Episode 2

Sophia opened her eyes in despair and thought to herself: "System, are you there? This isn't going according to plan!"

The original script was supposed to go like this: she would jump down, and before anyone could react to grab her, she would fall to her death.

Because these people all thought she wouldn't dare to die.

After all, the old her often used suicide attempts to get their attention.

But what happened this time?

[Weren't you supposed to let me fall to my death?! Why did these people manage to grab me?]

[System, why aren't you responding? Don't tell me you're trying to back out of our deal? No way, right? No way?]

No one answered her.

She heard the system's voice coming through intermittently, then suddenly, it went silent.

Sophia: "..."

Ten years.

Her mind had never been this quiet before.

She awkwardly looked at the man pinning her down.

Dominic looked down at her, his gaze full of meaning.

The other brothers also watched her vigilantly.

Suddenly, Sophia felt overwhelmed with grief and burst into tears!

[It's over, the system malfunctioned. If I can't go back, the Hawthorne family will go bankrupt in a year! These seven men will meet terrible ends, and so will I!!]

The seven men: "????"

Fourth brother couldn't hold back and wanted to question Sophia.

The eldest, Dominic, quickly grabbed him and pulled him aside: "Stay calm."

Fourth brother anxiously said: "Big brother, this girl says we'll meet terrible ends and that we'll go bankrupt. Shouldn't we get to the bottom of this?"

Dominic looked at the distraught Sophia and warned in a low voice: "Don't forget, we're hearing her inner thoughts, and she's bound to a system. We don't know what consequences there might be if we question her about it."

Seventh brother said: "I know about systems, I read novels all the time."

All the brothers turned to look at him in unison.

Seventh brother explained: "In novels, systems bind themselves to protagonists, making them do various tasks. Once the tasks are completed, they can receive their promised rewards. If we interfere with the system, it might cause this world to collapse, and then we'd all be done for."

He paused: "Sophia's reward must be returning to her original world as a trillion-dollar heiress."

The second brother pondered: "So what has Sophia done?"

The seven brothers lowered their heads in thought, remembering all of Sophia's outrageous actions in the past, their faces gradually darkening.

If they were to count, there were too many instances to keep track of.

"I don't believe it!!" Sixth brother objected: "Sophia wanted to have all seven of us to herself. She's had ulterior motives towards us since puberty. I just don't believe she acted this way because of some system's control."

Dominic thought for a moment, his eyes flashing with insight: "Let's test it then."

Sophia's legs were too weak to stand, so she crawled toward the edge of the building.

She had to get down today, even if she had to crawl!

Suddenly, someone grabbed her ankle.

Sophia turned back in despair, meeting Dominic's deep gaze.

He held onto her ankle, looking at her seriously: "Do you really like us that much?"

Sophia: "?"

Dominic glanced at his six brothers behind him: "If you really like us that much, choose one of us seven brothers. Let's see who you want to marry, how about that?"

Sophia: "Huh?"

Huh??

HUH???!

She gaped, stammering and unable to speak, her gaze sweeping across the faces of the seven brothers as she mumbled in shock: "Whoever I choose will marry me?"

Dominic nodded.

The six brothers behind him reluctantly nodded as well.

Sophia felt her mouth twitching as she pointed at Dominic: "Then... if I choose you, would you be willing?"

Dominic's eyes darkened: "I'll take you to look at engagement rings and wedding dresses right now."

Sophia froze.

Sophia turned around.

Sophia leaped down like she was flying!

[Ahhhhhhhhhhh I don't want to get married! I'd rather die than marry any of them!!!]

Dominic, like a predator waiting to strike, pounced and pinned Sophia down again!

Sophia felt the male force restraining her and screamed in panic!

"Don't touch me!!!"

Dominic effortlessly held her down, cradling her head: "Calm down, Sophia!"

Sophia ignored him and slapped Dominic hard across the face!

"SLAP!!!"

The other six Hawthorne brothers were stunned.

Sophia was also shocked, staring in disbelief at the red handprint forming on Dominic's face.

Dominic's facial muscles twitched, his eyes looking like they could tear her apart.

"Have you calmed down now?"

Sophia's lips trembled, her throat letting out a whimper like a small animal.

[I'm done for, I hit Big Brother, he's going to chop me into pieces!]

[No, wait, he was trying to force me, why should I let him chop me up? I should be the one chopping up his little birdie, that shameless jerk!]

Dominic: "?"

Suppressed laughter sounded from behind him.

He turned back warily.

All six brothers were covering their mouths, their shoulders shaking violently.

Seventh brother cheekily mouthed: "Big brother, do you have a little birdie?"

Dominic: "I do not!!"

Sophia came to her senses, looking at Dominic in shock.

Dominic's face gradually darkened as he pressed down on her: "Sophia, I was just testing you earlier. Of course I don't want to and won't marry you. Now I know you don't actually want to marry me, you're just being unreasonable. From now on, no more acting out. Stay with us, and I'll continue to take care of you."

Sophia was stunned: "Why?"

Dominic's eyes darkened as he looked at her with exasperation: "Because you're our family."

[But they're about to go bankrupt, aren't they? In a year, they'll all die on the streets. They can barely take care of themselves, yet they still want to take care of me?]

Dominic's expression grew even more severe as he pulled her up from the ground: "Don't worry, our family won't go bankrupt. I can take care of you until death."

Sophia: "?"

[Can Dominic hear my thoughts? How did he know I was thinking about bankruptcy?]

Dominic looked down at her coldly and snorted.

As for the bankruptcy matter, he would find a solution from her inner thoughts.

He would absolutely protect the entire Hawthorne family.

Dominic grabbed her arm: "Come on, let's go home."

Sophia followed behind him in a daze, while the other brothers naturally surrounded her, watching her from the corners of their eyes.

She was surrounded in the center, staring at Dominic's straight back.

She felt something had changed.

But somehow, some things hadn't changed at all.

Only their gazes toward her had less disgust and more suspicion and wariness.

Could it be... they had forgiven her unreasonable behavior once again?

[No, no, that's not the point. The point is, does my trillion-dollar assets deal still count?!]

[If I can't go back, what was the point of all my years of effort? After all, I worked hard to give up on love, studied all sorts of self-defense techniques that a single wealthy woman should know... Was it all for nothing?!!]

The seven brothers' eyelids twitched as they wordlessly took out their phones.

Sophia hung her head pitifully, wearing an expression of 'having lost trillion-dollar assets' dejection.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

She picked up her phone and saw a transfer notification message.

Then her phone chimed seven more times in succession.

[User Dominic has transferred 500,000,000 dollar to you.]

[User Hunter has transferred 500,000,000 dollar to you.]

[User ...]

Each of the seven brothers had transferred her five hundred million?!

She looked at them in shock: "You all?"

Dominic led her into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor: "As long as you stay alive and behave yourself, we'll give you money every month."

Second brother Axel gave her a disdainful look: "So you don't need to keep trying to die. As long as you're obedient, you'll become a trillion-dollar heiress eventually."

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