The transmigrated villainess of three geniuses
Prologue
The last thing Ava Carter remembered was the glow of her laptop screen.
Another deadline.
Another cup of cold coffee.
Another promise to herself that she would sleep after finishing "just one more chapter."
She smiled as she reached the final page of her favorite web novel, The Villainess Mother of Three Geniuses.
"What a waste..." she muttered.
The villainess had been cruel, selfish, and manipulative, but Ava couldn't help feeling that her ending was too tragic.
"If only she'd loved those children..."
Her vision blurred.
A sharp pain shot through her chest.
Her fingers slipped from the keyboard, and darkness swallowed everything.
...
A soft breeze brushed against her face.
The scent of fresh roses filled the air.
Ava slowly opened her eyes.
Above her hung a magnificent crystal chandelier, sparkling with rainbow-colored light.
Silk curtains swayed gently beside floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a city unlike anything she had ever seen.
Towering glass skyscrapers stretched into the clouds.
Between them floated enchanted trains, leaving trails of shimmering blue light.
Farther away, a majestic castle overlooked the city from a mountain peak.
"What...?"
Ava sat upright so suddenly that her head pounded.
"This isn't my apartment."
A flood of unfamiliar memories crashed into her mind.
Lady Ava Ashford.
Duchess of House Ashford.
The empire's most infamous villainess.
Wife of Duke Damien Ashford.
Mother...
...to three children.
"No..."
Her breathing quickened.
"No, no, no..."
She stumbled toward an ornate mirror.
Staring back at her was a breathtaking woman with long silver-blonde hair, crimson eyes, and a face elegant enough to grace the covers of magazines.
But those eyes...
They weren't hers.
She knew this woman.
She had spent weeks cursing her while reading the novel.
"I... became the villainess?"
Before she could gather her thoughts, hurried footsteps echoed from the hallway.
A maid's trembling voice came through the door.
"My Lady... Young Master Leo accidentally broke your favorite crystal vase."
Silence.
The maid swallowed nervously before continuing.
"The head butler asks... should we bring him to you for punishment?"
Ava's heart stopped.
She remembered this scene.
Perfectly.
It wasn't just any day.
It was the day everything fell apart.
The original Lady Ava had dragged five-year-old Leo into this very room and slapped him in front of his older brother and sister.
That single moment planted a hatred that would grow for years.
Years later, those three abandoned children would become legends.
The richest man in the empire.
The greatest mage and inventor.
The strongest knight alive.
And when they stood at the top of the world...
They would look down at the woman who had called herself their mother.
Without mercy.
Without regret.
They would watch her die.
Ava's face turned pale.
"No..."
She rushed toward the bedroom door and flung it open.
"No one is laying a hand on that child."
Outside, every servant froze.
The frightened little boy standing in the hallway looked up at her with tear-filled golden eyes.
The broken pieces of the crystal vase lay scattered across the polished marble floor.
For the first time since entering the novel...
Ava met the child whose fate she had sworn to change.