The Day the Tragic Heroine Chose Herself Chapter 01

The Day the Tragic Heroine Chose Herself Chapter 01

My father was the hospital director. He was also the surgeon who had just removed my breasts.

The anesthesia hadn’t fully worn off when I heard them talking. The assisting surgeon and the nurse, right there in the room.

“Dr. Rowland tricked his own daughter into surgery. All so his adopted daughter could get her revenge.”

“Right? And her husband signed off on it. Now she’s been left with nothing but these awful scars. She looks like something out of a horror movie.”

My entire body trembled. The second the anesthesia loosened its grip enough for me to move, I dragged myself upright and lunged forward.

But I didn’t get far. Elias Donovan stood right there, his arm wrapped around Hazel Foster. He looked at me with a smile, like I was the joke.

“What’s wrong? You called Hazel a pathetic little nobody back then. Guess you’ve finally learned your lesson now.”

I lurched toward him, but my father stepped in and shoved me back onto the bed.

“Why are you being so dramatic? Hazel’s had a hard life, and you’ve had everything handed to you. It was just tissue. You’re not going to die.”

Then my son, my supposed perfect prodigy, spoke up.

“He’s right, Mom. Look at yourself. Maybe it’s time you stepped aside and let Hazel take your place.”

That was when the system flickered back to life. The same system I hadn’t heard from in years.

[Host, your mission was completed ages ago! Would you like to terminate and return to the real world?]

A smile crept onto my face. Pure relief.

Every bit of love, every act of supposed devotion, had been a lie from the start.

So why should I care whether any of them lived or died?

I tapped confirm without hesitating. The system pinged back instantly.

[Once you die, every character in this world will be erased within three days. Initiating your exit route now. Bonus reward: seven hundred million dollars and full physical restoration in the real world.]

…

Seven hundred million and my real body back. All I felt was desperate, blinding joy. I was going home.

I dragged myself off the bed and staggered toward the window.

Every step ripped through the surgical wounds.

Ravenwood City glittered below me. Thousands of lights spread across the skyline, and not one had ever belonged to me.

I moved faster.

Someone scoffed behind me.

I looked back. Leo Donovan.

“Mom, what are you doing up? You’re supposed to be in bed.”

“Stop the theatrics. So who’s this little suicide act for?”

“Acting? You think I’m the one who’s been putting on an act?”

I searched his face, looking for something real.

“How did we deceive you? So Grandpa got the diagnosis wrong. You don’t have cancer. You’re not dying. You get to stay with us. Isn’t that a good thing?”

So I was supposed to be grateful they got caught?

I turned around.

The night wind tore through my hair.

I’d gone under that knife to survive.

Now I was climbing onto the ledge so I could be reborn.

I let myself fall forward.

But the fall never came.

Leo slammed the emergency call bell and hauled me back with both hands.

“Mom! What are you doing?! Hold on to me!”

“Let go.” My voice came out raw, barely there.

Leo clenched his jaw. The veins on his hands stood out like cords.

“I won’t!”

“Mom, they’re just scars. It’s not a big deal. Dad said he doesn’t care what you look like now. He’d never leave you.”

I’d heard enough.

I wrenched my arm, trying to shake him off.

His eyes went red, and his voice cracked.

“You’d really just abandon me? You’d die and leave me behind?”

I looked up at him. The boy I’d raised from nothing.

The terror in his eyes almost made me believe he meant it.

I yanked him toward the edge. My gaze went cold.

“You won’t let go? Then come with me.”

I threw my weight backward and dragged him over the edge with me.

All the color drained from his face. His grip loosened.

He was truly scared. I could feel it.

My body tipped. For one second, I thought I’d made it.

Then something caught me. Hands, pulling me back up.

Bodyguards. Nurses. They were everywhere, swarming around me.

One more second. I’d been one second away.

They pinned me to the bed. I stared at the ceiling and felt nothing.

Somewhere beside me, Leo was sobbing.