Author: Momo Chan

My husband suddenly went bankrupt. That very night, he rushed our son and me onto a boat to a remote, deserted island, claiming he was protecting us from his dangerous creditors. Worried sick about his safety, I snuck back halfway through the journey. But when I reached our mansion, I found him throwing a wild party, with a gorgeous woman wrapped tightly in his arms. His best friend, Marcus, laughed and teased him, “Man, you sent your wife and son to that godforsaken island where nothing grows. How are they even going to survive?” My husband replied as if he were talking about the weather: “Amber’s organic pet food factory shut down recently. I repackaged all that unsold dog kibble and shipped it to the island. It’s more than enough to keep them fed for a few years.” The woman snuggled closer into his chest, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness. “Babe, you’re so good to me and our baby.” She gently caressed her still-flat stomach. He pinched her nose affectionately. “You’re so innocent and sweet. If I don’t look out for you, who will?” “For your sake, I had to banish that she-devil to that remote island.” “Otherwise, if she found out you were pregnant, she’d tear you to pieces!” “Just hang in there. Once you give birth and we raise the baby to two years old, I’ll bring them back. By then, it’ll be a done deal, and there’s nothing she can do about it.” Standing in the shadows, I felt like I had been struck by lightning. Cold sweat drenched my back. Three years later, my phone finally rang. It was him. “Chloe, how are you and our son doing? I’m ready to come and pick you up now.” I glanced at the devastatingly handsome man sleeping soundly beside me and smiled coldly. “We’re doing great. My new husband treats both me and your son wonderfully.”

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the line, followed by a dry chuckle. He clearly thought I was joking. “You really haven’t changed at all, have you? Still trying to push my buttons.” “Look, I know you’re mad because I didn’t visit or call you guys for three years.” “But Chloe, you have to understand the reality. I just finally cleared all my debts. The moment I was free, I called you.” “I’ll be at the island the day after tomorrow to bring you and Leo back.” Before I could cut him off, my phone screen flickered and died. Out of battery. My new husband, Christian, stirred in his sleep. He rolled over, wrapping his powerful arm around my waist, pulling me effortlessly back into the warm covers. After a passionate, exhausting night, we both needed the sleep. By the time I woke up in the afternoon, Christian had already left for his company. Our son, Leo, had been driven to his elite private prep school by our security team. Feeling refreshed, I decided to go to the local high-end supermarket to buy some ingredients. I wanted to cook a delicious steak dinner for my husband and son tonight. As I was picking out some fresh, marbled ribeyes, a woman’s voice suddenly sneered from behind me. “Chloe?” I turned around. It was Amber. She was flanked by two maids, one of whom was holding a two-year-old girl. No DNA test was needed. The little girl looked exactly like Ethan—they were cast from the very same mold. Amber looked incredibly shocked to see me standing there. My eyes instantly locked onto the vintage emerald necklace resting against her collarbone. My blood boiled. That necklace belonged to my mother. It was her final gift to me before she passed away. Three and a half years ago, Ethan told me he had accidentally lost it. We had called the police, and he pretended to be so devastated that he didn’t sleep for three days straight, searching everywhere. He had apologized to me with red, teary eyes, and I had wept for weeks over the loss. He knew exactly how much that necklace meant to me. It was the only piece of my mother I had left. Yet, he lied to me and gave it to his side chick. Aside from the necklace, she was dripping in designer labels and luxury jewelry. Clearly, Ethan had been pampering her over the last three years. Amber put on a fake, sweet smile. “Well, hello, Chloe.” “Welcome back.” Her tone was dripping with provocation. Three years ago, whenever she saw me, she would lower her eyes respectfully and call me “Mrs. Miller.” Back then, she owned a pet food business. My mother-in-law loved dogs and frequently bought specialty kibble from her. Amber had always played the part of a polite, well-mannered girl. Who would have thought she was actually a scheming, home-wrecking leech?

Without a second thought, I reached out, grabbed the necklace, and ripped it off her neck! The sharp tug left a bright red scratch on Amber’s pale skin. She gasped in pain, clutching her neck. “Ouch!” “This necklace belongs to me,” I said coldly, clutching the emeralds in my palm. “Don’t you dare flaunt it in front of me again, or I won’t be this polite next time.” I didn’t want to waste my energy making a scene with her. When a man cheats, the root of the problem is always the man. Amber looked half-aggrieved and half-furious, her voice rising so the surrounding shoppers could hear. “I only call you Chloe out of respect for Ethan. He gave me this necklace. I suggest you return it to me.” “Besides, Ethan and I are together now. This is our daughter. I’ve always believed that women shouldn’t make things hard for other women, which is why I always tell Ethan to treat you well.” I let out a harsh laugh. This woman truly had a gift for twisting the truth. She did the dirtiest, most shameless things, yet managed to sound so righteous. She took her daughter from the maid’s arms and thrust the toddler toward my face. “Sweetheart, say hi to the old lady.” She stood there with a look of supreme generosity, making it seem as though she was being magnanimous while I was just a petty, bitter woman. The little girl mumbled cutely, “Hi, old lady.” My anger flared, but I had no intention of taking it out on an innocent child. Ignoring Amber, I spun around to walk away. Suddenly, Amber grabbed my arm. Before I could even shake her off, she dramatically threw herself and her child onto the polished floor, making it look like I had violently pushed them. She let out a loud, theatrical cry of pain, and the little girl began to sob hysterively. Within seconds, a crowd of onlookers gathered, whispering and pointing at me. “How could she lay a hand on a woman holding a baby?” “How vicious! No matter what the issue is, you don’t take it out on a child.” I stood there, my face freezing into a mask of pure ice. I pointed down at Amber. “She’s a homewrecker who destroyed my family. And I didn’t touch her. She threw herself down to play the victim. It’s just a cheap trick to secure her sugar daddy.” With that, I turned on my heel and walked out. Within half an hour, my phone was blowing up with calls from Ethan. Amber had obviously run to him crying. I refused to answer. Then, a flurry of texts came flooding in on Snapchat. “When did you get back? Why didn’t you wait for me to pick you up?” “You went too far today. What happened between Amber and me is my fault. If you want to blame someone, blame me.” “Where are you? I’ll come pick you up. Let’s sit down as a family and talk this out.” “Chloe, I want you to know something. No matter how many children Amber and I have, you will always be the most important woman in my heart. My love for you will never change.” I felt an overwhelming wave of nausea. In truth, the moment I returned, I had already instructed my lawyers to begin building a case against him. A moment later, a notification popped up on my phone. It was an alert for a loan approval. The loan amount was fifty million dollars. Over the past three years, Ethan had used my personal information, conspiring with corrupt bank managers to take out loans totaling one billion dollars behind my back. My lawyers had tracked the money trail. Every single cent of that one billion dollars had been transferred directly into Amber’s personal accounts. During those three years, he had spent money on her like water—buying her luxury sports cars, penthouses, and starting bidding wars at high-end charity galas just to put a smile on her face. In the beginning of my exile, I had tested him. I had called him, sobbing over the phone: “Ethan, our son has a raging fever. He’s incredibly sick, and there are no meds on this island. Please send some money so I can take him to a hospital.” He had simply sighed over FaceTime and said, “Boys need to build up their immune systems. Just use cold compresses. Chloe, to be honest with you, I’m so broke I can barely afford instant ramen right now. I don’t have a single penny.” “We have to be strong. We’ll get through these hard times together, okay?”

The very next day, I woke up with severe appendicitis. The pain was so agonizing I was rolling on the floor, sweating so heavily it felt like I had been pulled out of a lake. I didn’t even have the strength to hold my phone. My young son, Leo, had initiated a FaceTime call to Ethan, begging him to come save me and take me to a hospital. Ethan’s eyes showed a brief flicker of concern, but it quickly vanished. He simply told our son: “Just rub your mommy’s tummy. She’ll be fine in a bit. It’s probably just a mild stomach ache. She won’t die from it.” Then, he hung up in a hurry. After I collapsed and lost consciousness from the pain, Leo was absolutely terrified. He called Ethan again, crying. But all he got was a harsh scolding from his father: “Tell your mother to stop faking it!” When Leo tried to call back, the phone had been switched off. Appendicitis might be a routine issue, but the pain of a near-rupture is torturous. It was at that exact moment I realized: a husband who has had a change of heart is more terrifying than any monster. I screenshotted the loan notification and sent it to my lawyer via WhatsApp: “Secure this evidence. Prepare to file the lawsuit when I give the word.” I took a deep breath, calmed my racing heart, and went home to cook a beautiful four-course dinner. Christian was absolutely thrilled when he walked through the door. He didn’t even put down his briefcase before wrapping his arms around me and kissing my cheek. “Sweetheart, you’re too good to me. I definitely need to reward you tonight.” His idea of a “reward” always involved a very long, passionate night in our bedroom. He was utterly insatiable. I gave him a playful shove. “Behave yourself.” After some sweet, teasing banter, his expression turned serious as he got down to business. “Ethan sent me an invitation. He’s hosting a massive birthday bash for his daughter.” Our eyes met, and we both shared a knowing, cold smile. How could I possibly miss such a grand occasion? Two days later, Christian and I arrived together at the massive estate for the party. As we walked in, Christian had to step aside to take an urgent international conference call, so I went in ahead of him. I looked around the sprawling, French-style estate. It was located in the most expensive, exclusive neighborhood in the city. While Ethan was lying to me about being bankrupt, leaving a ton of rancid dog food for his wife and son to eat on a deserted island, he had dropped 1.5 billion dollars to outbid everyone else for this mansion. All because Amber liked it. A wave of absolute hatred crashed over me, making my steps firm and filled with quiet fury as I walked inside. As I entered the grand ballroom, Amber, dressed in a breathtaking custom gown and holding her daughter, spotted me immediately. A smug, mocking look flashed in her eyes as she sauntered over. “Look, sweetheart,” she said loudly, drawing the attention of nearby guests. “Your Auntie Chloe is here to wish you a happy birthday.” She raised her voice further, “Let’s ask Auntie Chloe what beautiful gift she brought for you today?” Her loud voice immediately drew Ethan over. When Ethan saw me, shock registered in his eyes, quickly followed by a patronizing look of relief. “I’m glad you’ve finally come to your senses. Amber is generous enough not to hold what happened at the supermarket against you. It seems you’ve finally learned to control that nasty temper of yours. That’s a good step forward.” His eyes then landed on the vintage emerald necklace resting on my neck. His face darkened, and he spoke in a commanding, yet soft tone: “Give the necklace back to Amber. She’s been in poor health lately. I took her to see a spiritual master, and he said only this specific emerald can protect her energy.” “A beautiful piece like this should belong to someone who actually needs it. That’s how it holds true value.” “Be a good girl. I’m incredibly wealthy again now. I can buy you as many necklaces as you want.” “Amber is young. You’re the older, mature one. You should let her have this.” Let her have it? My mother’s necklace. He wanted me to give my own mother’s legacy to his mistress? I laughed, a sound dripping with pure rage. “Ethan, I’ve met shameless people in my life, but you take the crown!” “This necklace was left to me by my mother. You stole my property to give to your cheap side chick, and now you have the nerve to ask me to hand it over?!”

Amber immediately began to sob softly, looking as though I had subjected her to the ultimate cruelty. “Chloe, you called me a homewrecker and attacked me at the mall the other day. Today is Lily’s birthday party. I beg of you, stop throwing that word around to humiliate me, please?” “I can take the abuse, but I’m just so worried that your childish screaming will embarrass Ethan and his parents in front of all these high-profile guests.” I watched them both like I was watching a comedy show. “Oh, look. A shameless homewrecker suddenly cares about dignity. How fascinating.” “You!” Amber clutched her chest, gasping for air as if she were having a sudden medical emergency. Ethan’s face twisted in panic and rage. He lunged forward and grabbed the necklace on my neck, pulling it with brutal force. The sharp chain dug into my skin, and tears of pain welled up in my eyes. Amber chose this exact moment to pour more fuel on the fire. “Chloe said she would rather throw the necklace into the trash than let me have it. Ethan, can we just buy it from her instead?” Hearing this, Ethan lost his mind. He snatched the emerald necklace and slammed it violently onto the marble floor. With a sickening shatter, the precious emerald broke into several jagged pieces. I froze. For a second, I forgot how to breathe. I could literally hear the sound of my own heart breaking into pieces. Ethan roared at me: “A necklace! You’re throwing a tantrum over a stupid, useless necklace! Let’s see how you throw a tantrum now that it’s gone!” A primal fury took over me. With a wild cry, I lunged at Ethan, my nails clawing at his face. “You monster! Give me back my mother’s necklace! It was all I had left of her!” Amber rushed over, pretending to play the peacemaker while whispering maliciously in my ear: “Chloe, our husband is furious. You need to drop your attitude and do something to make him happy, okay?” “Oh, by the way, Chloe, there’s an old tradition in my hometown. The first time a stepmother meets the child, she has to let the baby spit her formula right in her face.” “It proves you’ll love the child unconditionally. Come on, kneel down, and let our sweet baby spit on your face. This is our husband’s precious daughter.” “If you do it, he won’t be mad at you anymore. Take my advice, kneel down.” My vision turned red. I raised my hand and slapped Amber across the face with all the strength I had. “You filthy, disgusting leech! You really want to die today, don’t you?!” “I’ll gladly oblige!” I threw her to the ground and began beating her furiously. The screams and chaos grew louder, drawing almost every single guest in the ballroom to circle around us. Ethan, burning with rage, violently yanked me off Amber and delivered a stinging slap across my face. “If you dare to act like a wild animal in my house again, I will ruin you!” Ethan’s parents, Richard and Victoria, came rushing through the crowd, pointing and screaming at me. “You crazy bitch! What kind of event is this?! How dare you make a scene here and humiliate the Miller family!” “Call the security guards! Throw this garbage out! She is a curse on our family. She should have been locked away on that deserted island forever. We never should have let her back!” Amber was helped up from the floor by her maids. She put on a saintly, pitiful expression. “Chloe clearly came here tonight just to ruin the party. Even if we throw her out, she’ll just find a way to sneak back in and cause more trouble.” “She’s so wild and aggressive, behaving no different from a stray dog. It’s terrifying. Why don’t we lock her in the dog cage in the basement first? We can let her out after our baby’s birthday party is over.” Without a single shred of hesitation, Ethan turned to his security team and barked: “Grab her! Lock her in the basement dog cage! No one is to let her out without my explicit permission!” On his command, two massive security guards grabbed my arms, pinning me down as they prepared to drag me to the basement. As I struggled with everything I had, a voice cut through the ballroom like ice—a voice that instantly brought me absolute peace. “If anyone dares to put my wife in a cage, I will personally destroy them.”

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At my daughter’s seventh birthday party, I was just about to call for her father to come cut the cake. Instead, Vito Romano shoved me away in front of everyone. “Don’t call me that. I’m not her father!” He slammed a DNA paternity report down on the table. I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. My adoptive parents slapped me across the face right there. Alessia—the “real daughter” they’d just welcomed home—shrank into my husband’s arms, eyes red, playing innocent: “I’m so sorry, Sofia. I only mentioned in passing that Bella doesn’t look like your husband. I never thought he’d actually go and get it tested…” From that day on, I was branded a whore. And Bella became the bastard child everyone spat on. Then my husband filed for divorce. For my daughter’s sake, I swallowed my pride and went to beg him—just one more DNA test. But instead, I overheard him talking to a friend: “You faked a DNA report to humiliate your wife for Alessia’s sake, stamped Bella as a bastard—aren’t you worried your wife and kid will actually leave?” His voice was breezy, indifferent: “Why would I worry? My in-laws know the DNA test was forged.” “She’s the fake daughter who stole all those years of Alessia’s life. Once Alessia feels like things are even, I’ll just remarry Sofia. Simple.” “Sofia can’t survive without me. Even after the divorce, she’ll wait.” I thought of Bella crying, asking me if Daddy really didn’t want her anymore. I clenched my fists so hard my nails broke the skin of my palms. The next day, I didn’t cry. I didn’t make a scene. I went to city hall with him and signed the divorce papers calmly. What he didn’t know was that the moment I walked out of that building, I turned around and picked up another marriage certificate. Standing outside his door, listening to Vito’s careless words, I could barely keep my legs beneath me. His friend tried to say something more, but Vito cut him off with a low laugh. “Relax. When the time comes, I’ll just act like I didn’t know. I’ll say the hospital made a mistake. She’ll come crawling back on her own.” I braced myself against the wall, a spasm of pain twisting through my chest. Just hours earlier, Bella had come home from school in tears. Her uniform—the one she always kept so neat—was caked in mud, her knees scraped raw and bloody. I called her teacher. The voice on the other end was ice-cold, demanding we transfer schools: “Bella’s mother, do you really need me to spell it out? When a parent’s personal life is this disgraceful, when it’s all anyone talks about—every child in that school knows your daughter is some man’s illegitimate mistake. The other parents have serious concerns, and frankly, we’re in a very difficult position.” I hung up and held my trembling daughter, my heart splitting open. She looked up at me, her small face streaked with tears: “Mommy, if I really am Daddy’s daughter… would he love me again?” For that one sentence, I threw away every last shred of dignity and came to find Vito. To beg him for one more DNA test. I never imagined I’d overhear something so vile instead. In his eyes, publicly forging a DNA test to humiliate me was nothing—a trivial inconvenience. The shame and abuse Bella and I endured was just a performance he’d staged to please another woman. Even my adoptive parents—who’d always sworn they loved me most—were accomplices in his little play. In his eyes, publicly forging a DNA test to humiliate me was nothing—a trivial inconvenience. The shame and abuse Bella and I endured was just a performance he’d staged to please another woman. Even my adoptive parents—who’d always sworn they loved me most—were accomplices in his little play. I shut my eyes against the pain. Behind the door, their laughter continued. His friend seemed to feel a twinge of guilt: “But what about Bella? I saw her earlier—a bunch of kids were screaming ‘bastard’ at her and she ran out of school crying. You’re really okay with her suffering like that? If she ever finds out the truth, she might never forgive you.” Vito’s tone dripped with the arrogance of a man convinced he held all the cards: “Kids forget fast. A little suffering never hurt anyone. Besides, she’s my biological daughter—blood is thicker than water. You really think she’d disown her own father?” I dug my nails deeper into my palms, but I couldn’t feel the pain. Before, I would have kicked that door open and demanded answers. But this time, I simply turned around. This divorce was happening. No matter what.

I packed a few changes of clothes, took Bella by the hand, and went back to the Romano estate. Every other time I’d come home, my adoptive parents would come out smiling before I even reached the door. This time, my adoptive mother’s voice was thick with disgust: “What are you doing here?” “Mom… I have nowhere to go. I just need to stay one night with Bella.” She sneered. “The Romano estate isn’t a homeless shelter. Don’t bring your bad luck in here.” My chest tightened. Bella peeked out from behind me, timid and small: “Grandpa! Grandma!” Her voice was soft and sweet, just like always—waiting for them to scoop her up. Their faces remained stone-cold: “Don’t call us that. We don’t have trashy relatives like you.” It hit me like a blow to the head. I stood rooted to the spot. A few days apart, and we’d gone from adopted daughter to not even worth claiming as distant family? I still remembered when my adoptive father used to lift me over his head and declare that Sofia was the jewel of the Romano family. My adoptive mother used to brag to everyone about how accomplished her adopted daughter was. But ever since Alessia came back, their love for me vanished overnight. The family businesses I managed were stripped away, one by one. The connections I’d painstakingly built were transferred to Alessia’s name, piece by piece. At the time, I’d told myself it made sense—Alessia was their real daughter. Compensating her was only natural. Now I finally understood. They resented me. They resented me for being the cuckoo in their nest, for living the life that should have been Alessia’s. Vito’s cruel words still echoed in my ears. To make Alessia feel better, they’d sanctioned that entire charade—that public humiliation—and ground me and Bella beneath their heels without a shred of mercy. I swallowed the emotions churning inside me and tested the waters: “What if… that DNA test was wrong? What if the results were falsified?” My adoptive mother paused. “The evidence is right there. You still want to argue?” I swallowed the emotions churning inside me and tested the waters: “What if… that DNA test was wrong? What if the results were falsified?” My adoptive mother paused. “The evidence is right there. You still want to argue?” My adoptive father fixed me with a cold stare: “Everyone saw it. You’ve already dragged the Romano name through the mud. If a DNA test isn’t proof enough, what do you want? Do we need to catch you in bed with someone before you’ll admit it?” A bone-deep chill spread through me. They knew. They knew all of it was fake. And still, they stood there cursing me with that same venom, nailing me to the pillar of shame. My adoptive father frowned, his tone dripping with condescension: “Fine. If you really want to stay here, then tomorrow you’ll issue a public statement. Admit that you were unfaithful during your marriage. Admit that Bella is not Vito’s child. Then you’ll step down from all core family positions and transfer your shares to Alessia. Unconditionally.” I could barely believe my ears. My voice shook: “You want me to admit what? Bella is not a bastard!” My adoptive mother didn’t even look up: “A counterfeit raising offspring—what else would you call it but counterfeit?” Something in my mind went white with static. Something inside me shattered completely. Just then, footsteps sounded from upstairs. Alessia descended, eyes rimmed with red, looking for all the world like a startled deer: “Dad, Mom, please don’t do this…” She turned to me, voice gentle. “Sofia, I know you’re hurting. But Mom and Dad are getting older, and the family has a reputation to protect. You can’t drag everyone down because of your personal life. Just apologize, and once this all blows over, we’ll still be family.” She bent down to look at Bella, eyes full of manufactured sympathy: “As for whether the child is really Vito’s… Vito is such a good man, I’m sure he won’t hold it against you.” Before I could respond, my adoptive parents had already lost patience. They ordered the bodyguards to throw my things out: “We raised you for twenty years. We were willing to let you keep some dignity. Since you won’t admit your wrongs—don’t ever come back to the Romano family again.”

It was late when we left the Romano estate. Bella was curled up in my arms, eyes swollen, not making a sound. I stroked her hair, assuming she was simply exhausted from crying, and hurried to find somewhere to stay. By the time I stood in the hotel lobby, I looked like an absolute wreck. “A suite, please.” I handed over the supplementary credit card. The receptionist swiped it, then looked up. “I’m sorry, ma’am. This card has been frozen.” My stomach dropped. I dug out my own bank card. Only to discover that my personal savings had been transferred out too. My fingertips went cold. I felt nothing but revulsion. Vito was willing to go that far. He didn’t just want me to grovel—he wanted to cut off every escape route I had. The receptionist’s tone was flat: “Miss, would you still like a room?” My throat constricted. I called my closest friend: “Can you lend me some money? Or book a room for me? I just need somewhere for Bella and me to stay tonight.” My fingertips went cold. I felt nothing but revulsion. Vito was willing to go that far. He didn’t just want me to grovel—he wanted to cut off every escape route I had. The receptionist’s tone was flat: “Miss, would you still like a room?” My throat constricted. I called my closest friend: “Can you lend me some money? Or book a room for me? I just need somewhere for Bella and me to stay tonight.” Two seconds of silence. Then her voice dropped low: “Sofia, it’s not that I don’t want to help. It’s just—my family is in the middle of negotiating a deal with the Romanos right now. This thing with you has gotten so big… if I get involved, it could hurt the company.” She didn’t finish, but I already understood. I hung up, staring at my own reflection in the marble floor, and suddenly found it all absurd. Twenty-some years alive, and I had nothing. The only person left who would stand by me without hesitation was the daughter in my arms. But the next second, her body swayed, and she went limp against me. I pressed my hand to her forehead, and my heart turned to ice. She was burning up. I scrolled through every contact in my phone, and finally stopped on the one name I least wanted to bother. After managing to borrow money, I carried Bella back to the front desk: “A room, please. My daughter has a fever.” The receptionist suddenly rolled her eyes: “No wonder your cards are frozen. You’re that Romano fake heiress who cheated on her husband.” I froze. She looked me up and down, her tone growing nastier by the second: “Rotten to the core, and you still had to pop out some no-name bastard to embarrass everyone. This is a respectable establishment. Please take yourself elsewhere—don’t dirty our floors.” Guests in the lobby turned to stare. I tried to explain, but there was nothing I could say. I could only carry Bella out of the hotel in humiliation. The streets were empty, the late-night wind cutting like a blade. Bella was delirious with fever, her face buried in the crook of my neck, murmuring: “Daddy… please don’t leave me…” That single sentence ripped my heart to shreds. I clenched my jaw and finally pulled out my phone, dialing Vito’s number. Ten calls. No answer. My fingers trembling, I typed out a message: Bella has a fever. Can you please come? After a long while, his reply: “The kid isn’t even mine. I don’t have time for your sob story.” I stared at those cold, dead words on the screen. The world around me buzzed with noise, but I couldn’t even cry. In the end, I took Bella to the hospital alone. The emergency corridor was crowded. I’d barely finished registering when I heard a familiar voice. Vito was guiding Alessia into the ER. A nurse handed a test form to Vito, her tone reproachful: “Bleeding in the first trimester—threatened miscarriage. These early months are critical. You’re her husband; be more careful. Stop putting stress on the mother!” Vito took the form, instinctively pulling Alessia closer. “Does it still hurt?” Alessia shook her head softly, eyes red-rimmed. “Bleeding in the first trimester—threatened miscarriage. These early months are critical. You’re her husband; be more careful. Stop putting stress on the mother!” Vito took the form, instinctively pulling Alessia closer. “Does it still hurt?” Alessia shook her head softly, eyes red-rimmed. Vito frowned. “Don’t go home tonight. Stay at my place—I’ll take care of you.” Alessia bit her lip, whispered an agreement, and leaned into his chest. I stood there. My blood turned to ice, inch by inch. Years ago, when I was pregnant with Bella, he’d held me just like that. I’d had terrible morning sickness—couldn’t keep even water down. He canceled every meeting on the spot and stayed by my side for all ten months. He’d said: “Sofia, you and our daughter—you’re my whole life.” And now, the one who’d stamped his “whole life” as a bastard was him. The one who’d pushed me and Bella into the abyss with his own hands—also him. I almost wanted to laugh. Turns out, the more real a person’s love seems when they love you—the more brutal they become when they don’t. Bella was still burning in my arms. My phone buzzed. I looked down. A message from Vito: “Sofia, I’m done waiting. Three days from now. City hall.”

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Serena was sitting on my husband’s lap, laughing as she pressed a kiss to his lips. “I don’t think Valentina will file for divorce. She’s a parasite—she wouldn’t dare.” Lorenzo raised an eyebrow, stubbed out his cigar, then suddenly pulled her in for a deep kiss. I stood just outside the door, shaking all over. It hit me then—they’d called me here on purpose. They wanted to see my reaction. But I was even more pathetic than they imagined. I couldn’t even bring myself to walk in. Instead, I made a phone call. To Serena’s husband. “Serena’s drunk. She’s at the Triumph Club. You should come get her.” Alessandro Greco—a man who’d once gone to prison for slashing someone in broad daylight. He should be braver than me. “Who’s she drinking with?” His voice carried a cold edge. “Friends. All men. You’d better get here fast.” Alessandro said okay. Said he’d be right there. I hung up and turned to leave. Serena had once bragged to me: “Alessandro looks like a pushover, but he nearly killed a man for me once.” “And ever since, he never goes anywhere without his knife.” I’d barely reached the club entrance when my phone rang. Lorenzo. His tone was casual, lazy. “You’re already here, aren’t you.” I moved my lips but said nothing. He continued: “The doorman said you stood outside watching for a while. Heard everything?” I let out a quiet “Mm.” Lorenzo laughed. “Pathetic.” He was right. Everyone knew I was pathetic. Back in school, all I ever did was trail behind Lorenzo. If he hadn’t looked out for me, I might not have even finished university. “Don’t tell me you didn’t even dare come inside?” “Playing ostrich isn’t much fun, you know.” People were egging him on in the background, their laughter shameless and unbridled. Then Serena chimed in, all smiles: “If I’d known you were this afraid of losing him, we wouldn’t have bothered hiding it from you.” “Though I have to say, doing it behind your back—what a rush.” “Your husband—I’ve had a taste on your behalf. Excellent in every department.” “So I’ll just be keeping him, okay?” “Serena, if you keep going, she’s going to cry.” “Lorenzo, aren’t you going to comfort her?” This time it was Lorenzo, uncharacteristically serious: “Cut it out. If she cries later, I’ll have to deal with it.” “Valentina’s not like you—she’s much easier to soothe. Don’t bully her.” Then he took the phone back, and his voice became clearer: “Where are you? I’ll come find you. It’s hard to get a cab around here.” I looked down the corridor. I saw him holding up his phone, freezing for a moment when he spotted me, then hanging up. The expression on Lorenzo’s face was one of satisfaction—even a flicker of cruel enjoyment. He walked over, ruffled my hair carelessly: “She’s not like you. You’re the legitimate Mrs. Rossi—what are you crying for?” “Relax, I’m not going to divorce you.” But just then, Serena stumbled out, one hand pressed to her forehead. She staggered with precision, colliding right into Lorenzo’s arms. Lorenzo immediately wrapped his arm around her waist, his palm flat against her bare skin. Serena tilted her head against his chest, lifted her eyelids, and glanced at me: “Lorenzo, my head hurts. They were forcing drinks on me in there.” “Take me back. Valentina already knows anyway—there’s no point hiding it anymore.” “She won’t mind. Right?” On those last two words, she looked straight at me. The challenge in her eyes was brazen. Just then, a message from Alessandro appeared on my phone, asking for the club’s address. I sent him the location. After sending it, I looked up and fixed my gaze on Lorenzo: “What if I do mind?” Lorenzo’s face softened with something like reluctance. He tried to push her away. But Serena clung to him like wet clay. “We’ve already done it so many times. What’s with the gentleman act now?” She laughed and cursed, then turned to me: “Didn’t you say it yourself? That Valentina’s like a dead fish in bed—no fun at all!” Lorenzo shot me a nervous glance: “That was just a joke. I was just playing along with her.” My nails dug into my palms. I let out a thin, weightless “Oh.” “Then let me go with you to drop her off.” “What did you just say?” Serena asked in disbelief. I lifted my head and looked at them both steadily: “You have a headache, don’t you? Lorenzo and I will take you back.” I pulled her firmly toward me, forcing her to lean against my shoulder instead. Lorenzo froze for a moment at my gesture, then seemed almost amused. He reached over and tapped the tip of my nose: “Oh? Finally willing to get jealous? A little temper looks good on you.” His gestures and words were intimate, as if nothing had happened at all. It made my skin crawl—but I let nothing show. In high school, I’d been cornered in the bathroom by the school bully’s girlfriend, who shredded my clothes with scissors. I’d worn this same expression then, too. It was Lorenzo who warned that girl off for me. At the time, he’d frowned at me for a long while, then pulled off his school jacket and draped it over my shoulders: “You should have more of a backbone.” Later, that girl never came back to school. Lorenzo assumed it was because of him. He never knew it was because I’d made sure her father found out about what was going on between her and the bully’s dad. I was happy to let Lorenzo play the hero. So I never told him the truth.

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I turned down the arranged marriage with the Godfather of House Soros and insisted on marrying the man I’d fallen for at first sight. But on the day we were supposed to get our marriage license, Lucas pulled up the cancellation screen for the whole room to see. Before I could even process what was happening, his friends were already doubled over laughing. “Diana, you’re that desperate to marry Lucas?” “We started a bet yesterday on how long it’d take you to figure it out.” “Didn’t expect you to not only miss it, but show up all dolled up too.” “You didn’t seriously think just because Lucas said yes, you had nothing to worry about?” Lucas smiled, careless and unbothered. “You’re too clingy. If I don’t teach you a lesson now, you’ll just keep trying to control me after the wedding. Marrying me isn’t that easy.” A clerk came over and said: “Ma’am, we close in fifteen minutes. There’s one last time slot available for reschedulinging—please hurry.” My best friend was right there laughing at me too. “Even the staff can tell how desperate you are to get married!” “Hurry up and rescheduling before our Lucas changes his mind!” I shook off the hand Lucas extended toward me, calmly rescheduling the last available slot, and sent a voice message to Edward, the Godfather of House Soros. “Get to the registry office with your documents in ten minutes, and I’ll marry you.” … After I got my queue number, I sat down far away from all of them. Three years ago, Edward and I had seriously discussed an alliance marriage. Both families had approved. But then I met Lucas. Seeing me sit so far away, Lucas quickly walked over. “Diana, stop being unreasonable.” “If we can’t do it today, we’ll do it next time. Don’t throw a tantrum at me.” I pulled my hand back and confronted him publicly for the first time. “I’m being unreasonable?” “Who cancelled the appointment yesterday?” “Who hid it from me and only told me right before closing?” “All of you knew. I was the only one kept in the dark, and now I’m the unreasonable one?” It was the first time I’d ever lost my temper. Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. I kept going. “Last month—who hid my birthday present in a bar locker and let me search for three hours?” “Who turned our third anniversary dinner into a guys’ night and left me sitting alone with cold food until midnight?” “And the trip—who gave me a fake flight number so I’d wait at the airport until dawn?” “You mess with me over and over, watching me break down—is that fun for you?” Lucas frowned, looking annoyed, as if I were the one being childish. “It was just a joke. Do you really need to interrogate me like I’m on trial?” “Everyone came here today in good spirits to celebrate with us, and you have to dig up all this old stuff?” I wrenched free of his hand and let out a cold laugh. “Came here in good spirits—to watch us get married, or to watch me make a fool of myself? You know the answer.”

Lucas’s face darkened. His friends shifted uncomfortably. After a brief silence, they all chimed in again. “Diana, at the end of the day, you obviously still care about Lucas!” “It’s not like we caused any real harm—why are you so worked up?” “Lucas just wanted to test you. You’re always so clingy—everyone was just having a bit of fun!” One of the girls sidled closer to Lucas and murmured, “Lucas, Diana’s got quite the temper.” I looked at Lucas. “So cancelling the appointment, making me a laughingstock—that was all your idea?” He nodded, utterly indifferent. “Yeah.” “You’ve been confirming wedding details with me every single day. It was stressing me out.” “I just wanted you to understand—even after we’re married, you can’t make me your whole world. It’s exhausting for both of us.” By the end, he’d already looked away. I smiled bitterly. Suddenly, the past three years felt absurd. “Don’t worry. I won’t be paying attention to you anymore.” Lucas’s brow twitched at that. His friends immediately jumped in to back him up. “Exactly, Diana. I know you’ve been scouting wedding venues, but going back and forth on the dress design and the invitation wording—you really are too eager to marry Lucas.” “He was just joking. You’re way too petty.” Lucas nodded, his lazy smile restored. “You really need to fix that about yourself. If your reactions weren’t so entertaining, we wouldn’t keep messing with you.” “And honestly—handle the wedding stuff on your own. Stop bothering me with every little thing.” I lowered my eyes. Every time they’d pranked me over these three years, Lucas would hold me afterward and comfort me. He’d say his friends meant no harm. That they joked around with me because they didn’t see me as an outsider. I thought it was because he cared. Now I understood—the comfort was just to set me up for the next time. I looked at this group of people and spoke coldly. “The only reason you dare treat me like this is because you know Lucas doesn’t actually care about me.” No one answered. The smile slid off Lucas’s face. Only Cindy, my best friend, seemed to sense the shift in me. She tugged timidly at my sleeve. “Diana, I’m sorry. I thought you wouldn’t mind…” “They said they’d rebook right away—that it wouldn’t cause any real problems.” “Lucas said you’d definitely get the license in the end. That’s the only reason I went along with it.” I brushed her hand away. “I heard your apology. But I don’t forgive you.” Cindy went pale. My phone screen lit up. Edward had shared his live location. “I’ve left the estate. Nine minutes out.” I sat back down in the waiting area.

I was still watching the registry office doors when my mother called. “Diana, how’s everything going today?” Her voice was bright and cheerful. “I started prepping ingredients at six this morning. The housekeeper offered to help but I wouldn’t let her—I made Lucas’s favorite grilled fish.” “Your cinnamon apple pie is already in the oven too, and your father prepared venison.” “Finish up quickly and come home for lunch.” I was silent for two seconds, trying to keep my voice normal. “Mom, things aren’t done here yet.” A pause on the other end. She asked carefully: “Did something come up with Lucas?” My eyes stung. Lucas’s family was never a match for ours. Edward had been the original arrangement. All these years, because I’d loved Lucas so recklessly, my mother had lowered herself again and again. It only made his family think we were pushovers. To make him treat me a little better, she was always this cautious—afraid that one wrong move would make him love me less. Our family had my brother as heir. Father was strict with him and gave all his indulgence to me. I made up my mind: I would never again let my parents lose face because of me. “Mom, it’s nothing serious. Just a scheduling issue with the appointment.” “If lunch is ready, go ahead and eat with Dad and my brother.” She paused for two seconds, then said with forced cheer: “It’s fine if you can’t make it back.” “I can always cook again.” “If he wants to be with his friends, don’t rush him—you don’t want everyone feeling uncomfortable.” “If it’s really taking too long, let Lucas go ahead with his friends. I can always make more food.” I heard my father’s voice asking something in the background. It was just bringing a boyfriend home for a meal, and still they wanted to give me the very best. Because they loved me, they loved the person I loved. Lucas had appeared behind me at some point. He took the phone right out of my hand. “It’s Lucas.” “Diana’s just throwing a little fit. It’s nothing.” “We’ve got something going on here—probably can’t make it for lunch. I’ll definitely come with her next time.” My mother said yes immediately, repeatedly. “No problem, no problem at all. Young people have their own circles.” “Do you have many friends there? Should I send some food over?” Before she could finish, Lucas hung up impatiently. If it weren’t for me, someone from his minor family would never dare treat my mother that way. Mark laughed loudly from behind. “Your mom’s really something, isn’t she?” “She’d do anything to marry her daughter off to Lucas.” “Why not just let Lucas inherit your family’s estate—how embarrassing!” Cindy couldn’t take it anymore and pushed back quietly. “Mark, that’s enough. Diana’s mom has always been good to everyone. Don’t go too far.” Mark scoffed and pointed at me. “Good to us? That’s just so she can marry her daughter off to Lucas!” “Some old woman calling to play the victim, all to sell off her daughter!” I shot to my feet and slapped Mark hard across the face. “Shut your mouth!” “Who gave you permission to insult my mother? You think your family won’t disappear from this city by tomorrow?” Mark stood there stunned. Lucas grabbed him and pulled him back, his expression completely dark. “Diana, are you done?” “Over a few jokes, you’re going to threaten my friend?” He took a deep breath, reached over to smooth my crumpled collar, and softened his tone. “Let’s end it here today.” “Don’t tell your mom about the cancelled appointment. Our family still has business to discuss with your brother. I’ll go apologize in person another day—you don’t want your mother worrying about you, do you?” This entitled, patronizing attitude was nauseating. His consideration was always built on burying my pain. Every time his friends started something, I was the one who ended up apologizing. But not once—not ever—had he made any of them genuinely apologize for what they’d done to me. The last trace of warmth in my chest went cold. My phone screen lit up. Mom had sent a photo of her prep table, vegetables and garnishes arranged neatly. Below it, one line: “No rush. Mom will wait for you to come home and eat together.” I replied, expression hard: “Don’t worry. I’ll be home on time with someone for lunch.”

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The night of my twenty-fourth birthday, I wanted to invite my fiancé to dance the opening waltz. I went to the lounge to find Adrian Vance, but stopped outside the door when I heard him talking to a friend. “You clearly want to ride Isabella Moretti’s coattails to the top,” his friend said. “So why have you let her be humiliated at her own birthday party five years in a row? Watching everyone laugh at her like she’s some lovesick fool chasing after you—doesn’t that bother you at all?” Adrian’s voice was lazy. “A little.” He let out a short laugh. “But what can I do? Lily throws such a fit. I lost a bet to her.” “A bet?” “The deal was, I’d make Isabella lose face at her birthday party for six years straight. Not a year less—Lily wouldn’t have it any other way.” Adrian swirled his glass. “Isabella is the Moretti heir. Who would actually dare laugh at her? Tonight’s year six. Next year, I’ll propose to her at her birthday.” I stood outside the door, my fingers going cold inch by inch. Adrian loosened the tie from his neck. It was the engagement token I’d embroidered by hand. On the underside, hidden in the weave, was the Moretti family crest. He ran his thumb over the hidden pattern, amusement in his voice. “This tie—I’ll give it to Lily’s Gentleman later. She’ll be thrilled.” His friend went still. “Gentleman? Lily’s golden retriever?” “Yes.” Adrian’s voice dripped with indulgence. “If I don’t humor her, she’ll get another headache. Little Princess Lily can’t handle being upset.” I didn’t listen any further. I turned and walked away. When my grandfather, Vincent Moretti, handed me the family, he said one thing to me. “Bella, the Boss of the Moretti family is allowed to be weak for love no more than five times in a lifetime.” I had been weak for five years. In the sixth year, the engagement tie I’d embroidered with my own hands was about to be put on a dog. So this engagement was over. Ten minutes later, the birthday gala began. I stood at the top of the second-floor staircase. Adrian sat at the head table. Lily Vale wore a red dress and sat beside him. The golden retriever circled at their feet. “Gentleman, come here.” Adrian beckoned. The dog trotted over. In front of everyone, Adrian removed the deep blue tie and knotted it around the dog’s neck, finishing it off with a perfect Windsor. The ballroom went silent for a beat. Everyone recognized that tie. It was the engagement token given by the Moretti heir. It had no business being on a dog. Lily covered her mouth and laughed, leaning into Adrian. “Adrian, look—doesn’t he look like a proper little gentleman now?” “He really does.” Adrian stroked the dog’s head, smiling tenderly. Then he looked up at me. In the past, I would have confronted Lily on the spot. Adrian would have called me unreasonable, said I was using the Moretti name to bully her. And in the end, everyone would have waited for me to apologize. But now I knew who was really humiliating me. I gathered the hem of my gown and descended the staircase. The crowd parted. I walked straight to Adrian. Lily shrank behind him. Adrian frowned and shielded her with his body. “Isabella, it’s your birthday.” His voice was a warning. “Don’t make a scene.” I didn’t look at him. I looked only at the dog. “That’s a nice color on that tie,” I said evenly. “It suits the dog’s coat.” Adrian’s face went rigid. Lily’s smile vanished. “What did you just say?” Adrian’s voice dropped low. “I said it suits him.” I picked up a glass of red wine from a waiter’s tray and raised it toward him. “Since Mr. Vance enjoys this sort of thing, consider the tie my gift to the dog.” I turned and walked toward the head table. Behind me, Adrian shot to his feet. His chair scraped against the floor. “Isabella, don’t you walk away from me!” I didn’t stop. For Adrian Vance, I had already used up every one of the five hesitations my grandfather allowed me. In the sixth year, he fed my handmade token to a dog. These six years of engagement were finished.

After the gala ended, I returned to the penthouse apartment where Adrian had been staying. The apartment was originally prepared by the Moretti family as our future marital home. For the past several years, Adrian had lived there. The unit, the car, the security system, even the bespoke suits in his walk-in closet—all paid for with Moretti money. I gathered the work files from the coffee table into my briefcase and prepared to leave. The door swung open. Adrian walked in reeking of alcohol. He carried the scent of Lily’s gardenia perfume, and his expression was ice-cold. He yanked open his collar and tossed his jacket onto the sofa. “What was that attitude of yours at the gala tonight?” “No attitude. I simply told the truth.” “The truth?” He sneered. “Lily was just having fun. She likes the dog and thought the tie was pretty. Did you really have to embarrass her in front of all those people?” He lit a cigarette. “Do you know how long she cried tonight? She kept blaming herself, saying it was all her fault you were unhappy.” I looked at him. “Adrian, it was my birthday party.” “And?” He exhaled smoke. “You’re the Moretti princess. You have everything. Lily only has me. I was just making her happy for one moment, and you can’t even tolerate that?” Footsteps sounded outside the door. Lily walked in wearing one of Adrian’s oversized spare shirts, her eyes red-rimmed. “Adrian, please don’t fight with her because of me.” She tugged at his sleeve. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have thought the tie was pretty. I’ve just never seen anything so exquisite before.” Adrian immediately took her hand. The look he gave me turned even colder. “Did you hear that? She’s still defending you.” I looked at their interlocked fingers. Six years of devotion—it had all been a joke. “There’s another dozen ties in the entryway cabinet,” I said. “All gifts I gave you before. You can have them. Along with this apartment—consider it yours to stay in for now.” Adrian blinked, then smirked. “Isabella, are you pulling the running-away-from-home act again?” He looked at me with contempt. “Last time, you came crawling back in tears begging me to let you stay.” Lily lowered her head, the corner of her mouth curling ever so slightly. “Please don’t be angry, I’ll leave right now…” She turned to rush out. As she passed the coffee table, she deliberately clipped its corner. “Ah!” She cried out in pain and collapsed toward Adrian. Adrian caught her, then whipped around to snarl at me. “Why did you move the table so far out? Did you do this on purpose?” That table hadn’t been moved a single inch since the day it was delivered. I couldn’t be bothered to explain. Adrian carried Lily to the sofa and examined her knee. There was nothing but a faint red mark. “I’ll get the first-aid kit.” Adrian stood. As he passed me, his shoulder slammed hard into mine. I was wearing heels. My ankle twisted and I pitched sideways into the cabinet. My temple struck the corner. Searing pain exploded. Blood ran down my brow bone, dripping one drop at a time onto the floor. Adrian glanced back. “Stop faking it.” He frowned. “I barely touched you. Go get Lily an ice pack—her leg matters more.” I pressed my hand to my forehead. Blood seeped between my fingers. On the sofa, Lily watched me. Her eyes were pure provocation. I braced myself against the cabinet and stood upright. Without looking at either of them again, I walked out. The cold night air hit my face. Adrian would never know. In that moment, he had severed the very last thread connecting him to the Moretti family.

The next day. Top-floor boardroom, Moretti Group. I sat at the head of the table, white gauze taped to my forehead. The boardroom doors opened. Adrian walked in with Lily trailing behind, clutching a stack of files. He was the general manager of a Moretti subsidiary. Lily was his assistant. Adrian noticed the gauze on my forehead and his stride faltered. “What happened?” he asked, irritation in his voice. I opened the financial report. “Let’s begin, Mr. Vance. Everyone’s time is valuable.” Adrian’s face darkened. He sat down across from me. Halfway through the presentation, Lily reached over to hand Adrian his coffee. Her hand slipped. Scalding coffee splashed across the original financial statement in front of him. “I’m so sorry, Adrian, I didn’t mean to…” She immediately grabbed napkins to blot it, tears already falling. Adrian pressed her hand down. “It’s fine. It’s just a document. Don’t burn yourself.” Then he looked at me, his tone perfectly matter-of-fact. “Isabella, have your secretary reprint this.” I capped my pen. “Mr. Vance, this document has been verified by every relevant department. It bears the personal signatures and security codes of our partners’ senior executives. It is the sole authorized original. Digital backups cannot replace its legal validity.” Adrian waved his hand impatiently. “Then have the team redo the whole process. Lily was up until midnight organizing data—it was just a slip. Show some understanding.” No one in the boardroom spoke. I raised my eyes to him. “This is a workplace. Please keep the discussion professional.” “Isabella, are you targeting Lily again?” Adrian slammed the coffee-soaked document on the table. “It’s just a report. You’re supposed to be my fiancée—can’t you be the bigger person for once?” Lily stepped forward with reddened eyes. “Boss Moretti, this is all my fault. Please don’t blame Adrian… I’ll redo it right now.” As she spoke, she bent to pick up papers from the floor, letting her body sway deliberately. Adrian immediately steadied her and hissed at me: “Enough! Look at yourself right now. Where’s any of the grace a Moretti heir should have? Lily’s health is fragile—if you scare her into an episode, are you going to take responsibility?” I pressed the intercom. “Send security up.” Adrian froze. “What are you doing?” Two security officers pushed through the doors. I looked at Lily. “Lily Vale has committed gross negligence, destroying a critical corporate document and creating significant risk for the Group. She is terminated effective immediately.” Then I looked at Adrian. “Adrian Vance has blurred professional boundaries and disrupted a senior executive meeting. Effective today, all his duties are suspended. He is to go home and reflect.” Adrian let out a disbelieving laugh. “Isabella, you’d stoop to this just to make me bow? Fine. I’ll go. Let’s see who pushes the South Harbor project forward without me.” He grabbed Lily’s hand. “Lily, we’re leaving.” Lily glanced back at me, triumph flickering in her eyes. At the door, Adrian stopped. “When you learn how to be a proper fiancée, you can come beg me to come back.” The door slammed shut behind him. The wound on my forehead throbbed faintly. I fed the ruined document into the shredder and opened the next item on the agenda. “Meeting continues.” Three days later. Outside the VIP ward at City General Hospital. My grandfather’s attending physician stood before me, his expression grave. “Miss Moretti, Don Vincent’s condition is critical. He needs bypass surgery immediately. But Professor Gray is attending a classified military conference out of state—all communications are restricted.” The doctor paused. “We’ve confirmed that Mr. Vance’s private jet has special route clearances on file. It’s currently the fastest way to bring Professor Gray back.” I took out my phone. My fingertips were shaking. I dialed Adrian’s number. First attempt—he rejected the call. Second attempt—no answer. Third attempt—he finally picked up. On the other end, there was music and the sound of a crowd cheering. “What?” Adrian’s voice was clipped with impatience. “Adrian, Grandpa’s had a cardiac arrest. He’s in emergency surgery. He needs your plane to pick up Professor Gray.” I forced myself to stay calm. “I’m begging you. Arrange it now.” The line went quiet for a few seconds. Then Lily’s voice came through. “Adrian, who is it? Aren’t we supposed to go see the meteor shower tonight? If the plane gets sent away, we won’t be able to go… I’ve never seen a meteor shower in my whole life.” Adrian’s voice turned gentle, coaxing. “Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart.” A moment later, his voice came back, clear and cold. “Isabella, knock it off. This trick isn’t going to work.” I gripped the phone. “I’m not playing tricks! Grandpa is really in emergency surgery!” “Emergency surgery?” He scoffed. “Last month you said Don Vincent’s blood pressure was high. Last week you said you cut your hand slicing fruit. Isabella, the same routine loses its effect after the third time.” “Adrian, this is a human life.” “Enough.” He cut me off. “If you want me back, just say so. Don’t use an elder’s health to put on a show. I’m busy.” The call disconnected. The red light above the operating room stayed on. I held my phone, my back against the cold wall.

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My husband hates late. He doesn’t wait for anyone. Not even his wife. He made the rule the day we got married: Any fight over ten minutes, he walks out. No warning. No second chance. Today is our anniversary. I’m eleven weeks pregnant. Morning sickness put me three minutes behind at the gate. Three minutes. I look up and Alaric is already telling the crew to close the door. Willa is in my seat. Fourth time this month. First time, security held me two minutes. He flew Willa to the Maldives. Second time, my checkup ran over by five. He took her to the spa I booked. Third time, I couldn’t stand from the nausea. Ninety seconds late. His car pulled off without me. “You’re always late,” he says. “A seat’s a seat. Someone has to use it.” I stand in the empty terminal. Something rips inside me. My hands shake as I dial him. Busy. Again. Busy. Third try, he picks up. “Willa’s airsick. I can’t move. Call 911 yourself.” I look down. There’s a puddle of red at my feet. Bright. Wrong. I set the phone on the floor. Alaric. Your schedule never had a minute for me. So this time, I’m the one leaving you behind. … The paramedics get there fast. I can’t finish a sentence. They cut my pants off at the ankle. Soaked through. Onto the stretcher. “Family?” the nurse asks, gripping my wrist. “How far along? Any conditions?” “Eleven weeks. Husband’s on a plane.” “Baby’s father. Name. Can you reach him?” I close my eyes. “Don’t bother. He’s busy.” The phone rings. Alaric. I stare at it two seconds. Answer. “Iris. You called an ambulance?” His voice is low. In the background, Willa, soft and shaky. “Alaric, is Iris okay? Maybe we should turn around. I can handle it.” He doesn’t cover the mic. “She’s good at turning nothing into a crisis. Lie down.” Then to me, “Why an ambulance? The airport has a clinic. We’ve taken off. We’re not turning back.” My stomach cramps again. I bite down and wait it out. “The doctor said I could lose the baby.” Two seconds of silence. “Using the baby again? Really?” “Iris. You were the one who was late. If I rearrange my life every time you slip up, everyone will think my time is a joke.” Before, I would’ve cried. Begged him to believe me. Told him the pain was real. Now I just watch the nurse peel off another bloody pad. I don’t have the energy. Willa’s little voice floats through, “Ric, don’t be mad. Pregnant girls get emotional. She probably just wants you to comfort her.” His voice goes colder. “I don’t have time for your jealous games.” “Keep the receipts. I’ll cover the hospital when I’m back. Stop calling. Willa needs rest.” Click. I check the time. Exactly ten minutes. The nurse looks at me. Opens her mouth. Closes it. I flip the phone screen down. “Can you put it on silent?” … By the time the tests are done, it’s dark. The doctor slides the report across. “Threatened miscarriage. Strict bed rest. No stress. No movement.” “Will the baby make it?” “There’s still a heartbeat. That’s all I can promise. Can family come tonight?” I shake my head. Her jaw tightens. “You shouldn’t be alone. If you bleed heavily, hit the call button right away.” The door opens. Alaric’s assistant walks in wheeling Alaric’s suitcase. He lifts out a folded shawl. “Miss Grant left this at the airport. Mr. Vance is worried about the flight back being cold. He says you’re close to the airport. Wash it and drop it at the dry cleaner’s.” The doctor’s face goes flat. “She almost lost the baby an hour ago. And you brought her laundry?” The assistant shifts. “Mr. Vance said Madam’s good at taking care of these things. Miss Grant needs it before nine tomorrow. For the flight home.” His phone rings. Speaker. Alaric. “Delivered?” “Yes, sir. But the doctor says she can’t get out of bed.” “Then hire a courier. Iris, don’t drag this out. Willa needs her things.” I hand the shawl back. “Take it. I’m not her laundry service.” “What now?” he says, bored. “It’s a shawl.” My hand goes to my stomach. It’s still cramping. My voice comes out low. “You’re right. If it gets lost, it doesn’t matter.” The assistant reaches for the shawl. The suitcase tips. A prenatal folder slides out onto the floor. The name on the cover is Willa Grant. Bottom line, printed clean: Eight weeks pregnant.

“Willa’s pregnant?” I flip the folder open. A baby scan is tucked inside. The assistant’s face drains. He lunges for it. “Mrs. Vance, that’s Miss Grant’s private information.” “Then why is it in my husband’s suitcase?” “Mr. Vance just went with her to the appointment.” The phone’s still on speaker. Alaric cuts in, cold. “Willa hasn’t been feeling well. I took her to get checked. She’s not married. She doesn’t want people knowing. Don’t spread it around.” I look at the date on the scan. It’s the day of my first checkup. The day he promised to come with me. We got to the hospital. He said Willa’s car broke down. Told me to go in alone. I sat in that waiting room four hours. When I came out with my results, his phone was off. Same hospital. Same day. He was walking another woman through every scan on the other side of the wall. I ask it flat. “Whose baby is it?” “None of your business.” “You’re my husband.” His patience snaps. “That’s exactly why I’m telling you to drop it.” “Iris. You already have a baby. You don’t need to come after a girl with no one in the world.” “I asked whose baby it is.” Willa gasps like she just woke up. “Iris, please don’t get the wrong idea. Ric and I aren’t like that. I didn’t want my family finding out. He was just keeping it quiet for me.” “Then where’s the father?” Silence. Then she starts crying. Alaric drops his voice, soothing. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say.” He takes the phone back. All the warmth is gone. “Are you done? She just found out she’s pregnant. She can’t handle stress.” I look at the diagnosis on my bedside table. We’re both pregnant. Willa frowns and he panics. I bleed and he sends over her laundry. “Alaric. I can’t handle stress either.” “You’re fine, aren’t you?” It slips out. Both ends of the line go quiet. I don’t say another word. For the first time, I’m the one who hangs up. He doesn’t come back until the next afternoon. He doesn’t come to me first. He takes Willa home. Puts her to bed. Seven in the evening, the door swings open. He’s holding a takeout bag. “Willa said your appetite’s been bad. She wanted me to bring you something.” I glance at the label. Seafood risotto. Willa’s favorite. I’m allergic to shrimp. “Just leave it.” He sits by the bed. His eyes flick over my face. “What did the doctor say?” “Bed rest. To keep the baby.” “Family dinner is tomorrow night. We were going to announce your pregnancy. Since you can’t make it, Willa will sit in for you.” I stare at him. “She’s going as Mrs. Vance?” He tucks the blanket around me. His voice is almost soft. “Just the seat. Focus on getting better. Don’t make it a thing.” Next second, he pulls a document out of his briefcase. “Sign this. We’re announcing Project Skyline tomorrow. You can’t be there. We’ll list Willa as lead designer for now. After the launch, we switch it back.” I grip the paper. Project Skyline is my mother’s last work. Two years of my life to finish it. “Why can’t you just announce my name?” “You’re not showing up. That spooks the investors. Willa looks the part and she’ll be on time. She’s a better fit.” “It’s my design.” “I know.” He puts the pen in my hand. His thumb presses down on the back of mine. “We’re just borrowing her name. Don’t be difficult.” I pull my hand back. “I’m not signing.” His face goes blank. “Iris. The company isn’t your playhouse.” “You already blew up the flight schedule. Willa’s willing to clean up your mess. What more do you want?” He smooths the paper flat again. “Signed by nine. My assistant will pick it up.” I watch his back. “And if I don’t?” He stops in the doorway. “Every file on Project Skyline is at Vance Group. You don’t sign, I still get to decide who announces it.” He knows exactly what this project cost me. My hand closes into a fist. And I finally say it. “I want a divorce.” His step falters. He turns. His eyes are mocking. “Iris. Jealousy has a limit. Don’t take this somewhere you can’t come back from.” He says it like he’s said it a hundred times before. Like he knows I can’t leave him. But this time. I’m just tired.

The door opens. A nurse walks in with a lab report. “Family of Iris Sinclair? Her numbers are dropping again. She needs someone with her for the next twenty-four hours.” Alaric checks his watch. “I told Willa I’d have dinner with her at eight. I can’t be late.” I look at him. One last time. My voice shakes. “So she matters more than me.” “It’s not what you think.” The last of his patience is gone. His voice drops flat. “Willa’s on time. She has manners. She knows how to think about other people. If her father hadn’t died saving me, she wouldn’t be alone in this world.” “When are you going to learn to be like her?” He steps past the nurse and walks out. I’ve heard this speech before. Willa’s father was Alaric’s pilot. Ten years ago, engine failure. He shielded Alaric and didn’t make it out. Alaric has been paying that debt ever since. She wants the passenger seat, I get out. She wants the ticket, he leaves me at the airport. She wants my place, and he calls it making things right. I used to understand. But understanding doesn’t mean I have to be the doormat. Half an hour later, the nurse comes in to move me. They wheel me out of the private room and into a six-bed ward. On the TV mounted to the wall, Vance Group’s press launch is streaming live. Willa is wearing my dress. Standing in front of the model of the cabin I designed. The host smiles. “Miss Grant, I hear this is a gift for your baby on the way?” Willa touches her stomach. Shy little smile. “Something like that. Ric helped me revise it so many times. He said our baby deserves the safest sky in the world.” The room goes loud. Someone shouts a congratulations. Someone else asks if there’s a wedding coming. Alaric doesn’t correct anyone. He just adjusts her mic and says, easy, “The fact that she’s up here says everything.” Applause. The women in the beds around me look over. “Isn’t that your husband?” “No, that’s his wife, isn’t it? She’s pregnant.” I reach for the remote. My hand is shaking too hard to hit the button. The woman next to me switches it off. “Honey. Don’t watch.” My phone buzzes. Alaric. [Launch went great. If you’d cooperated, none of this would look so ugly.] An electronic authorization form is attached. My name is already on it. I call him. “Who signed for me? That’s forgery.” “The launch can’t stop for you. Willa signed on your behalf. When you calm down, legal will clean it up.” My stomach knots. “Stop the launch. Put out a correction.” “Do you have any idea how much Vance Group loses if we pull it now?” “It was my mother’s work.” “That’s why I turned it into something worth more.” He pauses. His tone softens on cue. “Stop this. I’ll come see you tonight. Text my assistant what you want to eat.” Something inside me curls up small. He always does this. A crumb of kindness. And I’m supposed to forget everything. Then Willa’s voice comes through, sharp and thrilled. “Ric! I think I just felt the baby move!” Alaric snaps to attention. “You’re only eight weeks. It’s too early to feel anything. Are you in pain? I’ll take you to the hospital right now.” He doesn’t even hang up. I hear his footsteps hurrying away. Car door. Willa laughing softly. Him telling her to breathe. The line finally cuts. The nurse rushes in with a chart. “Iris? The contractions are getting worse. We need family consent, now.” I look at the black screen of my phone. I set it face down on the blanket. The bleeding won’t stop. The pain is climbing. I already know what she’s going to say next. The doctor comes in behind her, quiet. “Iris. The bleeding isn’t slowing. If we wait, we’re going to lose you too.” “You need to make a decision. Now.” Every choice already made. Every door already closed. Every minute he wouldn’t wait. There isn’t a heartbeat left to save. I look at the doctor. My voice is steady. “End the pregnancy. Save me.” She hesitates. “You’re sure? Once we start.” “I’m sure.” “He doesn’t get to be a father. Not to my child.”

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After seven years together, Ethan Blake fell in love with his handsome, cold secretary. He said the man looked exactly like me when I was younger, and that he only cared because of me, so he would never cross the line. But he broke his own rules again and again, hurting me and humiliating me for Noah Hayes, playing me like I was a fool. When I was finally completely disheartened and wanted to give up on him, he panicked. Ethan Blake cheated on me on our seventh anniversary. He posted a casual photo on his private social media account with the caption, “Recording what I like.” But the man he was gazing at so tenderly in the photo was not me. It was his secretary, Noah Hayes. I had met him once the last time he brought a drunk Ethan Blake back. Just like in the photo, he was tall, handsome, upright, and impossible to approach. Against the glow of the aurora in the photo, he looked even more breathtaking. Ethan Blake told me he had an important business trip tonight, and he did not even mention our seventh anniversary. Was taking Noah Hayes to see the aurora what he called important business? But clearly… clearly, that was our promise. My heart clenched tight, and every inch of my body ached with soreness. The hand holding my phone started shaking, and I even pressed the wrong button when trying to take a screenshot. No matter what, I could not believe that the lover I had been with for seven years would betray me so easily. Many years ago, when we were penniless, he said he would propose to me under the most beautiful aurora. I waited and waited, and after seven years, I still never got it. And Noah Hayes had been in his life for less than seven weeks. I gasped desperately, but the suffocating feeling in my chest would not go away. I turned into a madman, calling Ethan Blake’s number over and over, but it kept showing that the other person was on another call. I started snooping, from step counts to location tracking, trying to dig out every bit of evidence from the smallest details. “Ethan Blake…” I bent my legs, buried my face in my arms, and my tears soaked through my loungewear. I did not want to lift my head, and I did not want to see the photo of the two of us hanging in the living room. He was the one who dragged me to take that photo, yet now he was looking at someone else with such tender eyes. I sent him all the evidence I had found, but there was no reply from the other side for a long time. Ethan Blake did not reply for three days, so I changed the passcode to the door lock. When the doorbell rang at home, I jolted awake from the sofa. When I went to open the door, I did not even have time to put on my shoes. But the person who came was Noah Hayes.

“Mr. Reed, I hope you can manage your lover.” Noah Hayes spoke lightly, and there was still contempt for me in his eyes. When I met his gaze, I felt humiliated to the extreme. “His pursuit has already caused great inconvenience to my work and life, and I have clearly rejected him so many times, but he still keeps sending flowers, asking me to dinner, and even posting daily updates that can easily cause misunderstandings.” He frowned, looking very troubled. The hand I had braced on the entryway cabinet slowly tightened until my fingertips turned pale and my fingers nearly cramped. Listening to him speak, I felt my heart being pierced with one bloody hole after another. Flowers—how long had it been since Ethan Blake last sent me flowers? How long had it been since he last ate with me at the same table? Those cold dishes, reheated and cooled again and again—I could no longer remember how many there had been. I was too stupid, and I only realized something was wrong when Noah Hayes came knocking on my door. It was not that he was too busy. It was that he never gave his time to me. Noah Hayes paused for a moment, but he did not give me a chance to speak. “If Mr. Blake uses work as an excuse to do this kind of thing again, I will report him for workplace harassment.” He let out a cold sneer. “I can do without this job, but Mr. Blake and his company may not be able to withstand a scandal like that, right?” Ethan Blake’s second spring only felt good to him. With a hoarse voice, I dug out my bleeding heart and lungs, and all I could pull out were the four words, “I’ll pass it on.” Even forcing myself to hold up a polite smile took all my strength, and I was so disgusted that I could barely stand it. Simon Reed, oh Simon Reed, this relationship of yours is such a failure. Not long after Noah Hayes left, Ethan Blake came back. “Simon!” He rushed to find me as soon as he entered. “Listen to me explain.”

“Go ahead, and after you finish, we’ll break up.” I sat on the sofa and spoke softly. The room was clearly warm, yet I felt like I had been thrown into a world of ice and snow. I was so cold that the blood in my body could barely circulate. Ethan Blake held me in his arms and pressed his forehead against my shoulder. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was wrong.” “I just thought he looked too much like you when you were young, and I couldn’t help caring about him because of you. I will never do anything out of line again, and there will never be a next time! I’ll draw a clear line with him!” “Simon, believe me, and give me one more chance.” My eyes and nose stung, and tears rolled straight down. Seven years—I had loved him with all my strength for so long. How could I bear to cut off this relationship, and how could I bear to give up everything I had poured into it? Removing Ethan Blake from my life was no different from cutting me in half. My life was full of him, and in order to let him gain a foothold at the company, I transferred all my shares to him for free; in order to let him focus on his career, I handled every big and small matter at home by myself. I was no longer myself. Besides, Ethan Blake’s mother had died saving me. “Noah Hayes came by.” Choking back sobs, I repeated everything Noah Hayes had said to him. “We’re both in our thirties now, so stop doing things without considering the consequences.” “It wasn’t easy to get here step by step, Ethan Blake, so don’t forget the days when we huddled in a basement eating stale bread, and don’t destroy your own future.” I was a useless coward, and I could not let go. I did not have the courage. Ethan Blake said every nice thing he could to coax me, and he promised me that we would hold the wedding right away. Another promise, another agreement. This time, can you make it happen? But if you promised to draw a clear line, why did you still buy the tie clip I liked most and give it to Noah Hayes as a birthday gift?

Ethan Blake said he would make it up to me with a gift. I said I wanted that tie clip. When I found it in Ethan Blake’s suit pocket, the crack in my heart seemed to be stitched with two sutures. But I did not wait until Ethan Blake gave it to me. The second time I saw it was on Noah Hayes’s social media account. He wrote, “People will always stand higher (with a work reward attached).” The cotton thread and flesh were torn open together, and my chest kept bleeding. Something I had never gotten was something he could obtain effortlessly. He did not even need to ask. Dazed, I went downstairs, and I actually missed a step and rolled down the stairs. Sharp pain shot straight into my brain, and the lower part of my right leg was already broken. The pain left my mind blank, and cold sweat seeped from my forehead. My phone had flown far away, and I dragged my broken leg as I crawled toward it with everything I had. “Ugh.” I squeezed my eyes shut, clenched my hand tightly into a fist, and my nails sank into my flesh. Another wave of pain hit, and I tried to use that pain to distract myself from the pain in my leg. My phone was already broken, and I could only dial the number of my emergency contact. It was Ethan Blake’s. I called again and again, and the pain in my leg became clearer and clearer. But after he answered, he only hurriedly said he was very busy at a business dinner, then hung up. I was too desperate, and tears smashed onto the floor without warning. Back in college, I had only sprained my ankle, and Ethan Blake anxiously told me to stand still while he left his school competition early and ran across three campuses to carry me to the hospital. At that time, I looked at his sweat and felt so heartbroken. But he said my affairs were the most important things. Not anymore. I called 911 through the smart home system, and only then was I saved. Fortunately, it was only a fracture, and after the surgery, I was pushed into the inpatient ward to recover. But I never expected to run into Ethan Blake here. He was holding a thermos and turned into the hospital room at the far end. The nurses’ quiet gossip drifted into my ears. “He really is such a good man. His boyfriend had a fever and needed IV fluids, and he stayed by his side for three days without leaving him for a second.” “Mr. Hayes is just lucky.”

No wonder I had barely been able to contact him these past few days. My face turned pale. “Miss Nurse.” “Please bill all expenses to the man just now, because he is my boyfriend.” “The person in that room is only his secretary.” The nurses’ faces immediately turned ugly, and they said a few things in low voices that I could not hear clearly. Not long after I was pushed into my room, Ethan Blake rushed in. “What exactly did you say to those nurses?” He froze when he saw me sitting in a wheelchair. “What happened to your leg? Why are you in a wheelchair?” The first thing he said after coming in was a question, and his furious appearance made it seem as if he had come to stand up for Noah Hayes. “I said you’re my boyfriend, so what, was I wrong?” I curled my lips sarcastically. “They all thought Noah Hayes was your boyfriend, after all, you took care of him for three days without leaving his side.” Ethan Blake pressed his lips together and fell silent. “Forget that, what exactly happened to your leg?” he asked hoarsely. I said lightly, “I saw you give the tie clip to Noah Hayes, got distracted for a moment, fell down the stairs, and broke my leg, that’s all. I called you and got brushed off, and since my injury wasn’t as serious as Noah Hayes’s illness, of course I deserved to have my call hung up on.” The more I spoke, the paler Ethan Blake’s face became. “Noah had a fever and still worked hard to block drinks for me, so I just didn’t want my subordinate to feel hurt.” His tone was very tired, and he half-knelt on the floor with his head pressed against my chest. “Simon, be sensible. I will never leave you, and my mother wouldn’t want us to separate either.” I really wanted to ask him whether he had not already agreed to draw a clear line. But he blocked my words. I was so tired. I would not take out even the tiniest bit of love to give him anymore. I silently let him lean against me, just like every difficult night over the past seven years.

Ethan Blake got into a car accident when he was taking Noah Hayes out of the hospital. Maybe it was karma. The car accident was very serious, but Ethan Blake’s injuries were not as severe as Noah Hayes’s. The light outside Noah Hayes’s operating room stayed on for a very, very long time. Ethan Blake arranged the best medical resources for him and hired the best caregivers. I sat in my wheelchair off to the side and watched, watching him run back and forth and wait anxiously. “Simon, don’t misunderstand.” He took a deep breath. “If Noah hadn’t protected me at the critical moment, I might have died on the spot. Noah is my lifesaver, so stop nitpicking with him.” How great a debt of saving someone’s life was—how could I not know? No one knew it more clearly than I did. I also knew how crushing it was, and how heavy. I did not argue, and I did not speak as I watched Ethan Blake love another person. It seemed like I wanted to find even half a trace of how he used to be, but there was actually none. He was thirty now, mature now, and he loved someone in a steadier and more reliable way. Not with lies, not with promises, and not with agreements. There was none of that weightless stuff between them. Everything was understood without words, and after Noah Hayes woke up, he was still holding Ethan’s hand and crying quietly. What a great love. I sneered and found myself pathetic, wanting to be a bystander and a spectator, yet still being dragged into the whirlpool. Ethan Blake insisted on showing me just how much he loved Noah Hayes. He found me and sat across from me in silence. So much time passed that I had already started to grow impatient. “You came to find me, so what exactly are you trying to say?” My smile looked awful. “Do you think I’m not ridiculous enough, and you want to tell me how you two fell in love during the car accident?” As long as you nod, we can break up anytime and let your Noah have a proper title.” Ethan Blake frowned, and there was a hint of anger in his eyes. “Simon Reed!” My smile suddenly froze, and even my hand trembled. Other than the time he said he would propose to me under the aurora, this was the first time he had called me by my full name. Ethan Blake took a deep breath and spoke to me in a tone that left no room for discussion. “Donate a kidney to Noah.”

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🚗 For the sake of a substitute, my brother and my lover humiliated me in every possible way. They saw me as disgusting trash and handed everything that belonged to me to Noah Vale with both hands. Noah Vale trampled on my dignity and smiled coldly. “Julian Hale, you’re so pathetic. No one loves you…” But after he learned of my death, Noah Vale went insane. “Julian Hale, why don’t you just die?” It was hard to imagine that such vicious words came from my childhood sweetheart and lover. He grabbed my collar and shook my thin, paper-like body. “It was only a little blood for Noah, and you ran away in a tantrum. Do you know you almost got Noah killed?” My body was numb and stiff, and for a moment my head spun while my stomach churned violently. A little blood… He seemed unable to see the rows of bruised needle marks covering my arms. He also could not see my skin-and-bones body, nor my despair and helplessness. His gaze and my brother’s had long been completely drawn to Noah Vale. When Noah Vale appeared, I was overseas for treatment. After I came back, he had already made both my brother and my lover obsessed with him. His health was poor too, so I seemed to naturally become his blood bank. “I won’t donate blood to him anymore,” I said in a hoarse voice. I was dying. My illness had never been cured, and everything I had experienced after returning home had already drained me dry. Adrian Sterling looked at me coldly. “That isn’t up to you. Filthy trash like you only has this one use left. Otherwise, why would we keep you around?” He let go in disgust, and my body went weak as I fell to the hospital floor. For a split second, I even felt dazed, wondering if I had developed some kind of persecution delusion. I could not believe that the Adrian Sterling who had touched my head at the airport three years ago and told me not to be afraid would become like this. He had clearly said he would love me forever and wait for me forever. He had clearly said no one would ever take my place. I pulled at my stiff facial muscles and smiled. “There’s no need to keep me around anymore,” I said, looking up at him. “As you wished, I’m dying soon.” When I said those words, I felt a long-lost sense of relief. It was the relief of breaking free from every shackle, and even the unwillingness and anger tangled like weeds in my chest disappeared. Dying could count as liberation too.

Adrian Sterling made no effort to hide his disgust for me. “Stop playing such cheap tricks. They only make you look more disgusting.” His steps showed no hesitation as he left and went to Noah Vale’s ward. I dragged this body that felt like it was about to fall apart to my feet and slowly left while holding on to the wall. I had expected this outcome long ago. In the years after I returned home, I had resisted and argued countless times. I tried to make Adrian Sterling and Marcus Hale know Noah Vale’s true colors. I tried to find the old versions of them again. But I failed, over and over again. What I received from beginning to end was only humiliation. The way they looked at me grew colder and darker, and their rejection of me became more obvious. They indulged Noah Vale as he threw his weight around. Noah Vale was spoiled to the extreme, so it was common for him to bully me. No one stood up for me, and I had gotten used to it long ago. After finally crawling back to my old rented room, I squeezed myself and the blanket onto the cramped little bed. It was too cold, and the chill was like needles embedded in the cracks of my bones. Dense stabbing pain came from my stomach, and I propped myself up before vomiting blood all over the floor. I fainted from the pain and hung there by the edge of the bed, barely staying up. When I woke up again, my phone had already been bombarded by messages and calls from Adrian Sterling. The first thing I saw was his questioning. [The moment we mention donating a kidney to Noah, you disappear. Is this fun for you? You really are a cold-blooded monster. No matter where you hide, I’ll drag you out.] [Your kidney belongs to Noah.] It was Noah Vale’s trick again, and whatever he wanted, Adrian Sterling would offer up with both hands. Soon, this precious Mr. Vale lowered himself to call me. He openly admitted that nothing was wrong with him at all, and he only wanted to see how pathetic a stray dog like me could get. I listened in silence as his tone went from smug to furious from embarrassment. “Julian Hale, speak!” Noah Vale ordered loudly. “Who gave you the nerve to ignore me? Why are you ignoring me? Why are you pretending you can’t hear me?” Too noisy. I hung up tiredly and lay down properly, and the violent twisting pain had already subsided. While they were trying to catch me, I was only lying here and barely clinging to life. Look, if they cared even a little, how could they not know where I lived? I never expected that the first person to break down my door would be him. Noah Vale. He arrived not long after I hung up on him.

He stood inside the small, empty room. He wore an expensive custom suit and stepped in handmade leather shoes worth a fortune, looking completely out of place here. I still remembered that this artisan had once made leather shoes only for me. Noah Vale had not even said he liked them, yet he got them. Adrian Sterling believed his Noah deserved the best things. Trash like me did not deserve them. The blood on the floor had not yet been cleaned up, and Noah Vale narrowed his sharp eyes. “I want your kidney. That shouldn’t make you so angry you cough up blood,” Noah Vale said as he looked down at me. “Or are you putting on an act here, waiting for Adrian Sterling to find you and feel sorry for you?” He crouched down, pinched my face, and said coldly, “That will never happen.” He said, “You’re too pathetic. No one loves you.” My body was too weak, and resisting Noah Vale did nothing. Before my fist could hit his face, he forced me away and locked me up. Inside the huge villa, Noah Vale chained me to the bed. “Everything you have is mine. You just wait here while I take away everything you cherish.” Before long, I was pressed into the hospital. Noah Vale and Adrian Sterling controlled me strictly, and I failed when I tried to call the police. My kidney was removed, and Adrian Sterling busied himself around Noah Vale with concern. Even Marcus Hale, who had been overseas, flew back and stayed by his side every second. They were terrified that anything might happen to Noah Vale. In a corner no one cared about, my condition worsened, and I had nowhere to turn for help. I had known long ago that I was dying, but the fear of death still drowned me. I only saw Marcus Hale’s back, yet because of the fear brought by death, I actually developed an unrealistic hope for him. He was my brother, and after our parents died, he had loved me since we were children. He said, “It’s okay that Mom and Dad are gone. You still have me.” But when I crawled in a mess and clutched his pant leg, begging him, he only kicked me away in disgust. “How did you become like this? Are you even trying to steal Noah’s medical resources now?” Marcus Hale looked at me in disappointment. “Why do you always like stealing Noah’s things? Haven’t we given you enough?” Was I the one stealing Noah Vale’s things? “I didn’t, Marcus…” My mouth was full of the taste of blood, and the wound hurt so badly that my hands kept shaking. “I didn’t steal his things. I’m really in pain. I’m really dying.” Marcus Hale said viciously, “Then go die.”

He said I should kneel and apologize to Noah Vale before I died. When I climbed up, I seemed to feel that my body had already reached its limit. “Absolutely not,” I said, looking straight at him. “I never did anything wrong.” When Marcus Hale heard me say that, he became even more furious. “Never did anything wrong? How dare you say that?” “When you were little and didn’t know better, you took the money I nearly killed myself earning and went out to waste it, then said you lost it. If Noah hadn’t brought over his own tuition money, we would have died that winter! Noah was nearly beaten to death by his foster parents because of that!” “And what about you? You shamelessly told me you were the one who found the missing money and deceived me for so long. To keep your lie from being exposed, you even forced Noah away and caused him to disappear for so many years.” “What’s worse is that when Adrian Sterling was attacked during the family power struggle and was stuffed into a ferry to be sent away and abandoned, the person who saved him was clearly Noah, but you said it was you. Yet at that time, you were clearly in the hospital receiving treatment!” I looked at the red veins filling his eyes because of his rage, as if he wanted to eat me alive. The feeling of not being trusted was not good at all. Only now did I know why they had become like this. They were not even willing to ask me a single question, nor were they willing to investigate at all. Just like that, they declared me guilty. “I didn’t.” I was exhausted in body and mind. “Back then, the money was stolen by Noah Vale, and I went out to chase him. I was also the one who saved Adrian Sterling. At that time, my condition worsened, and I had no choice but to leave after getting him settled.” I did not force Noah Vale away; he was the one who could not endure his foster parents’ abuse and ran away. I never expected Noah Vale to find the injured Adrian Sterling and take my place. But Marcus Hale did not believe a single word I said. He closed his eyes, and his voice sank. “You’re still slandering Noah even now. I’m so disappointed in you.” “If you had left with Mom and Dad back then, you wouldn’t have become this vicious.” After leaving those words behind, Marcus Hale walked away cleanly and coldly. Blood soaked through the gauze and hospital gown, and that patch of red stung my eyes. With the last bit of money I had, I went from place to place seeking medical help, but not a single hospital would take me in. Marcus Hale and Adrian Sterling had been ruthless enough. I no longer had enough money to take a cab back to my remote rented room. The weather was too cold, and the chill seeped into my thin, cheap cotton coat. My body was so cold it stiffened, and my wound became inflamed and filled with pus. The high fever made me lose control of my limbs, and I fell onto a deserted road. My stomach twisted in pain, and I felt as if I was being sliced apart alive. Gradually, I lost consciousness. When I woke up again, all the pain in my body had disappeared, and I felt unbelievably light. II had just wanted to touch my wound, but my hand passed straight through my body. When I looked up in panic, I saw myself lying by the roadside, already no longer breathing. Oh, so I was dead.

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When passion ran high, Ethan Blackwood fastened a woman’s nightgown around me and told me to get on my knees. The tie around my throat cut off the oxygen to my brain, and I let him degrade me. All because I had loved him for twelve years, and at last, I thought my wish had come true. But early the next morning, feverish and burning up, I was slapped unconscious by his adopted sister, who mistook me for a rent boy. Ethan woke me and told me to go to Frost Pavilion that night to clear up the misunderstanding with his adopted sister, meet his friends, and receive my rightful place. I got lost and accidentally entered the control room, where I heard voices coming from the surveillance feed. “To marry little Princess Chloe, you really made one hell of a sacrifice, huh?” Ethan looked tenderly at Chloe Blackwood, who was drinking milk. “My family won’t agree to me marrying Chloe, so I had to use the broken-window effect and find a man to force them to lower their standards.” “Dress him up and play with him, and he’s no different from a woman.” In an instant, my whole body went cold, and I collapsed to the floor. Then I heard Ethan agree to those men’s request to try something new. He said, “Julian Lane will be here soon, so enjoy yourselves.”

Their jeering pierced my eardrums. I staggered out of the control room in a mess, wanting only to leave. But as I passed the private room, my ringtone suddenly rang. The door was yanked open, and Ethan looked down at me from above. “Go in and apologize to Chloe first.” My teeth chattered, and the slap mark on my face was still bright red. Ethan ignored my refusal. After I was dragged into the private room, countless sticky gazes lunged at me and swallowed me inch by inch. I could not think about anything else, so I apologized in panic. I thought I could leave faster if I apologized. But Chloe sobbed, “Ethan, don’t force Julian anymore, it’s all my fault.” I froze on the spot, and the words I wanted to use to defend myself stuck in my throat. Everyone accused me of not knowing what was good for me and making her cry. They shouted that they should teach me a lesson to vent Chloe’s anger. Ethan also protected Chloe and ordered me to kneel in a hostile tone. My heart was full of shock and bitterness, and as I said it was impossible, I backed toward the door. But someone suddenly kicked the back of my knee, and I fell to the ground. Someone grabbed my hair viciously, and the pain made tears spill from my eyes. At Ethan’s signal, his friends slammed my head heavily against the floor and forced me to beg for mercy and apologize. I clenched my teeth, blood covering my face. “I did nothing wrong…” Chloe smiled bleakly and pulled her hand out of Ethan’s. “It’s my fault.” In an instant, the person behind me became even more brutal. I convulsed from the pain, while Ethan focused only on comforting Chloe. “How about I take you to the prairie to ride horses?” Ethan had gone too far last night, then promised to take me to Montana and ride the horses his mother had left there. He knew I loved open fields and freedom, and that I could not refuse. Now he did not even look at me, gave that promise to Chloe, and said, “Julian stays here.” “Liam and the others said they wanted to try something new, didn’t they? They’ll teach Julian a proper lesson for you.” I was discarded like trash, and Ethan left holding Chloe’s hand. Chloe stepped on the back of my hand with her high heel and ground it down hard several times, then looked back with a mocking and contemptuous gaze. Her lips moved silently: filthy rent boy. Cold sweat mixed with blood streamed down my face, and in a haze, I begged. “Ethan, don’t do this to me… You said you wouldn’t bully me anymore.” I had been sponsored by the Blackwood family, had loved him for twelve years, and had let him bring people to bully me for ten years. Last night, he held me in his arms and said every sweet word imaginable. I believed every single one. We had agreed to grow old together, but after a mere twenty-four hours, only the ridiculous and naive me remained. Ethan’s expression did not look good, as if he was hesitating. But when Chloe shed another tear, he gave up on me. I fought with all my strength, grabbed a shard of glass from the floor, pressed it against my artery, and said through chattering teeth, “Let me go!” Ethan burned with rage, grabbed my wrist, and forced me to loosen my hand. “Julian Lane!” “What are you so unwilling about? Didn’t you scheme your way into my bed for money?” “I’m introducing you to new clients, so why are you pretending to be so pure?” I never thought that was how Ethan saw me. All the words I wanted to use to explain fell silent in my chest. He looked down at me from above. “If that’s the case, then get lost and go to the red-light district to learn how to serve men.”

I was dragged to the red-light district in the slums. On a crude wooden bed, I spent two years living a life worse than death, and I developed severe depression. Madam Zoe lit a cigarette and looked at me with some pity. “Look at you, a perfectly good college student, and somehow you offended so many powerful people.” I stared at the ceiling without any reaction. I remembered what Chloe had said. “Ethan gave the orders, and they’ll make sure you only take old, ugly, broke losers, so you learn your lesson.” I could not forget the disgust in Mr. Blackwood’s eyes either. “I sponsored you, and this is how you repay me? Messing around with my son like that? I think you must not want to live!” He brought in infected men, one after another, and sent them into my tiny cubicle day and night for thirty straight days. The ulcers on my body began to hurt again, and I trembled as I crawled up, fell to the floor, grabbed the painkillers in the drawer, and swallowed an entire handful. In my daze, I seemed to hear Madam Zoe say, “Clean yourself up, someone is here to pick you up.” I was already rotten all the way through, so no one would care about me. Thinking of that, I tugged at the corner of my mouth self-mockingly, then lay on the floor and closed my eyes. When I heard footsteps, my body moved from muscle memory, and I crawled up, knelt at the man’s feet, and reached out to undo his belt buckle. “Do you want protection, sir? Two dollars each.” I received no answer for a long time, but I kept moving anyway. Here, too many people hesitated over five dollars, and I had long since gotten used to it. But this time, what I heard was not a reluctant “yes.” Instead, it was a low roar suppressed with rage. “Julian Lane! Are you really this cheap?” My whole body shook, and my muscles spasmed instantly. Almost the next second, I prostrated myself and apologized mechanically. “This slut knows he was wrong, this slut will never dare disobey your orders again, and this slut will never dare make the little princess cry again.” I kept knocking my head against the floor, again and again, and I could not feel the pain. I saw the shock in Ethan’s eyes, but there was not the slightest ripple in my heart. It was clearly his order, so I did not know what he was pretending for. Ethan grabbed my arm and lifted my weightless body up, and I stumbled as I met his gaze. “I really won’t dare again…” Disgust flashed through Ethan’s eyes. But he took off his suit jacket and threw it over my head. “Wash yourself clean and come back with me.” When I heard I could leave, I no longer cared about anything. I never wanted to experience these days worse than death again. I promised in a trembling voice, “Don’t worry, I will never have any improper thoughts again, and I will listen to you and the little princess.” “Whoever you and the little princess want me to serve, I will serve.” I lowered myself to the humblest position, but Ethan was actually dissatisfied. With a dark expression, he told me to shut up, and I shrank back and fell silent. I showered as ordered, and in the cracked mirror, I saw a version of myself that could never be clean again, but my eyes were calm. Ethan was actually still waiting there. He sat on a wobbly chair with one broken leg and lit a cigarette. “My family agreed to let me marry Chloe.” I lowered my head dully. “Congratulations.” The broken-window effect had truly worked, and he got what he wanted. But my lifelong wish had shattered two years ago. “Weren’t you a broadcasting major? Chloe said she wants you to be the officiant at our wedding.” His voice was light and ordinary, and he did not think anything was wrong. He fully supported Chloe using the wedding to hurt me and humiliate me. But my voice had been completely ruined. I did not know how many burning cigarette butts had been shoved into my throat. Ethan did not hear it, or maybe he simply did not care.

I agreed. As long as there was a chance to escape, I would not give it up. When I spoke, the smell of smoke made me cough, and a choking sensation surged up, making me wave my hands wildly. I skillfully fell against the nightstand, pulled out my asthma inhaler, and saved myself. The whole process took less than a minute, and I escaped from death’s door again. “I forgot you have asthma.” There was a little regret in Ethan’s tone. I shook my head to show it did not matter, because in the past two years, I had long grown used to wandering along the edge of life and death. After all, here, there was no man who did not smoke. Seeing that his manners kept him from crushing the cigarette butt out on the floor, and that he was pinching it without knowing where to put it out, I obediently knelt beside him and held out both hands. My hands had once been extremely beautiful, but now my palms were covered in cigarette scars. Ethan stood up abruptly in shock, and the cigarette butt fell to the floor. “What happened to this? Why are they like this?!” I looked up in confusion, then lowered my eyes submissively. “It’s all my fault for not being obedient, but I won’t be like that anymore.” “With these hands like this, they make people feel even better.” When I touched them, no man could resist that soul-melting sensation. But Ethan suddenly grew angry and sneered as he called me filthy. I did not refute him, and I obediently got into his car to go home. Chloe came to greet us from a distance, and only then did Ethan’s tightly furrowed brows relax slightly, and a smile appeared on his face. He gently tapped the tip of Chloe’s nose. “Everything is ready, so you can marry me now, right?” He gave Chloe the grandest wedding, and every part of it was filled with my favorite elements. Blue irises filled the entire venue. Countless love letters hung from the ceiling. Even the wedding suit was the exact design I had drawn in my diary. I suddenly fell into a daze and froze in place. Chloe affectionately linked her arm through mine and smiled. “What do you think of this wedding? Do you like it?” “To repay me, shouldn’t you invite me to watch a good show?” I did not quite understand, and my whole body went stiff as I walked into the venue. In the next instant, someone viciously yanked me away. Ethan shielded Chloe behind him and looked at me warily. “What exactly are you trying to do by tricking Chloe into getting close to you?” I froze, and my very soft “nothing” was cut off. Chloe persuaded Ethan to leave, and the wedding proceeded smoothly. Before going onstage, I casually drank a glass of water to moisten my throat. Under my guidance as the host, the man I loved most married his adopted sister, the woman he had always truly loved, and spoke his vows. As I watched them exchange rings, I suddenly grew so hot that my mind became unclear, and I let out an indecent sound in front of everyone. There was something wrong with that glass of water! Before I had time to explain, the big screen flickered strangely and began playing footage of me confessing my love beneath Ethan that night. My hidden diary was also revealed. It recorded the wedding arrangement I had dreamed of, and it was exactly the same as today’s venue setup. The crowd erupted, and people raised their hands to tear down the hanging love letters. They were filled with my dirty thoughts about Ethan. From eighteen to thirty, I was stripped bare and forced to endure a slow, naked execution. The bouquet in Chloe’s hands fell to the floor, and she cried as she questioned me. “I begged Ethan to save you and bring you back, so why did you have to ruin my wedding?”

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I was always secretly watching him from the corner. When I learned he had kidney disease, I got tested as a match right away and prayed he would be safe. When he was finally discharged, he gave me a burning hug, and it was truly warm. The diary I had hidden on the second shelf of the bookcase was exposed to everyone by his girlfriend. Ethan Blackwood looked at me with disgust. “You freak, fantasizing about someone of the same sex. You’re disgusting. Get lost!” He thought I was filthy, evil, and in need of corrective treatment, so he personally sent me to a conversion center. My six years scattered with one gust of wind. The day I left the conversion center, the sun was bright, and someone with dirty blood did not deserve to live in this world. At my funeral, he held my gravestone and sobbed. He begged to spend the rest of our lives together in the next life. This year was the sixth year since we met. He was the illegitimate son despised by his family. I was just an orphan. Even so, we still built an empire, and we even reorganized and acquired the Blackwood family’s shares. I also became his capable assistant and private secretary. Mrs. Blackwood praised us for being so close and took me in as her godson, and he became my brother in name. Ethan Blackwood finally became a business titan. I thought everything was going smoothly until the physical exam. He was diagnosed with kidney failure. “You can look into what conditions require a kidney transplant.” I directed them to do the matching tests and prayed he would be safe. Maybe God blessed us, because we were not related by blood, but our compatibility was extremely high, so I donated one kidney. The surgery went smoothly, and there was no rejection. On the day he was discharged, his eyes were red as he hugged me. Our bodies were pressed tightly together, and I could smell the clean sandalwood scent on him. But his girlfriend raised my secret crush diary. In front of everyone, she read it aloud. I pressed my lips together, lowered my head, and did not dare look at his reaction. “Everyone thinks these two are as close as brothers, but Caleb Hayes is a freak!” “I never thought we could merge together. My kidney inside his body counts as us being inseparable too.” Ethan’s pupils shook in shock. The scar on the right side of my waist still throbbed faintly. His kidney… intimately merged… All the relatives present frowned and moved away in disgust. They were afraid of touching the filthy me. Lily Monroe questioned me with tears in her eyes. “I finally understand why you didn’t agree to our wedding. This is your reason!” “No…” I tried to argue and wanted to snatch the diary back, because it was not like that… I had always buried this feeling deep in my heart. She held the diary and dodged backward, deliberately falling down the stairs. I wanted to pull her back. I saw the malicious and reckless smile on her face. She fell heavily onto the stairs, and her forehead hit the handrail, leaving a bruise. Ethan ran downstairs and picked her up in his arms. I grabbed his clothes and tried to explain, but I only touched a bit of his skin. Ethan shoved me away violently. I hit the stair railing, and my back hurt so badly, but my heart hurt even more. “You freak, fantasizing about someone of the same sex. You’re disgusting. Get lost!” He ordered his assistant to send me to a conversion center so they could wash the filthy things out of my brain and blood. A black car came to take me away. I watched one heavy, rotten iron gate after another close behind me. The treating doctor showed me a video. Ethan proposed to Lily in the hospital room and put a diamond ring on her finger. The plain and simple hospital room had been decorated beautifully, and the diamond ring on her hand sparkled too. What a beautiful proposal ceremony. The image changed, and I saw Ethan wearing a smile that came from the bottom of his heart before he signed his name on the consent form. Voluntarily accepting treatment.

“Congratulations. I hope we won’t meet again, and you must not disclose the contents of our treatment.” Dr. Warren sent me to the entrance. Just like the day I arrived, the same black car was still at the gate. He had come. Fragmented sunlight shone through the trees and fell on him, draping him in a layer of golden gauze and softening his features. At six feet tall, with handsome features, he attracted attention just by standing there. I stood at the gate with the diary Dr. Warren had returned to me. Watching him walk toward me, I could not help hunching my shoulders and backing away. That was daily life in the conversion center. Every day, Dr. Warren would hold Ethan’s photo and ask me over and over, “Do you still love him?” Whether I answered or stayed silent, I would suffer electric shocks. As long as I moved, they shocked me. For an entire year, I lay on a cold bed and endured electric currents. The piercing electricity felt like dense needles. It kept stabbing me. It hurt so much, and I was afraid to see him… Dr. Warren stood beside me with terrifying eyes. “Remember not to make mistakes again, or we will have to meet again.” I walked toward Ethan, unable to breathe. I watched the rotten iron gate, marked by time, slowly close. This was hell, and I could not wait to escape. “Get in.” Ethan took the initiative to open the passenger door. “Thank you.” I carefully opened the back seat door and looked out the window while holding my notebook. Every time I saw Ethan, I remembered that dark life of electric shocks. I could not help keeping my distance from him. “You… how have you been this past year?” His gaze came through the rearview mirror. He saw the diary in my hands. “All of this is already in the past. I heard from the doctor that your reform went very well.” I could feel the disgust in his gaze gathering on this diary. But this diary was full of my feelings for him. “Mm.” I turned my head and looked at the scenery outside the window. My knuckles turned slightly white as I gripped the diary. “I don’t want to see that diary.” That was right. This diary was full of my fantasies about him, full of surging love. He thought I was something filthy… even my blood was dirty. I put the diary in the trunk. I watched the route on the GPS become more and more familiar, and the black car stopped in the garage of the Blackwood family villa. Looking at the place that was still familiar, it seemed like nothing had changed. “I want to go home.” I bit my lip and resisted. She had read the diary aloud, and I did not dare look Mrs. Blackwood in the eyes at all. Mrs. Blackwood had cared for me and said I was her godson, but I had secretly hidden those thoughts. “This is your home.” Ethan opened the car door. He stood in front of me, and the distance between us was close, so I could still smell the fresh sandalwood scent. His eyes only held me, and with just one movement, my heart fell into chaos. The time of treatment echoed in my mind like a movie playing in reverse. To resist the electric shocks, I could only submit. Yet this heart still beat for him. The evening wind brushed my face. Remembering Dr. Warren’s creepy smile, I reined in my thoughts and got out of the car. The round table was covered with food. Mrs. Blackwood greeted me cheerfully. “I cooked a whole table of food myself.” Looking at the food that looked excellent, I had just wanted to praise it. But the door suddenly opened. Lily and a young girl walked in hand in hand, smiling. The atmosphere was strange. It felt more like a trap. I did not know this extra girl. Mrs. Blackwood pulled me over and made us sit on the same sofa. I understood.

“Caleb, you and Jenna are such a good match.” The girl Mrs. Blackwood introduced to me. “Yes, a handsome man and a beautiful woman.” Ethan also chimed in. They echoed each other. His words were like steel needles piercing my heart and stomping it underfoot, and broken, unbearable pain swept over me. Yet their gazes were all full of expectation. My whole body stiffened, and my fingers could not help trembling. “Let’s eat. You young people should spend more time together and go for a walk.” Lily held Ethan’s hand and acted coquettishly. The workload had increased recently. The sounds around me became like surround sound. Mrs. Blackwood put food into my bowl. “People have to get married and have children when they reach a certain age. Getting married, having children, and continuing the bloodline seemed to be the ultimate goal of all humans. When you reached a certain age, you had to complete the corresponding task, or you were a defective person. … When I was at the conversion center. I had also stubbornly talked back. “Do people really have to get married? There can be true love between people of the same sex too.” Dr. Warren sneered. “As a man, you should stand tall and upright. Liking the same sex is filthy by nature. Your blood and brain are hiding dirty things, so let me help you wash them clean.” He made a treatment plan for me. He locked me in a small room with only half a window for ventilation, and every day, they kept throwing feces and urine inside. The walls of the once-white room were covered in stains, and flies flew everywhere. I was locked up for a full week. I collapsed on the floor, my clothes covered in stains, feces, and urine. I was afraid of that kind of life. I had never been trampled under someone’s feet and had my dignity crushed. Only if I behaved well could I avoid being tortured. I gave in. “Mrs. Blackwood, you’re right.” I could clearly see Mrs. Blackwood relax. Yes, they all liked hearing me answer like this. When we first met. Jenna Lewis chattered and asked me many questions. She also poured me several glasses of wine. I lay dizzily on the sofa to rest, and my mind was still a little detached, but I could hear them chatting. I listened to them laugh and gossip. “Lily, that’s so nice. When are you holding the wedding? I’m so jealous you get to marry Mr. Blackwood, but I heard there’s a friend by his side who’s madly in love with him. Now you don’t only have to guard against women, but also men…” The faint drunkenness vanished instantly. I pressed my lips together and carefully eavesdropped. Maybe it was because of the alcohol, but their conversation was open and bold. “I also heard that Mr. Blackwood once fed him medicine, and he even wrote it in his diary! Now I really have to ask the person involved. What does it feel like when a man does that to you? Do your fingers go all tingly?” Her voice was full of malicious amusement. When I turned my head, I could see Lily propping up her arm and looking at me provocatively. “It’s getting late. Go home.” Ethan’s face was dark as he ordered Lily to see the guest out. He grabbed my arm and dragged me upstairs. We entered the study.

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