The Perfect Assassin Novels & Stories

The housekeeper’s daughter, Selena Greene, deliberately chose to get married on the same day, at the same hotel as me. When our cars passed each other on the way to our weddings, she rolled down her window and asked to switch my bridal bouquet with hers. My bouquet, however, wasn’t just any bouquet. It was hand-carved from priceless jadeite by my grandfather himself—a one-of-a-kind heirloom and his blessing for my wedding day. “Trish,” she pleaded softly, “please. I’ve sacrificed so much for this wedding. I just want it to be perfect. I’ll give it back to you as soon as we get out of the cars.” My heart softened. Against my better judgment, I handed her my bouquet and took her cheap, plastic flowers instead. However, when we stepped out of our cars, she refused to return it. Worse still, during her ceremony, she tossed my jade bouquet onto the floor, shattering it into countless pieces. That bouquet had been my grandfather’s way of being present at my wedding. It was all I had left of him. Yet, in front of everyone, Selena put on an innocent act and accused me, “Who takes back a bouquet after a switch? A glass bouquet like this is all over online shopping platforms for ten bucks. I’ll just pay you back. Trish, you’ve made my life hard enough on normal days. Do you have to humiliate me on the most important day of my life, too?” Furious, I confronted her, but she ducked behind my fiancé and my brother, wiping at her eyes like the victim. My fiancé immediately went to comfort her, leaving me standing alone at the ceremony, humiliated and ridiculed by everyone. My brother, too, called me cruel and heartless. He cut me off financially and threw me out of the family home. Selena’s husband, having quickly risen to success with the help of powerful backers, unleashed his relentless revenge on the now penniless and alone me. In the dead of winter, hired thugs found me and brutalized me to death. And Selena? She became their princess, adored by all three of them. I sank into darkness, full of rage and regret. However, when I opened my eyes again, I was transported back to the day of the wedding.

When my husband told me to go bungee jumping, I did not scream. I did not cause a scene. I just nodded and said, "Okay." Keep in mind, I was eight months pregnant. I only agreed because I had already lived through this nightmare once before. In my past life, his precious childhood best friend, Lily Lane, had been feeling down. My husband, desperate to be her hero, told her he would make her one wish come true. Her wish? She wanted a partner to go bungee jumping with. My husband was terrified of heights, so he could not do it himself. Instead, he volunteered me. I refused on the spot, obviously. I told them I was not going to strap a harness over a baby bump and jump off a bridge. Lily got upset because I would not go. She went to a bar to drown her sorrows, and things went terribly wrong. Someone spiked her drink, and she was assaulted. She could not handle the trauma. She left a suicide note for my husband that read: "If I hadn't gone to the bar that night, would everything be different?" When my husband read that note, he snapped. He wrapped his hands around my throat. "Why didn't you just go with her?" he screamed, squeezing tighter. "Would it have killed you to just say yes?" He strangled me until everything went black. My unborn baby died with me. However, then, my eyes snapped open. I was back. I was standing right there in the moment my husband was asking me to jump.

As per my father’s offer, I decided to leave both my son and husband behind and go back home where I would become his little girl again. That decision came after I heard my family’s true thoughts following my surgery. My husband thought, “It was just a minor issue! Why did she stay in the hospital for so long? She’s back and has yet to do any chores. Can’t she see that my suit needs ironing?” My son thought, “She spent so much money on that surgery, and now she’s even drinking my favorite yogurt! Why can’t she be a successful businesswoman like Sarah? All she does is stay in the house and act like a freeloader!” My mother-in-law thought, “She had to come back right when I’m making chicken soup, of all times! She can just drink the dishwater for all I care.” Feeling utterly disappointed, I turned around and closed the door. Then I called my father. “Yes, it’s just me. I’m not bringing anyone.”

I went out in the morning and saw an abandoned baby by the roadside. I was about to pick the baby up and take him home when I heard the baby’s inner thoughts. The baby thought, ‘Dad’s plan is genius. He dumped me right where Scarlett would find me on purpose. That way, she’ll take me in and adopt me. Then, I’ll legally become part of the Lumley family without any issues. ‘Back then, Scarlett used her rich family background to ruin my parents’ relationship on purpose. Now she’s stuck raising me, Dad’s illegitimate child. Now she’s getting exactly what’s coming to her. ‘Once I become part of the Lumley family, I’m going to help Dad destroy this wench as fast as I can. Then, I’ll bring Mom over so the three of us can finally be together as a family.’ The baby on the ground was still grinning at me. However, I had already heard every single one of his thoughts. I smirked and made a phone call. Since he was an illegitimate child, he should go where he belonged.

After receiving the report for an STD test, I went back to the barbeque restaurant, and there I ran into a young woman who was about three months pregnant. She asked me to let her cut in line, and, feeling sorry for her, I agreed to help her out. I quickly made arrangements for her and made sure she had a seat. But to my shock, after she finished her meal, she had a miscarriage. The girl posted about the incident online, and before I knew it, I was trending on social media, facing a wave of cyberbullying. The internet users went even further, digging up my health records and finding that everything came back positive. [She's positive for everything—she's clearly a woman with a messy private life!] [No wonder she caused the woman's miscarriage just by being near her—she's a biological hazard!] The cyberbullying got so bad that it pushed me into depression. Even my fiancé turned against me, accusing me of being filthy and breaking up with me. The emotional weight became too much, and in my pain, I drove straight into a reservoir. Meanwhile, the girl gained millions of followers online and skyrocketed to fame as a popular influencer. It was only after I died that I learned the shocking truth—this girl was my fiancé's first love. To boost her own popularity, she and my fiancé had come up with this entire scheme together. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on the day when she asked me to let her cut in line.

At the company's annual dinner, I win a three-day trip to the Marosa worth 50 thousand dollars. But when I go to claim the prize, the person in charge stuffs a cheap stuffed toy into my hands instead. The price tag shows that it is worth five dollars. At the same time, the intern, Katie Thorpe, suddenly cries out in surprise, "A three-day trip to Marosa? I'm so incredibly lucky!" I step forward to question them, but the organizer blocks my way. "Katie is Mr. Cosby's girlfriend. This prize has already been decided in advance. I suggest you do not make trouble." She looks me up and down mockingly and says, "If you anger Mr. Cosby, you better watch out. You'll lose your job in this company." Not only am I not afraid, I am even tempted to laugh in her face. I immediately make a phone call. "Grandpa, I have made up my mind. I do not want to keep struggling alongside Vincent Cosby anymore. The wedding is canceled. Withdraw your investment from his company."

After my wealthy biological parents found me and brought me home, the vicious family drama I had imagined never happened. Both the fake heiress and I entered arranged marriages. However, after getting married, I, who was perfectly healthy, struggled to get pregnant for a long time. Meanwhile, Angela Miller, who had been diagnosed with a cold womb condition, quickly gave birth to a daughter with her husband, who suffered from low sperm count. Outside the delivery room, the private doctor mistook me for the fake heiress and comforted me gently. "Everyone has their own fate. Your sister has a good constitution for pregnancy, but that doesn't mean you have no hope." Forcing a smile, I explained who I really was. The doctor stared at me in disbelief. "Then why haven't you gotten pregnant yet...?" His words cut deeply into me, and I thought maybe I simply had not worked hard enough while trying to conceive. After returning home, I desperately adjusted my diet and managed my figure. I even accepted Angela's recommendation and went to the hospital for IVF treatment. The moment I came off the operating table, my back aching so badly I could barely straighten up, I received a message. Angela, whose first pregnancy had already been considered a medical miracle, was pregnant with a second child again.

After Bianca Vale and I were kidnapped at the same time, I watched Evan Pierce choose her. Even the kidnapper stared in surprise. After a long silence, he took off his jacket and draped it over my shoulders. “How did you end up even worse off than me? Your own husband won’t save you. Damn it... why won’t this rope come loose?” In the end, he bit through the knot with his teeth and mumbled, “Forget it. You don’t have to go down with me. Just remember to run.” With that, he shoved me toward Evan and jumped from the high-rise, resigned to his fate. I thought I had been saved, only to meet Evan’s ice-cold eyes. “Only if you die can Bianca become legitimate. “Clara Shaw, you should have stepped aside a long time ago.” When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the engagement party where Evan and I first became engaged. Ignoring the depth of feeling in his eyes, I walked straight to the corner, where Miles Langford was focused on playing a match-three game. “Mr. Langford, how about we discuss a partnership?” After all, I was the one who had once lifted Evan to the top. Putting Miles in that same seat now would not be difficult.

After I resign from my job as a forensic pathologist and return to my rural hometown to enjoy a laidback, leisurely life, I feel totally at peace. In contrast, my boyfriend's childhood sweetheart, Jessica Lester, starts panicking for real. She keeps begging me to stay. "Dr. Gardner, even though you're not that talented, I still hope you can stand beside me and speak up for those who have died unjustly!" I roll my eyes coolly and leave without looking back. In my previous life, Jessica is an intern put under my care. But every time we conduct an autopsy, she watches from the side but somehow manages to describe the victim's experiences before death ahead of me. She even uses wording that is identical to what I am thinking. I cannot make sense of it. In later autopsies, I give everything and go all out to prove myself, but even when she is not present, she can still iterate my findings at length. From then on, everyone idolizes her. Meanwhile, I become a laughingstock even if I am the most authoritative forensic expert in the state. Later on, the enraged family members of victims come to my doorstep every day. They lambast me and say that I am unworthy of being a forensic pathologist. They eventually set my house on fire, and I die miserably in the flames. When I open my eyes again, I return to the day I take Jessica to her first autopsy.

My roommate, Quinn York, is a nice person who knows how to pay one's act of benevolence back. At the orientation party, a classmate gives Quinn a cheap lipstick. She insists on repaying that classmate by giving her my expensive custom-ordered dress. When the supervisor of the girls' dorm gives Quinn a bottle of water, Quinn tells me to treat the entire class to a meal at a five-star hotel. When the campus bully, Kendrick Olsen, helps Quinn out of a sticky situation, she has the audacity to deliver me to his bed just to thank him. Because of that, I'm infected with STDs. That's when Quinn posts the report on the Internet purposefully. Since then, everyone views me as a loose woman who has zero love for herself. Not wanting to suffer from such humiliation, I decide to take my own life by jumping off a building. When I open my eyes again, I've returned to the orientation party. Since Quinn likes repaying others that much, she should be the one doing the actual repaying!