I was just a struggling guy, and the only reason a rich heiress like Seraphina Vance would ever give me the time of day was because I had a face that perfectly mirrored the man she truly wanted. In private, Seraphina would call me ‘husband.’ In public, they’d mock me as her stand-in, her cheap knock-off. And she? She’d just stay silent. I didn’t care about any of that. Not until the kidnappers made her choose between us, and she didn’t hesitate to pick him. A bitter, desolate laugh escaped me. I pressed my chest against the barrel of the thug’s gun, an act of defiant surrender, and plunged into the crushing embrace of the deep, dark sea. Later, I heard she searched for me like a madwoman. **1** When Seraphina Vance called, I was hauling heavy sacks at the warehouse. It was half an hour later before I even saw her missed call. I called her back. Her voice, when she answered, was laced with irritation. “Liam, what is this? Haven’t I told you to return my calls within five minutes, no matter what?” “Sorry, my phone wasn’t on me just now,” I explained, wiping sweat from my face. “Don’t give me those pathetic excuses. You know I hate them. Now, immediately, bring some milk tea to the Grandview Hotel, Suite 305. I’ve sent you the list.” Seraphina hung up before I could reply. I didn’t even have time to change out of my work clothes. With Mr. Jenkins, my foreman, cursing at my retreating back, I rushed to buy the teas and sped to the suite. I pushed the door open just a crack, and the peals of women’s laughter spilled out. “Seraphina, it looks like your boyfriend isn’t much of a go-getter. What time is it? He can’t even run a simple errand right.” “Oh, please. Don’t lower Seraphina’s standards. Liam isn’t a boyfriend. He’s just a plaything, Julian Maxwell’s bargain-bin version. Besides looking alike, they have absolutely nothing in common—not his status, not his aura.” “Don’t be so harsh. Liam’s been with Seraphina for three years. He’s put in the time, hasn’t he? He deserves some credit for sticking around.” The girlfriends cackled together, a picture of perfect harmony. Through their laughter, I heard Seraphina’s cool, indifferent voice. “He’s just a stand-in. Is he truly worth so much of your precious conversation?” I swallowed the bitter ache that surged in my chest. I waited for their chatter to die down before pulling myself together and stepping inside. The room fell silent the moment I entered. I placed the milk teas on the table, forcing a smile. “Sorry to keep you waiting. They’re still cold, exactly as you ordered.” They didn’t respond, each grabbing a cup. They pursed their perfectly made-up lips, sipping the pearls. I looked at Seraphina. “Seraphina, I won’t interrupt your girls’ night. I’ll wait outside for you.” She mumbled an acknowledgment, but her eyes flickered with a faint, almost imperceptible hint of guilt. I smiled, a hollow gesture, and walked out. The door didn’t close completely, and the teasing voices immediately resumed, now tinged with undisguised contempt. “Look at his clothes, so worn out, so… *unfashionable*. Only someone straight from a construction site would dress like that. Zero class.” “Liam’s still working construction? My God, Seraphina, you give him five grand a month, and it’s not enough?” “I heard he has a lot of dead weight at home. His foster father is practically a walking pharmacy, barely clinging to life with all his meds.” “Seraphina, I’m telling you, break up with him now. Being with him is embarrassing for you. Oh, right, I heard Julian Maxwell is coming back. Maybe it’s time for this fake to finally disappear.” My fists clenched. My heart ached with a familiar bitterness. None of Seraphina’s friends ever respected me. In their eyes, I was just a loyal pet, a simpering lapdog she could call and dismiss as she pleased. I didn’t care what others thought. But Seraphina? She thought the same way. Downstairs, in the hotel lobby, I found a spot to wait. I turned my phone’s volume up to the max, terrified of missing another call. About half an hour later, Seraphina and her friends descended in the elevator. Enduring their hostile glances, I walked up to Seraphina. “Do you need me to drive you home?” I offered. Before Seraphina could even open her mouth, Bianca immediately shot back with a snide remark. “Of course she does! Seraphina’s taking us to meet Julian. Come on, you can see the difference between the original and the cheap imitation for yourself.” “Taking *him*? Aren’t you worried he’ll just be in the way?” Seraphina snapped coldly at Bianca, then turned to me. “You can head back. I should be home tonight.” **2** I let out a sigh of relief and returned to Seraphina’s apartment. But no sooner had I laid down, less than ten minutes later, a new command arrived. “Liam, bring some snacks. I want candied nuts, and there are a lot of us, so buy plenty.” She sent me a pin. My budding drowsiness was instantly shattered. I rubbed my tired temples, resignedly dragging my weary body out the door to buy the nuts and deliver them to Seraphina. This time, the private room was larger and far more luxurious than the one from the afternoon. The attendant led me to the door before discreetly disappearing. I carried the bag of nuts inside, my eyes immediately finding Seraphina, seated in the center of the group. Beside her was the dazzling new star, Julian Maxwell, whose charisma was almost blinding. Tonight’s gathering was his. As I entered, numerous eyes swung my way. There was surprise. Undisguised scorn. And mocking laughter. A faint, unsettling unease stirred within me. Bianca, Seraphina’s friend draped in mink, let out a ‘puff’ of laughter. “Look at him, he actually came! Doesn’t he look like a pathetic, obedient lapdog?” She handed the phone, which she’d just used to SnapChat me, back to Seraphina. I saw the Truth or Dare game laid out on the long table in front of them. Seraphina had drawn the “Dare” card. Of course. This was all just a cruel joke. A wave of icy realization washed over me, chilling me to the bone. I looked at Seraphina, bewildered, my eyes holding pain, and a silent question. *Were you complicit in this mockery?* But she didn’t even glance my way. “Here are the nuts you wanted,” I said, a miserable smile on my face, preparing to leave. Julian Maxwell had been staring at my face since I walked in. Now, he suddenly spoke. “Wait. Since you’re here, why don’t you sit down and have a drink with us?” I frowned, about to refuse. Seraphina casually tossed the Dare card onto the center of the table, her eyes sweeping over me with a cool indifference. “If he tells you to sit, then sit. Don’t act like you’re out of your depth.” Several hands from behind me pressed down, forcing me into a chair. The next second, the entire bag of nuts was tossed back in front of me. “You won’t understand our conversations, so why don’t you peel the nuts for us?” My gaze met Julian’s, his eyes filled with thinly veiled amusement. Beneath his feigned pleasantries, I could sense the raw, undeniable malice. As a man, I understood his thoughts. Julian hated being compared to me but couldn’t openly say it. Even if everyone saw me as just a cheap imitation, he still felt debased by my very existence. I instinctively looked to Seraphina again. Hoping she would help me, defuse this situation. At least spare me this humiliation. But I was slapped in the face, yet again. Seraphina coolly tore open the nut packaging, poured them out, and pushed them towards me. “Julian asked you to peel them, so peel them. You’re just sitting around anyway, peeling nuts isn’t hard.” These were hand-peeling nuts, requiring individual effort. And I had bought five pounds of them. A dozen curious eyes fixed on me. Like watching a circus act, and I was the monkey pushed onto the stage. “You’re spending Seraphina’s money, living in Seraphina’s apartment, and Seraphina even takes care of your whole family. For that kind of generosity, you wouldn’t be unwilling to peel a few nuts, would you?” Bianca, the one in mink, blew on her freshly painted nails, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “If he were my kept man, I’d have kicked him out ages ago.” “Hahahaha.” The eyes around me grew even more mocking. Someone of my status, in their wealthy circles, was utterly insignificant. A kept bird in a gilded cage, a cheap little novelty to amuse them. How could I not recognize my own place? “Fine,” I conceded, picking up a nut and beginning to peel, carefully separating the meat into a small bowl. One after another, I couldn’t stop until Seraphina said so. My fingers were raw, skin splitting open, the cuts widening with every motion. Drops of blood stained each precious nut, a crimson mark on my forced offering. Just as the pain began to numb me, a hand reached out to stop me. “Liam, that’s enough peeling.” Seraphina meticulously picked out the blood-stained pieces, then, with an almost sickening indifference, offered the clean nut meats to Julian. A sweet smile graced her face. “Julian, these should be enough for you.” “Seraphina, are you feeling sympathetic?” Julian said, a knowing, half-mocking smile on his face, which suddenly shifted to outright disdain. “A plaything is just a plaything. You didn’t actually fall for his face, did you?” “Ridiculous! Why would I ever fall for some low-class construction worker? I just kept him around for entertainment, a distraction,” Seraphina retorted instinctively. She caught herself then, glancing sharply at me. But I simply lowered my head, tending to my raw fingers, pretending not to have heard a thing. The room erupted in laughter again. “Since Seraphina’s pleaded on his behalf, he doesn’t have to peel any more.” Julian opened a bottle of wine with a bottle opener and filled the glass in front of me. “Drink this. Consider it an apology.” Seraphina didn’t stop him this time. The others urged me not to be ungrateful. But I’m allergic to alcohol. Who would care? I gave a dismissive laugh, picked up the glass, and downed it in one gulp. The fiery liquid seared its way down my throat, making me nearly gag. I forced myself to swallow it all. Wiping my mouth, I stood up and left. **3** Seraphina’s calls came one after another as I lay in the emergency room, receiving an IV drip. After a few IV bags, the angry rashes covering my body finally began to subside. When morning light crept in, I returned home. Seraphina was in the living room, her face thunderous. “All I asked was for you to peel a few nuts! You’re so petty! I even came home early for you, what more do you want?” “I’m exhausted. I just want to sleep. Can we talk about this after I wake up?” I said, trying to keep my voice even. My calm words only seemed to fuel her anger. She shoved me hard. After a night of torment, my already weakened body crumpled. I stumbled and fell to the floor, my vision blurring, the room spinning. When my sight cleared, I saw Seraphina staring at the hospital discharge papers that had fallen from my pocket. *Alcohol Allergy.* That single sheet of paper felt like a sudden, brutal unveiling. Her face instantly paled. I slowly got to my feet, too tired to argue. But she approached me apologetically, taking my arm, her beautiful eyes misty. “Liam, please don’t be mad. When we’re out, I need to save face.” Yes, it was a stark contradiction. She looked down on me, yet couldn’t bear to let me go. Or, to be precise, she couldn’t bear to lose *this face* of mine. After all, she’d pursued Julian for five years with no success. I was just her fallback, the low-budget version. If she discarded me, who would offer her comfort? Suddenly, I understood Seraphina’s feelings for me. I was nothing more than a complete substitute. I was a fool for thinking that time might somehow breed genuine affection. If she hadn’t murmured Julian’s name in her sleep the night before, this dream might never have ended. “It’s fine, I understand,” I said, ever the understanding one. What was there to understand, anyway? I’d recognized the truth long ago. No matter how sweet and tender Seraphina was in private, in public, I was nothing more than a dog. A dog who couldn’t leave her. Three years ago, my foster father fell gravely ill, completely crippling our family’s finances. I dropped out of college, hiding it from everyone. I worked construction during the day and sang at bars at night. I was working myself to the bone, utterly exhausted, looking like a zombie. If I hadn’t been lucky enough to catch Seraphina’s eye, and if she hadn’t offered a lifeline, I’d probably have drowned in a much deeper abyss of despair, utterly spent from just trying to survive. So, yes, I should have been grateful to her. Seraphina squeezed my hand, her face filled with concern. “Liam, I’ll never let you suffer like this again.” **4** Those were her words. But the very next morning, when Julian Maxwell called, saying his film crew needed a stunt double and asking for my help, Seraphina immediately agreed. Only when I arrived on set did I realize they needed a double for Julian’s dangerous stunts. By the time I understood the situation, I was already made up and in costume, caught between a rock and a hard place. The scene involved a high-fall stunt. To ensure realism, the crew had built a ten-meter high platform. The actor had to fall backward, losing their footing. Even with a safety harness, it was still incredibly risky. “Action!” My scene partner shoved me hard. In the instant of my rapid descent, I saw Julian Maxwell and the assistant director calmly watching my performance on the monitor, a subtle, unsettling smirk playing on Julian’s lips. “Whirr…” The safety harness suddenly went taut, seizing up prematurely. I was suspended mid-air, several feet off the ground, the steel cables digging excruciatingly into my flesh. The prop team realized something was wrong and started walking towards me. But they were too late. The harness snapped, and I plummeted onto the crash mat. Seeing I wasn’t severely injured, the crew members simply walked away, unconcerned. There was no time to catch my breath. The assistant director grabbed his megaphone and declared that the previous take was no good, ordering me to reshoot immediately. Again and again. Either the fall angle was wrong, or my expression wasn’t quite right. This high-fall scene took me ten takes to get right. I was the one covered in scrapes and bruises. Yet the director patted Julian’s shoulder, commending him for his hard work watching the monitor all afternoon. **5** That evening, as filming wrapped up. Seraphina ordered hotel catering as a set visit. Everyone got a share, happily grabbing their food, grateful to be basking in Julian Maxwell’s reflected glory. I sat there, bandaging the cuts the harness had carved into my palms, the pain in my entire body making it impossible to stand immediately. A bottle of mineral water appeared before me. I looked up, meeting Seraphina’s smiling eyes. “Liam, you must be tired. Have some water. I’ll take you home later,” Seraphina said, her voice soft, laced with a faint concern. Noticing my injuries, she frowned. “What happened? Didn’t they say there wouldn’t be any problems? Liam, maybe I should take you to the hospital first.” Just as the words left her lips, Julian Maxwell’s voice chimed in from behind us. “Seraphina.” He held a drink Seraphina had bought for him, walking towards us with an elegant air. “Are you free tonight? I’d like to take you to dinner, catch up properly.” I scoffed silently, a tiny, bitter curve to my lips. Sure enough, Seraphina instantly forgot her previous words. “When do I ever *not* have time for you? Tell me, are we taking your car or mine?” “I’m inviting you, so of course we’ll take my car,” Julian replied with an easy smile. “Liam, you drive my car back.” Seraphina turned, placed the car keys in my hand, and then rose to walk away with Julian, shoulder to shoulder. They talked and laughed, not once looking back. I offered a dry, meaningless laugh. Of course, I knew exactly how it was. That sliver of affection she had for me. It was utterly worthless in Julian Maxwell’s presence. **6** My injuries were all superficial, nothing more than painful scrapes, so I didn’t go to the hospital. I showered and went to sleep. Unexpectedly, I woke up in the middle of the night with a fever. In a hazy state, I heard Seraphina return. She fed me a fever reducer, and I drifted back to sleep. It wasn’t until dawn, when I got up for water, that I saw Seraphina sitting on the sofa with her laptop, her eyes lifting to stare at me, cold and unfeeling. She seemed to have been up all night, faint dark circles beneath her eyes. “What’s wrong?” I reached out to touch her forehead. She flinched away, sneering. “Liam, I know you’re upset that Julian’s back. But I warned you when we signed the contract to know your place. Where did you get the audacity to think you could ever compare to him?” I had signed a relationship contract with Seraphina before we started dating, but I didn’t understand her words until she suddenly flung a few printed photos at me. They were screenshots from the news. Photos of Julian Maxwell and Seraphina dining out last night had been leaked, topping the trending list. The leaker explicitly stated that Seraphina had been in a long-term relationship, directly accusing Julian of being the other man, a home-wrecker. Just this wouldn’t have made Seraphina confront me. But one of the photos captured her car, which irrefutably linked her to me. And last night, she had personally handed me the keys. I rubbed my temples, weary. “Seraphina, I was there last night. But I had no idea you two were having dinner. It was a complete coincidence. I was just passing by a pharmacy to buy some medicine.” I showed her my payment history. Last night, I had bought saline solution and anti-inflammatory medication, stopping for a mere ten minutes. It was precisely this unfortunate coincidence that led to the misunderstanding. “Buying medicine? From the set to your place is fifteen kilometers. You pass countless pharmacies. Why *that* particular plaza? Do you really expect me to believe it was such a coincidence?” Seraphina scoffed, a dangerous glint in her eyes. I was speechless. The timing, indeed, was too perfect to explain. And I, once again, confirmed that Julian Maxwell was her red line. I was nothing. My heart went utterly cold. It all felt so pointless. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have gone there.” *Smack!* Seraphina’s slap stung my face. My apology had only fueled her rage. “A low-life construction worker like you, trying to undermine me? If I hadn’t been supporting you all these years, supporting your whole family of invalids and dependents, you’d have been dead in a ditch somewhere!” My face flushed white, then crimson. I exhaled slowly, forcefully. “Then let’s break up. End the contract.” My foster father’s condition was stable. My sister had graduated and started earning money. I no longer had to be this pathetic stand-in. **7** “You’re dreaming!” “Liam, you’re not going anywhere until I’m tired of you. Otherwise, I’ll make sure you repay everything you’ve taken from me over these past three years, with interest!” Seraphina snapped, then slammed the door as she left. I completely lost all strength, collapsing onto the sofa, unable to move for a long time. After our big fight, Seraphina stopped talking to me. She was a master of the silent treatment. In the past, I’d always been the one to humble myself, begging her to come back. But this time, I didn’t. The negative trending topics were suppressed overnight, and the storm died down. Julian Maxwell’s fans stopped threatening to unfollow him. Because Seraphina held a live broadcast, and in front of millions of online viewers, she vehemently denied having a boyfriend. I was merely a charity case she supported. She publicly revealed my family’s circumstances. Photos of my sickly foster father requiring long-term treatment, my sister receiving poverty subsidies and only daring to eat one dish per meal, and me working construction to support the family, all surfaced. With her eloquent words, she twisted our three years together into an act of pure compassion. And the only person she truly, ever loved was Julian Maxwell. With the sole daughter of the city’s wealthiest family publicly declaring her affection, even Julian Maxwell’s most devoted fans were utterly convinced. Seraphina’s immense wealth gave her the power to completely manipulate public opinion. But a prominent figure always draws criticism, and all that negative emotion needed an outlet. Julian’s fans, enraged that I’d tainted his reputation, followed the digital breadcrumbs, doxxed my real identity, and launched a furious campaign of retaliation. Rumors spread that I was morally corrupt, my character flawed. My phone was bombarded with hateful texts, making my life a living hell, day and night… they even sent a funeral wreath to my sister at college. I broke down. I called Seraphina, demanding to know why she had done this. She paused, then vehemently denied it. “Liam, I didn’t allow Julian’s fans to attack you. Don’t panic. I’m abroad with Julian for a business meeting right now. Wait for me to get back. I’ll handle everything.” “Just wait for me!” Julian. It was always Julian. I gave a tragic laugh, my heart turned to ash. **8** I no longer held any expectations for Seraphina. Yet, unexpectedly, one of her friends showed up at the factory looking for me. It was Bianca, the one always draped in mink. She asked me to meet for tea, but I refused.
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