This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

After paying online, the other party was even unwilling to tell Julian and the others their own ID. They only instructed them to deposit their blood in a gym locker, and someone would come to collect it. For the sake of Aaron's secret, the group spent almost half their funds—money that had been accumulated since the studio's third internal test.

Rick either looked down on it or didn't want Aaron to think he was too harsh; when the studio disbanded, he didn't take the money but placed it in a pouch in the living room.

As for Aaron's blood, they had plenty in the studio. After all, he had been pried twice for his eyeballs, and when blood splattered onto the carpet and curtains, they didn't even consider replacing them; they simply cut out the soiled carpet and sent it. The other party had a tool that could refresh the blood, for which Julian and the others even paid an extra fee.

In exchange, they received a bombshell secret: Aaron's hidden truth was that he didn't want anyone to know he had been with his older brother and sister-in-law's illegitimate son, Ezra. If they had Rick's blood, Julian would have wanted to place another order to investigate Rick's secret.

However, Aaron's secret was explosive enough, especially considering Ezra's identity. This meant that if the three operated well, they could not only profit from Aaron but also obtain valuable items from Ezra. They could even, if bold enough, extort Aaron's older brother and sister-in-law.

Goodness, no wonder the owner of that secret talent hid himself; there was so much to gain! Rita was also shocked. She happened to be changing her sanitary pad when she overheard their conversation about this talent, which made her panic and set the used pad on fire, deciding to do the same in the future.

Moreover, after consuming healing potions, she would have to be careful to clean off any blood stains left on her, nipping it in the bud—she could never let her blood spill outside! Wasn't this skill directly targeting her? She was afraid that if the other party used this skill on her, she might hear, "This person's secret… um… where to begin?"

From their conversation, she not only learned about this Insight talent that could delve into secrets through blood but also about Ezra's identity… another thing she had never known in her past life.

As for why Aaron didn't want anyone to know, there could be many reasons: perhaps it was because his sister-in-law and second brother treated him well, and he didn't want to hurt them; maybe Ezra asked him not to tell anyone; or perhaps he didn't want to see the Jones family in turmoil.

Rita was intrigued. The Jones family had never harmed her in her past life; they were merely strangers. Their association with the Lopez family was just for better development, which was understandable. They probably didn't even know who Rita was.

Which subsidiary would take the time to get to know or investigate a bullied employee at their headquarters? Even during meals and gossip, they'd be talking about the top 100 list! So, Rita genuinely had no feelings towards the Jones family.

Her focus was on Ezra! How coincidental! Another enemy of hers! Ezra had no emotional ties to her; he wasn't a sycophant and wasn't the second male lead in a love story. So why did Rita hate him?

In truth, the inspiration for Rick contracting AIDS in this life came from Ezra. During the second year of the game invasion, Rita had been rarely accepting Rick's invitations. Even though Rick treated her well and said how hard it was for him in the Lopez family and how he missed family and Rita, she wasn't a masochist.

Why would she go seek out trouble when the Lopez, White, and Taylor families bullied her?

But somehow, she kept encountering these people in various corners… Even when she whimsically went to the mountains to find undiscovered wild instances, she would run into them.

Not sure if it was her bad luck or if they were cursed. There were several times she happened upon a successful team of monsters coming out of an instance right after the time rules expired; naturally, they would fight together. Whatever grudges were settled after the S-rank, she noticed that every time she got injured, Ezra would lean closer to her.

Once or twice wasn't apparent, but what if it happened every time? At a meal at Wilson's house, Rick returned with a few brothers and even brought her gifts to apologize to the Lopez family; she almost got nicked by the dagger Ezra had tucked at his waist.

Later, when Camila Taylor nearly branded her with a slave contract, Ezra rushed over to cover her bleeding back with clothing, but she managed to dodge.

When Rita grew suspicious, she started investigating, but after six months without any findings, she stumbled upon Ezra and Aaron's affair…

Later, while chatting with escape friends under a bridge, a knowledgeable friend said he knew Ezra, who had been flamboyant even before the invasion, and that the disease he had was transmitted by a friend of a friend.

Rita's feelings then weren't resentment, anger, or grievance, but pure confusion: why? What did his AIDS have to do with her? She had hardly spoken to Ezra!

Moreover, he acted like a lunatic; even when she was being hunted, he wouldn't give up. One time, she almost got hit by a syringe; she thought it was an anesthetic, but after dodging, she discovered it was blood. Unable to hold back, she asked her pursuer what that meant. The person carefully pushed the second syringe into the gun while wearing gloves, claiming it was at the employer's request…

No need to ask; that employer must be named Lan.

Rita felt speechless recalling that experience. Every time she noticed a mix of someone wielding a syringe as ammunition among the teams of the Lopez, White, and Taylor families, she would privately message Ezra, cursing him out.

He didn't seek revenge on society; he purely sought revenge on Rita. If Rita hadn't confirmed she wasn't sick and hadn't slept with Ezra, she would have suspected she had transmitted the disease to him.

Back then, she truly didn't understand—no matter how you reasoned with Sherlock Holmes, you couldn't deduce why Ezra was so fixated on making her sick.

It wasn't until this life, after obtaining the God of the Culinary Arts talent, that Rita barely managed to figure it out…

Hatred had been redirected… Ezra loved Aaron, naturally despising Aaron for falling for Rick. Concerned about the power of the Lopez family and Rick's abilities, he didn't dare act openly, so he thought to make Rick sick, hoping it would secretly transfer the illness to Aaron, causing Aaron to hate Rick and turn to him instead.

In the end, all of this was thrust onto her by the God of the Culinary Arts' skill: "Hey? Friend, look, there's a pot here."

If she couldn't treat Rick, could she at least deal with his sister? Let's collect some interest first?

Behind Rick's success was a woman who had borne countless burdens. Not only did she have to endure the negative emotions stemming from sharing a man with three other women, but she also had to be Aaron's shield, bear the jealousy of his brothers, and endure the hatred of his rivals.

Was it easy for her?!!!

Please, Qingfeng, help her deliver a message to Rick.

Please, heavens, is there anyone who can be more despicable than Rick?

The more Rita thought about it, the angrier she became, directly activating the Master Archer's "Now I'm Scary Strong" explosive state to start rampaging.

Once out of the instance, she planned to send a message to the Jones family.

However, before that, she stopped by the Rania Kaiya auction house.

Searching for "Guess."

Nothing.

Searching for "Secret."

Still nothing.

She changed her term to "Inside Story."

Still no results.

She wasn't afraid of others Insight-ing her secrets; not to mention how careful she always was, that kind of Insight was a form of divination, and her Chávez pocket watch could avoid it.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Her goal for searching was purely mischievous; she wanted to know others' little secrets.

Unfortunately, there was nothing… Such a wicked talent really suited her.