“Makenzie, don’t talk about Jason like that,” Kristen cut in, stepping protectively in front of him. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, but her voice held steady. “We’ve realized we’re meant to be together. Let’s just move on from the past, okay?”

“Move on?” Makenzie echoed, a sardonic smile curving her red lips. Her eyes gleamed with something caught between sarcasm and sorrow. Jason, trapped in her gaze, felt his heart skip a beat—her face had always had a way of holding him captive.

Jason pressed his lips into a thin line, then pulled himself together. “Makenzie, we ended things on good terms a year ago.”

“Yes. It ended.” Her voice went sharper. “It’s not like it used to be—when you’d skip class with me to play video games, or when we’d share a cup of coffee at the amusement park after riding the carousel. It’s not even like that night you had a 104-degree fever and I stayed up with you at the hospital.”

Makenzie recounted every memory, one by one, forcing them back into Jason’s conscience. She watched guilt flicker through his eyes while Kristen shifted uncomfortably beside him. The sight gave Makenzie a grim satisfaction.

Which current girlfriend wants to hear about her boyfriend’s sweet-and-sour past with his ex?

“Makenzie, enough. Please stop,” Jason said, tightening his grip on Kristen’s hand. “I made mistakes in the past, but now I only love Kristen.”

Makenzie let out a short laugh. “After three years together, you realized it was a mistake—and within a year, you found your soulmate? Even my family seems to agree.”

Kristen couldn’t help herself. “Makenzie, you were always causing trouble for me and stirring up drama. That’s when Jason finally saw you for who you really are—and left.”

“Causing you trouble?” Makenzie fixed them with a piercing stare, a bitter smile playing at her lips. “All you ever saw was poor Kristen. Not once did anyone stop to consider that I was innocent too. I never cared that Kristen reclaimed what was rightfully hers—including the family and the money. All I wanted was Jason. I loved him for three years, and he promised he’d marry only me.”

“But what happened?”

“In the end, the sister who took everything from me still wasn’t satisfied. She came back and took away the only light in my dark world. Now my family is happily planning their wedding, and I’m not even allowed to be upset?”

Watching Makenzie’s tears threaten to spill over, Jason tightened his hold on Kristen’s hand even more. Suddenly, through the sheer force of Makenzie’s love for him, he understood her past actions. Guilt and a sharp pang of heartache rose inside him. He swallowed hard, his gaze shifting almost imperceptibly.

“I didn’t mean to, Makenzie.” Kristen bit her lip, her face draining of color. “I never wanted to come between you two.”

“Of course not. You’re far too pure to do anything as underhanded as stealing your sister’s boyfriend, right? It must’ve been Jason’s wandering heart getting tangled up with yours—leading to our so-called amicable breakup. Do you know that the night he broke up with me was our three-year anniversary? I’d already bought a ring. I was ready to propose to him.”

Makenzie’s laughter was full of tears, her words sharp enough to cut. The family sat exposed. Who could say she was wrong? The story had always made it clear that Makenzie’s love for Jason burned hot and fierce.

Jason had pursued Kristen, knowing full well what it meant. Kristen had known too. The reasoning was simple: family alliances couldn’t hinge on an outsider’s involvement.

Everyone silently accepted it. Everyone empathized with Kristen’s past. No one considered Makenzie—and that was how she became the villain.

The living room seemed to grow colder, the air more suffocating than before. It was Makenzie’s mother who broke first. She rose and pulled Makenzie into her arms, her voice thick with regret. “I’m so sorry, Makenzie. I’ve always known how much you’ve endured. I always thought you were strong enough—that you wouldn’t leave us. You’ve been my daughter for so many years.”

One was Kristen, who had been with them for only three years. The other was Makenzie, who had been with them for twenty-three. Even if she wasn’t their biological daughter, Makenzie’s mother couldn’t sever that bond so easily.

Makenzie gently pushed her away. “Starting today, I, Makenzie, am leaving the Bell family. From now on, you’re Kristen’s mom—not mine.”

She turned on her heel and headed for the door.

“Makenzie!” Her brother rushed forward and grabbed her. “You don’t have a penny. Where are you going? Just apologize to Kristen and Dad. We can still be a family.”

“A family?” Makenzie shook off his grip and turned back, landing one final blow on Jason—the ex who had betrayed her. “Stay and watch my sister marry the man I loved for three years? Have children with him? Under one roof?” Her voice cracked. “I’d rather die.”

Her eyes were wet, her nose red, and she looked fragile, like she might collapse at any second. “I’m leaving for good today—as an apology for my past immaturity. I promise you all, I, Makenzie, will never interfere with Jason and Kristen again. I wish you happiness and a growing family.”

As Jason let go of Kristen’s hand, he unconsciously took a step forward.

“Jason?” Kristen seized his hand and pulled him back. “Are you going after her? Do you still love her?”

The step he’d taken faltered. He retreated, lowering his eyes as his thoughts tangled together.

He knew how much Makenzie loved him. He had loved her too—who wouldn’t fall for someone so beautiful and devoted?

But now that she was a nobody, she was no longer fit to enter his family’s gates.

System 66, which had been quietly observing all along, watched Makenzie exit with her bag. Then its tone shifted with interest as Makenzie pulled out a recording device and clicked it off. “Host, what’s that for?”

“Always have a backup plan. Didn’t you say the rumors were all about how Makenzie bullied Kristen?” she replied, weighing the recorder in her hand before slipping it back into her bag. “Now that I’m in charge, I need to clear my name before I can properly take on my role as a stand-in.”

“What do you plan to do?”

“First, find Theo Mason.”

“What for?” System 66 seemed caught between the recording and its connection to the male lead.

“To start making money, of course!” Makenzie said matter-of-factly, dialing a number from the black, gold-embossed card in her hand.

In the financial district, where skyscrapers rose like giants lording over the city, the lights of Mason Financial Group’s building blazed brightly. A meeting had just ended.

A tall man, immaculate in a tailored suit, stepped out of the boardroom, his refined, cold face utterly unreadable. Behind him, his assistant, Amari Wilson, kept his eyes fixed on a tablet, briefing him on the rest of the day’s schedule.

“Mr. Mason, we’ve handled the tabloid rumors about your brother from last night. At six p.m., you’re scheduled to meet Mr. Smith from Plains Securities. And the Diaz family matriarch called to invite you to her birthday dinner tomorrow night.”

Amari Wilson hesitated at the mention of the Diaz family, then shot an uneasy glance at the resolute man in front of him. “If you don’t want to attend, I can turn them down on your behalf and tell them you’re swamped.”

He stopped mid-step, the room holding its breath around him. Frowning in thought, he pulled out his phone—it had been buzzing nonstop.

An unknown number had been blowing up his phone from the start of the meeting to the end.

“Hello.”

His voice came through the phone low and detached, straight into Makenzie Bell’s ear.

She was sitting on a busy city street, the noise around her making her soft voice sound hesitant. “Hello? Mr. Mason? It’s Makenzie Bell. I wanted to ask if what you mentioned before still stands?”

She’d called four times between ten and two, and slowly, a memory surfaced. Theo Mason remembered her eyes—how strikingly they resembled Lila Roberts’s.

His lips pressed into a thin line. When he finally spoke, his voice was cool and indifferent. “Send me the address. Someone will come get you.”

When the call ended, Amari Wilson—still trailing behind him—held his breath and waited for instructions.

Theo turned slightly, his sharp jaw tight. “No need to cancel the schedule. Just send someone to pick up Makenzie Bell.”

A second later, an address popped up on Amari’s tablet. He arched a brow. “Makenzie Bell? The Bell family’s supposed daughter?”

The notorious imposter daughter who kept landing in headlines for all the wrong reasons? Amari remembered how Theo had personally bailed her out of the police station after the Bells cut her off—a rare move for him.

The reason was obvious: she looked strikingly like Lila Roberts, even though Lila had married another man. Theo’s intentions were clear.

Amari nodded. “Where should we take her?”

Theo paused for a beat. “Sunrise Court.”

“Got it.”

Makenzie was sitting on the sidewalk, savoring spicy mac and cheese, when a notification from System 66 popped up—a deposit and a progress update.

“Deposit: ten thousand dollars. Theo Mason’s favorability increased by one percent.”

The spice made her cough, tears stinging her eyes, while curious bystanders discreetly filmed her on their phones.

Sniffling, Makenzie checked her phone and saw several thousand dollars had landed in her bank account. Her voice wavered. “Is this ten thousand in my original world’s currency? Why’d it just show up?”

System 66 replied, “Your call with Theo Mason advanced the plot. You earned a bonus.”

Makenzie paused for a second, then happily dug back into her mac and cheese.

Finally, a real opportunity had shown up.

A sleek Mercedes executive car eased to a stop in front of her. The driver scanned the street until his gaze landed on the woman eating mac and cheese at the bus stop. He hesitated for a moment, then spoke into his phone. “I found Miss Bell, but there’s a slight delay.”

Amari asked automatically, “What’s the holdup?”

“It’s not hesitation. She’s just finishing her mac and cheese. She looks starved.”

Inside the car, tension crackled. Amari’s surprised expression was impossible to miss. He glanced at Theo, who was reviewing documents in the backseat. After a beat, Theo said calmly, “Send a chef over.”

Even Theo hadn’t expected the Bell family to be so harsh—leaving their adopted daughter to eat mac and cheese in public and forcing her to come to him for help.

Oblivious to her sudden fame, Makenzie was just relieved to finally eat. When she noticed the car waiting, she got up and tossed her mac and cheese cup. The driver stepped forward. “Miss Bell? Mr. Mason sent me to pick you up.”

So it really was for her. With a bashful smile, she climbed in.

To help her get better acquainted with Theo Mason, System 66 spent the drive filling her in on his background.

At twenty-eight, Theo Mason was CEO of Mason Financial Group, overseeing investments across finance, securities, pharmaceuticals, and entertainment—a formidable presence in the financial district and a powerhouse across the region.

But his current success hadn’t always been guaranteed.

At twenty-six, Theo was merely the heir to a fledgling venture capital firm. His potential marriage to Lila Roberts seemed like a smart match—until his father’s business collapsed, throwing the company into immediate financial chaos and ending the engagement.

Lila loved Theo, but she had no control over the situation. She ended up marrying Kelvin Diaz, the Diaz family’s eldest son. No one expected Theo to resurrect the company within two years and emerge as a force to be reckoned with.

Even when he collaborated with the Diaz family on projects, Theo’s motives seemed tangled up with his lingering feelings for Lila. To Makenzie, his discreet aid to the Diaz family looked like misplaced devotion.

The situation was further complicated by Kelvin’s deteriorating health. At twenty-eight, he wasn’t expected to survive past thirty. That meant Makenzie only had to convincingly stand in for Lila for two years, earn Theo’s favor, and make her exit once Lila became a widow.

“Sounds doable—as long as I don’t go looking for trouble,” Makenzie muttered to herself.

“Does he have the usual CEO ailments?” she mused aloud. “You know—out of ten CEOs, five are limping, three have fake scars, two have ulcers, and one has night blindness. If he’s got that whole no-touch rule with the heroine, that’s tricky.”

System 66 chuckled. “You’re pretty observant. But since your first assignment is crucial, I promise I’ve picked very refined male leads for this chaotic world. Theo has a severe ulcer that flares up under stress. He manages it alone.”

Makenzie nodded and searched for photos of Theo online. Her memory of his face was blurry.

Seeing the disciplined lines of his body and the noticeable maturity in his features in the photos made her blink. Instinctively, she asked, “Can I sleep with him? Stand-in roles usually come with that, right?”

System 66 hesitated. “Technically, yes—but you can’t. Their physical scenes are reserved for the heroine, usually for the reconciliation finale.”

“Well, then.”

While she kept chatting with System 66, the luxury minivan pulled up to Sunrise Court.

It was the most opulent neighborhood around, full of standalone villas with million-dollar price tags. Theo used the place to house his treasured possessions in lavish comfort.

From what Makenzie remembered, the night Theo bailed her out of the precinct and handed her his business card, he’d left her with one parting remark.

The refined man had once told her, “If you can’t handle it, come to me.” His voice had been soft then—nothing like the detached tone he’d used on their last call. Of course, those words were meant for Lila Roberts, not Makenzie Bell.

As the driver was leaving, he said, “No one usually stays here, but Mr. Mason has arranged for a chef to come by. You can ask for whatever you want, Miss Bell.”

Makenzie took in the luxurious villa, though she stayed put in the living room. The decor was a minimalist mix of wood and gray tones—cold, empty, almost completely lifeless.

Until she got an official invitation, Makenzie held off on exploring further. She settled onto the sofa to wait.

With time to kill, she scrolled through the negative press about herself online. The top trending topic was Kristen Bell’s glamorous marriage into high society. Two related headlines followed: one accused Makenzie of pushing Kristen into the water—which Kristen had graciously chosen to overlook—and another painted Makenzie as desperately begging Jason not to end things.

Reading the nasty comments made her grimace.

“Makenzie Bell is the worst. We hope she gets kicked out of the Bell family so she can’t hurt our sweet Kristen anymore!”

“She’s just a gold digger clinging to Jason because he’s her last meal ticket. Greed is literally in her blood.”

“Poor Kristen—growing up away from her family, only to be tormented by a nobody.”

“Makenzie should just vanish. Like, literally disappear!”

Makenzie’s ruined reputation was tangled up with Kristen’s rise in the entertainment world. Theo had saved her from prison, but he hadn’t lifted a finger to manage her public image. Without her laptop, she couldn’t upload the recording yet, so there was nothing she could do right now.

Makenzie turned off her phone, yawned, and decided to nap on the couch.

By eight that evening, a sleek Maybach rolled up outside the villa. Amari Wilson glanced sideways. “We just got word that the chef was in a car accident on the way here. He’s in the hospital.”

“Should we find someone else?” he asked, unsure what Theo Mason was thinking. The man’s face was still hidden in shadow.

Theo looked out at the villa. No lights. He considered it for a few seconds, then said, “No need.”

He stepped onto the porch. The moment he opened the door, a warm light flickered on, spilling from the entryway into the living room and faintly lighting the woman curled up on the sofa.

Theo walked over. Makenzie was asleep, her neckline slightly open, exposing the slender pale line of her throat as she slept deeply.

He crouched down and studied her peaceful face. The words he’d once said so casually now felt like a promise he couldn’t take back. Up close, her features really were exactly his type.

Makenzie stirred in her sleep as something brushed lightly against her eyelids. Instinctively, she reached out and caught a cool fingertip, ready to swat it away—when System 66 blared in her mind, “It’s Theo Mason! He’s looking at you and thinking about someone else! Don’t push him away! According to the script, you should pretend to be all sleepy and disoriented—this is when you look most like the heroine.”

The promise of money was as tempting as ever. She loosened her grip, let out a soft murmur, and let her eyelids flutter half open.

Through the blur, she made out a handsome face and murmured sweetly, almost dreamily, “Mr. Mason? You’re back?”

Theo’s long lashes flickered. His elegant face went still for a moment.

In the dim light, her hazy eyes mirrored the ones in his memory—innocent and sweet, like a lost lamb looking for affection.

His cool thumb brushed the corner of Makenzie’s eye, and his voice came out surprisingly warm. “Why didn’t you go upstairs to sleep?”

“I didn’t know which room was mine,” Makenzie mumbled, shrinking back and leaning away, her fingers still wrapped around his. “Stop—it’s ticklish.”

Theo hesitated, then pulled his hand back, subtly pressing his thumb and forefinger together.

Makenzie slowly sat up. Her hand accidentally hit the remote beside her, and bright light flooded the room, fully revealing the man’s face.

Now fully awake, she was stunned for a second. If Jason counted as charming, then Theo was the definition of mature male beauty—a total powerhouse of a man.

He looked like he’d just come from work, perfectly dressed in a custom dark suit that showed off broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His deep-set eyes and strong nose gave him a face that looked carved by the gods—flawless in every way.

Makenzie looked into his eyes, which still held an unguarded tenderness. She knew he was seeing someone else through her—and internally, she was cheering.

This was a win! Not only would she get paid, she’d also have this exceptional man for company. Paradise, indeed.

The sudden light shattered the illusion. Theo stood, his gaze cold again. “I’m rarely here. You can sleep in whatever room you want.”

“I understand.” Makenzie sat up, her face a little flushed. “About your earlier offer—does it still stand?”

“It does.”

Theo looked down at her, the light casting perfect shadows across his face. His tone was flat but firm. “I need a partner. Discreet. Unnamed. Would you agree, Miss Bell?”

“I wouldn’t have come if I had another option, Mr. Mason,” Makenzie said with a smile. “You’re the only one who offered me a lifeline when everyone else turned against me. Of course I agree—but I have two small conditions.”

Her conditions piqued his interest. Theo sat down and pulled a cigarette from its pack. “Speak.”

“A two-year term. I, Makenzie Bell, am willing to accept this arrangement, but during that time, I want a salary.”

Theo paused mid-motion, surprise flickering in his eyes.

Plenty of women would have done anything for a place in his bed, and here she was negotiating wages—like he was hiring an employee.

Makenzie kept her professional demeanor. “Even if this is an unconventional, high-paying job, we should have clear terms. You provide material support, and I offer companionship—ready to serve you at any time.”

Theo set the cigarette aside, his eyes fixed on her. “You’re in dire need?”

“Completely broke,” Makenzie said with an honest nod. “I don’t have a cent to my name. But I’ll only take payment for my efforts—ten thousand a month, not including benefits. I’ll handle those myself. Does that work for you?”

Theo watched her as if she were sitting in a job interview. He said nothing.

“All right.”

After a moment, he lit his cigarette. “We both get what we want.”

System 66 chimed in: “You’ve received $100,000. Theo Mason’s favorability increased by two percent. He seems to appreciate your pragmatism.”