Steel-blue marble floors gleam under the chandeliers of House Vellatoux, where a seven-year-old girl wakes up mid-step and nearly trips on her own silk skirts. Arin Han knows exactly where she is: the opening chapter of a novel she read until the pages frayed. The body she wears belongs to Viola, the protagonist fated for a hollow, disappointing end. Not anymore. If the original script leads off a cliff, Arin plans to grab the quill and slash every second half to ribbons.

She starts methodically. Winning over a household where siblings trade poison like candy and the patriarch's cold stare can freeze bone marrow is not child's play — so she makes it exactly that. Viola pitches her voice sweet, angles her head just so, and pours tea with the precision of someone who's read ahead. The blood-soaked power struggle unfolding around her becomes a chessboard she intends to ace. But the male lead's face stops her cold. It's too familiar. Every time he drifts within arm's reach, something in her chest twists, sharp and unbidden, as if the novel is pushing back. Surviving a family of assassins was the easy part; the real danger might be the story itself, refusing to let its characters rewrite their own ending.

Also known as: I Played the Role of the Adopted Daughter Too Well, 입양딸 역할을 지나치게 잘해버렸다.