Departure on the Sweetest Day

I transmigrated into a novel. My mission was to win over a villainous family: a cold, distant father, a maniacal mother, and a deeply broken brother.

For twenty long years, I played the devoted daughter and loving sister. Finally, my system returned to active status. While waiting for it to calculate their favorability ratings, I leaned against my brand-new Porsche, lazily spinning the key ring on my finger, a playful smile on my face as I teased the man standing on the porch.

"Hey, my birthday is in a few days. What are you getting me this year?"

Brian was tall and lean, his handsome features permanently locked in a cool, indifferent expression. He glanced down at me, and I braced myself for him to ignore me, just like he always did.

Instead, his dark eyes fixed on mine. "What do you want?"

I froze, almost failing to process his words. I looked at him with deep suspicion. "Did the sun rise from the west today?"

His gaze remained frigid. "It does not matter anyway. You will not be here next month. You are being married off to the Castillo family. Did you not know?"

Suddenly, a crisp chime echoed in my mind.

[Favorability calculation complete.]

[Theo: 0. Ellie: 0. Brian: 0.]

[Mission failed. Forced extraction from this world will commence in three days.]

My fingers went limp. The Porsche keys slipped from my hand, hitting the gravel with a sharp, metallic clink.

"What did you just say?"

"The Castillos demanded a bride to secure the alliance," Brian said. He bent down, retrieved the keys, and handed them back to me with slow, agonizing deliberation. "Hector Castillo is on his deathbed. They wanted a young bride from our bloodline to seal the merger before the old man passes. Our family needs this contract, and you are the perfect bargaining chip."

I stared at him, desperately searching his face for any sign of a joke.

There was none.

His face was exactly as it had been every single day for the past twenty years: cold, distant, entirely devoid of warmth.

But how could their favorability be zero? How was that even possible?

Even though my father was distant, he had always spoken to me with quiet patience, carefully choosing my birthday gifts every year. My mother, during her brief moments of sanity, would hold me so tightly as if she would never let go. And my brother, despite his icy demeanor, had ruthlessly ruined anyone who dared to bully me when we were children.

When I was ten, I accidentally overheard my mother on a call with one of her associates. The person on the other end must have said something threatening, because she let out a cold laugh and said, "Naomi is my daughter. If anyone so much as touches a hair on her head, I will bury their entire family."

I had hidden around the corner of the staircase, covering my mouth to muffle my giggles, feeling incredibly safe.

And just before my twentieth birthday, they had gifted me this luxury car. I vividly remembered Theo handing me the keys, his voice soft as he said, "My girl deserves only the best."

Was all of it a lie? The warmth, the pampering, the tender care, was it all just an elaborate performance?

How pathetic of me.

I had actually planned to stay in this world until the very end of their natural lives, even after completing the mission. I truly believed I had found genuine familial love. It turned out I was the only one playing the fool.

In my previous missions, even a complete stranger would have more than zero favorability after a single encounter. But these three had absolutely no feelings for me. None at all.

The cold wind whipped against my eyes, making them sting.

"What is wrong with you?" Brian's voice broke the silence, his brow furrowing slightly. "You look incredibly pale."

He looked at me with that faint crease between his brows. In the past, such a tiny sign of concern would have made my day, proof that my brother cared about me. Now, it just felt like a cruel joke.

Twenty years of living under the same roof, twenty years of walking on eggshells, twenty years of pouring my heart out, and it was nothing but a one-sided delusion.

"It is nothing," I said, my voice shockingly calm. "I understand."

I turned toward the car.

"Naomi," he called out behind me, a strange, unreadable note in his voice. "Did you not want your birthday gift?"

I did not look back.

[Host, are you alright?] the system asked, its digital voice uncharacteristically gentle.

"Never better," I whispered.

I slid into the driver's seat, started the engine, and slammed my foot on the accelerator.

The engine roared as the car tore down the driveway. In the rearview mirror, Brian remained standing on the steps, a motionless silhouette fading into the distance.

I had no destination.

The Porsche flew along the winding mountain roads. I rolled down all the windows, letting the freezing wind blast my face, hoping the chill would clear the suffocating noise in my head.

I had failed missions before. It was part of the job. But none of those failures had ever made my chest ache like this.

I kept reciting my mental mantra, telling myself that my kindness to them was merely a calculated move to complete the mission and leave this world. I did not actually view them as my real family.

I did not.

Yet, my hands were trembling so violently I could barely hold the steering wheel.

Memories of their soft smiles and warm words flashed behind my eyelids, completely out of my control.

To drown out the thoughts, I floored the gas pedal.

The sports car surged forward, the speedometer needle climbing frantically. Sharp curves, metal guardrails, and the dark abyss of the canyon blurred past in a deafening rush of wind.

Suddenly, the steering wheel grew incredibly heavy, resisting my grip.

I slammed on the brakes, but the pedal sank uselessly to the floor, soft and unresponsive.

I twisted the wheel in a desperate attempt to stay on the road.

The world spun violently. The airbag deployed with a deafening blast, slamming into my face, and darkness swallowed me whole.

When I drifted back to consciousness, the sharp, sterile scent of bleach and rubbing alcohol filled my nose.

My right leg was screaming in agony. I tried to shift my weight, but a blinding flash of pain shot up my spine, forcing a ragged gasp from my throat.

"Told you not to go street racing," a voice muttered nearby.

It was Brian. He was leaning close to my bedside, and I could smell his familiar, crisp cedar cologne.

I kept my eyes shut, pretending to still be asleep.

What a hypocrite, I thought bitterly. If he had actually cared, he would have stopped me from driving off in the first place.

"How is she?" Theo's deep voice asked from across the room.

"A fractured tibia, two cracked ribs, and a mild concussion," Brian replied.

"Good. She is alive," Theo sighed, his voice dripping with relief.

A bitter ache bloomed in my chest. If his favorability was truly at zero, why did he sound so relieved that I had survived?

"I will go fetch the doctor," Brian said.

"Very well."

The sound of his footsteps faded, followed by the soft click of the door closing.

I was debating whether to open my eyes when my father's voice cut through the silence, sharp and laced with anger.

"Ellie, what on earth possessed you to tamper with her car? Do you have any idea how important this marriage to the Castillos is? If she had died in that crash, how was I supposed to close the deal?"

The blood in my veins turned to ice.

What?

My mother let out a soft, melodic chuckle. It was a sound I had heard countless times throughout my childhood, sweet and full of playful innocence.

"I wanted her dead, Theo," Ellie said, her tone light, as if she were discussing a trivial parlor game. "I wanted to ruin your precious little empire. You wanted to use her to climb into the Castillo dynasty? I would rather burn everything to the ground than let you succeed."

"Are you completely insane?" Theo hissed, his voice trembling with suppressed fury. "Do you have any concept of the scale of this merger? Do you know what the Castillo alliance would do for our family? All of this wasted because of your petty, miserable spite!"

"Spite?" Ellie interrupted, her laughter turning sharp and venomous. "You swore to me when we married that I would be the only one you ever loved. Yet, after she was born, you ran around with half the women in the city. It is all because of that disgusting little parasite. I should have strangled her in her crib."

"Then you should have done it twenty years ago," Theo snapped. "She has lived under my roof, eaten my food, and enjoyed my protection for two decades. It is time she paid her debt. She marries him next month, and after that, you can lose your mind all you want."

The room fell quiet.

I swallowed hard, holding back a sob, and whispered in my mind, No wonder they are the villains.

I was never a daughter to them. Just a business asset to my father, and a reminder of betrayal to my mother.

I wished the crash had finished the job.

Soft footsteps neared the bed.

I felt a cool, gentle hand rest on my forehead, stroking my hair with the same tenderness I had known my entire life.

"Naomi," my mother whispered, her voice thick with maternal warmth. "Mommy is here, darling. Do not be afraid."

I opened my eyes.

Her face was mere inches from mine, her beautiful eyes brimming with tears, her expression a perfect portrait of motherly devotion.

I stared at her for a long time.

"Mom," I rasped, my throat dry.

"Oh, Naomi!" she cried out in joy, her hands cup-ping my face. "You terrified me, sweetie. You have no idea how much Mommy was worrying..."

"Are you not tired?" I asked.

She froze.

I shifted my gaze to Theo, who was standing at the foot of the bed. His rigid posture locked up instantly, his face a mask of sudden tension.

"What do you mean, darling?" Ellie forced a fragile smile. "Did you hit your head too hard? Let Mommy call the doctor..."

"I said," I interrupted, my voice flat and dead, "are you not tired of pretending to love me for twenty years?"

The warmth in the room vanished.

Slowly, the tender mask slid off Ellie's face, revealing a cold, critical sneer. She straightened up, looking down at me with absolute detachment.

"So, you heard."

"Every word."

I used my elbows to push myself up, but the movement sent a wave of agony through my cracked ribs. I gagged, dry-heaving from the sheer pain.

Ellie's eyes narrowed. She lunged forward, grabbing my wrist in a crushing grip.

"Are you pregnant?" she demanded.

"No!" I cried out, trying to pull away.

She did not let go. Instead, her fingers dug deeper into my flesh, her nails biting into my skin.

"Check her," Theo ordered, his eyes cold. "If she is carrying another man's child, the Castillos will ruin us."

Ellie let out an irritated click of her tongue. "This is too risky. I will contact the Castillo estate tonight and have her delivered early, before they can find out anything."

A cold dread washed over me. "I am not pregnant! I swear to you, I am not!"

My mother turned back to me, a cruel, mocking smile playing on her lips. She raised her free hand, gently stroking my cheek before her fingers slid down to wrap tightly around my throat.

"Do not raise your voice at me, sweetie," she whispered. "Obedient girls do not have to suffer."

The door flew open, and Brian stepped into the room.

He took in the scene, his brow furrowing slightly. "What is going on here?"

Ellie released my throat instantly, her face shifting back to its warm, serene expression. "Nothing, dear. Naomi is awake, and we were just having a little chat."

Brian looked at me, then turned his gaze to Theo. "The Castillo representatives have arrived."

Theo nodded. "Tell them to wait. I will be down shortly." He cast one final, icy look at me. "Recover quickly, and do not think of running. You cannot escape."

When the door clicked shut, only Brian remained by my bedside.

"Do not blame them," he said quietly.

I stared at him in utter disbelief. "What did you say?"

"In this family, everything comes with a price," he replied, his face completely blank.

I closed my mouth, unable to find any words.

This was my brother. The boy I thought would protect me.