Just want to be a supporting role

Tina Hall felt like the heavens were playing a joke on her. Why? She had toiled and schemed against a group of women in the imperial harem, expending countless brain cells, until she finally ascended to the throne as the empress. She was just waiting for that blind, sickly emperor, who was on his last legs and could barely breathe, to kick the bucket, so she could become the youngest empress dowager in the country of Old East and live a blissful life with her beautiful male concubines, sleeping with a different one every night. And then— She died! She had merely fed the emperor his medicine and returned to her chambers to have a group of handsome eunuchs, whom she had always used and who were absolutely loyal to her, dress up as maidservants to assist her in her bath. No one else would dare to harm her at such a critical moment. She couldn't fathom who had silently taken her life while she was bathing. She was already angry enough about dying, but then a book suddenly popped into her mind, followed by a flood of memories—she had become the female supporting character in an entertainment circle novel. In these memories, her past eighteen years of life could be summarized in two words: tragedy. She was the legitimate daughter of the prestigious Hall family, but she was lost by the young male protagonist, William, when she was three. She returned to the Hall family at eighteen, only to find that there was already a female protagonist named Verna who had taken her place. —Verna's presence had healed the Hall family's pain of losing their biological daughter, and William had doubled his guilt for losing Tina by showering Verna with affection. Logically, the Hall family should have cherished their long-lost biological daughter even more and made up for all the hardships Tina had endured. Wrong. Cherish her? Not a chance. Tina, who had not received a proper education, behaved crudely, had a gloomy and introverted personality, and was, as her mother put it, "unpresentable." Compared to the kind, pure, beautiful, generous, sensible, and filial Verna, she was like night and day. Perhaps as compensation, or for some other reason, Tina and William, who had been betrothed since birth, got engaged, and William agreed to it. However, at the engagement ceremony, William abandoned Tina to go after Verna. Right at this moment. Tina: "..." This additional, vivid memory, as if she had experienced it herself, made her realize that although her self in the Old East kingdom had passed away, she was now alive in another form—as the female supporting character Tina in this novel. It was like being reborn with an extra life. Alright, staying optimistic, at least she was still alive. But this script... Was she, as the female supporting character in the book, destined to be treated this way by William and Verna just because they were the male and female protagonists? —The male protagonist abandoned the female supporting character to go after his so-called "moonlight love" on their engagement day? How could she tolerate this? From a mere palace maid to the empress, Tina in the Old East kingdom had schemed against countless people to survive, including the emperor himself. The so-called male and female protagonists... huh. Tina's lips curved into a meaningful smile. Just then, the book in her mind suddenly flipped open to a page, and a passage on that page was circled in red. Tina instinctively "glanced" over, and the passage read: [William trembled as he lifted Verna onto the stretcher and got on the ambulance with the rushing Hall family members. As the ambulance departed, the police captain roared, "Where are the family members of the deceased, Tina?!" After a moment, a policeman ran over, wiping his sweat, and replied, "They all got on the ambulance to escort Verna to the hospital." The police captain laughed incredulously, as if he had heard a joke, "They're not bothering with the daughter who died?" Someone muttered in the distance. "The kidnappers took two daughters, killed one, and the other only suffered minor injuries and fright. The family acted like she was going to die, but the one who really died was still lying there with her eyes open." "It seems the one who died was the biological daughter, and the one with minor injuries was the adopted daughter." "Oh my... She really died with her eyes open."] Tina: "???" What the heck? She died again??? A loudspeaker suddenly appeared, responding to her in a mechanical voice: [Yes, but by binding the "Draw a Circle to Curse You" system, you can change your inevitable fate! ~~] "..." After a few moments of silence, Tina's eyebrows arched: [And then?] The loudspeaker quickly retreated a few steps and said rapidly: [As long as you successfully curse someone, you will gain merit. Once you reach a certain amount, you can change your inevitable fate!] Cursing others to benefit herself? Such a good deal? If she were really so lucky, she would be watching the emperor kick the bucket right now and sitting securely on the throne as the empress dowager with countless male concubines to sleep with every night! The loudspeaker hurriedly added: [Of course, there are conditions. To successfully curse, you must obtain enough scream points.] [100 scream points: You can draw one circle to curse, with a 10% success rate and 10 merit points.] Interesting. Tina's interest was piqued. She didn't want to die again: [What does the success rate mean?] The loudspeaker explained: [The circle you draw can have the content of the curse written on it. One circle's curse can only achieve a 10% effect, which is the success rate. Simply put, if you want to curse someone to break their leg, with only one circle, they will only stumble... If you draw ten circles, they will definitely break their leg.] She understood. Tina's eyes narrowed. The loudspeaker, probably thinking of this host's previous identity, quickly added: [The curse cannot involve death, serious illness, or disability. The more severe the curse, the greater the backlash on yourself! After each curse, you will receive a random 'surprise,' which can be good or bad.] Restrictions? Negative review! The sudden sound of the doorknob turning interrupted Tina, and she slowly opened her eyes— Right, at this moment, she was in the lounge, dressed in a beautiful and gorgeous gown. Just over ten minutes ago, Tina, dressed to the nines, had come to find William. The latter was sitting on the sofa, looking down at his phone. She quietly approached and saw a photo on his phone screen. In the photo, Verna was lying on the ground, her face pale and expression anguished, as if she was in great pain. Tina watched as William's face changed drastically. He stood up abruptly and rushed out the door, treating her as if she were invisible throughout the entire process. ... Tina rubbed her temples and gently lifted her head. The door opened, revealing the figure of her mother. She walked in and, seeing the smile on Tina's face, could no longer maintain her composure. She angrily exclaimed, "Are you happy that Verna is in trouble?" For her mother, Verna had comforted her inner pain during the more than ten years when her daughter was missing. She had long considered Verna as her own daughter. After Tina was found, she worried that Verna would feel neglected, so she showered her with even more affection. Thinking of Verna's heartbreakingly pale appearance in the photo, Tina's mother was filled with rage and looked at her with disgust. "I'm telling you, if anything happens to Verna, don't expect me to acknowledge you as my daughter!" Tina's eyelids lifted slightly as she scanned her mother up and down. In her anger, her mother didn't notice that, unlike usual, Tina didn't apologize anxiously after being scolded. By the time she realized something was wrong, Tina had already lowered her head. Seeing her quiet and silent, the slight unease that had crept into her mother's subconscious was dismissed. She sighed with relief. There were many guests downstairs, and it wouldn't be good news if the male protagonist of the engagement suddenly ran off. If it upset Tina and caused her to make a scene, it would be embarrassing for everyone. So, her mother's voice softened a bit as she said, "The media is here. Go downstairs and take a few photos. Don't let them notice that William isn't around." As she spoke, she couldn't help but add a warning, "William is just leaving for a while. Don't throw a tantrum or cause any trouble. Verna is your sister, and you know how good she's been to you. You'd better behave yourself!"