"BZZZT— BZZZT—"
Sonia Quincy was jolted awake by the vibration of a cell phone. She opened her eyes to a completely unfamiliar world.
A cramped room, walls damp and spotted with mold, shredded documents and a chaotic mess of clothes and shoes scattered all over the floor, and a full-length mirror shattered so that only half remained.
Sonia Quincy caught a glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror. Her hair was a disheveled mess, her clothes were torn, and she looked like a madwoman who had been blasted by a cannon.
Only her face was still decent enough to look at—pretty and innocent, with a distinctive little mole on the tip of her nose.
But this wasn't her face. It belonged to the vicious villainess who shared her exact name.
That's right—she had transmigrated into a book. She had fallen into an old-school, angsty, 'dog-blood' drama and become the universally hated villainess.
The villainess was also named Sonia Quincy. From the start of the novel to its end, she was consistently, appallingly evil. When the living Sonia Quincy had read the book, she had found the villainess so vile that she spent a whole week cursing her. Who would have thought that after dying of cancer, she would end up transmigrating into that wicked woman's body?
'Is this some kind of punishment for my lack of good deeds in my past life?'
"BZZZT— BZZZT—"
The phone vibrated again. Sonia Quincy picked it up from amidst the glass shards on the floor and saw two WeChat messages on the lock screen.
—Sonia Quincy, are you ready?
—Felix Preston's car is about to enter the neighborhood. The media are in position. Have you gotten everything ready? Message me back.
"Felix Preston..."
Sonia Quincy was very familiar with that name. Felix Preston was the most innocent male supporting character in the novel and also the villainess's husband.
The villainess was the fake heiress of the Quincy family of Aethelburg, raised in the lap of luxury. The year she graduated from college, the Quincy family's real heiress, Cecilia Quincy—the novel's female lead—was found and brought back home. The villainess's identity was instantly exposed, and she became a notorious impostor known throughout Aethelburg.
Her wealth was gone, the adoration was gone, her dazzling status was gone. Even her fiancé of many years immediately abandoned her and turned his affections to the female lead, Cecilia Quincy.
The villainess was devastated, and her mind gradually became twisted and pathological. She loathed Cecilia Quincy for stealing everything from her and was jealous of the attention and affection Cecilia now received. Even though the Quincy Family let her stay out of affection from their years together, she was still not satisfied.
To monopolize the Quincy family's wealth and love, she began to cause all sorts of trouble at home. She would either frame Cecilia Quincy for things she didn't do or spread salacious rumors about her everywhere. Once, she even hired a group of thugs to try and have Cecilia raped.
A fake heiress trying to drive the real heiress to her death just to compete for affection! After her deeds came to light, the Quincy family kicked the villainess out without a second thought, not giving her a single cent.
With no money and nowhere to go, she could only turn to her heartless ex-fiancé, the novel's male lead, Ethan Lockwood. Ethan was already engaged to Cecilia Quincy, so why would he care about her? Not only did he ignore the villainess, but he also had his men beat her up to vent Cecilia's anger.
Desperate, the villainess came up with a malicious plan. She snuck into a business reception, drugged Ethan Lockwood's drink with an aphrodisiac, and schemed to force him to marry her by making their union a fait accompli. Ethan saw through her plot instantly and, in a swift countermove, gave the drugged drink to his business rival—the innocent supporting character, Felix Preston.
Felix Preston had no grievance with the main characters. He was set up by Ethan Lockwood simply because they were business competitors and because he'd had a brief acquaintance with Cecilia Quincy in college. He drank the drugged wine and, by a twist of fate, ended up sleeping with the villainess.
After they had slept together, Felix Preston, out of his good upbringing and moral character, decided to take responsibility and marry the villainess. The villainess, having nowhere else to go, agreed to marry him.
In the first month of their marriage, the villainess got pregnant. Although Felix Preston had no feelings for her, he was still quite happy about the child's arrival.
Unexpectedly, three months later, Felix Preston's company ran into massive trouble due to the combined schemes of the male and female leads. In just one week, it was on the brink of bankruptcy.
Her life of luxury had vanished once again, and the villainess completely lost her mind. Not only did she pester Felix Preston for a divorce every day, but she also made an appointment at a hospital to have an abortion.
Felix Preston had been a major player in the business world for years. Though he was on the verge of bankruptcy, he still had considerable resources at his disposal. Ethan Lockwood, wanting to devour him completely, contacted the villainess and asked her to help him frame Felix for rape, intending to utterly crush him.
He promised that if she succeeded, he would keep her as a mistress, guaranteeing her a lifetime of wealth and luxury. The villainess gladly agreed, swiftly prepared a series of forged evidence, and even contacted the media to expose the story.
And it was at this exact moment that Sonia Quincy had transmigrated.
Ethan Lockwood's WeChat message was to ask if she was ready for the big reveal.
Sonia Quincy thought for a moment, then sent a terse reply: No. I'm not going through with the exposé. Goodbye.
After sending it, she turned off her phone, ignoring any further messages from Ethan Lockwood.
'Exposé my ass. Your good days are numbered,' Sonia Quincy complained silently in her head.
Because of the main couple's baffling moral compass, the novel had been relentlessly flamed by readers during its serialization. To "spice up" the main couple's beautiful love story, the author had mercilessly abused Felix Preston like a wicked stepmother, which in turn garnered him a legion of loyal fans. These die-hard fans couldn't stand Felix's tragic end of bankruptcy and destitution, so they literally sent the author razor blades. Unable to withstand the pressure, the author revised the ending overnight.
Thus, after his brief bankruptcy, Felix Preston made a swift comeback, rising to become the richest man in Aethelburg.
The villainess, a gold digger who despised the poor, had divorced Felix Preston during his most difficult time and even aborted their child. She never expected that he would be able to get back on his feet. As she watched Felix become more and more successful, the villainess shamelessly tried to win him back.
But by then, Felix Preston already had a beloved wife by his side. The villainess was sick with regret, but it was useless.
Her ex-husband ignored her, and Ethan Lockwood went back on his promise to support her. With nowhere left to turn, the villainess started selling her body—a path of no return—and ultimately died in a pervert's bed.
Recalling the author's description of the villainess's death in the novel, Sonia Quincy couldn't help but shiver.
"CREAK..."
Just then, the living room door was suddenly pushed open, and a tall, imposing man with an icy expression walked in from outside.
Sonia Quincy turned to look at him, her expression momentarily stunned.
"The body of a top male model, the face of a top-tier alpha..."
This was the novel author's description of Felix Preston. Seeing him for the first time, Sonia Quincy could only think that the author had finally written something believable.
Felix Preston walked in from the living room, his eyes behind his rimless glasses revealing a deep exhaustion. The collar of his trench coat was torn, there were distinct, swollen choke marks on his neck, and a red handprint was emblazoned on his left cheek.
That's right. This was the villainess's handiwork, done just half an hour before Sonia Quincy transmigrated.
Looking at the injuries on Felix Preston, Sonia Quincy felt an urge to give the original villainess a few hard slaps across the face.
"Sign it." Felix Preston walked up to Sonia Quincy and handed her a document. At the top, printed in large letters, were the words "Divorce Agreement."
"Once you sign it, you'll be free. From now on, you won't have to live this hard life with me, Felix Preston. As for the child... if you really don't want it, you can have an abortion. I'll pay for it."
In the original plot, the villainess had been thrilled to get the divorce papers and signed them immediately. But after signing, she had lunged at Felix Preston like a madwoman, scratching and clawing at him.
Then she had started screaming curses, "Felix Preston, you liar! You break all your promises! Back when you forced yourself on me, you promised me the world! You said you'd give me the life of a top socialite, that you'd give me more money than I could ever spend! And what happened? We haven't even been married a few months and you're already bankrupt! You're useless! Ptui!"
"I must have been blind to believe you! You rapist! You're nothing but a rapist! Why don't you just die? You deserve to die!"
"You raped me and got me pregnant with your child, and now you're trying to force me to give birth to it? Dream on!"
Felix Preston, having reached his limit, grabbed the villainess's hands, pushed her away, and shot back, "You're insane." But he never expected her to fall down deliberately, just as the media hidden in the hallway burst through the door.
And so, Felix Preston was not only branded a rapist, but also earned the reputation of a wife-beater.
Sonia Quincy recalled all this and sighed softly.
'Tragic. Truly tragic.'
Felix Preston continued, "After liquidating my assets, I only have 96,752 yuan left in my account. I'll take 10,000, and you can have the rest."
"..." Sonia Quincy didn't respond. She took the divorce agreement, glanced at it, and saw that Felix Preston had already signed his name.
"RIP—"
Without hesitation, she tore the divorce agreement to pieces.
"Felix Preston, I'm not divorcing you, and I'm not getting rid of the child."