Realizing I’m the Villainess, I Chose to Die Alone

The moment Victor knelt to propose to me, a stream of floating comments flickered across my vision. [LMAO. The villainess actually thinks the male lead has fallen for her.] [Gotta hand it to the male lead, a truly devoted Don. He's gritting his teeth and marrying the villainess just to protect the heroine.] [I wanna fast-forward to the part where the heroine is safe and the villainess gets dumped by the male lead.] My breath caught hard. Winning Victor 's true love was the mission the system assigned me after I awakened. Ten years since we met. Seven of them I spent chasing him. All this time, I thought he had finally fallen in love with me. I looked down at the seven-carat pink diamond ring in Victor's hand, and my eyes went hot. I closed my eyes and said softly, "Victor, I won't marry you." With that, I turned and walked away. The next second, a sharp system warning blared inside my head. "Host, mission failed. You will be erased in forty-eight hours." Chapter 1 The comments scrolled wildly across my vision. [Huge plot twist. She actually rejected the proposal?] [Don't tell me she found the diary the male lead hid in the cabinet?] [You call that a diary? That's a love letter to the heroine!] It seemed every answer was in that diary. Back at the Lucchese estate, I all but ran into the study and found the diary. What was written inside turned me cold all over. So Viviana was the woman Victor had wanted and never had. She was the daughter of the Greco Family's Don. Every page poured out Victor's love for Viviana. So he had taken her to the safe house he had promised to share with no one but me. So, to help her win the fight to become the Greco heir, he had been willing to sacrifice his own Family's interests and hand over his most important asset, the South American route. So even the favor he swore belonged to me alone had never been mine. The diary laid bare the truth and tore open a bloody wound. I couldn't read any more. Slowly, I closed it. It felt like a piece had been carved out of my chest, the pain so sharp I could barely breathe. Only when a drop of blood fell on the cover did I realize I had long since bitten through my lip. The comments drifted past again. [The male lead has no choice. The villainess is gonna hurt the heroine down the line.] [Hahaha, he has been acting for three years and the villainess never caught on.] I bolted out of the Lucchese estate like I was fleeing for my life. I wandered the streets aimlessly. I don't know how long I walked before, utterly spent, I finally found a bench and sat down. It began to rain. The rain wrapped around all of New York like strips of gray bandage. I didn't take cover. I don't know how much time passed before the rain above me suddenly stopped. I slowly looked up. Victor stood in front of me holding an umbrella, his white shirt soaked through, water dripping from the loose strands of hair on his forehead. His breathing was ragged, like he had run the whole way to find me. Seeing me safe and sound, his tensed shoulders finally eased, but his voice was still thick with the fear of what might have happened. "I finally found you. Do you have any idea how long I've been looking?" I stared blankly at Victor. His acting was so flawless I couldn't spot a single crack in it. He crouched in front of me and lifted a hand to wipe the rain from my face. I flinched away on instinct. Victor froze, then reached out anyway, his stiff hand brushing my cheek and my forehead. "Are you sick? Running a fever, out of it? Whatever it is, come home with me first." He pushed the umbrella into my hands and swept me up into his arms. That familiar cold, crisp cologne filled my nose. I curled up against his chest and let everything between us churn through my mind. But the more I thought, the more it hurt. Back at the estate, he set me down on the couch with great care and took a big towel to dry my hair. I bit down on my lower lip and tugged at the hem of his shirt. "Victor, did you ever love me?" The diary had spelled it out clearly: the system wouldn't allow Victor to marry Viviana. And the only reason Victor kept me around was to keep an eye on me. He was afraid I would hurt Viviana. But I really wanted to know whether, in these ten years, he had ever loved me. Even for a single fleeting moment. Victor's hands stilled, his knuckles tightening for just an instant. The next second, he gave a faint smile. "You're the one who turned down the proposal today, aren't you? Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" He hadn't answered me directly. Pain shot through me, sharp and sudden. [LMAO. The villainess is still dreaming.] [Sure, the male lead is a prince, but the villainess is no Cinderella.] Right. It was all a dream, and it was time to wake up. I let go of his shirt and forced out a smile. "Thank you for saving me back then. I hope you'll be happy." Victor winked at me, his smile beautiful. "As long as you're by my side, I'll be happy." "Victor, are you hiding something from me?" Victor's body gave a small tremor, and he lowered his eyes. "No." He worked to force a smile. "How could I ever bear to lie to you? I'll have someone draw you a bath." Watching Victor's retreating back, my eyes stung. He had deceived me for ten years, and yet I couldn't bring myself to hate him. He didn't love me, but he had truly been good to me. Chapter 2 I was an orphan. I gave the world back the same coldness it gave me. There was no one I cared about. Until the year I turned sixteen, when I was caught by chance in a street war between mob families. It was Victor who threw himself in front of me, took the bullet, and saved my life. The smell of his blood filled the air. The moment my heart fluttered at the sight of his profile, I heard the system's cold voice for the first time. [Host has developed feelings of love. System activated. Mission initiated.] [Mission: win over Victor Lucchese within ten years, or the host will be erased.] From that day on, I had someone I cared about. A violent stab of pain yanked me out of my memories and back to reality. I knew what it was: the system, draining the life out of me. I murmured to myself, "The villainess is about to die. That's the best ending there is." Victor would never again have to worry that I would hurt his beloved Viviana. And he would never again have to sacrifice himself, faking his way through life with a woman he didn't love. I got up to take my bath, stumbled, and nearly fell. Luckily Victor caught me in his arms. His arms were so strong, his chest so warm. It was just that none of it was mine. Victor looked me over closely and frowned. "You look terrible. You need to go to the hospital." I shook my head. "I don't want to." This was the system draining my life; going to the hospital would only waste time. "This isn't something you get to be stubborn about!" His tone turned hard, which was rare for him. "We have to go!" With that, he called his advisor and gave the order, "Fifteen minutes. Have the best room and the best doctors at the Family hospital ready." Then, ignoring my protests, he scooped me up and carried me toward the underground garage. [This villainess out-acts the male lead. She's faker than a three-dollar bill.] [So what if she's a good faker? A villainess is a villainess. She'll never be the heroine.] I wrapped my arms around Victor's neck and gazed blankly at his face. His brows were tightly knit, his thin lips pressed into a flat line, drowning in worry. At the hospital, once the tests were done and we were waiting on the results, he held my hand. "Once you're well again, I'll propose to you all over again." He thought for a moment, then added, "Fireworks? Or a drone show? Which do you like?" The comments started drifting by again. [Lies and pampering coexisting, but you can't deny the male lead is incredibly good to the villainess.] [Guys, I'm so confused. Is the writer handing out fluff or heartbreak here?] [Okay, I hate to admit it, but even this fake fluff is kind of sweet.] Slowly, a thread of hope rose in me. Maybe Victor really was anxious about me. Maybe Victor felt even the tiniest sliver of love for me. Maybe I could still go to Sicily with him and see the sea one last time. Just as I was about to speak, Victor's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID, his brow creasing almost imperceptibly, then stood, walked to a corner, and answered. My heart slowly sank. I had just caught a glimpse of the screen. It was Viviana. I couldn't hear what was said on the other end. His fingers tightened at once. "I'm on my way." He hung up, looked at me, and said, torn, "Scarlett, I..." He paused for a second, his eyes darting away on instinct. That one second stretched longer than all the tenderness before it. "Viviana needs you? Go." I forced myself to stay calm. "I'm fine." Victor let out a sigh of relie, and turned to leave. I didn't dare watch him walk away, and turned my head aside on instinct. Right then, my eyes were my rawest wound; one more look and they would bleed. After a good while, the test results arrived. I opened them alone. Multiple organ failure. Vital signs in continuous decline. Estimated survival: under forty-eight hours. It was no surprise, but seeing the death sentence with my own eyes still left me sad. The nurse who brought the report reminded me, "Your condition is very serious. You should notify your family as soon as possible." I thought of my parents, long gone, and of my fiance whose heart belonged to someone else. I lowered my head. "Sorry. I don't have any family." The nurse gave me a pitying look and tucked the blanket in around me. While I was still lost in a daze, Victor called. His voice on the line was frantic. "Sweetheart, could you come up to the room on the top floor?" "Okay. Victor, my results are in..." "I'll be waiting." Before I could tell him what they said, the line went dead. I pressed my lips together, pulled out my IV needle, and went up to the top-floor room. The moment I pushed the door open, I froze where I stood. Chapter 3 Viviana was lying in the hospital bed, with Victor beside her. She saw me and gave a light wave. "Scarlett, long time no see." She was as radiant and striking as ever. Two big, dark eyes shone in a face of indescribable beauty. No wonder she was the woman Victor treasured most. No wonder she was the heroine of this story. I had barely finished greeting her when Victor said quickly, "Scarlett, Viv has a surgery coming up, but the hospital is out of Rh-negative blood." He looked me straight in the eye. "I remember you're Rh-negative." I froze, and my voice came out strained. "You want me to... donate blood for her?" Victor nodded without a second's thought. Viviana chided gently, "I told you, don't push Scarlett into it. Look how awful she looks." I lowered my head and hid the test report behind my back. Viviana pulled me down to sit beside her, wanting to chat. The instant I sat down, a wave of dizziness hit me. I fell against the edge of the bed by accident, brushing lightly against Viviana. She cried out, and Victor's face twisted. He shoved me away, hard. My head struck the corner of the bedside table, and something warm spread down my forehead. Victor didn't spare me a single glance, his eyes fixed on Viviana. "Scarlett, if you don't want to do it, just say so. There's no need for these little stunts." It ached bitterly inside me, but I still tried to explain. "I really didn't mean to..." "Who has accidents like that?" He cut me off coldly and pressed the call button for a nurse. Viviana exclaimed, "Scarlett, you're bleeding!" Only then did Victor turn to look at me, his pupils shrinking in an instant. "Scarlett, your forehead..." "It's nothing. Just a scratch." I wiped my forehead, looked at the streak of red on my hand, and smiled. "What a waste. It should have gone to Viviana." Viviana scolded softly, "Victor, stop doing this. Scarlett clearly didn't mean it. You owe her an apology." Victor pressed his thin lips into a flat line and looked at Viviana with a complicated expression. "I know exactly what kind of person Scarlett is. Viv, you can't keep being this kind." "I can't be at your side forever. If an enemy means you harm, you have to learn to tell for yourself." [Textbook villainess! Grabbing every chance to hurt the heroine!] [The male lead has his guard up. With him around, her little schemes are useless.] Looking at the comments, remembering how I had just been dreaming of going to see the sea with Victor, I couldn't help a self-mocking smile. How could I have forgotten? I was the villainess, and Victor had spent all this time afraid I would hurt Viviana. Bumping into her just now had only nailed down my role as the villainess. I said to Victor, "I'll donate the blood. Don't worry." "Can you go get it drawn on your own?" Victor glanced at me. "I need to stay with Viv—" "I can," I said, cutting him off, and turned to leave. Once the blood was drawn, I went back to my own room, left a note on the bedside table, and walked out of the hospital. Even if I had to go alone, I wanted to see that sea. Chapter 4 [Victor's POV] After getting Viviana settled, Victor returned to Scarlett's room. The room was empty. Victor frowned, his gaze landing on the note on the bedside table. An inexplicable panic rose in him. He picked it up, and his pupils shrank to pinpoints. "Victor, I'm leaving. I hope you'll be happy from here on out." Victor lost his composure completely and rushed out the door to find her. At the hospital entrance, he found a crowd gathered, all talking over one another. "So tragic. So young, and just dropped dead. I heard she collapsed the second she stepped out the door." "They say she was a young woman, pretty too. Such a shame." "I know, she was getting her tests done right next to me a little while ago. Looked so miserable. Her name was... Scarlett?" Blood roared up into Victor's head, and his mind went blank. Just then, his phone rang. Hope flared in Victor's eyes, and he yanked out his phone. The next second, his expression froze. It wasn't Scarlett. It was Viviana calling. Victor hung up impatiently and began forcing his way through the crowd blocking his path. He shouted himself hoarse. "Let me through! Everyone, move!" The crowd broke into chaos and only blocked him more. Frantic beyond reason, Victor stopped caring and pulled his gun, firing into the air. Three gunshots cracked into the sky. At the gunshots, people screamed and scattered. Not far off, a woman lay on the ground, her body covered by a white cloth some kind soul had laid over her. Victor's legs went weak, and he stumbled to the woman's side and sank to his knees. With trembling hands, he pulled back the white cloth. The next second, his body went rigid.