Natalie Brooke asked me to cook dumplings for her stepfather, Michael Sawyer.

When the dumplings were knocked over and burned Michael's hand, she assumed that I was being disrespectful to an elder. So, she ordered the bodyguards to put me into a large pot, saying she would boil me until I was cooked as punishment.

"Since you burned Michael, I will make you pay the price!"

The water in the pot grew hotter, causing my whole body to be scalded red. All I could breathe was the scorching steam.

I desperately pounded on the lid, but it had long been locked.

I screamed in despair as I clawed the edges with all my strength. Blood overflowed from the pot and dripped onto the ground, but no one cared.

Just before I succumbed to death, I summoned the system and yelled, "I want to go back! I refuse to save Natalie. I don't care if she becomes a vegetable!"

My Death Penalty

Natalie held Michael's hand and carefully applied ointment with a devout expression on her face.

"Michael, your hand is finally getting better," she murmured.

He smiled and ruffled her head. "Did you forget my identity? If we're going by age, I'm your father."

Natalie's eyes darkened when she heard his words. So, she changed the subject by saying, "I will have Felix apologize to you. I already told him that your skin is delicate and scars easily. Yet, that clumsy fool still burned you. Damn it!

"He needs to be taught a lesson so he'll know who the real man of this house is!" Then, she turned to the butler and asked sharply, "How is Felix? Has he learned his lesson?"

The butler lowered his head, and cold sweat covered his forehead. "Ms. Brooke, he hasn't been released yet. Also, there's no movement coming from the pot anymore…"

Natalie froze upon hearing the butler's reply. However, her expression quickly returned to indifference.

He hesitated several times before finally closing his eyes and saying, "Some servants said that there's a smell of cooked meat coming from that room. Could it be that…"

She smiled and said casually, "You're underestimating him. He's not an ordinary person. Maybe he already climbed out of the pot and is enjoying the food inside the room. The smell you noticed is probably him eating!"

The butler was stunned by Natalie's blase attitude. However, he was a servant. Therefore, he had no right to interfere in his master's affairs.

She frowned slightly at the look on his face, her eyes flashing with impatience. "You're dismissed. I know what I'm doing. I will forgive Felix as long as he apologizes to Michael and begs for mercy. If he refuses, then he will be expelled from the Brooke family!"

When Natalie saw Michael yawning, she immediately went to support him.

"Let's get you back to your room and rest. It's all Felix's fault that you haven't slept well for days. Don't worry. I won't let you suffer for nothing. I won't let him out until your wound fully heals!"

Michael looked at her gently and nodded. "I knew it. You are the best, Natalie."

When Natalie heard his words, her ears turned slightly red. "If I'm not good to you, who else should I be good to?"

She personally went into the kitchen and made desserts for him before carrying them to his room and feeding him herself.

"Try this tiramisu. I took care to put in less sugar, so it shouldn't be too sweet. Do you like it?"

Michael rubbed his eyes and pulled Natalie into his arms, behaving as though it was only right for her to service him.

…

At that moment, I suddenly understood why Natalie knew how to make all kinds of desserts, even though she was a CEO.

It was because of Michael.

Suddenly, Michael frowned and said awkwardly, "Your cooking has improved so much during the years I was abroad. Is it because you cook for Felix often?"

Natalie guiltily turned her head away and denied it. "I would rather throw my food away than feed him my cooking. He hurt you because he is jealous of you. I wish I could just stab him!"

My heart felt as if it were being violently torn apart as a bitter tang spread across my tongue.

I couldn't believe that Natalie actually wanted me dead. I guess she'd just struck gold because I was dead as she wished.

My soul drifted out from that boiling pot. I turned back to give my final resting place one last look and saw that the surroundings of the pot were overflowing with blood foam. There was also a huge metal weight pressing on the lid.

Apparently, they had taken steps to prevent me from climbing out.

The Person I Loved Was Gone

My body had already been stewed until it was completely tender, my flesh separating from bone.

Even though I was no longer in pain, that agony seemed carved into my soul. I knew right then that I would never be able to forget it, even for a second.

I called out the system. "When can I return to my original world? I can't bear to stay here even for a moment longer!"

…

Natalie treated Michael attentively, remembering every tiniest detail about him with utter devotion.

Michael had also grown accustomed to accepting her care.

I impatiently asked the system, "How long do I still have to stay in this world? I've had enough of watching their lovey-dovey act!"

The system patiently comforted me and replied, "Host, the main system is currently undergoing updates and maintenance. You will only be able to return to your original world in a month."

I was not from this world, and neither was Natalie.

The technological advancement of our original world was far beyond this one.

In our original world, she had turned into a vegetable after a terrible car accident. So, I sought out a tech company cooperating with Tyroth and participated in their project in order to gain the chance to project Natalie's weak consciousness into different lower-level worlds.

Then, I used the device to traverse through these words to stimulate her emotions and help restore her to her full consciousness.

I hoped that she could awaken in the original world through this method.

This was supposed to be our final world. However, I had never expected that she would fall in love with someone else in this world, even going so far as to boil me alive.

In that split second, I felt that all the time I had spent trying to revive her had been such a waste of effort.

The butler reminded Natalie again, "Ms. Brooke, that room is starting to smell."

Natalie was puzzled.

After a while, she clicked her tongue in disgust, "Felix is so gross. I locked him up, and he's just relieving himself inside? Is he deliberately trying to get back at me?"

Michael said benevolently, "You should let Felix out. After all, he is still your husband. You shouldn't hold a grudge because of something so minor. You guys shouldn't fight because of me."

Natalie became upset upon hearing his words as she kicked the table leg in an attempt to vent her frustrations.

"That jealous fool turned your hand bright red with that boiling soup. God, my heart nearly stopped when I saw it happen. I was so afraid that you'd be in agony! How could you forgive someone who's wronged you like that?"

I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

Michael returned to the country on the day of the Moon Festival. When Natalie found out, she immediately abandoned me and went to the airport to pick him up.

It was already late at night by the time they got home. That was when Michael started making remarks about how he hadn't eaten dumplings in a long time.

"But you've been driving for so long, so you must be tired. Why not let Felix cook?"

And so, Natalie dragged me out of the bedroom and ordered me to whip up some dumplings for Michael.

I knew he was Natalie's stepfather and nominally my father-in-law. Hence, I had no choice but to reluctantly comply.

However, Michael flipped the bowl over as soon as I brought the dumplings to him, causing the dumplings to scatter all over the floor.

Then, he leaned close to my ear and whispered smugly, "How do you think Natalie will punish you when she sees I got burned?"

His scream rang out the very next second, and Natalie followed it like some sort of homing beacon.

She didn't even bother asking for an explanation before slapping me hard across the face. "Felix! I told you to cook dumplings. Yet, you used this opportunity to burn him just to vent your anger?"

As my wrist was pressed against the shattered pieces, my blood splurted everywhere. It mixed with the spilled soup and spread across the floor.

However, Natalie didn't seem to notice my predicament at all. She only had eyes for Michael as she rushed to take him to the hospital just to treat what looked like nothing more than a slightly reddened wrist.

At that moment, I knew the person I had loved for years was well and truly gone.

Natalie Didn't Believe I Was Dead

I disregarded the risk of my soul possibly dissipating just to traverse across multiple worlds in order to save her, who was on the verge of death.

In my original world, the people from the tech company tried their best to persuade me not to throw myself headfirst into this treatment.

"This project is still in its experimental stages. We can't guarantee that traveling across worlds won't cause damage to your mind. Due to the nature of this treatment, Ms. Brooke will assume that she's a native in those worlds.

"Can you guarantee that she will remain the same as before after you save her? What if she falls in love with someone else? What will you do then?"

I answered firmly, "Natalie wouldn't fall in love with anyone else. I doubt she'd fail to notice how much I've sacrificed just to save her, weak consciousness or not. In this world, no one loves her more than I do!"

As I recalled what I said back then, I could barely resist the urge to slam my head against the wall.

Reality sure gave me a harsh reality check.

This was supposed to be our last world, and Natalie's condition was much better than in the previous ones. However, I quickly found that she'd become rather… stubborn. I also noticed that she didn't seem to like me very much.

Still, I said nothing, choosing to stay by her side anyway.

I had even considered staying here in this world with her if the project failed and Natalie's consciousness couldn't be extracted back to our original world.

I had made countless contingency plans for our future.

I truly wanted to stay with her.

I thought my loyalty and care would eventually thaw her frozen heart, and it did. She even began to make desserts for me on her own initiative, so I thought it was all worth it.

Only now did I understand that those desserts were actually meant for Michael.

I didn't understand why she would fall in love with Michael. After all, I was the one who had always been protecting her in this world. Yet, she ditched me like yesterday's rotten tuna the moment he returned.

Just thinking about it nearly gave me an aneurysm.

Natalie's face was gloomy as she gave the butler her final ultimatum. "It's been so many days, yet he still refuses to show himself. Does he still not know what he did wrong? How tough of him!"

However, I saw that her right hand was trembling slightly, and she didn't sound as commanding as she used to.

As I've been by her side across so many worlds, I knew that this was how she reacted when she was afraid.

"Michael, I'll bring him here right now to apologize to you. If he refuses, I'll beat him until he agrees!"

Still, she slapped her hand to her nose as soon as the door swung open. "Why does it smell so bad?"

She started searching around the room, looking for me.

"Felix, where are you? Come out now!"

The butler stood to the side, his legs shaking.

"Ms. Brooke, the pot hasn't been opened yet."

Natalie frowned and was extremely displeased upon hearing his words.

"Did he hide back in the pot when he heard me coming up? Good Lord! Felix, there should be a limit to your pranks. I don't have time to play hide-and-seek with you!"

Then, she ordered someone to move the stone away.

…

As the lid of the pot was lifted slightly, a nauseating smell immediately rushed out.

The butler bent over and vomited on the spot when it hit him.

Natalie also seemed slightly uncomfortable as she barely held back her urge to vomit.

"Felix, get out of here right now. Stop pretending. My time is precious and meant to be spent with Michael. I don't have time to waste on you!"

'Natalie, do you seriously think I'd rather stay there? You were the one who had people weigh down the lid. I couldn't climb out even if I wanted to!' I thought waspishly.

Natalie's patience was running thin, and she impatiently kicked the iron pot as she barked, "What are you still dragging your feet for? Don't you want to apologize to Michael? Fine then, you don't have to. Just bow to him once, and I'll let you off. How about that?"

…

As time passed by, there was still no movement from the pot.

Natalie lifted her foot and kicked the lid off the pot. Then, she looked inside and said angrily, "Felix, you really don't know what's good for you, do you? I think—"

Her words got stuck in her throat the very next second.

My corpse had already been stewed into pieces, no longer resembling that of a human. However, my head floated at the top, my empty sockets boring into her.