This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

It was a nice day, and for once, Rita didn't go out to do anything serious. Instead, she hired a cleaning lady to give her house a deep clean, while she personally washed the cat bed of her "Myriad Cats Den." During this, she not only used **Insight** to check if the cleaner was a player but also hid her shadow within the woman's shadow as a surveillance measure.

With so many secrets, Rita was cautious that anyone sent to her home might plant surveillance equipment or try to monitor her.

Rita realized that her paranoia, born from her past life on the run, would likely never go away. She'd always be suspicious of anyone who got close to her. But she didn't mind—it kept her alive. Her only regret was not buying a cleaning skill. Then, she wouldn't have to let strangers into her home in the first place.

She wasn't sure exactly what benefits the cat bed would bring, but knowing it was an S-rank item capable of building a small force around a pet hospital in her previous life, Rita had already decided: once the game invaded, if the cat bed mutated, she'd bind it immediately with a **Binding Stone**. A mere 100 gold was nothing for something of that caliber.

As she dried the bed in the yard, seven or eight cats were lounging in the sun. In the past, she had been too busy to pay attention to the cats that frequented her yard. She only had a vague idea that the cats came and went, none of them staying long. But today, she realized that two of the cats seemed familiar. She had either seen them back in August or earlier when she lived in her previous mansion.

One was a chubby tabby with snow-white paws, and the other was a black-and-white cow-patterned cat.

Rita made a mental note of the two cats' appearances.

The cleaning lady spent the entire day working in Rita's house. Since Rita didn't want too many people in her home, she only hired one cleaner but paid handsomely—10,000 for the day. It was a big payday, much more than she would make working half a month at someone else's house. Naturally, many other cleaners had competed for the job.

Rita inspected the work and found it spotless. She paid the woman without hesitation and sent her on her way. However, she refused the lady's request to exchange WeChat contacts and didn't mention the possibility of hiring her again. Rita planned to rotate cleaners to avoid anyone getting too familiar with her home and possibly being bribed to plant bugs or other surveillance devices.

Her experiences from the last life were her greatest wealth.

Just after sending the cleaner away, Rita received a message from Zoey.

Being the busy woman she was, Zoey skipped pleasantries and went straight to the point, asking if Rita was interested in making money using her Divine Gift. For every task Rita did for the Lopez family using her Divine Gift, she would be paid one million.

Rita wasn't surprised that Zoey had reached out to her. After all, Rita had intentionally brought up her skill on Zoey's wedding day with the goal of monetizing it.

It was easy money, and there was still half a year before the economy crashed. But Rita wasn't keen on making enemies for the Lopez family or becoming a target herself.

**Rita**: "I'll only take jobs where I modify someone's luck to a perfect score of 10. I won't accept jobs that involve lowering it to 1."

She didn't even mention modifying luck to any value between 2 and 9. After all, the greatest use of her skill was either to harm or to help—who would want their luck set to a middle number?

Zoey understood perfectly. Offering one million to make someone a scapegoat was far too cheap. She quickly confirmed the date of the job and promised to send someone to pick Rita up on the agreed day.

Rita wasn't worried about Zoey going back on her word. The Lopez family was always prompt with payments, especially to those within the family. Even if they had plans to privately suppress her later, they would still pay for services rendered. The Lopez family was too proud to let anyone think that joining their ranks would lead to no rewards.

Rita cleared half a day for the job. When the Lopez family car pulled up outside her villa, she got in and found Zoey already there. As they chatted, Rita subtly set some expectations. "Just so you know, I can modify luck, but luck isn't the same as fate. Many things can't be changed just by luck."

Zoey nodded in understanding. She knew firsthand how delicate the difference was, having once had a luck stat of 10, which had dropped to 8. Her life hadn't changed drastically—things were still going smoothly—but there was a subtle difference. If before, when she aimed for a 1, she'd end up with 1.5 or even 2, now when she aimed for 1, she would only get exactly 1.

She had tried to convince herself it was all psychological, but after seeing luck quantified, she knew she couldn't deceive herself.

Their destination was a private room in a restaurant. When they entered, Rita kept a neutral expression, not recognizing or caring who was inside. Even though the woman present had, in the past life, used every sparring session to humiliate Rita by stepping on her face, Rita showed no emotion.

Zoey pointed to a young man with a buzz cut sitting next to **Sanchez** and instructed Rita to use **Wheel of Fate** on him. Rita, without asking any questions, raised her hand, closed her eyes for a few seconds, and said, "It's done."

The buzz-cut youth checked his stats and saw that his luck had indeed risen to 10. He nodded to Sanchez, who gave him a subtle smile.

Rita also nodded to the group with a polite smile and prepared to leave. Zoey didn't try to keep her and instead had someone escort her back home.

As soon as Rita got into the car, she received the payment notification.

On the drive home, she felt someone attempting to divine her information again—it was the same buzz-cut youth. Rita smirked to herself. It seemed the **White** and **Lopez** families were collaborating.

…

Indeed, the White and Lopez families had formed an alliance. Shortly after Zoey's wedding, they had a secret meeting. The Lopez family was shocked to learn that someone had infiltrated the White family and severed Sanchez's arm. Meanwhile, the White family was equally stunned because someone had not only cut off Zoey's ear but also stolen a large stash of gold from the Lopez family's vault.

This created an awkward situation.

Even though the White family had come to the table with a diplomatic approach, deep down, they still harbored some resentment. Who's to say it wasn't the Lopez family's enemies trying to use the White family to get back at them? After all, Lopez had been hit hard, too.

The Lopez family, meanwhile, had mixed feelings. While losing a stash of gold bricks hurt, the family was wealthy enough that it wasn't a crippling blow. Zoey's injury, though unfortunate, was relatively minor compared to losing half an arm. She could easily cover her missing ear, and few would even notice.

It was a delicate situation. The White family, under the guise of wanting to "discuss," seemed to expect the Lopez family to explain. If they didn't, Sanchez's testimony that Zoey was the culprit could lead to serious conflict.

Both sides stared at each other in silence.