Today was the day Emma Turner flew back home, and her fiancé, Ethan Miles, had gone all out—he’d arranged a private jet for her.
While waiting for takeoff, Emma scrolled through her phone, checking out the latest news. Her big win in Paris was still trending online, with people talking about it like it had just happened.
She came from the Turners, one of the most elite families in Modu. In their household, the boys were packed off to different company branches as soon as they finished school. The girls? They had a different role to play.
From a young age, they were put through intense training—piano, painting, calligraphy, dance—all to become the perfect decoration. Just a bunch of fancy skills meant to make them shine like decorative vases. And once that vase looked good enough, well, that’s when it had the most worth.
They were basically living, breathing business cards—strictly brought up, beautifully packaged, and eventually arranged to marry into other wealthy families. They were meant to go from being “a brilliant daughter of the Turners” to “the brilliant wife of someone else.”
“You’ve used the best this family has to offer. Now it’s time to give something back.” That’s what her mom always said.
And no matter how accomplished Emma was—sweeping every major dance award in the country by twenty-six, nabbing the most prestigious prize at the Paris Dance Festival, becoming China’s top classical dancer—even she couldn’t decide who she’d marry.
Before heading to Paris, Emma had already gotten engaged to Ethan, as arranged by her family. Unless something unexpected happened, she’d be stuck with a man she didn’t even love for the rest of her life.
“Emma, Mr. Miles must really adore you. I can’t believe he bought this plane just for you,” her assistant said, holding up her phone with wide eyes full of envy.
On the screen: “Ethan Miles, CEO of Miles Corp., drops 230 million on a private jet for fiancée Emma Turner—high-profile romance stuns the internet.”
Emma gave a soft, dismissive smile. Love? Between them? Please. He was a businessman through and through. This whole grand gesture? Just another PR move to get the Miles Corporation on the front page.
After what felt like forever, the plane finally lifted off. Once they were cruising, a flight attendant came over with a sleep mask, adjusted Emma’s seat to recline, and helped her relax. Between competitions and interviews, she was completely wiped out and soon drifted off.
But her rest didn’t last long. She was jolted awake by turbulence. A flight attendant rushed in from the front cabin, kneeling beside her and trying her best to stay calm.
“Miss Turner, please don’t worry. It’s just turbulence up ahead—ah!”
Before she could finish, the plane suddenly dropped. The weightless sensation hit like a punch, and even the well-trained attendant screamed.
Oddly enough, Emma wasn’t that scared. As the plane plummeted, her last thought was:
“If I don’t have to go back to the Turners, that might not be so bad. I couldn’t choose anything in this life—next time, I’ll live it for myself.”
She never dreamed she’d open her eyes again. Now, it felt like she was floating in some strange, endless white space, blank and borderless…“Is this... heaven?” Emma Turner murmured.
Right after, a robotic voice echoed from somewhere above—neutral, emotionless, and impossible to tell if it was male or female.
“Emma Turner, perished in a plane crash. Selected to participate in system testing. Soul now transferred to Parallel World 006.”
Emma looked up instinctively. Nothing. Just a blinding expanse of white. Hearing that she’d died? Surprisingly, it didn’t shake her. She stayed calm and asked, “Excuse me, what kind of system test? And what exactly is a parallel world? What do I need to do there?”
“The system test is classified. No further details can be disclosed. The parallel world mirrors your original one, but with different inhabitants. Your task is simply to live your new life well. Make thoughtful choices. The system will assign tasks and rewards accordingly based on your decisions.”
Emma was about to ask more, but everything faded to black in an instant.
When she came to, she found herself lying on the bottom bunk of a metal bed. As she sat up and took in her surroundings, the bed groaned loudly beneath her, even though she moved carefully. She instinctively slowed down.
Once up, she scanned the room.
Growing up in a wealthy family, Emma never imagined people could live in a place like this.
The room was tiny. Her bed alone took up nearly half the space. The rest was crammed with random stuff—piles of cardboard boxes, stacks of books, even an old bike coated in dust. Judging by how thick the layer was, no one had touched it in a long time.
Even the upper bunk was cluttered with pots and dishes, all speckled with dust. The tiny window did little to light the room, and there was a faint musty smell in the air.
After absorbing the surroundings, information about her new life suddenly flooded her mind.
This new Emma Turner was also seventeen, about to start her final year of high school at Langcheng No.3 High. Her father, Robert Turner, worked at the water supply plant. Her mother, Karen Lane, was a waitress at a nearby restaurant. She had a younger brother, Jake Turner, twelve years old, currently in middle school.
The family didn’t have much. They moved to the city mainly so Jake could go to school here. Otherwise, they likely wouldn’t have spent money on renting a place in town. And if Karen weren’t so busy waiting tables and unable to prepare meals for both Robert and Jake, the old Emma would probably still be back in their hometown, finishing school on her own.
Even now, though she lived with them, she was clearly an afterthought.
The apartment itself wasn't tiny, really. It had two decent-sized bedrooms. The parents had the master, and Jake had the other. When Emma moved in, all she got was a corner carved out of the storage room.
But hey, she was alive again—and in a new body. That in itself felt like a blessing. This time around, she wouldn’t let anyone else call the shots. She was going to live life on her own terms, free and unfettered.