Part 1The System Forced Me to Be a Vicious Wife

After my husband went bankrupt, I followed him into a basement apartment.

We were broke, living a miserable existence, and yet he still had to support me—his cruel, demanding, high-maintenance wife.

The System ordered me to maintain this persona.

But my moral compass was too strong; I was wracked with guilt after every cruel act.

So, every time I finished tormenting him, I would secretly cry my eyes out.

In the middle of the night, I crept into his room and lifted the sleeve of his shirt.

A gash, nearly four inches long, jagged and raw, stared back at me.

He’d gotten it working himself to the bone to buy the designer coat I had demanded.

As I cleaned and dressed the wound, tears streamed down my face.

"System," I whispered, "when is he going to ask for a divorce?"

I couldn't stand being cruel anymore. I couldn't stand seeing him get hurt.

The System glanced at my husband's arm, now damp with my tears, then at his eyelashes, which were trembling ever so slightly. It sighed.

【Divorce? Honey,】 it said.

【He's planning on loving you for the rest of his life.】

* * *

"I'm so glad no one took it. See? I told you it was pretty. The ribbon is tied so nicely, too."

It was already ten o'clock at night. I stood under a flickering streetlight, holding the bouquet I’d just fished out of the trash, my voice filled with a quiet joy.

The System responded with a cold, humorless laugh.

【A handful of cheap roses, some jasmine, and ten-dollar wrapping paper.】 it sneered. 【A bouquet that cost less than twenty bucks. And for this, you sneak out in the middle of the night to go dumpster diving? Why don't you just move in there?】

I stayed silent for a moment before whispering, "You can be really mean, System."

Another cold laugh.

I didn't have much room to talk. Not long ago, I'd said something just as cruel to Louis.

I had thrown the flowers on the ground right in front of him.

He bent down to pick them up, but I stopped him with a sharp command.

"Other men buy 999 roses. And you? If you don't have money, don't try to act romantic. This is pathetic and embarrassing. Just looking at it makes me sick."

"Can't you make more money? Being this broke… marrying you was the worst luck of my life."

It wasn't just the flowers. There was also a small box of fresh strawberries.

His boss had handed them out during a site inspection. Louis hadn't eaten a single one, saving them to bring home to me.

The System rolled its eyes, thoroughly disgusted by my sentimentality.

【Can you please stop caring about such meaningless things? Stick to your role! You are the vicious, cruel supporting character. Your only purpose is to humiliate the male lead. I am so sick of you acting like an idiot!】

Its voice was sharp, urging me to go back inside.

I pretended not to hear. I crouched down, carefully separating the jasmine blossoms and pressing them flat to use as bookmarks before slowly walking back to our apartment.

Strawberries he wouldn't eat, flowers he went out of his way to buy.

If these things, so despised by the System, were meaningless…

Then what in the world had meaning?