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Chapter 1

I transmigrated into a novel, taking on the role of the vicious female supporting character, Harper.

Harper was originally a wealthy heiress, engaged to the male lead's best friend and secondary love interest, Carter. Because Harper's and Carter's parents were old friends, the Carter family didn't immediately call off the engagement when Harper's family suddenly went bankrupt.

But Harper was blindly in love with the male lead. She constantly sabotaged the female lead, made a string of terrible mistakes, and was eventually despised by everyone, meeting a miserable end.

I transmigrated right at the moment Harper's family declared bankruptcy and her parents fled back to their hometown in the Midwest.

I just wanted to live a normal, peaceful life, but I was suddenly bound to a "System."

The System demanded I maintain Harper's original persona, or I would face severe punishments.

Me: [What persona?]

System: [The spoiled, high-maintenance heiress persona.]

I looked around the tiny, dilapidated apartment in a walk-up building with no elevator. It was bare to the walls, and the total square footage was smaller than my previous life's bathroom. I was utterly speechless.

The System kindly offered a suggestion: [Actually, there is another way.]

Me: [What is it?]

It said: [You can choose to seek refuge with your fiancé, Carter.]

Carter. The cold, ruthless, billionaire CEO.

In the original book, although Carter and Harper were engaged, they absolutely loathed each other. He found Harper spoiled, temperamental, and annoying. Harper found him to be an unfeeling iceberg.

Even though I was 100% sure Carter would throw me out on the street, it was my only option.

With no other choice, I dragged my suitcase and rang the doorbell of Carter's mega-mansion in Beverly Hills.

When Carter opened the door, that devastatingly handsome face stared at me expressionlessly for a few seconds.

Just as he reached back to slam the door in my face, I quickly wedged half my body inside and greeted him with overwhelming enthusiasm: "Hello! Good evening! The moon is so round today! Long time no see, you're still as dashing, suave, and universally loved as ever..."

"Shut up," Carter interrupted. "Speak English."

I instantly put on my most pitiful face, looking at him with tear-filled eyes: "Carter, can you please take me in for a little while?"

Carter's eyes looked like they were shooting ice beams, ready to freeze me into a statue.

Then, he let out a cold scoff: "In your dreams."

Seeing that he was about to physically push me out the door, I squeezed my eyes shut, steeled my heart, and clung to his leg like my life depended on it, throwing away all dignity: "I'm begging you! If you don't, I'll go beg your parents! Your mom and dad would definitely say yes!

"My parents were always so good to you, weren't they?! They bought you gifts every Thanksgiving and Christmas when we were kids! Aren't you going to take care of their precious daughter?"

Hearing me bring up our parents, Carter wavered slightly, but he still ground his teeth: "Let go!"

"Promise me, and I'll let go!" My life was on the line; my pride was worthless now. "Please! I'm very low-maintenance, I won't bother you at all! Please, please, please!"

We were right at the front door, and a neighbor happened to be walking their dog. They stared dumbfounded as I cried and clung to Carter's leg. Their face practically screamed: "Kids these days are into some weird roleplay."

Carter's face turned red, then purple. Probably sweating under the neighbor's judgmental gaze, he quickly dragged me inside the courtyard and slammed the gate shut.

He took a deep breath: "If you don't let go right now, get out."

Catching the underlying meaning in his words, I quickly let go, beaming brightly: "Thank you! You're a saint! You're going to live a long, prosperous life!"

Carter completely ignored me and walked straight into the house.

I followed right behind him. Carter went up to the second floor, pointed to a guest room, and said: "You're staying here."

I was just about to thank him when, suddenly, the System spoke: [No good.]

Me: [What's no good?]

System: [The bedding isn't pure silk.]

I didn't process it at first: [Huh?]

The System explained: [It violates the persona.]

Me: [...]

Even though I was completely exasperated, I had to force myself to speak: "Carter..."

"Stop whining," Carter frowned. "What now?"

I pointed at the 100% Egyptian cotton bedding: "This isn't silk. I can't sleep on this."

If looks could kill, I would have been sliced into a thousand pieces by Carter.

He threw down a "Then don't sleep" and walked away, completely ignoring me.

I was out of options. I figured I'd just try sleeping on it; maybe nothing would happen.

Before bed, following the System's requirements, I went looking for warm milk.

Carter was in the living room. I approached him cautiously: "Um, do you happen to have any warm milk?"

The more I spoke, the guiltier I felt, and my voice grew quieter. "I need a glass of warm milk before I can sleep."

"No." Carter was ice-cold. "I don't drink milk."

"What about almond milk? Soy milk? Oat milk might work too."

"No."

I let out a very disappointed "Ah": "Why don't you have anything in this huge house?"

Carter had reached the end of his patience:

"Who was the one who just said they were low-maintenance?!"

Ultimately, Carter had someone from a luxury delivery service bring over fresh, organic milk. I heated it in the microwave and got the warm milk the System required.

As I drank the milk, I buttered Carter up: "Carter, you're the best. You're like a modern-day superhero! If they don't nominate you for Time's Person of the Year, the system is rigged!"

Carter replied with just three words: "Save it."

After finishing the milk and taking a shower, I lay happily in bed, ready to sleep.

However, barely ten minutes later, my entire body started to itch and sting. I turned on the light and looked. Everywhere my skin was exposed, there was a dense, terrifying rash.

I asked the System: [Is this the punishment?]

System: [Yes, dear.]

I wanted to cry but had no tears left.

With no other choice, I knocked on Carter's bedroom door.

Carter opened the door, looking furious.

Before he could start yelling, I struck first, holding out my arm for him to see: "Look! I wasn't lying to you, was I?"

Carter looked at the horrifying red rash and frowned.

Seeing a glimmer of hope, I pressed my advantage, pulling my collar down slightly to reveal the large, angry red patch on my neck: "And here too! Look! It's all red! Don't you feel sorry for me?"

Carter's gaze swept over my neck, then quickly darted away. He coughed unnaturally: "Do you think you're the Princess and the Pea?"

He walked to the living room, found a tube of ointment from the first-aid kit, and handed it to me: "Apply it yourself."

I took the ointment with overwhelming gratitude, then looked at him with a face full of expectation: "The sheets..."

"It's the middle of the night. Where am I supposed to find you a pure silk bedding set?!"

"Um..." My eyes kept darting toward his bedroom. "The sheets in your room... they look like pure silk."

"Impossible." Carter cut me off decisively. "Absolutely not."

Half an hour later.

I was lying comfortably in Carter's massive king-sized bed. The touch of pure silk against my skin was cool and soft.

Carter, what a guy!

A truly great guy!

When I woke up, Carter had already left for work. There was breakfast prepared by the housekeeper on the dining table.

After eating, I got ready to leave for work too.

However, just as I reached the entrance of the subway station, my feet suddenly felt like they were magnetized, glued firmly to the pavement. I couldn't move an inch.

I called out to the System in panic: [System! What's happening to me?!]

The System replied very calmly: [Dear, the original Harper would never take the subway to commute.]

Me: [?]

Confused, I turned around and tentatively took a step away from the station.

It worked.

I tried again. As long as I didn't walk toward the subway station, any other direction was fine.

I didn't give up. I tried to take the bus.

The bus just wouldn't arrive.

I tried to rent a City Bike. Either the app glitched, or the bike was broken. Every attempt was met with failure.

Seeing that I was about to be late, I opened my Uber app: [Then I'll just call a car, okay?!]

System: [That is acceptable.]

Three seconds later, the System glanced at my screen and spoke again: [Dear, UberX Share is also not allowed.]

With tears in my eyes, I deselected the [UberX Share] option.

Rush hour commute. Uber Black. It cost me 80 bucks.

When Carter got home from work, I was hugging four bottles of Evian water, staring blankly at the double-digit balance in my bank account.

Haha, I was laughing at my own poverty.

Seeing him return, my eyes lit up, and I rushed over: "You're back?

"Did you have a hard day? Are you tired? Thirsty?

"Want some water?" I opened a bottle and eagerly handed it to him. "It's five dollars a bottle."

Carter was about to take the water, but pulled his hand back: "Where did you get this?"

I remembered the look the Uber Black driver gave me when I got out—a look that said, 'You must be really thirsty.' "I snagged them from the car."

Carter: "?"

"That's not the point." I maintained my eager posture. "The point is, could you maybe give me a ride to and from work from now on?"

The System said that according to my character setting, I had to be chauffeured to and from work.

However, my bank balance wasn't even enough for one more Uber ride.

After thinking about it, hitching a ride with Carter was my only option.

The corner of Carter's mouth twitched: "No."

I immediately said: "A real man never says no."

Carter: "..."

After exhausting all my efforts, I finally secured a VIP seat in the back of his Porsche Panamera.

To thank Carter, I wanted to buy him a gift.

On payday, I enthusiastically invited Carter to go to the mall with me.

"Why the mall?"

"To buy you a gift!" I was very sincere. "You've been so good to me, I have to repay you! So I'm picking out a gift for you!"

Carter squinted at me, then gave a meaningful smile: "Alright."

I was fully prepared to be rejected. I didn't expect him to agree so readily.

It wasn't until we arrived at the high-end mall in Beverly Hills that I understood the reason behind that smile.

Because this was an unmissable, perfect opportunity to thoroughly mock me.

He took me to a luxury boutique, sat on the plush sofa, and said casually: "This store is fine. Pick whatever you want. I'll take it."

I looked at the cheapest pair of cufflinks in the store—priced in the four digits—and despairingly closed my eyes.

What a coincidence. My entire paycheck was also in the four digits.

When I first got my paycheck, I thought it was a refund for something I had bought.

The sales associate looked at me expectantly. I furiously turned my head to glare at Carter.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you!" Grief overcame me. "Did you really think I couldn't afford this?!"

He looked at me with absolute certainty.

So, fueled by anger, I got angry for a second. "How are you so smart?!

"I really can't afford it."

Carter let out a light chuckle and stood up from the sofa: "Alright, let's go. Nothing caught my eye today anyway."

I felt a massive wave of relief: "If you're not buying, then I'm not buying either."

"You don't need to get me a gift." After walking out, Carter led me to another store. "If you really want to thank me, help me pick out a bag for my mom. She didn't like any of the ones I gave her before; she said I have terrible taste."

That was easy!

I quickly picked out a classic, elegant handbag. It was simple and generous; Carter's mom would definitely like it.

After picking it out, I browsed the store casually and accidentally caught sight of a pink crocodile skin Birkin.

I couldn't walk anymore.

Not because my heart couldn't take it, but because my physical body literally couldn't take it.

My legs were completely immobilized!

I asked the System: [You've got to be kidding me...]

The System replied happily with an [Mhm]: [As a distinguished, wealthy heiress, how could you not own a crocodile skin handbag?!]

Perhaps noticing that I was staring at the bag without moving, Carter walked over next to me: "You want it?"

He understood me so well!

I nodded vigorously.

Carter smiled, his eyes crinkling: "Then keep wanting."

Me: "..."

Carter was about to walk away, but I immediately grabbed him.

"Please." I wanted to cry but had no tears. "I will be your loyal servant for the rest of my life, I will definitely repay you!"

The sales associate approached very enthusiastically: "Ma'am, you have excellent taste! This is a limited edition. We only had three in the entire city, and this is the very last one!"

So it was a limited edition. No wonder it cost almost seven figures.

"Let's go." Carter ignored me, took the bag the associate had packaged, and walked out the door.

Leaving me alone, standing like a statue in front of that pink crocodile skin bag.

The associate was overflowing with enthusiasm: "How about it, ma'am? If you like it, you should take it!"

I pretended to be nonchalant: "It's fine, don't worry about me. I'm just browsing."

After standing in "time-out" for ten minutes, the associate came over again: "Are you still considering it, ma'am? Is there something on your mind?"

Nothing much. My biggest concern was just that I was broke.

During the twentieth minute of my time-out, someone else walked up beside me.

I thought it was the associate again: "Miss, could you please let me look at this masterpiece for just a little longer?"

To my surprise, Carter's voice sounded: "You've been staring at it for 20 minutes. Haven't you seen enough?"

Not only had I seen enough, I was completely over it.

I felt like my legs were turning to wood, but I couldn't move. I could only stare pitifully at Carter.

The next moment, Carter pulled a sleek black Amex from his pocket and handed it to the associate:

"Please wrap this one up for me as well."

The moment his words landed, my legs returned to normal.

Holding the packaged bag, I followed behind him: "Carter, you're the best. How can you be so amazing?"

"Stop sucking up," he didn't even turn his head. "Just consider it a return favor for the birthday gifts your parents gave me when we were kids."

He was tall and had long legs, walking very fast. I tried hard to keep up, but because I had been standing for so long, my legs weren't listening. I couldn't take more than a few steps before I had to sit down on a bench in the mall corridor.

Carter walked a short distance, noticed I wasn't following, and gave me a look that said, "What kind of drama are you pulling now?"

I smiled awkwardly: "I can't walk anymore."

"How many steps did you even take?" Carter laughed in exasperation. "I'll wait for you in the parking garage. If you're not there in 10 minutes, find your own way home."

The thought of a massive Uber bill gave me a sudden burst of energy.

However, it didn't last three seconds. I was frozen in place again at the entrance of a boutique.

All because I took one extra glance at a new designer gown displayed in the window.

In the end, I didn't dare look left or right. Carrying the bags for the purse and the dress, I walked with my head down, staring at the floor like a thief, and finally made it home smoothly.

Carter looked at me, exasperated, with an expression that said he wished he didn't know me: "How many years in prison do you get for looking up while walking where you're from?"

Me: "..."

I sentence you to life without a wife!

I have to say, this System was really inconvenient.

I couldn't drive. If the chauffeur wasn't available, I couldn't leave the house. Even when I did leave, I couldn't go anywhere.

I couldn't go to high-end malls; if I did, I turned into a statue in front of luxury boutiques and would probably be carried away by security guards thinking I was a mannequin thief.

I couldn't go to flea markets either; it said it violated my character setting.

On a Saturday night, Carter had a dinner engagement. I was so bored at home I was growing mold, so I decided to take a casual stroll around the gated community.

I hadn't walked far when a torrential downpour suddenly started.

I didn't bring an umbrella, so I quickly ran to the nearest gazebo to wait out the rain.

However, amidst the deafening roar of thunder and rain, I thought I heard the faint meow of a cat.

The sound was weak and feeble, sounding incredibly pitiful.

I looked around and noticed a tiny figure huddled under a bush not far away.

I braved the heavy rain and rushed over.

It really was a kitten. It looked like a stray, skin and bones, with a bloody wound on its leg.

Without thinking twice, I immediately picked it up, wanting to take it to the nearby veterinary clinic.

The System tried to stop me: [The spoiled, high-maintenance Harper would never get herself this drenched and messy for a stray cat.]

It was true. I was soaked to the bone, my clothes covered in mud, completely violating the character setting.

But I couldn't care less. Even though my feet felt glued to the ground, a surge of limitless energy seemed to well up inside me. I forced my legs to move, struggling toward the main gate.

I finally made it to the entrance of the community and pulled out my phone to call an Uber, but in this weather, getting a ride was impossible.

Occasionally, a passing taxi would see how muddy and wet the kitten and I were and refuse to take us.

Just as I was panicking, unsure of what to do, a familiar Porsche Panamera pulled up in front of us.

The rear window rolled down, slowly revealing Carter's face.

"Harper?" Seeing me in this state, his expression tightened. "What happened?"

He quickly opened the car door. I got in, showed him the kitten, and spoke urgently: "Can we go to a nearby vet clinic first? The kitten looks like it's not going to make it."

Carter didn't hesitate. He told the driver: "To the vet clinic first."

I knew Carter was a neat freak, so I didn't dare sit too close to him. But he didn't seem to mind, pulling out a handkerchief and handing it to me.

"Wipe yourself off." Carter took the kitten from my hands, freeing me up to dry my clothes.

He draped his suit jacket over my shoulders and instructed the driver, "Turn the heat up."

I don't know if it was because of the cold, but the kitten kept shivering. I wanted to take off Carter's jacket to wrap the kitten's body.

As soon as I moved, as if he knew what I was about to do, he stopped my hand: "Keep it on."

Then, he pulled a dress shirt out of a shopping bag at his feet. It looked newly bought, the tags still attached, showing a five-figure price tag.

Carter ripped off the tags and gently wrapped the kitten in the oversized, luxurious shirt several times. He patted my shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. We're almost there."

Soon, we arrived at the vet clinic. My anxious heart only settled slightly after the doctor rushed the kitten in for emergency treatment.

However, just as I let my guard down, a wave of dizziness hit me, and I stumbled, almost falling over.

Carter caught me with quick reflexes. His large, warm hand pressed against my forehead: "Why are you burning up?"

Through the dizzy haze, I thought: I'm done for.

The punishment for violating the character setting had arrived.

The high fever lasted all night, and it wasn't until the next day that it finally broke a little.

Carter had the housekeeper make some chicken noodle soup, but I had no appetite and didn't eat.

He came home briefly in the afternoon and saw me still in bed: "Feeling better?"

"A bit." I coughed twice, then asked, "How's the kitten doing?"

He unlocked his phone and showed me a video of the kitten obediently drinking milk: "It's fine. Still at the vet."

I breathed a sigh of relief: "That's great. Sob."

I wanted to watch it a few more times, but Carter locked the screen: "Stop looking at the screen. Get more rest."

He probably noticed the untouched food and asked, "You didn't eat?"

I shook my head: "Didn't have an appetite earlier."

"You haven't eaten all day?" Carter frowned. "Do you have an appetite now?"

Feeling a bit better, I nodded: "Yes."

Carter benevolently brought the soup over and placed it on the nightstand.

Carter: "Eat."

Me: "Okay."

Then we stared at each other in silence for three minutes.

Carter: "?"

I wanted to eat.

But the System told me that Harper, the spoiled, wealthy heiress, required someone to feed her during such a fragile moment of illness.

I didn't want to suffer any more punishments, so I bit the bullet and said: "My hands are too weak."

"..." A look of blank disbelief flashed across Carter's face. "You don't mean what I think you mean, do you?"

I nodded: "I probably mean exactly what you think I mean."

Carter was speechless for a moment. A fierce internal struggle seemed to be taking place in his mind. But soon, as if accepting his fate, he let out a long sigh, picked up the bowl, scooped up a spoonful of soup, and brought it to my lips.

My stomach was rumbling with hunger, but my mouth refused to open even a fraction of an inch.

Carter saw that I wasn't moving: "What now, Princess?"

I deadpanned the absurd reasoning the System fed me in my head: "There are green onions."

"What?"

"Green onions." I didn't dare look at Carter's face, afraid he would shoot laser beams from his eyes and vaporize me in the next second. "I don't eat green onions."

Carter went silent.

After a few seconds, I sneaked a peek at him.

I thought he was secretly slipping laxatives into the soup. Instead, Carter had his head bowed, meticulously picking out the tiny pieces of green onion.

Looking at his quiet profile as he picked out the onions, my heart inexplicably skipped a beat.

It's true what they say: a domesticated man is the best eye candy.

"Hehe." I forced myself to shift my attention, shamelessly flattering him. "You're so good. You're the most handsome guy in the whole wide world."

Carter didn't even look up, continuing to pick out onions: "Besides that line, what else do you know how to say?"

I immediately unleashed the barrage of compliments I had memorized earlier: "You're not just handsome, you're the epitome of aesthetic perfection!

"You're so handsome! It's a miracle of the golden ratio, like the statue of David come to life! I want to scream and cry, burst out of a mountain, run across all the national parks, climb Mount Everest, and drop to my knees in a spiral! I weep for your beauty, my tears forming the Mississippi River, the Great Lakes, and the Pacific Ocean, nourishing the entire world!"

Carter finished picking out the onions, scooped up a spoonful of soup, and shoved it into my mouth:

"Stop talking nonsense and eat."

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