"Hey, don’t tell me you’re dead or something?"

Amelia Hartley groggily came to, ears still ringing with the sound of a young voice.

The first thing she saw was a chubby-faced little kid staring at her. The boy was kind of cute, with round, shiny eyes and a pretty impressive little nose. The kind of face that made you want to pinch his cheeks.

Amelia blinked. Huh? Where’d this kid come from? She’d been single forever—how would she suddenly have a kid?

Before she could even collect her thoughts, the little guy fidgeted with the watch on his wrist and shot her a kind reminder, "If you don’t get up and clean yourself up, that guy’s gonna catch you looking like a mess."

Guy? What guy?

Amelia tossed off the blanket and paused. She was wearing silk pajamas... and the duvet looked like real silk, too.

Even the room she was in was massive—way bigger than her tiny rented apartment.

She gawked out the huge window. What the heck? There was a whole private garden outside, full of ridiculously expensive plants, trimmed to perfection. Just walking from the house to the gate probably took fifteen minutes.

Was this a dream or what?

Did she accidentally hit the jackpot just by sleeping?

Amelia couldn’t stop the grin tugging at her lips. She couldn’t help but sigh, "This place is insane!"

"What’s insane about it?" the kid said coolly. "Jade Pavilion's just barely livable."

"Seriously?" Her brow furrowed. That name—Jade Pavilion—it rang a bell. Where had she—

Oh, crap.

Wasn’t that the name of the mansion from the over-the-top CEO drama she’d binge-watched last night, *Woman, You’re Playing With Fire*?

The mansion in that show was supposed to be located in a ridiculously pricey neighborhood. A single square meter there cost a fortune. When she'd been watching, she’d thought her poor-girl brain couldn’t even process that kind of wealth.

But now that she was literally standing here?

Yeah, it lived up to the hype.

She turned to look at the kid sitting by her bed with a complicated expression and mumbled, "Only downside is, this dream comes with a kid. Becoming a mom overnight? Not exactly a sweet deal."

The boy looked at her like she’d said something stupid. "Did sleeping melt your brain or what? Do you even remember who you are?"

"Me? Amelia Hartley," she said automatically.

"And me?" the boy pressed, "You remember who I am?"

"You..." Amelia trailed off, drawing a blank.

He kindly offered a hint, "Last name's Howell. Dexter Howell."Out of nowhere, a loud crack of thunder split the clear blue sky, zapping through Amelia Hartley's scalp like a shock. She froze, dazed, repeating to herself, "Dexter Howell..."

She was sure she wasn’t mistaken—Dexter Howell was the top-tier villain in that over-the-top CEO drama she’d binge-watched last night.

In that mess of a story, Dexter had been mistreated by his monster of a mom, Amelia Hartley, since birth—yelled at, hit, emotionally wrecked. No surprise the kid went full-on dark side and, in the end, killed his own mother.

So wait... was she going to end up disfigured, turned into some medical horror show and dunked in formaldehyde too?

Just seconds ago, she was feeling all smug about waking up rich. Now all she felt was regret—deep, soul-crushing regret.

The only silver lining? Dexter still looked like a tiny kid—three or four at most. Maybe she had enough time to smother him with some good ol’ motherly love, steer him off the crazy train before it was too late.

With that thought, she plastered on a soft, warm smile. "Sweetie...?"

Yeah, she just called him by his baby nickname.

Dexter shot her a look like she’d just crawled out of a trash can, and she instantly swallowed the overly affectionate “Mommy loves you” that was about to slip out.

Don’t let the chubby cheeks fool you—he got everything. Every time Dad showed up, she’d fake this whole loving mom act, and Dexter saw right through it.

"I'll be downstairs waiting," he said flatly and turned to walk off without another word.

Amelia groaned, dragging herself out of bed to wash up. Couldn’t she have landed in a rom-com as the hot chick falling for the dreamy lead? No, she just had to end up as the most hated side character ever.

Feeling zero motivation, she didn’t even bother getting dressed properly. She tied her hair into a messy ponytail and went downstairs still in her pajamas.

Dexter was curled up on the couch, reading, that round little face all serious and focused.

She blinked. Wasn’t she still making mud pies at that age? And this kid's already hitting the books?

She slipped beside him, trying to bridge the gap. “Whatcha reading, sweetie?”

Without a word, Dexter held up the cover—"Principles of Economics."

Even now, that book was way out of her league.

The brainpower of villains these days was seriously insane.

Amelia forced a smile. “Well… you take your time. Mommy won't bug you.”

"Tch. If you don’t understand, why ask?" he snapped back, not sparing her even a side glance as he kept flipping pages.

Still, something was off. As much as he acted indifferent, he couldn’t focus anymore. Was she acting all sweet again ‘cause Dad was coming?

Right on cue, the sound of a car engine buzzed at the front, followed by the door swinging open. A man walked in...