...Prologue...

Lia sighed for the nth time as she stepped out of the train station, all the

exhaustion she felt draining out of her.

Work was challenging as usual, but it wasn't the major source of her heavy

feeling these days. It was all thanks to that web novel that kept her awake for

the past days. The novel was slowly approaching its climax where the traitors

were caught, the hero got his resolve back, allies supporting his cause, and the

mastermind was finally revealed. Everything was good and all.

Except for her namesake. This novel Lia was a cannon fodder with almost

no redeeming feature at first glance. Upon reading her backstory, it was a little

easier to empathize with her. Despite her not coming from a wealthy family.

novel Lia remained resilient and stood by the protagonist's side. She was not

completely dumb. It was gratifying to watch her do everything she could to help

her guy. Real-life Lia might not always approve of her ways, but she gave

points for her namesake's quick-wittedness at times. But this poor cannon

fodder turned to a lovestruck idiot for the protagonist. She had so much potential,

but in the end, she was just another stepping stone, another trophy for the

protagonist. And then dying after she was used.

Lia clicked her tongue, 'That's why she should have left him.' She liked the

protagonist, the General. He was described as a war god in the field that the

enemies shook in fear when he confronted them. But his weakness, or at least

in Lia's eyes, was women. Lia rolled her eyes. Of course, the charisma was part

of the protagonist's halo. She stopped reading for a while to ease the annoyance

off her chest. Now that she thought about it, she remembered that the next

chapter featured the general's backstory.

She grunted as she hurried her steps towards the house she shared with

her mom and younger brother. She was reading stories so she could take away

her mind from other things. To relax and be able to step back from reality, even

for short minutes a day. Who would have thought that it would make her even

more stressed out?

"Geez," she chuckled despite herself. She felt silly yet happy. Reading had

always been her guilty pleasure. They made her forget her tiring workday. And

now, she was excited to get to the ending of the novel.

Soon, that small happiness faded away.

As she got closer to their house, a sense of foreboding filled her. She shook

her head as if to clear those dark feelings. "You're just overreacting,' she thought

. But just the sight of their house caused her to feel anxious. It reminded her of

the tumultuous past year, a year full of nothing but cries, screams, and

confrontations.

She braced herself and pushed open the door, careful not to make the

slightest sound. But she didn't have to make any sound at all as the argument

of her parents droned everything else.

"Why are you even here!? Just go back to your mistress!" Lia heard her

mother scream that made Lia wince.

Lia didn't get to hear her father's reply, but she didn't have to as she could

have already guessed what happened. His other woman dumped him, and now

he was pleading with Lia's mother to take him back. After a few months or so,

he would leave again for another one of his newfound lady-love. Rinse and

repeat. After doing it twice, her mother stopped forgiving him. Yet, here he was,

as innocent as a lamb, asking for forgiveness.

He would coax and court her mother again until she became tired of

pushing him away and just let him be. Then, there would be an unwanted

roommate in their house, a roommate who sometimes poses as a father to her

and to her younger brother. It was a good thing that Robin wasn't home or he

would get into another round of argument with this person. He was young and a

head shorter than that guy, but he was dauntless. Unlike his older sister.

A cold, numbing feeling swept over Lia as her mom's cries receded to a cold

tone. 'No, not this scene again.' She shut her eyes and did the safest thing that

she thought at the moment.

She ran.

As fast as she could. As far as her legs could take her. Anywhere was

better than here. She just kept on running.

A speeding sports car came from her right, not minding the red light, and

swerving left and right. Before Lia could take another step forward, everything

turned black.