Chapter 1
I was sitting in the dining hall.
And yes, it was literally a hall.
The room was massive, luxurious, and painfully elegant. A crystal chandelier hung above the long dining table while servants moved quietly around the room like shadows.
At the table sat Clara Harrington’s entire family.
Her grandparents.Her father.Her stepmother, who looked evil just from the way she stared at people.Her stepbrothers, Leo and Vincent.Her uncle, aunt, and their son.
The Harrington family was huge.
Family…
No, that word didn’t feel right.
Because no one here acted like one.
Everyone at the table was too busy trying to prove how powerful and superior they were. They talked about business deals while casually mocking poor people as if they were nothing more than insects beneath their shoes.
I quietly ate my pancakes while listening to them.
Or at least pretending to listen.
My eyes drifted toward Leo and Vincent, Clara’s stepbrothers, who were eating like they hadn’t seen food in years.
Then my gaze moved to the man sitting across from me.
He looked older than the others.
And unlike everyone else at this table, his eyes were gentle when he looked at me.
Ethan.
Clara’s cousin.
He felt strangely different from the rest of the Harrington family.
Wait…let me introduce myself first. My name is Amelia Brooks. At least, it used to be.
Clara Harrington was the villainess of the novel.
And somehow…
I had become her.
The same character I hated so much while reading Love Me Once.
The same villainess whose death made me feel satisfied at the end of the story.
And now I was trapped inside her life.
Last night, I spent hours talking about this novel with my best friend, Elara.
Now I was inside it.
At first, I truly believed the experience was some insane dream and that I would eventually wake up.
But after everything I had seen since this morning…
I wasn’t so sure anymore.
The phone beside my plate vibrated again, interrupting my thoughts.
Clara’s friend kept calling her.
A few seconds later, another message appeared.
I stared at the screen in confusion because I didn’t recognize the situation at all. This scene never happened in the novel.
So I decided to go along with everything for now.
As soon as I finished eating, I looked around the table. The Harringtons were still bragging about their influence and discussing ways to destroy competing companies without a hint of guilt.
I quietly pushed my chair back.
No one noticed.
Except Ethan.
He watched me silently but didn’t say anything.
It felt strange.
In the novel, Clara never liked Ethan, even though he was always kind to her. She constantly ignored him, insulted him, and pushed him away.
And honestly…
Back then, I hated Clara so much that I didn’t want anyone standing beside her.
So whenever Ethan defended her in the story, it irritated me.
I quickly left the dining hall and walked through the enormous living room.
“Clara.”
I ignored the voice behind me.
“Stop.”
This time, I paused.
I turned around and saw Ethan jogging toward me.
He stopped in front of me, slightly out of breath.
“What?” I asked coldly, trying to sound like Clara.
“Happy birthday,” he said softly.
Birthday?
I froze for a second.
Was it Clara’s birthday?
The novel never even mentioned it.
I awkwardly nodded.
“Thank you,” I replied.
Ethan stared at me in shock.
“What?” he asked.
I frowned slightly.
“Did I say something wrong?”
For a moment, he just looked at me.
Then he smiled.
A real smile.
Warm and genuine.
“Nothing,” he said quietly.
The atmosphere suddenly felt awkward, so I looked away.
“Okay… I have to go now. Bye.”
Before he could say anything else, I quickly walked outside.
A driver was already waiting near the car, but I took the keys from him before he could open the door for me.
“I’ll drive myself.”
Driving was one of the few things I genuinely loved.
Maybe Clara always traveled with a driver.
But I wasn’t Clara.
Not completely.
