Binding My Life to the Tragic Villain

"What, do I look like some pathetic NPC in your little game?" Day one crashing into this universe, and my target already sniffed out my secret. Worse. Harrison woke up.

He knows his role as the side character. He knows I came here to game his heart. He smirked. Then he stepped straight into oncoming traffic. A speeding car slammed into him.

Tires screeched. Blinding agony ripped right through my own chest. The sick game finally clicked. Our lifelines share the exact same tether. The plot derailed completely.

I must stabilize this lovesick fool. I tossed him bait. "You want Hazel? I will get you Hazel. Just stop trying to kill yourself!" He expects a toxic obsession.

I just want to save his life. Chapter 1 The world spun. A tidal wave of foreign memories slammed into my skull. My knees buckled. My fingers blindly clamped onto expensive wool.

Instantly, solid muscle braced my waist, keeping me off the marble floor. "Ma'am? Are you alright?" A smooth, deep voice rumbled above me. "Low blood sugar," I gasped out.

He guided me to a plush leather sofa. "Sit. Breathe. Eat this." A square of dark chocolate slipped between my lips. Rich cocoa melted over my tongue.

Best damn thing I ever tasted—at least in my past life. The brain fog finally cleared. I blinked my eyes open. Dark, intense eyes stared right back. He looked about twentyeight.

A custom charcoal suit wrapped around a lean, athletic frame. Chiseled jaw. Soft, assessing gaze. He was so handsome! Totally my type! Wait. My eye twitched.

I recognized him. —Harrison?! The System put me facetoface with my target right away, giving me no time to react. Harrison. My ultimate mission.

The tragic second lead who destroys himself over a girl who never looks his way. The System gave me a hell of a cover.

A venture capitalist who had just been back stateside for three days, crashing the local elite scene for the first time tonight. Champagne glasses clinked around us.

Designer gowns brushed past. I caught my reflection in the wine glass. Same sharp cheekbones, same amber eyes I’d stared at for twentyseven years.

The System apparently couldn't be bothered to build a new avatar. It just copypasted my original body into this world, only giving it a muchneeded health boost.

The chandelier light caught Harrison’s sharp jawline. The book didn't do him justice. He studied my face. A deep crease formed between his brows.

The warmth in his eyes completely vanished. Did he think I was pulling some cheap damselindistress act to get his attention?

I sat up straight, smoothing the silk of my dress. "Sorry about that. Thanks for the save. I’m Harlow. And you are?" Harrison’s frown deepened. "You’re Harlow?" "That’s right.

Just moved my portfolio back stateside." He stared at me, his gaze so sharp it felt like it could scrape off a layer of my skin.

I played it cool on the outside, but inside I was panicking. Something felt wrong. He leaned in. The heat of his body radiated against mine.

The scent of cedar and sharp mint invaded my space. His voice dropped to a dangerous rasp. "You’re the dimensional traveler sent to game me, aren't you?" Huh?!

The smile on my face froze instantly. [WARNING. TARGET CONSCIOUSNESS ANOMALY DETECTED.] What the hell is happening?!

I screamed in my head. [Taskbinding energy surge triggered target’s core awareness. Awakening sequence initiated. World Consciousness engaged emergency override.

Awakening forcefully aborted. Target Status: HalfAwakened.] HalfAwakened? What does that mean? [Target knows he is a fictional construct.

Target identifies you as a foreign entity. Target lacks access to specific plotlines or predetermined fate. Status is highly volatile. Trajectory unknown.

Difficulty upgraded to: EXPERT. Proceed with extreme caution.] Chapter 2 Ice prickled across my scalp. The fiction just crawled off the page and got right up in my face.

I kept a polite smile on my face, but I was screaming WTF on the inside. "Harlow." He spat the name. "A venture capital prodigy who didn't exist until today," he said with a hint of mockery. "Only you could orchestrate this glitch, Miss Traveler." I took a deep breath.

I fought the Reaper for three brutal years in my past life. This was nothing.

I could handle a rogue side character. "Impressive catch, Harrison." I tilted my chin up, extending a manicured hand. "Let’s do this properly. Harlow.

Fresh out of the dimensional rift. And yes—I came strictly for you." Harrison stared at my outstretched fingers.

His jaw clenched tight. "What?" I taunted softly. "Bold enough to call me out, but too scared to touch me?" His eyes darkened. He let out a cold laugh.

He spun on his heel, striding straight for the double doors. What was going on? This wasn't how the plot was supposed to go.

I scrambled to my feet, gathering fistfuls of my heavy gown just to keep pace with him.

His long strides ate up the distance, putting him right on the edge of the busy street before I even cleared the exit. "Harrison! Stop!" He froze.

His head snapped back, shooting me one last, freezing glare. Then he stepped straight off the curb. Into the dead center of traffic. My breath hitched in fear. Tires screeched.

Metal slammed into bone. Harrison crumpled against the hood of an incoming Porsche. A fraction of a second later, blinding agony ripped through my own ribs.

Vision fragmented into whitehot sparks. My knees slammed into the concrete. Sirens blared inside my skull. [VITAL SIGNS TETHERED. TARGET MORTALITY EQUALS HOST TERMINATION.

PRESERVE TARGET AT ALL COSTS.] Bile surged up my throat. No visible blood pooled on the asphalt. But the phantom force crushing my chest felt terrifyingly real.

Who knew if there was internal bleeding. The driver already stormed out of the Porsche, screaming down at Harrison’s unmoving body. "Are you completely blind, Harrison?!

If you want to end it, do it off my damn bumper!" My vision sharpened on the screaming driver. Killian.

The golden boy protagonist himself. "Killian, stop!" A frantic voice pleaded. "He needs help!" Well, well. The passerby hovering over Harrison was none other than Hazel.

The untouchable female lead. Wow, the domineering billionaire and his little damsel actually ran into each other by coincidence! Harrison just sat there on the rough asphalt. Blank.

Numb. Letting Killian hurl absolute garbage at him without flinching. Nobody trashes my target. I forced myself off the ground, ignoring the sharp throbbing in my ribs.

I stumbled over and shoved Killian hard. "Back the hell off!" I snarled. "You just hit a pedestrian, you arrogant prick!" Hazel gasped, rushing to Killian’s side. "What is your problem?!" I couldn't care less about these two clowns.

I shoved past Hazel and dropped to my knees right in front of Harrison. "Harrison. Look at me." My hands frantically checked his arms, his shoulders. "Where does it hurt?

We need an ambulance." My fingers flew across my phone screen, dialing 911 while scanning him for broken bones. Killian sneered.

A heavy gold credit card hit the asphalt with a sharp clink. "The great CEO of Harrison Enterprises, pulling cheap insurance scams?" Killian spat. "Take the charity.

Buy yourself a psych eval." Killian wrapped a possessive arm around Hazel’s waist, steering her smoothly toward the banquet hall doors without a single backward glance.

Chapter 3 I hauled Harrison’s dead weight off the asphalt. He moved like a ghost, completely detached from reality. I shoved him down onto the concrete edge of a planter.

The ambulance arrived, red and blue lights slicing through the dark. Harrison flatout refused the stretcher.

Warren, the lead paramedic, had no choice but to shine his penlight and run the concussion protocol right there on the sidewalk. Thank god he only walked away with bruised ribs.

No hospital admission meant my own pulse would keep going. But the phantom ache still clawed at my chest. "Are you crazy?

Do you want to die?!" Harrison dragged his dead, pitchblack gaze over my face. "Mind your own business." Unbelievable.

The bastard did it on purpose. "You have billions," I gritted out. "You own half this city.

What exactly is so bad you want to end it?" "If you woke up and realized your entire existence was a rigged game, would you want to keep breathing?" A bitter, hollow laugh scraped out of his throat. "And then some dimensional traveler drops out of the sky to 'win' me.

Right. What am I? Some pathetic NPC existing just to get played?" My breath hitched. So that was his trigger.

No wonder he chose the bumper of a Porsche over playing out a predetermined script. I was shocked by his determination. An awakened character was indeed a handful.

But I couldn't let him flatline. I needed my own heart to keep beating, and the System only handed out one extra life. Harrison was spiraling.

I had to ground him before he pulled another kamikaze stunt. "Look at it this way," I said, keeping my tone dead level. "You woke up. You broke the matrix.

That means the steering wheel is in your hands now. Why crash the car when you can finally drive?" The tension in his jaw fractionally loosened.

The words landed, but the thick wall of defense in his eyes remained intact. Silence stretched between us.

He shifted his gaze to the heavy oak doors of the banquet hall. "If you’re a traveler," he started, his voice a low, testing rasp, "you know the timeline.

You know exactly what happens next." "I do. And?" His entire demeanor flipped.

He snapped his head toward me, a desperate, almost manic light flaring in his eyes. "Tell me everything about Hazel. Every detail.

If I know the plot, I can beat Killian to the punch. I can make her choose me!" Are you kidding me?

He just realized his universe was a lie, and his first instinct was to lock down the female lead? Classic secondlead delusion.

He might be halfawake, but he was still hopelessly chained to his own tragic trope. "And if I refuse?" I countered. "Then your little mission burns to the ground." He leaned in, a bitter sneer curling his lip. "You want to 'win' me?

Let me make this crystal clear. I want Hazel. Your game is already over. Don't waste your breath." Ugh, someone get this lovesick fool out of my sight! The System pinged.

It granted me clearance to leak fragments of the plot, strictly forbidding any major spoilers about their final fates. Total derailment was still a massive red flag.

My common sense finally kicked back in. I needed leverage. And I just found the perfect loophole.

I put on a mysterious front and started bluffing him. "Who ever said my endgame was making you fall in love with me?" "What the hell does that mean?" Harrison’s brows slammed together. "My success metric isn't restricted to romance.

Platonic bonds work just fine." I tilted my head. "Why can't I just be your wingwoman?

My mission doesn't block you from getting Hazel." Harrison’s eyes narrowed. "You're offering to help me?

Since when do dimensional anomalies do charity work?" I let a slow, razorsharp smile stretch across my face. "Let's make a bet." "A bet on what?" "I bet that even if I hand you the entire playbook—even if you hijack every single perfect moment—Hazel will still choose Killian in the end." The air dropped ten degrees. "Bullshit," Harrison snarled, his pride instantly triggered. "I won't lose." "And when you do lose," I leaned closer, dropping my voice, "you surrender.

You cooperate with my mission. Completely." Harrison didn't even blink. "Deal." Chapter 4 "Relax. My 'game' is strictly a winwin." I gripped his outstretched hand.

The handshake sealed our temporary alliance. Plot spoilers were my ultimate trump card. I just conveniently left out the part where my actual life served as the collateral.

My true mission wasn't romance. It was a rescue op. Keep Harrison breathing. Stop him from flatlining over a broken heart. The System never specified how I had to win him over.

His unexpected awakening just skyrocketed the difficulty level, but I had to pull this off. The prize was too damn good. A ticket back to my original world.

A second chance at a real life. If Harrison died, my mission crashed, and I burned right along with him in this fictional hellscape.

The System laid out one hard boundary: keep him alive until the final chapter. Our lifelines were officially tethered. He dies, I die.

If securing him as a platonic best friend counted as a win, I’d take it. The original plot dictated his death because Hazel rejected him.

So, if I handed him the female lead on a silver platter, that erased the suicide trigger, right? "My intel isn't free," I told him, leaning back. "One condition.

We start as friends. I play wingwoman, you get Hazel. Winwin. We good?" Harrison barely hesitated. "Deal." But the sharp, calculated gleam in his dark eyes gave him away.

He was planning to use me. A smirk tugged at my lips. Perfect. The feeling was completely mutual. I just needed his pulse steady. Who he chased meant absolutely nothing to me.

I flipped through my mental Rolodex of plot points and handed him his first target: The Career Expo Incident.

In the original timeline, Hazel caught Killian in a misunderstanding, threw a massive fit, and declared her independence.

She hit a local job fair, got publicly humiliated by some arrogant recruiter over her zeroexperience resume, and then Killian swooped in.

He shut the guy down and hired her on the spot. Classic damsel rescue. My strategy? Harrison intercepts the damsel before Killian even steps out of his penthouse.

Cut to the expo center. Harrison, still nursing bruised ribs, sat rigidly behind a sleek Harrison Enterprises recruitment booth.

I played the scout, scanning the crowded convention floor for our target. It took exactly three minutes to spot her.

She radiated that ultimate doeeyed, beautifully clueless pickme girl energy. Even a cheap, offtherack pencil skirt and blazer somehow managed to perfectly hug every curve.

She clutched a stack of thin resumes to her chest, looking completely lost. A guy in a rush clipped her shoulder.

The papers flew out of her hands, fluttering to the floor like tragic confetti. There was even a blinding beautifying halo effect. I lunged into action.

I dropped into a crouch, snatching up her scattered papers.

I locked onto her wide, panicked eyes and channeled my inner corporate headhunter. "Wow," I breathed, tapping her completely blank resume. "This is incredible." Hazel blinked, absolutely stunned. "Don't doubt yourself, Miss.

You are exactly the kind of disruptive talent Harrison Enterprises is looking for." I practically bulldozed a dazed Hazel across the aisle, steering her straight to our trap.

Harrison smoothly stepped from behind the display board, flashing a perfectly calculated, welcoming smile. Chapter 5 "Hazel!

What an absolute coincidence!" Harrison didn't even glance at her resume. He hired her on the spot. Are you kidding me?

I spoonfed him the perfect setup, and he couldn't even fake a basic interview! Harrison snatched her up before Killian could even blink.

He muttered something about an immediate office tour, practically shoving her toward the exit to avoid a runin. He left me standing by the empty booth, completely dumbfounded.

Wow, talk about burning the bridge the second you cross it. Thanks to my meddling, Hazel skipped the arrogant recruiter entirely. No public humiliation. Plot point cleared.

I let out a heavy breath. Harrison locked onto his target. The suicide watch ended—for now. But Killian missed his cue.

He finally strutted onto the expo floor, clearly timing his dramatic hero entrance. He paced the aisles, scanning the crowd. Emptyhanded.

I hid in the corner, laughing my ass off at his frustrated and flustered look. The dim streetlights hid his face last time. Now, I got a frontrow seat.

Sure, he belonged on a billboard. But pure, suffocating arrogance poisoned his whole vibe. He lacked Harrison's sharp, contained intensity.

The sheer alphamale toxicity rolling off him made his executive assistants physically flinch. Hard pass. Not my type. The entertainment value zeroed out.

Time to chase the real drama. Hazel’s infamous corporate sabotage arc approached fast. I needed a frontrow seat at Harrison Enterprises. The plot ripped back with a vengeance.

After joining the company, Hazel fully embraced her role as a clumsy beauty.

In just one short month, she repeatedly botched contracts, bleeding a massive thirty million in capital from Harrison.

She hijacked client dinners, insulting key partners with her naive blunders. She alienated the entire floor. Nobody wanted to breathe the same air as her.

Every single time, she pulled the exact same stunt. Wide, tearfilled eyes. A quivering lip. "I didn't mean to do it." I had never seen someone fail upward so hard.

Here was the kicker. Her Main Character plot armor only hijacked the male leads. Everyone else saw right through the act.

The entire office treated her like an incompetent pretty face. Harrison’s mahogany desk disappeared under a mountain of HR complaints and damage control reports.

He rubbed his temples, a muscle ticking hard in his jaw. Stress radiated off him. He wanted the girl, but he refused to tank his empire to get her.

I lounged on his Italian leather sofa, flipping lazily through Forbes. "Why the panic?" I drawled, not looking up. "Killian used to sweep all this under the rug for her.

Take away her billionaire safety net, and she naturally freefalls." Harrison slammed a folder shut. "I can't spend twentyfour hours a day cleaning up her messes!" I paused. Wait.

He complained? The original script forced him to obsess over her tragic helplessness. I closed the magazine and provoked him, "What's the matter?

Killian could do it, but you can't?" That hit a nerve. Harrison’s jaw clamped shut. He swallowed the bitter pill, grabbed his pen, and went right back to bailing her out.

I tracked the plot's progress, chilling on the sidelines and watching the Mary Sue make a total joke of herself. Hazel cried in meetings. She broke protocol.

The financial bleeding accelerated. She singlehandedly offended everyone in the company. Impressive. But Harrison blew my mind. He anchored his feet.

He took every single hit, absorbed the vicious backlash from the board, and swallowed the massive financial losses silently. All just to keep her desk next to his.

Chapter 6 Martyring himself for a toxic romance. I refused to just watch the fire burn from a safe distance. My firm tied its assets directly to Harrison Enterprises.

His stock tanking threatened my own bottom line. Thank god the System handed me a heavyhitting cover. My net worth trailed only one spot behind Killian’s.

I funneled a massive chunk of personal capital straight into the corporate accounts, bruteforcing a patch over the multimillion dollar hole Hazel had ripped open.

Harrison stared at me.

Complex emotions tangled in his dark eyes. "You certainly care a lot about Hazel." "I care about my profit margins," I snapped, correcting him. "And a piece of advice.

Chasing someone who gives absolutely nothing back just makes you a simp. You need equal footing to build a real connection. Though honestly?

I doubt you two have it in you." Harrison’s jaw clenched. His face turned a sick shade of green. One week later, the inevitable happened. The entire office iced Hazel out.

She slapped a resignation letter on HR’s desk, her eyes swollen and red from crying. The whole floor practically popped champagne.

I strolled past the executive suite and caught Harrison lingering by the door. He still tried to talk her out of leaving. He simply could not let go.

Suddenly, a massive commotion erupted down the hall. I snapped my head around. An uninvited guest crashed the floor. Killian.

He kicked the office door wide open without a single knock. Do all alphamale billionaires skip basic manners? "Harrison!

Is this how you take care of Hazel?!" Killian demanded arrogantly, his nose practically pointing at the ceiling. "She suffered in this hellhole, and you still refuse to leave her alone!" He waltzed right in to play the absolute savior, backing her up and snatching her back like a stolen prize.

I rolled my eyes. Where exactly was he hiding before this? He always times these dramatic hero entrances perfectly. Right on cue, Hazel made her choice right in front of Harrison.

She picked Killian. Her logic dripped with pure Mary Sue delusion. "Killian acts toxic, but he makes me feel safe. Harrison, you treat me too well.

You just can't give me what I need." Killian’s arm clamped possessively around Hazel’s waist. A winner’s smirk slashed across his face. "Back off, Harrison.

I take care of my girl now. Stay away from her." Harrison froze. His hands dropped to his sides, trembling slightly.

The raw grief and indignation on his face instantly triggered flashbacks of his suicidal ending in the original book. Oh hell no. Adrenaline hijacked my system.

I stomped my stilettos hard against the hardwood, charging straight into the crossfire.

I planted myself directly in front of Harrison, blocking Killian's line of sight. "Careful, Killian," I flashed a razorsharp smile. "Anyone listening might think Hazel operates like a piece of luggage you left in storage." Killian scowled. "Who the hell are you?" "Harlow.

Harrison’s business partner." I threw my shoulders back, lifting my chin. Damn the protagonist height difference. Even in fiveinch heels, I had to crane my neck to glare at him.

Killian’s eyes narrowed the second he heard my name.

He recognized the capital behind it. "So you are the head of the Harlow Group?" He shot a look of pure disgust at Harrison. "Why tie your assets to this dead weight? Ditch him.

Work with me. I dominate this industry. I guarantee a massive return on your investment." Poaching a billionaire's partner right to his face?

The remaining color violently drained from Harrison’s face. "Killian, I strongly suggest you book a psychiatric evaluation," I shot back, my voice dripping with ice. "And for the record?

At least Harrison respects Hazel’s actual autonomy. What exactly do you bring to the table? Gaslighting her into forced proximity?

Bankrupting rival companies just to stroke your own massive ego?" Chapter 7 Stifled laughter rippled through the onlookers.

Killian's face darkened. "You—" "Me what?" I cut him off. "Who Hazel chooses is her business. But picking a guy and then dragging Harrison through the mud to justify it?

That's a trash personality." "Tell me, Hazel. When Harrison was bleeding millions to clean up your catastrophic messes, where exactly were you?

Playing the helpless victim in Killian’s arms?" All the color drained from Hazel’s face. "I didn't—" "I don't care if you did." I grabbed Harrison’s arm. "The point is, Harrison deserves better.

Hazel, you don't deserve him!" I chased the golden couple out. The crowd finally scattered. That’s when I registered the temperature of Harrison’s skin beneath my fingers.

Ice cold. "You didn't have to do that," he rasped. "I absolutely did." I let him go, stepping back. "Look at yourself, Harrison.

You're destroying your entire life for someone who doesn't give a damn about you. Is it worth it?" "Just drop the obsession. Find someone else." Harrison stared down at me.

The question came out of nowhere. "Harlow, when your mission ends… do you leave?" Whiplash.

I had no idea why he abruptly changed lanes, but I gave him a curt, honest nod. "Stop dodging the issue! We are talking about Hazel!" His jaw clenched.

He opened his mouth, closed it, then ground his teeth together. "Spit it out!" "Killian is ruthless. She’s terrified of him.

That's the only reason she left." "Are you completely delusional? Has it ever crossed your mind that she just doesn't love you?" "No.

Women always say the exact opposite of what they mean." I stared at him, absolutely speechless. "You need to kill this toxic obsession. Let her go." He stood there, rigid as stone.

Then he dropped the bomb. "I won't. I can't live without her." A surge of anger rushed to my head.

My blood ran cold, and I grabbed his tie, shoving him hard against the wall. "Say that again. I dare you." The last thread of my sanity violently snapped. "Can't live?!" I screamed.

My voice trembled. "Is your pulse just a joke to you?

Does your life mean absolutely nothing next to some pathetic high school crush?!" A violent tremor wracked my entire frame. "There are people rotting in hospital beds, begging for one more day!" My chest heaved, starved for oxygen. "They fight for every single breath.

They bleed just to feel the sun on their skin for one more second! Because they actually know what it costs!" I jabbed a shaking finger into his solid chest. "And you.

You have a functioning body. Endless wealth. The whole damn world at your feet. And you want to throw it away?

Over a girl?!" I took a deep breath, but the tears fell out of my control. "Be obsessed! Fine! But love yourself first! Is staying alive really that hard?!" Harrison froze.

The hollow, dead look vanished from his eyes, replaced by absolute shock. He stared down at me. Slowly, his hand lifted.

His rough thumb brushed against my cheek, catching a tear. "I'm sorry. I—" I smacked his hand away. I spun on my heel, bolted out the door, and slammed it shut behind me. I ran.

Heels clicking erratically against the tile. Suffocating helplessness crushed my chest.

If this stupid plot armor was truly invincible… did everything I just bled for mean absolutely nothing?

I leaned against the cold elevator wall, trying to drag air into my burning lungs. Then, the dormant System violently pinged inside my skull.

Delivering a pure, unmitigated nightmare. Chapter 8