The Villainess Rewrites Her Fate

We were so broke my parents could only afford private-school tuition for one kid.

So my little brother grabbed a kitchen knife and dragged it across his own throat. School? I'd rather die.

I took the opening and rode it all the way to the best prep school in the state.

Senior year, the sweet, golden-boy heartthrob of the whole school confessed to me. In front of everyone. It was the scandal of the semester.

That same night, my brother cornered him in an alley and slapped him eight hundred times.

The heartthrob was a wreck, snot and tears everywhere. "Stop! I'll talk! I've got ten girls on the side! One of them just had my baby!"

Later, I heard it. A little chime, and then a voice only I could catch.

System: [Ding! Task #99, "Clear Big Sister's Trash Romance," complete. Villainess corruption value: minus ten.]

My brother gave me a grin that belonged in a horror movie.

"Villainess? What villainess? My sister is the main character. This garbage script they handed her. I hate it. So I'm gonna rip it up and build her a better one myself."

Chapter 1

My brother, Knox Vance, came out of the womb with a streak of blond hair on the top of his head.

Everyone said it meant gold. Born lucky. Born rich.

Then he became the terror of his kindergarten.

That's when I clocked it. He wasn't born rich. He was born feral.

The year we tested into middle school, I was first in my whole grade.

Knox was first too. First from the bottom.

My parents just sighed.

"Same batch of kids. How are they so different?"

"She's always been the sharp one. Probably stole his brains in the womb."

Me: "..."

You can't even fight back against something that stupid.

They sat us both down.

"You two know how things are." My dad wouldn't quite look at me. "We can only cover tuition for one of you."

My mom's eyes slid back and forth between us. "Vivienne, you're smart. You'll land on your feet no matter what. But Knox is different. If he doesn't get a diploma, he's finished for life."

"A diploma's important, sure." Knox smirked. "But are you two really sure I'm the school type? PhDs deliver takeout same as everybody else. I'll start delivering after eighth grade and be ten years richer than all of them. Know the roads better too."

The more they yelled, the wilder he got. He actually stormed into the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and dragged it across his throat.

"School? I'd rather die."

My dad started to fold. "Knox is a lost cause. But Vivienne's grades are so"

"What's the point of a girl studying? She'll just marry off and sit home raising kids anyway."

"A degree only matters so she marries up. Rich husband. Then she can pull her brother along and take the weight off us."

"You think rich people aren't picky?" Knox flipped the whole thing on its head and started giving our parents orders. "You think they'd look twice at a family that can't even keep up its own retirement fund? You two. Get factory jobs. Now. Backpay every cent, and start saving me a wedding fund."

They shrank in on themselves. "But we're almost fifty..."

"So? Fifty's your prime! You hold up my wedding, you let the Vance name die out. You gonna answer for that?"

So it was my useless brother, knife to his own neck, who bought me my seat in school.

At the end of it, I tested into the top high school in the city. Third overall.

What I didn't know yet: every single time my brother lost his mind like that, a voice went off in his ear. One only he could hear.

Chapter 2

Knox Vance became the most notorious blond psycho in our whole district.

He'd help little old ladies across the street. The ones running insurance scams.

He bullied the bullies at every middle school around.

He shook down the local troublemakers for protection money.

The vendors he protected were always slipping fruit and snacks into my backpack. Order one plain breakfast burrito and it'd come loaded with extra everything, plus a soda on the house.

The whole school knew I had a scary blond brother. A certified psycho.

So even though I had top grades and was the prettiest girl there, not one guy dared come near me.

Except Roman.

Roman was the face of the school. Student council president.

He stopped me at the gate after class and confessed, loud, in front of everyone. "Vivienne. I like you. Will you go out with me?"

Dating in senior year?

Another one lost his mind.

I opened my mouth to turn him down.

Then, behind me, a voice I knew too well. "You've got some nerve, pretty boy. Hitting on my sister?"

Knox, hands in his pockets, wearing that lazy, cocky grin.

That streak of blond caught the sunlight.

Ripped jeans, black tank top, fresh scrapes down his arm.

Roman frowned. "Who are you?"

"Me?" My brother flashed a grin, one sharp canine showing. "They call me Mad Dog."

"Vivienne, don't be scared." Roman stepped in front of me. "I'll protect you."

Look, I got the sentiment.

But.

Why were both his legs shaking?

Knox yanked the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked it straight at Roman's face. Lit him up on the spot.

Then he grabbed him by the collar. "You wanna try touching her? I'll rearrange everything you've got downstairs."

Roman actually had guts. Right there, he asked me out for that night.

Which is how he ended up cornered in an alley after evening study hall, getting the life beaten out of him.

I grabbed a broom from the bathroom and ran to save him.

By the time I got there, Knox had already slapped him once.

Roman wasn't having it.

So Knox slapped him eight hundred more times.

Roman had it.

He dropped to his knees, sobbing. "Stop! I'll talk! I've got ten girls going! One of them just had my baby!"

Then he cried so hard he wiped snot on my brother's new shoes.

"Are you kidding me. Shine them. Now." Knox planted a foot on that handsome face and clicked his tongue in disgust. "Bring your face up here. Get it clean. Those are brand-new Chelsea boots."

I quietly held out the broom.

Knox glanced at me, took it, and swept it across the cheater's face in one smooth stroke. "Filthy little jinx. Crawl."

After Roman transferred out, things got real quiet around me.

And my psycho brother just kept appreciating in value.

I hadn't even taken the college exam yet when I got in. Top science score, early admission to one of the best universities in the country.

Then came summer break.

And my aunt showed up at our door with a case of nearly-expired milk. "Vivienne's the top scholar now! And she's free all summer. How about she tutors my little Bobby? It's no trouble at all, right?"

Chapter 3

My parents had been poor so long that groveling was reflex. They reached for the milk. "Oh, no trouble, no trouble at all, of course she'll"

They didn't get to finish.

Knox punted the whole case across the room.

"Top science student in the state. Her rate's fifteen hundred an hour."

My aunt jumped. "Th that much?"

My parents heard "money" and immediately started pushing me to go get a summer job.

Knox blew up again. "A job? My sister ground herself down for twelve years to earn one summer to breathe, and you want people seeing you squeeze her like this? How's that make me look?"

Then he Venmo'd me a thousand bucks on the spot.

He also signed me up for driving lessons. "Get your license. I'm buying a car. I need a driver."

I got the license. The car never showed.

My parents didn't throw me a graduation party either.

So Knox rounded up his boys and threw me one.

Handed me a new iPhone and a MacBook Pro while he was at it.

That whole summer, I lay in bed on my phone.

Bored of games, I scrolled videos. Tired of shopping, I ordered takeout on Knox's family card.

He checked the itemized bill and wired me another grand. Him: [You order off the dollar menu one more time. And every polyester thing you buy, I'm ripping it in half.]

Freshman move-in day.

My brother had an entire truck of luxury gift boxes delivered to my dorm.

My roommates were terrified that crossing me meant getting stuffed in a duffel bag and never seen again.

Everyone treated me with careful, nervous politeness. Everyone except Seraphina.

Rich girl. Spoiled and stunning, bright like she'd walked straight out of a campus romance novel. The heroine.

And that was when the comments appeared, floating in the air in front of me.

[The villainess finally meets the heroine. Main plot starts now.]

[Our girl's a little dense. Keeps getting accused of flexing and frozen out over it.]

[Which is the whole point. It's how our angel of a male lead swoops in and saves her.]

Villainess?

Who?

Me?

Seraphina volunteered to the room. "I'll handle buying our dorm stuff!"

The other two answered fast.

"Great, so you'll front the cost?"

"We'll settle up later."

Seraphina: "Let's get one of those motorized drying racks, one-touch, super convenient. And a Dyson for the hair dryer, works great and it's not even that expensive."

The room went dead quiet.

The roommates couldn't stop themselves rolling their eyes.

The comments started sighing.

[Somebody send this princess back to the reality channel, there's a scholarship kid in this room.]

[It's easy, just be straight with her. Our girl's blunt but she's the sweetest, treat her right and she'd hand you her whole life.]

So I tried it. "Could we just get a regular drying pole? And a normal hair dryer's fine. Honestly my whole allowance is six hundred a month, I can't stretch it that far."

Chapter 4

The other two cowards looked at me like I'd saved their lives.

Seraphina: "Then... how about I just pay? It's pocket change to me. But lowering my standard of living to make everyone comfortable? Not happening."

The roommates froze.

I jumped in. "Works for me!"

With a little push from the comments, Seraphina and I became best friends.

But something started to feel off, fast.

There was a good-looking guy in our class named August.

Every time I got near him, it was like tripping a story quest. This overpowering urge to badmouth Seraphina to him. Spread lies about her. Tear her down.

Thank god for willpower. I choked it back, over and over.

The comments despaired.

[Girl tested into an Ivy and still can't escape being used as a plot device by the leads.]

[Her whole job is to lie about the heroine, cause a misunderstanding, and shove the two of them together.]

[Girl, aren't your grades elite? Seraphina's the only heir to Vitalis Bio! You've got eyes for nothing but puppy love, you can't see the fortune sitting right there! The princess is your one and only ticket into high society!]

[Right?! In the original, the heroine literally founds a cutting-edge lab for the male lead's research dreams! You think you're weaker than him? Grab that connection, walk into her family's core R&D someday, wedge into a joint project, that's the summit of your life, why fight it?!]

[Give it up, she was born the villainess. It's literally her character setting.]

Screw the character setting.

It's my life. I'll set my own character, thanks.

August came to ask me about coursework and to borrow my notes. "I'm August. What's your name?"

Me: "Sydney Sweeney."

Turns out the male lead doesn't follow celebrities. "Okay, Sydney. Can I add you?"

"Sure."

I gave him Seraphina's number.

Back at the dorm.

Seraphina bounced in, glowing. "The face of the school added me! He's nothing like the cold act everyone talks about. He actually asked if I was Sydney Sweeney? Total smooth talker!"

The comments lost it.

[HAHAHA what is she smoking? The villainess just maxed out the leads' progress bar herself!]

[So was it a misunderstanding or not?]

[I can confirm she spread a rumor. Just not a mean one.]

[So tired of these mute suffer-porn stories, let me nibble on a little sugar cookie for once.]

I breathed out.

Then, fast, they caught the seam.

Seraphina first. "Why does August keep asking me about school? And he thanked me for lending him my notes. When did I lend him anything?"

Me: "I lent him the notes. The number he actually wanted was mine."

Seraphina blinked. "Then why did you give him mine?"

The comments went quiet for a second.

[Jokes aside, you guys remember what happens to the villainess at the end of the original, right?]

[Don't. Just thinking about it makes my scalp crawl.]

Truly, the villainess in the flesh.

The lie came out of me without a hitch.

Chapter 5