Chapter 1
I woke up in a trashy romance novel on the day of my divorce.
Just as I was about to sign the papers, a series of glowing text boxes floated in front of my eyes:
n
[HIGH–STAKES DRAMA AHEAD! GET READY FOR THE GROVELING ARC!)]
12:30
【LMAO, I can’t wait to see this scumbag refuse to sign, then break down and beg the female lead for forgi-
veness! Make him suffer!)
[He won’t sign. This is the moment he’s supposed to wake up and realize his one true love was framed by the other woman, right?】
I glanced at the comments, smirked, and signed the divorce papers without a moment’s hesitation.
I’m not the actual main character. Why the hell would I want to grovel my way through a redemption arc?
1
I’d been transmigrated. Dropped right into the body of Damien Blackwood, the male lead of a cliché–ridden, melodramatic novel called The CEO’s Captive Heart. You know the type: cold, cruel, pathologically blind to the truth, and destined for a long, painful journey of groveling to win back the woman he’d wronged. A class- ic scumbag CEO.
And right now, I was at City Hall, finalizing my divorce.
The woman sitting next to me was beautiful, but her face was as pale as parchment.
That was Evelyn, my wife–for the next five minutes, anyway.
According to the novel, we’d been married for three years, during which I, as Damien, had been a textbook monster. I’d neglected her, humiliated her, accused her of cheating, and even caused her to have a miscarri-
age.
Pure, unadulterated trash.
But of course, underneath it all, I was supposedly madly in love with her. My cruelty was just a product of being manipulated by a two–faced schemer–my supposed “one true love” from the past–and provoked by Evelyn’s own suspiciously close male best friend.
The plot was simple: the hero acts like a villain, the heroine suffers, the hero has a sudden epiphany, and then the groveling begins. A long, drawn–out redemption arc.
The original Damien ends up with a broken leg, bankrupt, and nearly dead.
And the best part? Evelyn still doesn’t forgive him. He goes through hell for nothing. It’s a tragedy.
As I was mulling this over, those colorful, translucent text boxes started popping up again, obscuring my view.
21/9
12:30
Chapter 1
【HERE IT COMES! THE GROVELING IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!]
12:31
【Wake up, Damien, you idiot! Look at everything Evelyn has sacrificed for you! If you sign those papers, it’s all over!]
[I’ll bet you fifty bucks he’s about to rip up the agreement and yell ‘I DON’T AGREE!‘ It’s a classic!]
Live–chat comments?
I got it. They were the audience, watching from another dimension. They were here for the show, waiting to see me suffer, to watch me crawl back on my hands and knees.
I almost laughed out loud.
A groveling redemption arc? What’s that got to do with me?
I wasn’t the real Damien.
Why should I suffer for some fictional idiot’s mistakes? A broken leg? Bankruptcy? Begging for forgiveness?
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Isn’t freedom better?
A powerful, primal survival instinct kicked in. I had to get out of this story. Now.
The clerk slid the divorce agreement in front of me and pointed to the signature line.
Evelyn didn’t look at me. Her gaze was fixed on the tabletop, her eyes empty. She was already signing her copy, her pen moving quickly, forcefully, as if she were escaping a prison.
The pen was right there. I picked it up.
The comments were scrolling by in a frenzy.
【His expression is so cold. Is he really going to sign? No way!]
[He’s faking! He has to be! The explosion is coming any second now!]
[Getting my screen recorder ready for the iconic scene!]
I ignored the noise and brought the pen to the paper.
The tip glided across the smooth surface.
Damien Blackwood.
My signature was clean and decisive. Not a single tremor in my hand.
I put the pen down and pushed the document back to the clerk.
“Done,” I said, my voice surprisingly light.
2/9
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Chapter 1
the paperpet
12.31
The hall was silent except for the low hum of the air conditioning. The clerk looked stunned, glancing from to me, then to Evelyn. He probably hadn’t seen many divorces go this smoothly, especially from a CEO with a reputation for being obsessively in love with his wife.
Evelyn had finished signing too. She finally looked up, her vacant eyes meeting mine. The emptiness was gone, replaced by something else.
Shock. Utter disbelief.
