This Time, I'll Be the Villain's Favorite Daughter novel Chapter 397

Chapter 397 A World Without Her

It was like the same painting in a different palette. The lines were identical, and somehow it all felt for

Alfred drifted through it, quiet, watching. He didn’t quite understand. Was this a dream? Lucid dream

He pinched himself. He held his breath. The pain felt real. So did the suffocation. Everything had the weight of a real place.

In this familiar, unfamiliar setting, his instinct kicked in, and he kept himself hidden. He stepped soundlessly onto a high ledge and looked in through a dusty window.

He saw himself.

A younger version of himself. Small, quiet, sitting on the carpet in the living room, with a jigsaw spread out in pieces in front of him.

The little Alfred was focused. He could scramble a puzzle and put it back together in no time. He didn’t need anyone’s help. Nobody sat with him.

上

Alfred stood there and watched that smaller version of himself, the way he’d look at a stranger.

He tried to wake himself up. Through willpower, through pain, through every trick he could come up with. None of it really worked. He was still stuck in this strange version of the world.

He turned a lot of things over in his head. From the moment Maya’s reset ability had come into the picture, Alfred had been forced to start analyzing this from an unscientific angle.

Unscientific. He never would’ve applied that word to himself before. He was someone who believed in logic. But Maya’s death had shattered his entire worldview.

He kept studying the boy. The kid finished the puzzle fast, picked up a Rubik’s Cube, and started turning it. His fingers were quick, and his thinking was clean. All six sides were solved in no time.

Alfred’s childhood playmate had always been himself. In this world, he’d been alone his whole life.

But he was supposed to have a sister.

If this wasn’t a dream, then where was Maya?

He had to think about it. If his life didn’t have Maya in it, this was what it looked like.

।

The only playmate of his childhood was his own reflection. He’d sit quietly through every puzzle, every cube, stay quietly near his parents, no fuss, no trouble, no joy. No pain either.

Without her, he wouldn’t even know what pain was. He could walk into death and not flinch.

Alfred watched the younger version of himself for a while and got bored. The kid was too sull. He didn’t run, didn’t make noise, just sat there, like a plant that didn’t need sunlight to live.

He stood up and stepped out onto the street

11:25 am PTM

Chapter 3974 World Without Her

He tried lifting a few things off passersby on his way past. His hands were casual about it, fast enough that nobody clocked it in the moment.

When they did clock it, they started shouting, “Call the cops!” Phones came out, and they spoke with panic in their voices.

Alfred watched them through the noise.

It was too real. The fear in people’s eyes, the shake in their voices, the flush on their faces when the adrenaline hit. None of it looked staged.

The odds that this was a dream were low. If it was, it was way too convincing.

He gave the wallets back.

“Sorry,” he said. There was no apology in his voice. He turned and walked away.

He decided to go find Maya.

If the universe were a still book and every human choice pulled out endless threads, then any given moment might branch into a different timeline. Maybe in this one, she wasn’t his sister. Maybe she had her own family, and she was happy.

He still wanted to see her. Even if she wasn’t his sister, that was okay. He just wanted to make sure she was doing all right.

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