His vision went black. His teeth ground together so hard they nearly cracked. In his left hand, he crushed his phone. In his right, he bent the barrel of the gun. Suicide postponed! Who is this punk? How dare some trashy delinquent touch his sister? He’s going to kill him! 1 I was a stray. An orphan. When I was six years old, a group of men in black suits grabbed me, drove me to a massive estate in the Hamptons, and threw me in front of a teenage billionaire named Sterling Vance. That’s when I heard the "System" speaking to him. The System’s voice was cold and robotic: [Sterling Vance. This girl is the Villainess. She will bring endless suffering to the Heroine. You must kill her now to protect the Heroine.] I froze. I was a Villainess? What did that mean? Were they going to kill me? Sterling lazily acknowledged the voice, spinning around in his leather executive chair, a gun in his hand. He looked at me. He paused, then let out a scoff of disbelief. He pointed the gun at me and asked the System: "Are you serious, bro? You're telling me this six-year-old dirtball is a Villainess? How is she going to be vicious? Is she going to spray the Heroine with a Barbie water gun?" The System explained: [She is small now. But when she grows up, she will destroy the Heroine's happiness.] They talked so much. I was dizzy with hunger. I didn't care about anything else. I grabbed the hem of Sterling’s expensive suit jacket and looked up at him. "Big Brother... I want a Happy Meal." The System gasped. [Gasp! As expected of the beautiful and manipulative Villainess! Her tactics are advanced! Terrifying! Sterling, cover your eyes! Do not be swayed by her cuteness! Kill her!] Sterling paused. "Tsk. But she called me Big Brother." The System sounded serious: [Think of the Heroine you love. Can you bear to see her sad?] At the mention of the Heroine, Sterling’s expression hardened. He raised the gun. A second later, his gaze fell on my skinny, malnourished arms. He lowered the gun and said to the System: "No rush. Even death row inmates get a last meal. Let her eat first, then I’ll kill her." After eating, I fell into a carb coma. "Big Brother, I’m sleepy." The System frowned. [Although she is indeed cute, pitiful, and tiny... Sterling! We cannot be soft-hearted! Even if she calls us Big Brother!] Sterling snapped. "Hey, what’s this 'we'? She only called me Big Brother! You’re just a broken piece of software, stop giving yourself credit!" The System and Sterling got into an argument. By the time they finished, I was already curled up on the rug, fast asleep. The System sighed. [Let’s get back to business. Kill her now.] Sterling looked down at me and said: "No rush. Let’s wait until she wakes up. Sneak-attacking someone while they sleep is bad etiquette. It’s ungentlemanly." The System pondered. [True. Maybe when she wakes up, she’ll call us Big Brother again... Er, I mean, it will be easier to kill her when she's awake.] 2 Three months flashed by. During those three months, Sterling and the System planned my execution every day. But every day, Sterling said, "No rush, no rush." Eventually, Sterling decided that killing me would interrupt my education. So, he and the System named me "Harper Vance." They got me into a prestigious private school on the Upper East Side. From that day on, Sterling stopped orbiting around the Heroine, Bianca. Instead, he orbited around the teachers. "Ms. Johnson, why is Harper missing two eyelashes today? If anything happens to her, I will buy this school and turn it into a parking lot!" "Mr. Principal, look at this class photo. Why isn't Harper in the center?! My sister is objectively the cutest kid here! Do you think my millions in donations are just for charity?" Sterling’s overbearing CEO energy was starting to show. And my true nature as a little demon began to show, too. The Principal started calling Sterling: "Mr. Vance, hello. It’s about Harper. Today she... well, she was twisting a boy's nipples and made him cry." Sterling: "Men’s nipples are useless anyway. Tell the boy to stand still and let Harper twist them if it makes her happy." Principal: "?" Of course, when I caused too much trouble, Sterling would try to discipline me. Like the time the librarian called him: "Mr. Vance, Harper was reading a book in class. I thought it was The Great Gatsby, which would be impressive for a first grader. But upon closer inspection, she had hidden American Psycho inside the dust jacket." Sterling was going to punish me. But the System couldn't help but sigh: [You know, she has no parents. She’s been with you since she was little. Sigh. Go ahead, Sterling. Scold her. Look at how she’s staring at you. She’s not pitiful at all. Not one bit.] That was my cue. I would look up at Sterling, grab his large hand with my two tiny hands, and blink my big doe eyes. Sterling couldn't do it. The apology essay he originally wanted me to write went from 500 words to 300 words, then 100. Finally, he just asked me to write five words. He thought I would write, "I am sorry, Big Brother." But when he opened the note, it said: "☆ I LOVE U BRO ☆" He and the System gasped in unison! Both of them teared up, unable to scold me another word. Heh. This Villainess-in-training just used a little tactical cuteness. 3 However, I have seen Sterling truly angry. That day, Sterling was on a date with the Heroine, Bianca. It was a crucial plot point. According to the script, this was the date where he would fall completely, irrevocably in love with her. But the moment he arrived at the restaurant, he got a call from the Principal. "Mr. Vance! Disaster! It was the school bake sale today. Harper brought brownies, but she used peanut oil! Half the class went into anaphylactic shock! We have ambulances everywhere!" Sterling had to abandon his date with Bianca. He rushed over to clean up my mess. I remember it clearly. It was the first time Sterling yelled at me. "You idiot! Did they not know Harper was baking? Why didn't they take antihistamines beforehand?! Did they stop to think that fainting after eating would give Harper a complex? What if she’s too scared to bake again? Harper is already so skinny! And you people scared her!" The Principal was sweating buckets, nodding furiously. "You're right, Mr. Vance! Kids these days are so sensitive! They should have checked the ingredients! I’ll talk to them! I hope Harper isn't traumatized. Please don't be angry..." However, Sterling was afraid the other kids wouldn't play with me because of the Peanut Incident. So, he sent every kid who went to the hospital a deed to a Manhattan penthouse and a brand new Tesla (for when they turned 16). Thirty classmates. When they woke up from their allergic reactions, they found property deeds and car keys on their bedside tables. The kids were thrilled. They asked if they had died and gone to heaven. In short, nobody hated me for the brownies. In fact, many classmates begged me to poison them again. Since I got a Big Brother, life has been so happy. I thought this as I dodged three kids begging me to cook for them. 4 Time flowed like water. When I turned 16, Sterling was 27. That day, I was sitting in class when I suddenly saw text floating on the ceiling. It was the "Comment Section" from the readers of our world. [So sad. The affectionate second male lead, Sterling, is finally going offline.] [Yeah. The Heroine just got engaged to the Male Lead. She invited Sterling to the wedding and compared him to the poor Male Lead. She told him, "Sterling, your Rolex might shine, but it can't outshine the dreams in his eyes! I want to marry him. Please give us your blessing." Sterling’s hand was shaking.] [The funny thing is, the poor Male Lead's "dream" is to make enough money to buy a Rolex. I don't know why she's acting so high and mighty.] [Whatever. In twenty minutes, Sterling is going to shoot himself. Ugh, I liked him. After he dies, his rivals will bankrupt his family. His sister, Harper, will go from an heiress to a beggar. So tragic.] My brother is going to kill himself?! I bolted up and ran out of the school. I would absolutely not let my brother die. I had to find him! But where was he? I called his phone. No answer. In a flash of inspiration, I came up with a plan. I couldn't reach him physically in time. I had to use... dark magic. I rushed into a costume shop, bought a blonde "skater boy" wig, and checked into a cheap motel. I stuffed towels into the wig to shape it like a head. I lay on the bed, pinched my own neck until a red mark appeared, ripped open my school uniform collar, and buried the wig in my chest. I took a photo. In the picture, a girl slept exhaustedly, a glaring hickey on her neck, her white uniform shirt disheveled, a blonde-haired guy buried in her chest. I sent the photo to my brother anonymously: “Yo, your sister smells amazing. I think I’m gonna keep her. I know I’m just a broke skater with a record, but I’ll make her happy. You can stop controlling her now, right?” “Also, she’s so obedient. My little kitten. Since she’s pregnant with my baby, I’ll make sure to give her lots of kisses every day.” Less than half a second later, I got a reply. “ANIMAL. WHO ARE YOU?” “TOUCH HER AGAIN AND I WILL END YOU.” The floating comments scrolled frantically: [Huh? Why isn't the second male lead dead?] [I don't know! He just screamed something about 'Yellow Hair' and 'Die' and ran out.] I let out a deep breath and collapsed on the bed. My tense nerves finally relaxed.
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