Chapter 1: The Comments That Changed My Life

“Here we go again! The villainess is causing trouble!”

“The heroine’s about to return- let’s see how long she lasts!”

“Don’t worry, villains always get the worst ending anyway~”

At first, I thought I was dreaming. Because who in their right mind would say something like that in a real-life classroom?

But the voices were there- hovering somewhere above me, overlapping, echoing in an otherworldly whisper. I blinked, my pen halfway through solving an maths problem, and looked around. Everyone was chatting normally. No one else seemed to hear it.

And yet the words lingered in my head, glowing like captions from an invisible livestream.

Villainess.

Heroine.

Tragedy.

What kind of joke was this?

The bell rang, snapping me back to reality. I closed my notebook, trying to shake off the strange sensation, but something inside me had already shifted. It felt like a switch had been flipped.

By the time I got home that evening, I couldn’t stop thinking about those words.

Villainess.

Heroine.

Tragedy.

And then- while scrolling through my reflection in the mirror- I saw it. A faint shimmer, like words written across the glass in invisible ink. Slowly, they came into focus:

“Liana Everhart, Designated Villainess. Role: Jealous fiancée. Fate: Exiled.”

My heart stopped.

“Excuse me?” I said to my own reflection. “Exiled?”

For a long moment, I stared at my face- my long auburn hair, the slight tilt of my chin, the sharp but tired eyes of someone who hadn’t slept much since the last board meeting. Villainess? I was the student council vice president, the heir to Everhart Enterprises, and someone who had learned to multitask between debate tournaments and corporate finance.

And yet… my reflection smiled back with the kind of smirk you’d expect from a classic drama antagonist.

I frowned. “If this is some kind of cosmic prank, it’s not funny.”

But the words remained, glimmering faintly until I whispered, “If that’s my role, then…”

I smirked right back at the mirror.

“Then I’m rewriting the script.”

Chapter 2: The Scripted Rival

According to whatever twisted “storyline” I had fallen into, the next big event was the return of the biological daughter.

Yes, apparently my parents had adopted me years ago, only to find their real daughter after eighteen years of noble searching. How touching.

The girl—Isabella—was supposed to be innocent, sweet, hardworking, and naturally talented. The plot said I would be consumed by jealousy and humiliate her publicly, leading my fiancé to abandon me in disgust.

Tragic, right?

Too bad I had a schedule to run.

I had a meeting with our marketing branch at nine, a class presentation at noon, and my fencing practice in the evening. Jealousy didn’t even make it onto my to-do list.

When Isabella arrived, everyone gasped.

She was petite, soft-spoken, her eyes glowing with that unmistakable “heroine sparkle.” The kind of girl who tripped into people’s arms, said “oh!” every few sentences, and somehow won hearts like she was collecting coupons.

As she entered the room, a hush fell. The whispers began.

“That’s her…”

“She’s so humble…”

“I feel bad for Liana—she’ll lose everything now.”

I smiled politely. “Welcome home, Isabella.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “You… you’re not angry?”

“Angry?” I said with mock confusion. “Why would I be angry? You’re family.”

She looked like she might cry. “T-thank you…”

Somewhere, faintly, I heard those same voices again:

> “Wait—she’s not following the script?”

“What is she doing?”

“Did the villainess just… hug the heroine?”