Everyone in the city’s elite circles knew I was Julian Thorne’s ultimate favorite. For six whole years, I was the only woman Julian Thorne allowed near him. Rumor had it he was completely untouched, hadn’t even looked at another woman, much less touched one. My cheeks flushed at the thought. Only I knew that Julian Thorne had kissed every inch of me on my eighteenth birthday. “Stella, hurry up and grow up so you can marry me.” But when my aunt and I were both kidnapped and drugged with a powerful aphrodisiac, and he had to choose just one of us… He chose my aunt without a moment’s hesitation. He stayed with her at a hotel, indulging her every desire for what felt like nine long days and nights. His kidnappers broke my fingers and dumped me in a derelict beggars’ den. I had to disfigure my own face, ruining my stunning looks, just to protect my innocence. When I finally escaped, Julian Thorne immediately forced me to sign over my father’s entire inheritance to my aunt. “Stella, at least you still have me. But Amber… she has absolutely nothing left.” I stared at Amber’s face, almost identical to mine, and it suddenly hit me. All these years, I was just her replacement. A stand-in. Six years of exclusive devotion was just a privilege he’d given to her through me. I didn’t cry or make a scene. I calmly called the formidable, reclusive heir, Liam Knight. “Liam, I agree to marry you.”
My consciousness was fading, but then a familiar figure finally appeared in my blurred vision. “Julian, I feel awful.” My voice was hoarse. I struggled to look up, but Julian Thorne’s gaze was fixed on Amber White. He tossed two large duffel bags full of cash onto the floor, his voice cold. “I brought the five million dollars you asked for. Now, let them go, can’t you?” Amber whimpered, tears streaming down her face. “Julian!” Julian Thorne frowned, annoyed, then anxiously rushed towards Amber. It felt like a bucket of icy water had been dumped over my head, chilling my blood to the core. When Julian Thorne was about a yard away from Amber, the kidnapper carelessly tossed the detonator in his hand. “Julian Thorne, you can only save one.” “I gave them both the strongest aphrodisiac. Only a man can cure it.” “One will be pampered beneath you.” “The other… will be thrown into the streets, a plaything for countless men, tossed aside like trash.” He laughed maniacally, his eyes darting between the three of us. My hair stood on end, tears of terror welled up, and I screamed desperately. “Julian, please, take me with you!” “I’m scared, I’m so scared…” Julian Thorne hesitated, his brows tightly furrowed as he looked at me. “I want to save both of them. Name your price.” The kidnapper’s laugh was chilling. His palm slid across my chest, pinching the tender flesh until it bruised. “No, you can only pick one.” I cried out in pain, but then I saw Julian Thorne had already untied Amber’s ropes. He tenderly brushed over the red marks on her wrists, pulling her into his embrace and gently soothing her. “Don’t be scared, Amber. I’m here.” I gathered every ounce of strength I had, trying to awaken Julian Thorne’s love for me. “Julian, don’t leave me here alone!” Julian Thorne took a small step, and Amber leaned into his chest, her eyes heavy with desire, her hands fumbling with his buttons. “Julian, I’m so hot. Please help me, okay?” He frowned, looking conflicted, his voice low and hoarse. His words shattered my world, sending me straight to hell. “Amber’s honor…it’s critical right now, Stella. She can’t wait.” “They won’t dare touch you. Just wait for me. I’ll come back for you after I’ve settled her.” As soon as he finished speaking, Julian Thorne impatiently picked up Amber and rushed out of the warehouse. My mind went completely blank. I numbly stared at Julian Thorne’s decisive retreating back, tears streaming down my face. The kidnapper crudely patted my cheek, then dragged an iron bar from the corner. “Oh dear, Julian Thorne doesn’t want you anymore.” “But I heard he cares a lot about you.” “Tell me, if I were to cripple your hand, would he get angry?” Before I could react, the thick iron bar slammed down on the knuckles of my left hand. My face went pale, and a metallic taste filled my mouth. It hurt so much, like my flesh was being ripped from my bones. After my five fingers were shattered, I was roughly thrown into the trunk of a car and driven to a bridge underpass where the beggars lived.
When I opened my eyes again, a beggar was tearing at my clothes, pulling at my chest. I scrambled backward, my hand finding a stone. I nervously scanned my surroundings. “Get away! All of you, get away from me!” The beggar laughed, showing his yellowed teeth, and quickly snatched the stone from my hand. “Don’t struggle. Let us brothers take good care of you.” My whole body felt weak. I suddenly kicked the man off me, grabbed the stone, and aimed it fiercely at my wrist, where my main artery was. I bit the inside of my cheek, forcing myself to stay awake. “If you dare come any closer, I’ll kill myself!” “If this gets big, the police won’t let you go. And Julian will make sure all of you pay for this.” Perhaps my threatening aura intimidated them, as they hesitated and didn’t dare approach. After all, I was wearing a diamond-studded dress and matching jewelry. I didn’t look like an ordinary person. My whole body burned, and I groaned in discomfort. Excruciating pain spread from my left hand. I stumbled and fell to my knees on the ground. The beggars eyed me eagerly, slowly stepping closer again. A few car horns honked from the bridge above. A pair of dark eyes stared down at me. My pupils constricted. Like grasping at a last straw, I cried out for help, “Liam Knight, save me!” In a matter of moments, Liam Knight’s bodyguards had thrown all the beggars into the lake and carried me into a car. I leaned against the car window, my nostrils filled with the scent of cedarwood from Liam. My breathing was heavy, and he immediately noticed something was wrong with me. “Stella, what’s wrong?” But as soon as his hand reached out, I grabbed it and pressed it against my cheek. “Liam, I feel awful…” His eyes turned cold. He lowered the partition, cutting off the bodyguards’ view. “To the hospital.” My whole body was burning hot. I tore at my clothes, desperate for a sliver of coolness. Liam Knight held my hands down and carefully poured mineral water into my mouth. He was so cool and smelled so good. I instinctively nestled into his arms, my hands restlessly roaming. “So hot, I feel awful…” Liam Knight restrained my hands and urged his bodyguards to speed up. My mind slowly cleared. I stared at the needle in the back of my hand. The nurse gently put a cast on my left hand, a sympathetic look on her face. “How did the patient get hurt so badly?” My heart ached. Julian Thorne kissing these very hands suddenly flashed through my mind. Julian Thorne loved to hear me play the piano more than anything. Every time a song ended, he would gallantly kiss my hands, caressing my knuckles, unable to let go. “Stella’s hands are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.” “They’ll look even better when they wear the ring I designed myself.” I snapped back to reality and asked, full of hope, “Nurse, can I still play the piano?” She shook her head regretfully. “Forget playing the piano. If it doesn’t heal well, you won’t even be able to pick things up in the future.” My phone chimed. It seemed Julian Thorne had finally remembered me. I unlocked my phone, and a video popped up. Julian Thorne passionately kissed Amber White’s lips, tearing her clothes to shreds. Their naked bodies intertwined, the sounds of their intimate gasps echoing. “Amber, I truly love you so much.” “You’re finally back in the country. I’ve missed you so much. I can’t live without you.” “I waited for you for six whole years only to realize that no one can replace you.” Amber sensually clawed at Julian Thorne’s back, then triumphantly looked directly at the camera. She asked in a sweet, cooing voice, “Did you treat Stella as my replacement, that’s why you pampered her so much?” The man nodded without hesitation, sealing her words with another kiss.
My phone slipped from my grasp, shattering into pieces on the floor. The sounds of the entwined man and woman abruptly ceased, but I clearly heard the sound of my own heart fracturing. Tears splashed onto the screen. Liam Knight rolled his wheelchair over to me. He wiped the tears from my eyes, his voice low and hoarse. “Don’t cry. You deserve better.” Liam Knight arranged my hospital stay. For nine full days, Julian Thorne didn’t come looking for me once. But during those nine days, he and Amber trended on Ins countless times. Paparazzi photos showed Julian had booked an entire hotel, spending days in his suite, seemingly tireless with a woman. The photos only showed half of the woman’s body, but it was clear Julian Thorne lavished her with extreme affection. The woman’s waist and arms were covered in hickeys, and a lustrous, emerald-green bracelet hung on her wrist. That was the Thorne family heirloom. Julian had personally promised me: “Stella, when you’re older, you’ll be the most respected woman in the Thorne family.” A sharp pain pierced my chest. I silently waited for the last IV drip to finish. Liam Knight dropped me off at the Thorne family mansion. Before he left, he pressed a new phone into my palm. “Call me if you need anything.” The White family and the Knight family had long been close, generations of family friends. When my parents were still alive, our families had even discussed an engagement. But I was so utterly obsessed with Julian, I swore I’d marry no one else, and gradually drifted away from my childhood sweetheart, Liam. I pushed open the villa’s front door. Julian, who claimed to be a germaphobe, was meticulously peeling a mango for Amber White. Amber provocatively glanced at me, then familiarly snuggled into Julian Thorne’s arms. Julian Thorne stood up guiltily, offering the freshly peeled mango towards my mouth. But I was allergic to mangoes. Even a tiny bit could be deadly. I forced a bitter smile. The stinging pain all over my body was nothing compared to the agony in my heart. Julian Thorne was a cruel executioner, torturing me slowly, leaving me utterly broken, as if by a thousand cuts. He gently wiped the remaining juice from my lips. “Sweet?” I didn’t answer. Then Julian Thorne pulled a property transfer agreement from his briefcase. The beneficiary was Amber White. The tight string in my brain snapped with a buzzing sound. I raised my voice in disbelief. “Julian Thorne, you want me to transfer all my property to my parents’ killer?” He frowned, displeased, his eyes cold enough to kill. “Amber just made some mistakes in her youth. How is that ‘killing your parents’?” Amber White had been envious of my father’s expanding company and deliberately sold our business secrets to a rival company. That rival company had then tracked my father’s whereabouts and deliberately engineered a car accident, causing my parents to perish in a fiery car crash. Julian Thorne had taken me in and raised me in the Thorne family mansion, promising to thoroughly investigate the accident for me. Everyone involved in the crash’s conspiracy had been sent to prison, except for Amber White, who fled to another country to seek refuge. I bit the inside of my cheek, snatching Julian Thorne’s phone to scroll through years of bank transfer records. For six years, every single month, he’d wired ten million dollars to Amber’s account. Amber White walked over, feigning sincerity. “Stella, don’t be mad at Julian.” “It’s all my fault. If only I hadn’t come back, Julian wouldn’t have to force you…” She cried, a picture of delicate sorrow. But Julian Thorne, a sucker for her tears, forcibly grabbed my wrist and scolded me. “Stella, for years you’ve been the city’s most pampered princess, someone I truly cherished.” “You have everything. Why do you still have to fight Amber for these small things?”
Like a madwoman, I struggled fiercely to break free from Julian Thorne’s grasp, but then I heard his subtle threat. “Don’t forget, the cemetery where your parents are buried is currently up for bidding.” “If you don’t behave, I can’t guarantee they’ll rest in peace.” The day my parents were buried, Julian Thorne had tenderly held me, promising sincerely: “Stella, I’ll take good care of you in your parents’ stead.” “You still have me; you can still rely on me.” Julian Thorne used to accompany me to the cemetery every year to pay respects to my parents, referring to himself as my husband in front of their tombstone. “Don’t worry, elders. I will protect Stella for life and make her the happiest woman in the world.” The familiar face was now utterly foreign. My tears flowed freely. Amber White softly pushed the agreement towards me, her eyes filled with greed. “Stella, as long as you sign, I’ll disappear from your sight immediately.” “I promise, I’ll never bother you and Julian again.” But the next second, she quickly rushed into the bathroom and dry-heaved violently. Julian Thorne glared fiercely at me, then yelled at the butler. “What are you waiting for? Call the family doctor!” My health was never good; I was always battling some illness or another. So Julian Thorne had hired a family doctor at a high cost, on call for me twenty-four hours a day. The doctor rushed over, panicked when he saw my body covered in red rashes, and frantically rummaged through his medical bag. But Julian Thorne stormed over, completely losing his composure. “Can’t you see Amber is in pain?!” “Get over here now!” The doctor looked at me helplessly, but I shook my head, my nails digging deep into my flesh, drawing blood. In those brief minutes, the doctor cast a sympathetic glance at me, then congratulated Amber White. “Ms. White, you’re… positive pregnancy!” I felt like I’d been struck by lightning, unable to move. I mechanically repeated the doctor’s words. “Positive pregnancy?” Julian Thorne’s face lit up with joy. He cupped Amber White’s face and kissed her, their noses touching. “Amber, this is our child.” Amber White knelt down in front of me with a thud, crying tears of regret. “Stella, it’s not that I want to take things from you.” “Julian and I were both drunk that night. It’s all my fault for not pushing him away.” She desperately kowtowed, begging me not to be angry with her, claiming the child was innocent. Julian Thorne almost always stayed by my side until I fell asleep, except for the night Amber White returned to the country. That night was also my twentieth birthday. After Julian Thorne placed a tiara on my head, he reluctantly told me that something had come up at the company, requiring his immediate attention. He left in a hurry, but when he returned, he was covered in a woman’s sickly sweet perfume. “Stella, I accidentally got it on me during a business dinner.” “You know, you’re the only one in my heart.” I looked at Amber White’s face, identical to mine, and understood everything. The atmosphere around me dropped. I slapped Amber White hard across the face. Immediately after, a burning sting appeared on my own cheek. “Stella, you’re being utterly unreasonable!” “Amber was generous enough to leave you the position of Mrs. Thorne!” I clutched my swollen face and sneered. “Julian Thorne, do you now expect me to be grateful to her and hand over everything with both hands?” “Dream on!” Julian Thorne’s face was ashen. He clenched his jaw, looking at the butler. “Take Ms. White to the attic! She’s become increasingly unruly and ill-mannered!” My body felt weak, and I was dragged by bodyguards, my hands pinned, utterly unable to resist. But the next second, the tightly shut front door was violently kicked open. A low male voice resonated. “Who dares lay a hand on my fiancée?” Liam Knight’s bodyguards rescued me. I collapsed into his arms, accidentally pressing on my bandaged left hand. “It hurts.”
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