This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

On the morning of the 13th, Rita arrived in Los Angeles. After leaving the airport, she headed straight to the hospital. Samuel was still bedridden, while Rick, on the other hand, was up and about, preparing for his upcoming wedding. Apparently, Zoey had dragged him to practice for it. Rita had never heard of someone needing rehearsals for a wedding before.

At the hospital, she gave Samuel two bottles of **basic healing potions**. Samuel stared blankly at the ceiling while Scarlett pried his mouth open and forced him to drink the potion. He showed no reaction, making Rita wonder if he had become a vegetable.

Rita pulled Scarlett aside and quietly asked what was going on. Scarlett, hesitant and unsure how to explain, simply said she didn't know. After all, they had kept secrets from their daughter for years, and suddenly telling her now would only hurt her feelings.

Rita wasn't particularly concerned. Her main reason for coming was to use **Insight** on the couple's **Divine Gifts**.

In her past life, she didn't have an **Insight** tool, and most of the information she gathered came from either her own observations or what others revealed.

Scarlett had once claimed that her **Divine Gift** was related to cooking, saying that the food she made had a 5% chance of boosting a person's stats. Rita had even joked back then that Scarlett and Rick were truly mother and son, both with cooking-related **Divine Gifts**.

But now, as she looked again, Scarlett's **Divine Gift** was actually fire-based. The more she talked, the more powerful her fire-related abilities became, resetting daily.

Suddenly, it all made sense. In her past life, Scarlett always called Rita home for dinner, and every time she returned, the food was already prepared. The dishes, though made with premium ingredients, tasted average. Rita, being someone who repaid kindness with gratitude, always left something behind for Scarlett and Samuel after the meal.

No wonder… Everything had been part of a bigger plan to complement Rick's **God of the Culinary Arts** talent.

The high-quality ingredients ensured that the dishes had decent ratings, but the average taste meant the score stayed low enough to avoid triggering the double-effect bonus. Rita never once suspected the connection to Rick, nor did she ever gain any stat boosts from the food.

Meanwhile, the emotional manipulation worked in Rick's favor. Not only did it make her feel grateful enough to offer things in return, but it also subtly siphoned away her luck, converting it into "payment" for Rick's benefit.

Looking back, every time she had a meal at home, her luck seemed to plummet for a while. At the time, she chalked it up to bad vibes with her hometown.

Rick hadn't entirely lied to her, either. He had told her that his **Divine Gift** doubled the effects of the food he made, and indeed, when she ate it, the effects were doubled. He even made custom dishes for her, ensuring that the bonus applied every time. Yet, despite two years of eating his food, she never gained any stat points.

It was all so carefully orchestrated—balancing the skills, earning her trust while scheming against her, and never giving her a real advantage.

Rita had learned her lesson!

She wasn't surprised that Rick coveted her luck. From a young age, she had always been lucky. Her starting **luck stat** in the game had been **8**, higher than most people. Still, it was strange that someone so lucky had missed both the first and second game beta tests...

Wait, she missed the first one because of **Amelia's** scheme, but what about the second and third?

Rita struggled to recall those dates. It had been a long time, and details were fuzzy, but the dates themselves were too significant to forget—not only did they coincide with the game's beta tests, but they also closely aligned with Rick's engagement and wedding dates!

Suddenly, bits of memory surfaced. She might not remember exactly what she did on those specific days, but the surrounding events started to become clearer. After Rick's engagement, he had called her one morning, saying that, thanks to his connections through the Lopez family, he had arranged for her to meet someone about a potential project.

She remembered being picked up by a Lopez family driver before dawn.

As for his wedding, Rick frequently called her to accompany him for rehearsals. He even asked her to monitor the wedding preparations, despite Lopez family members managing everything.

During that time, she felt frustrated. It wasn't just that she had nothing to do at the venue—every time she tried to kill time on her phone, someone from the Lopez family would drag her away to look at the decorations.

Standing in the hospital bathroom, Rita clenched her fists.

**Had the scheming started that early?**

She stared at the water flowing into the sink, and the anger she had felt since stealing Rick's **God of the Culinary Arts** reignited, stronger than ever.

**Why?**

Not only did they keep her in the dark, but they made her miss out again and again!

She turned off the faucet and stared calmly at herself in the mirror.

Why was she wasting time trying to understand why her enemies had harmed her?

It was unnecessary, pointless!

All she needed to do was return every blow!

Rita said her goodbyes to the bedridden Samuel and left the hospital.

Samuel's **Divine Gift** was called **Liar**. Every time he told a lie, his attack power increased by 0.1%, resetting daily. He could also detect lies, which was something he hadn't lied about in her past life.

But the most sophisticated lies were often truths.

He never needed to fight. How many lies had he told her that she had no way of verifying?

What a family...

Rita stepped into the sunlight outside the hospital but still felt a chill seeping into her bones.

**How was she born into this family?**

She sighed, thinking about her recent moves.

She wasn't much better.

They were all conniving, whether it was **Samuel**, the sly old man, **Scarlett**, the naive mother, **Rick**, the manipulative brother, or herself, the cunning player.

Scarlett might be an idiot, but they were all in this together now.

On the 15th, Rita accompanied Rick to his wedding rehearsal. She watched him from afar—he was smiling, looking like nothing was wrong, no trace of despair, anger, or sorrow.

But the more Rita watched, the happier she became. The deeper Rick buried his emotions, the better. It was just like her—each time she had smiled at Rick, her retaliation had been all the more vicious afterward. She was eagerly waiting for the day he would snap.

After enjoying Rick's performance and his mask of calmness, she pulled Zoey aside with a mysterious grin and whispered, "I've got a wedding gift for you—something from the game. Where's a good place to give it to you?"

Zoey, intrigued by the idea of a game-related gift, led her to the dressing room. Rita waved for Rick to join them. Once they were all inside, she pulled out the item—a bed that, at first glance, would turn anyone's face pale.

Zoey's expression remained neutral as she thanked Rita, but her eyes lit up.

Rick, too, breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was a bit awkward, the item... hit the mark. He needed it—desperately.

After days of darkness, Rita had finally brought him a glimmer of good news. Rick gave her a grateful look.

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