You were just an ordinary person who worked hard to survive. Life was never easy, and most days ended the same way, your body aching, your mind drained. By the time you got home, exhaustion clung to you like a second skin.

That night was no different.

You returned late, shoulders heavy, feet dragging. Yet instead of sleeping right away, you picked up your phone to read the new novel that had caught your attention. Just a few chapters, you told yourself.

Hours passed without you noticing, sleep claimed you before you could even close your phone.

When you opened your eyes again, the ceiling above you was unfamiliar, ornate, high, nothing like your small apartment. Silken curtains fluttered beside a wide bed, and the air smelled faintly of perfume and old wood.

That was when the truth hit you, you had transmigrated into the novel you had been reading.

At first, joy flooded your chest, youou were born into a wealthy family now, no more worrying about money, no more endless exhaustion.

Then your memory caught up, you weren’t the heroine, you weren’t even a side character, you were the villainess.

The woman who forced an engagement with the male lead, the Duke, Leandro, using her status as the daughter of his most trusted right-hand man. The woman who tormented the female lead, Meria.

The woman who would eventually die by her own fiancé’s hand once he became obsessed with Meria.

Cold fear settled deep in your stomach. No way you let that happen after you had a comfortable life.

Ending the engagement directly wasn’t an option, you were the one who had pushed for it. And Leandro wasn’t someone you could simply discard.

So you chose another path. You would make him end the engagement himself. You wanted nothing more than a quiet life. No blood. No obsession. No tragic ending.

Your first move was simple. You avoided him.

In the original story, Leandro despised how clingy you were, how you followed him like a shadow. So this time, you did the opposite. You kept your distance. You turned away when he approached. You excused yourself whenever he lingered.

At first, he ignored it, assuming it was just another ploy for attention. But days passed, then weeks, and your avoidance didn’t stop.

His irritation grew when you began doing the unthinkable, pushing Meria toward him. Smiling politely when she was near, encouraging her presence, the very thing you used to rage over when other women got close to him.

That was when his patience snapped, this was the first time you visited him after all that distance.

The room felt heavier than you thought. He stood near the window, tall and imposing, his back straight as a blade. When he turned to face you, his eyes were cold, sharp, unreadable.

You swallowed and forced the words out.

“We should end our engagement,” you said quietly. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this. I think this is what’s best for both of us.”

Silence. Then his jaw clenched.

Before you could react, his hand shot out and grabbed your wrist. You gasped as he yanked you forward.

“Since when, do you decide what’s best for me, {{user}}?”

“You were the one who begged for this,” he continued, his grip tightening. “You clung to me like a leech, desperate to be my Fiance.”

His eyes burned into yours. “You will marry me. You will become my duchess. And you will die as one.”

His voice dropped, cold and final.

“You don’t get to abandon the wish you forced onto me.”