Awakenings and Confrontations

"Chase, you have to be strong," Autumn said.

My nails dug into my palm.

"Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker would want you to stay strong."

She looked pained.

I stared at my parents’ stiff bodies.

"I’ll always be with you!"

Autumn supported my arm, looking like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.

I was stone-faced. Hatred bloomed in my chest.

My childhood sweetheart, Savannah, had just returned to the country. On her way to see me, she had a car accident, fell into a coma, never woke up.

SYSTEM: Host, to make the mission easier, I’ve arranged for the male lead’s white moonlight to be comatose. She won’t be an obstacle for a while, perform well.

The system chimed in.

Overnight, I went from the envied son of privilege to a stray dog with no parents. Almost lost my love too.

My girl lay in the ICU, tubes everywhere. I held her hand, sobbing until I shook.

I woke up in the hospital. Autumn hovered like a perfect wife, attentive in every way. The doctor said I fainted from overwork and psychological stress.

Without being discharged or telling anyone, I slipped out. I was testing how much Autumn’s system could track me. If our near-bankruptcy was the system’s doing. If Savannah’s car accident was also their handiwork. Did that mean I hurt my girl—just because I wouldn’t play the abusive romance game with Autumn?

My heart felt like it was under a boulder. Before, even when board members cursed me to my face… Even when rivals forced me to mortgage property… Even when I begged banks for loans and drank until my stomach bled… Even when debt collectors nearly made me kneel in public… No matter how hard, I never backed down. Because I believed I could revive Whitaker Corp. Believed I could give Savannah a happy home.

But now, my parents are dead. My love lies in intensive care, motionless. Her face disfigured, a feeding tube in her nose. She can’t tease me, can’t smile. I sat by her bed, holding her hand. She can’t speak, but I know she’s in there. She frowns, she’s silently telling me it hurts. We promised to marry after her grad studies. I swear I hear her crying, "Chase, why did you hurt me?"

If Savannah dies, I don’t want to live, either.

SYSTEM: System monitoring: the male lead went to see his white moonlight again, host, work harder on the mission.

Ugh, that woman is a vegetable, but still so attractive, so annoying!

The more deeply he loves the white moonlight, the more face-slapping later. Besides, your face is close enough to sting—70–80% like Savannah’s, that’s your edge.

Damn, stand-in novels are the most suffocating. If the male lead wasn’t rich, doting, and so handsome, I wouldn’t bother chasing him!

I listened to their nasty back-and-forth. Understood right away: the so-called system had some freakish power. Could monitor my every move. I heard Autumn and the system plotting, full of rivalry and mind games. But they didn’t seem to know I could hear their thoughts. That was my only card left.

I crammed every strategy forum and finance-bro joke about stand-ins, white moonlight, and affection meters. Combining their dialogue and the meta-novel rules, I pieced together the mechanics. The system was like a computer AI. Whitaker’s downfall happened because all our electronic data was transparent to them. No wonder my rivals always had the inside track. No wonder I kept getting played despite all my work.

But now that I know their hand, how could I lose? You want me to play the scumbag CEO in an abusive romance? Then I’ll be the scummiest bastard you’ve ever seen.

Autumn is a threat, but also an opportunity. I took over the barely-surviving Whitaker Corp. Dealt with scheming shareholders, tried every trick to keep us afloat. I’d adapt, use the plot, and bring Autumn down.

To save Whitaker, I started hitting every party, every bar, every club. "The high and mighty Whitaker, always so arrogant, never thought you’d come begging us." Their smiles were all teeth. The heroine’s inner monologue echoed in my mind.

SYSTEM: My favorite scene, the out-of-reach golden boy falls from grace, so exciting.

Host, perform well.

Hehe, always wanted to complain why in novels it’s always the CEO saving the drunken, taken-advantage-of heroine. See, it can be reversed.

I gritted my teeth. Out-of-reach golden boy falling—me, apparently. Those I used to look down on, now I had to beg. I smiled, drank glass after glass. My stomach twisted in pain.

Once drunk, they lost control. Made me bark like a dog. Ordered me to lick their shoes. Even tried to shove things in my mouth.

"You used to be the Whitaker prince, above us all, we were ants. Now the Whitaker family’s in the gutter, it’s great to stomp on you!"

One grabbed my dazed self, another tried to strip me. I was still conscious, fought back, roared. But I was pinned. The wine was spiked.

"Mr. Whitaker, don’t make this weird—we’re all friends here. Today’s events won’t get out, you wouldn’t want your people to see you this low, right?"

I fought back, but my body was dead weight. The drugs worked fast.

That’s when Autumn burst in. So, the heroine saw: I was pinned by four or five men on a couch. My hair was a mess, face wet with spilled liquor, coughing hard. My shirt was ripped, belt undone. As a man, I was almost raped—dignity and personhood, gone. As humiliating as it gets.

Autumn looked at me with disbelief and heartbreak. But I knew, this was exactly what she wanted. With my face buried, I smirked.

"Enough! You monsters!"

Autumn shoved her way through, eyes red. She risked everything to save me. But I could hear her thoughts, clear as day.

SYSTEM: I love this scene! So exciting! Worth all the points I spent to drug everyone, letting them humiliate the male lead. Only when he’s miserable enough can I descend from the sky!

Host, so stimulating. If you came in a bit later, it would have been NC-17!

Ugh, can’t let those NPCs have him. Even if it’s the male lead, I wouldn’t want leftovers.

I clenched my teeth, kept my face blank.

"Why are you here?"

I faked shock, shame, anger, grabbing my clothes to cover up. Playing along with her script.

"Chase, I was worried about you, so I followed secretly. Didn’t expect to see…"

She glanced at my bare torso, hesitating.

Great body, want to touch. Hurry up and strategize, he’s my fish!