1 Inside the Maybach, Ted was lost in Aurora’s kiss. The hazy glow of the city lights blurred past the tinted windows as he leaned back into the plush leather, the intoxicating scent of her perfume clouding his senses. She was a whirlwind of controlled passion, her lips claiming his with a fierce possessiveness that left him breathless. Aurora pulled back just enough to whisper against his ear, her voice a low, husky murmur. “The partition is up, Ted. The driver can’t hear a thing. What are you so shy about?” He watched her, the woman who was always so composed, now moving with a raw intensity that made his face flush. He wrapped his arms around her, surrendering completely to the tidal wave of sensation she was building within him. It was climbing, cresting, about to peak when the shrill ring of her phone shattered the moment. Aurora frowned, annoyed by the interruption, but a glance at the caller ID made her answer. Ted, still catching his breath, saw the name on the screen: Yara, her best friend. “Aurora, are you crazy—?” Aurora cut her off, switching seamlessly to flawless Italian. “It’s not convenient. Speak Italian.” There was a sharp inhale on the other end, then Yara’s voice, now a torrent of angry Italian. “You really married Simon Shen? What were you thinking? You went blind saving him, and he abandoned you at the lowest point of your life! He ran off with another woman and nearly destroyed you. And now you’re back with him?!” The foreign words clicked into place in Ted’s mind, translating automatically. By the time he processed the meaning, a chill that had nothing to do with the car’s air conditioning seized him. It felt like falling into an ice cellar. Aurora, oblivious, replied calmly in Italian, “If I don’t marry him, the Shen family will force him to marry some old hag. I can’t bear to see him suffer like that.” “And what about Ted?” Yara shot back, her voice tight with fury. “He was the only one there for you when you were blind! He’s spent years loving you, practically tearing his own heart out for you. All of us see it!” “I’ll keep it from him,” Aurora said, her tone still cool and detached. “He’ll never know.” “How long can you hide it? A lifetime? Doesn’t Ted want to marry you?” The questions seemed to chip away at Aurora’s composure. Her voice grew clipped. “Just make sure the news of my marriage to Simon doesn’t get out. Tell no one. In a while, I’ll have a fake marriage certificate made for Ted.” She hung up, cutting off whatever else Yara had to say. Dropping the phone, she turned her attention back to Ted, her body moving against his once more. But the spell was broken. Ted’s body was trembling uncontrollably. As the moment passed and they began to straighten their clothes, he opened his mouth to speak, but her phone pinged again. A notification from a “favorite” contact. Aurora glanced at it, and her expression changed. “Stop the car,” she told the driver. She turned to Ted, her voice soft. “Darling, something’s come up at the office. I need you to get out here and grab a cab home, okay?” He said nothing, just gave a numb nod and opened the door. The black Maybach shot away like a bolt of lightning, leaving him standing on the pavement. He stared into the river of headlights, the city’s roar a dull hum in his ears. The dam of his composure finally broke, and tears streamed down his face. No one knew he had secretly learned Italian years ago, just to feel closer to her world. He had understood every single word. Each syllable echoed in his mind, a thousand tiny blades plunging into his heart, dredging up memories he’d long since buried. Aurora Murray was the untouchable heiress, and he was the housekeeper’s son. He remembered the first time he saw her, a sun-drenched angel at a grand piano in the Murray family’s magnificent villa. He had never heard music so beautiful, nor seen a girl so radiant. In that single glance, her name was carved into his soul. He never told anyone, knowing the chasm between their worlds was too vast. Besides, her heart already belonged to someone else: Simon Shen, her childhood friend. She had loved him openly, fiercely. At seventeen, she’d thrown herself in front of a car to save him, losing her sight in the accident. But from that day on, Simon vanished. He never visited, got a new girlfriend, and left Aurora to navigate her new, dark world alone. The busy Murray family had little time for a blind daughter, and she was relegated to the old family estate, forgotten. It was Ted who requested a transfer to the old house. For seven years, he was her world. Her hands, her eyes, her shadow. When she turned twenty-three, he knelt outside the home of a world-renowned surgeon for three days and three nights, begging until the doctor agreed to take her case. The surgery was a success. Her light, once dimmed, blazed back brighter than ever. In just one year, she reclaimed her position, becoming the heir to the Murray Corporation. He was the one who had stayed with her through every season, from the deepest night to the break of dawn. He was the one who held her, kissed her, made love to her. And the first thing she did with her reclaimed power was marry the man who had abandoned her. For years, he had worked tirelessly to close the gap between them, to become worthy. But Aurora’s parents only ever saw the housekeeper’s son. They tried to pay him off, again and again. Aurora always fought for him, and for her, he had never once considered leaving. Until today. Ted wiped his tears, pulled out his phone, and dialed a number. “Mrs. Murray,” he said, his voice steady. “I’ll accept your fifty million. I’ll leave Aurora forever.” 2 A thrill of victory shot through Mrs. Murray’s voice. “You’ve finally come to your senses? It’s about time. A housekeeper’s son has no place with the heir to the Murray fortune. Where are you? Come sign the contract now.” An address popped up on his screen. With a bitter laugh, Ted hailed a cab. At the café, Mrs. Murray interrogated him, her questions sharp and clinical. Satisfied with his answers, she slid a contract across the table. “Black and white. No regrets once you sign. You’ll get half the money now, and the other half the day you leave the country. You are to ensure you never, ever appear in front of my daughter again. Understood?” Ted’s gaze fell on the astronomical sum listed in the agreement. His lashes fluttered. He would never appear again. Not in this life, not in the next. He picked up the pen and signed his name with a clean, decisive stroke. Mrs. Murray let out a relieved sigh, tucking the agreement away. “I’m giving you two weeks. Disappear. Change your name, move abroad, I don’t care how. Just make sure Aurora can never find you.” “I understand, Mrs. Murray. Don’t worry.” He watched her leave, then headed home. Making himself invisible to Aurora would be simple. The Murray family’s deep-rooted political history meant they were barred from leaving the country for three generations. If he emigrated, she would never be able to follow. After a long night of research, he settled on Australia. As he picked up his phone to check the time, a new social media notification caught his eye. It was Simon. A nine-photo grid. Three selfies of him holding roses, three photos of a marriage certificate in the center, and three of their hands, fingers intertwined. Ted knew Aurora would never have allowed this post. Simon must have set the visibility to “Ted only.” A deliberate, triumphant jab. Ted calmly liked the post. A moment later, a message from Aurora came through. “Darling, I have to go on a business trip. I won’t be back for a few days.” He replied with a simple “Okay” and went to wash his face. The next few days were a blur of logistics. He applied for an expedited visa, filed his resignation, and packed his life into boxes. Each day brought a new, poisoned post from Simon: touring a new villa in South Bay, trying on wedding suits with a diamond sparkling on his finger, posing in front of a massive wedding portrait in their new home. Ted liked every single one. He methodically purged his apartment of Aurora. Every gift she’d ever given him, the matching toothbrushes, the framed photos—all of it went into the trash. He was about to turn off the lights late one night when she suddenly returned. She froze in the doorway, her brow furrowing at the sparsely decorated room. “Why is so much stuff missing?” “I didn’t like it anymore,” he said calmly. “Threw it out. We can buy new things.” She nodded, tossing her coat on the sofa. Then her eyes landed on the packed boxes. “You quit your job?” She spotted his official documents on the coffee table. “Why is your passport out?” “I was tired, wanted to take a break,” he explained, tucking the documents into his bag. “And I needed it for some paperwork.” His placid demeanor seemed to satisfy her. She curled into his arms, her voice soft. “I know I’ve been busy. Your birthday is in a couple of days. How about I take you to the auction house tomorrow? You can pick out any gift you want.” He didn’t refuse. The next day, they had just taken their seats at the auction when Simon appeared, striding over with an arrogant swagger and sitting right next to Aurora. Throughout the evening, Aurora kept her head turned towards Ted, ignoring Simon completely. After the auction, she grabbed Ted’s hand and led him downstairs. Ted excused himself to the restroom. When he came out, he saw Simon cornered in the stairwell by a group of rowdy socialites. “Well, well, if it isn’t our dear Simon,” one of them sneered. “Abandoned the great Aurora Murray and now look at you. Isn’t this what you call karma?” “I hear your father is marrying you off to some rich old crone. You’re pretty enough. Why not come with us instead? We’ll be sure to take very good care of you…” The lewd suggestion was cut short. Aurora appeared at the top of the stairs, her face a mask of cold fury. She descended like a storm, kicking one of the women so hard she stumbled back. 3 With chilling efficiency, she slammed the ringleader to the ground, raining down punches until the women were a bloody, pleading mess. “We’re sorry, Ms. Murray! Please, forgive us!” “Get out!” she snarled. “If I ever see you near him again, you’ll regret it.” The terrified group scrambled away. A crowd had gathered, but Aurora ignored their stares. She helped Simon to his feet. “Are you hurt?” He collapsed into her arms, sobbing theatrically. “My ankle… I think it’s sprained. It hurts so much.” Aurora’s expression hardened. She supported him, pushing through the crowd. In her haste to shield him, she shoved past Ted, knocking him off balance. His head cracked against the hard edge of a step. A searing pain shot through his skull, and warm blood trickled down his temple. The onlookers gasped. “He’s bleeding! Someone call an ambulance!” Pain contorted Ted’s face as a cold sweat broke out over his body. The blood dripped onto his eyelashes, each drop feeling as heavy as lead. He watched Aurora disappear down the stairs without a backward glance, a bitter taste filling his mouth. He remembered a time he’d cut his finger while making soup for her. She had fussed over him for an hour, terrified it would scar. She had kissed his hand, murmuring, “Ted, you’re the most precious thing to me. When you’re hurt, I hurt more. Your hands will wear the ring I give you one day. They have to be perfect.” Now, he was bleeding on the floor, and she didn’t even see him. And the ring she’d promised was on another man’s hand. An ambulance took him to the hospital. He navigated the bureaucracy alone—registration, examination, prescription—and got home late into the night, the pain in his head making sleep impossible. Aurora never came home. The next morning, he dragged his exhausted body out of bed to change his dressing and saw Simon’s latest post: a video of Aurora kneeling on the floor, gently massaging Simon’s ankle and applying medicine. Ted watched it over and over, his eyes burning, until he finally drifted into a restless sleep. When he woke, it was dark again. His phone was vibrating. It was Aurora. “The Pavilion, Suite 703. Come now.” He hesitated, then pulled himself from bed and went. Pushing open the door to the private room, the first person he saw was Simon, looking like a wronged, innocent rabbit. Aurora sat opposite, her expression unreadable and severe. The silence stretched until Ted finally broke it. “Why did you call me here?” Aurora sat up straight, her posture radiating authority. “Ted. Those thugs yesterday… did you send them to harass him?” Ted froze. He glanced at Simon and caught the fleeting glint of triumph in the other man’s eyes. He understood instantly. This was all a performance, directed by Simon. A self-deprecating smile touched his lips. “No. I don’t know them, and I have no interest in such games.” His denial did nothing to soften Aurora’s expression. “Ted,” she said, her voice dangerously calm, “the moment Simon chose to abandon me, I let him go. We’ve been together for seven years. You should know who is in my heart now. The Shen family is in ruins; anyone can kick them while they’re down. But that person shouldn’t be you. You don’t need to attack him on my behalf.” Her words were a physical blow. He remembered her screaming into her pillow at night, the frantic trips to doctors, the crushing despair when she was misdiagnosed as permanently blind… Seven years of hell, now dismissed as if they were nothing. He thought of the marriage certificate with Simon’s name on it, and tears pricked his eyes. “Yes,” he whispered, his voice thick with unshed grief. “Seven years. And only now do I truly understand who is in your heart.” Her eyes narrowed. “What is that supposed to mean?” He shook his head, the mocking smile returning. “It means I’m just a housekeeper’s son. What power or connections could I possibly have to hire thugs to bully a young master?” Even with the truth laid bare, she didn’t believe him. He was tired. So tired. “Since you don’t believe me, just tell me. What do you want me to do?” She pressed her temples. “Apologize, Ted. When you do something wrong, you say you’re sorry.” At that moment, Simon, who had been playing the victim, finally spoke. “An apology isn’t necessary. If you’re truly sorry, you can just drink these.” 4 On the table sat a row of glasses filled with amber whiskey. Ted’s gaze lifted to Aurora, searching her face for an answer. In the dim light, her expression was a shadow. The silence in the room was suffocating. He felt a desperate need for air, his mind flashing back. When he first came to the estate, the blind Aurora would drink herself into a stupor every day. He’d pleaded with her to stop, worried for her health. One night, drunk and bitter, she’d shoved several bottles in front of him. “Even a housekeeper’s son dares to control me now? Fine. You drink these, and I’ll listen to you.” He was allergic to alcohol. But to save her from herself, he hadn’t hesitated. He’d chugged every bottle and ended up in the hospital. He’d woken up to see her sitting by his bed, her face grim. “I’m the one who’s drunk, not you! Why would you play with your life when you know you’re allergic?” He’d only said one thing. “Because I worry about you, Miss. Your eyes will get better. And even if they don’t, I’ll be with you forever. So please, don’t give up.” From that day on, she never touched another drop of alcohol. The memory brought a smile to Ted’s lips, but his eyes glistened with tears. He didn’t argue. He reached for a glass, then another, and another, draining them one by one. The fiery liquid burned a path down his throat, a bitter fire spreading through his stomach, scorching the heart it could never reach. On the seventh glass, Aurora finally snapped. “Enough!” Ted looked at the dozen or so glasses left and laughed, a broken sound. “Enough? Is my apology accepted? Is your beloved satisfied?” Aurora shot to her feet, her face, usually so placid, now dark with fury. She grabbed his hand. “You know that’s not what I mean! Ted, I told you, Simon and I are over. My family disapproves of you, and if you do something so reckless, they’ll use it against you. I’m trying to protect you from their judgment!” Her words were so logical, so reasonable. And so utterly false. He laughed again, a raw, painful sound. Her family disapproved of the housekeeper’s son, but they’d welcome the man who had betrayed her? It was all just an excuse. He wasn’t the one she was willing to fight for. He wrenched his hand away and turned to leave. He made it to the door before his body gave out, and the world went black. “Ted!” Aurora’s heart seized. She rushed forward, sweeping him into her arms. But Simon grabbed her sleeve, his voice a pathetic whimper. “Aurora… I feel dizzy.” She paused. But only for a second. Then she strode out of the room, her voice trailing behind her. “I’m taking Ted to the hospital. Call your assistant.”

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My mother asked me which of the Levitans I would marry. This time, I didn’t choose Joe. I chose his uncle, Julian Levitan. A flicker of confusion crossed my mother’s face. After all, the entire elite of New York knew I’d been chasing Joe Levitan since we were children. For ten years, I was his shadow, his loyal puppy, and I’d loudly proclaimed I would marry no one else. A bitter smile touched my lips. I remembered my last life. After I married Joe, a chasm of ice existed between us in the marriage bed. He never touched me. I’d assumed he suffered from some private affliction, a condition too humiliating to admit, and I dedicated myself to protecting his secret. It wasn’t until our fiftieth wedding anniversary that I stumbled into the darkroom he kept locked, a sanctuary no one was ever allowed to enter. The walls were a haunting gallery, covered from floor to ceiling with photographs of my cousin, Kristen. The truth struck me like a physical blow. He wasn’t cold or incapable of passion. He just didn’t love me. So, in this new life, I’ve chosen to grant them their wish. I’ve set them free. But later, as I walked down the aisle in a gown of my own design, toward his uncle, the color drained from Joe’s face. And in that moment, he began to unravel. 1 Three days after the marriage alliance was finalized, I ran into Joe at a party. His friends spotted me first, their faces splitting into smug, mocking grins. “Hey, Joe, look what the cat dragged in. Your little shadow is here to play.” “Eleanor, honey, you’ve already locked down the Levitan name. Don’t you think you’re clinging a little tight? Can’t even let the guy have one night out with his friends?” When Joe saw me, his irritation was a palpable force. “Eleanor, are you that desperate?” he snapped, his voice low and sharp. “Forcing our families’ hands without even talking to me? Now the whole city thinks we’re engaged. You’ve really got some nerve.” His look of pure disgust was a familiar knife in my heart, but after a moment, I found my voice, calm and steady. “Your permission was never required. The man I’m marrying… it isn’t you.” A beat of silence, then the room erupted in laughter. Joe’s friends howled, clutching their sides. “Whoa, Joe, you better smooth things over with your little fiancée! Looks like she’s trying a new tactic to get your attention!” Joe’s brow furrowed. “So now we’re playing hard to get, Eleanor? Is that the new game?” He stepped closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Who else in my family would you possibly marry? You’ve been screaming from the rooftops that you’d only marry me since we were kids. Everyone in this city already sees you as my woman.” He leaned in, his breath warm against my ear. “I’ll let the engagement announcement slide. But you need to understand something. I can give you a grand wedding, the event of the season… but the marriage license? That is reserved for the woman I truly want to marry.” My eyes shot up to his, wide with shock. In my last life, at this exact moment, Joe had dutifully followed his family’s orders, marrying me without protest. Could it be? Had he been reborn, too? Before I could read the answer in his expression, my cousin, Kristen Croft, arrived. The moment she saw Joe and me standing together, tears welled in her eyes and began to stream down her cheeks. “Ellie… Joe… I heard… I heard you’re getting married soon. I… I don’t have a gift, but I just wanted to wish you… a lifetime of happiness…” Her voice broke, and she turned and fled, sobbing. “Look what you’ve done,” Joe hissed, glaring at me before chasing after her without a second glance back. 2 When they returned, their fingers were intertwined. Kristen’s lips were swollen and bruised from kissing, and a stark, fresh love bite bloomed on the column of Joe’s throat. Every eye in the room swiveled to me, hungry for the drama, waiting for the inevitable explosion. In the past, any girl who got this close to Joe would have been met with a storm of my tears and accusations, a desperate plea for him to turn his attention back to me. Joe protectively pulled Kristen behind him, his own expression a strange mix of defiance and anticipation. But minutes ticked by, and I remained silent. Motionless. A flicker of surprise crossed his face, quickly replaced by a cold sneer. “Well, look at you. Finally learning to act your age instead of throwing a tantrum.” When the party wound down, Joe caught my arm as I was leaving. “It’s late. I’ll give you a ride.” A free ride was a free ride. I didn’t refuse. I moved toward the back door of the car, but Joe blocked me, opening the front passenger door instead. “You sit in the back,” he commanded, then gently guided Kristen into the front seat. “Sorry, Ellie,” Kristen said, her voice dripping with faux sweetness. “Joe’s just worried about me. I get so carsick, you know…” I said nothing, sliding into the back seat where I’d intended to sit all along. The entire drive, Joe and Kristen flirted and laughed in the front, their voices a low murmur. At a red light, Kristen pouted, asking him to apply her lip balm. Their eyes met, the space between them shrinking until their breath mingled, heavy and charged. Suddenly, Joe’s gaze shot to the rearview mirror, as if just remembering I was there. When he saw me staring impassively out the window, a strange, dark expression clouded his face. He stomped on the gas the second the light turned green. When we arrived at my brownstone, he got out and stopped me again, a break from his usual routine. He pressed a small, velvet box into my hand. His tone was one of magnanimous charity. “Alright, that’s enough. Stop with the ‘I don’t care’ act. It’s cheap,” he said. “Consider this an engagement gift.” “As long as you behave,” he continued, “you’ll get your wedding. At least in name. Everyone in New York will know you as my wife.” I looked up at him. “And the woman who gets the marriage license? Who is she? Kristen?” His face contorted with a flash of fury, but beneath it, I saw a dark, triumphant satisfaction. “I knew it. I knew you were pretending. Listen to me, and listen carefully. You will not breathe a word of this to our parents.” “What Kristen and I have… it’s not something you could ever understand! She’s kind and fragile, not like you with all your petty schemes and manipulations. If you dare hurt her, don’t blame me if I call off the wedding entirely.” I almost laughed. His own cowardice, his inability to stand up to his family, was now somehow my fault. I turned and walked away without another word. The moment I stepped inside, my phone buzzed. It was a video from Kristen. In it, Joe was carefully fastening a necklace around her neck. I recognized the designer. It was then I realized the bracelet in my hand was the cheap, complimentary gift that came with the purchase of the necklace. Their bodies were close, and in the next second, they were kissing, a deep, wet sound that echoed unnervingly in the confines of the car. A text followed. [Ellie, honey. I’m sure Joe already told you, right? After his little wedding with you, he’s going to legally marry me.] [You know, a marriage that isn’t recognized by law has no claim to the family fortune. I guess it’s finally my turn to be Mrs. Levitan for real.] 3 Kristen. She was reborn, too. It all made sense now. In our past life, she and Joe had kept their distance publicly. This time, they were inseparable, their affair on flagrant display. They must have found each other, confessed everything, and decided to live out the grand romance they were denied before. I looked down at my hands, remembering. After I married into the Levitan family last time, their corporation, Levitan Industries, suddenly flourished. Contracts and orders poured in, their assets skyrocketed, and soon they were the wealthiest family in the city. The elders all said I was their good luck charm, that I brought prosperity to the family. They adored me for it. And so, despite Joe’s perpetual coldness, I had believed I was happy. Until I saw those photographs… My mother entered my room, her expression soft. “Julian will be back from Europe in five days,” she told me. I was surprised. In my previous life, Joe’s enigmatic uncle had never married. I hadn’t expected our alliance to proceed so smoothly. All I remembered of him was a kind, older presence from my childhood. Marrying him felt safer, more reassuring, than marrying anyone else. The next day, I was at my design studio early, ready to alter my wedding gown. I had been designing it since I started fashion school, dreaming of the day I would wear it. Back then, the man I was designing it for was Joe. Every stitch, every bead, was chosen to please him. He’d forbidden any of the floral embroidery I loved, calling it old-fashioned. This time, I could finally wear the dress I wanted, for a man who wasn’t him. A few days later, after finishing the final alterations, I took a break in the lounge. Scrolling through my phone, I froze. It was Kristen’s latest post. There she was, wearing my dress. Or what was left of it. The bottom half had been hacked off, turning my elegant gown into a vulgar micro-mini. In the photo, she was grinding against Joe on a dance floor. The caption read: [Joe knew I needed something to wear tonight, so he brought me this! It feels so good to be spoiled!] Disbelief propelled me to the fifth-floor ballroom. The scene was just as the picture depicted. Kristen and Joe were lost in a frenzied dance, her hips pressed tight against him. “That’s my wedding dress,” I said, my voice shaking with rage. “How could you give it to her? How could you let her destroy it like this?” Kristen saw me and immediately dissolved into tears, her face a mask of terrified innocence. “Joe… did I do something wrong? Why does Ellie look so angry? Sob…” Joe pulled her behind him. “Eleanor, it’s just a dress!” “You were going to wear it for me anyway, so what’s the big deal if Kristen borrows it for a dance?” he snapped. “Besides, I never liked that style. It’s stuffy. Just make a new one! Stop making a scene over nothing!” His shamelessness was breathtaking. “Who said this was for you to see? This is for my wedding!” Joe just shook his head, a dismissive sneer on his face. “Give it a rest, Eleanor. Your wedding, my wedding, it’s the same thing. I already agreed to marry you. This little drama act is getting old.” My eyes scanned the room and landed on a pair of fabric shears on a nearby table. I snatched them up, strode toward Kristen, and with one vicious snip, sliced through the trailing silk ribbons at her thigh. “Since you’re so confident, Joe, watch closely,” I said, my voice cold and clear. “I don’t keep things that have been sullied. And I certainly don’t keep men who are.” Joe’s face went slack, a flicker of genuine shock in his eyes. He’d never seen this fire in me, this final, cutting edge. My past tantrums had always been childish pleas for attention; this was a declaration of war. He reached for me instinctively, but just then, Kristen let out a theatrical sob. “Joe, my leg… I think it’s bleeding… Oh, but it’s okay, don’t worry about me, you should go after Eleanor… It’s all my fault…” He hesitated for a fraction of a second, his gaze torn between my retreating back and her crocodile tears. Then, his face hardened. “Let her go,” he snarled, his voice laced with a cold fury. “A woman consumed by jealousy like that needs to be taught a lesson. Let her stew in it.” 4 I stared at the silk threads still clinging to my hand. Wiping away a tear I refused to let fall, I mourned the loss of my creation. Still, sacrificing one dress to see a man’s true colors… it was a worthy trade. Tonight was the family dinner where I would formally meet Julian. First impressions were everything. After composing myself and redoing my makeup, I headed down to the garage. As I approached my car, I saw another vehicle parked in the shadows, rocking gently on its suspension. It was Joe’s Maserati. Through the half-open driver’s side window, I could see him, with Kristen straddling his lap, her head thrown back in ecstasy, her body moving in a steady, urgent rhythm. Even knowing he didn’t love me, the sight was a punch to the gut, a visceral, sickening jolt. Joe’s eyes fluttered open and met mine. A flicker of panic, nothing more. Then, as if to spite me, he brushed Kristen’s hair from her face and pulled her into a deep, bruising kiss. He increased his pace, and Kristen’s breathy moans echoed through the concrete space. I lowered my gaze, turned on my heel, and got into my own car, driving away toward the Levitan family estate. On the way, I stopped to pick up the tie I’d bought as a gift for Julian. I arrived at the estate at the exact same time as Joe. As he opened his car door, I caught a glimpse of used condom wrappers scattered on the passenger seat. His eyes landed on the gift bag in my hand, and the flicker of embarrassment on his face vanished, replaced by a familiar, smug certainty. “A present for me? Let me see.” Fearing he’d snatch it, I quickly hid it behind my back. “It’s not for you!” He let out a low, condescending chuckle, as if my defiance was a cute but tiresome game. He lit a cigarette, blowing a plume of smoke into the cool night air. “You saw what was happening in the garage.” “I know you love me, Eleanor. I know you can’t live without me.” “But I was clear before. The wedding is for you, the marriage license is for Kristen. If anything, she’s the one making a sacrifice here.” “She will be my legal wife. What we do… it’s normal. She’ll probably stay over at our house sometimes. You’ll have to get used to it. I’m telling you this for your own good.” Even though I had no intention of marrying him, the sheer, unvarnished audacity of his words shocked me. I turned to leave, but he grabbed my arm again. “My uncle Julian is coming tonight. The entire family relies on him, so this dinner is important. I’m giving you a lot of face by even being here with you. When we go inside, if the elders ask about the marriage license, you tell them we’ve already filed the papers.” “And one more thing,” he added, his grip tightening. “After dinner, you are going to apologize to Kristen for what you did to her this afternoon.” “Don’t forget, until that wedding happens, I can change my mind at any time.” With his ultimatum delivered, he strode into the house and took his seat at the dining table. I took a deep breath. It’s okay. He’ll find out soon enough who I’m really here to marry. I entered the dining room. Julian hadn’t arrived yet, but the rest of the family was seated. I deliberately avoided Joe, choosing a seat that left an empty chair next to me for Julian. Joe saw me, and with a frown, he got up and moved to the seat right beside me. “Stop being so dramatic,” he muttered. “I saved you a seat. There’s no need for all this.” I scowled, about to tell him that the seat was for his uncle, when a tall, commanding figure appeared in the doorway. Dressed in a bespoke suit, Julian Levitan walked in, his presence filling the room with an effortless, quiet power. 5 I hadn’t seen him in years. Julian was even more handsome than I remembered, matured into a man who radiated an unmistakable aura of worldly success and refined confidence. Everyone in the room stood up. In his years abroad, Julian had built an empire of his own, one that now propped up the entire Levitan family enterprise back in New York. All eyes were on him, but his gaze found and held only mine. When he saw Joe standing beside me, a shadow, dark and unreadable, passed through his eyes. I opened my mouth to explain, but at that exact moment, Joe’s phone rang. He excused himself, saying he had to go greet someone. I glanced at Julian, a knot of anxiety tightening in my stomach. But he was already moving, striding across the room and taking the very seat Joe had just vacated, right next to me. “I hope I haven’t kept you all waiting too long,” he said, his voice a warm baritone. “Please, let’s eat.” He gestured for me to sit, and then, to my astonishment, he began to peel a shrimp for me. “It was Joe,” I started, trying to explain. “He just sat there on his own—” “It’s alright,” he said, his focus entirely on the task at hand. “Let’s eat first.” He filled my plate with all my favorite dishes, an assortment of meats and perfectly cooked vegetables. A small mountain of shrimp shells quickly grew on my side plate. He deftly deboned a piece of fish for me, his care and attention to detail so thorough it was almost overwhelming. My cheeks were puffed with food when the dining room door opened again, and Kristen’s overly cheerful voice rang out. “Hello, everyone! Good evening!” The Levitan family’s expressions soured. Kristen was my uncle’s illegitimate daughter, a permanent black mark on our family’s reputation, and she was generally scorned by the city’s upper crust. If not for my family’s influence, she wouldn’t have even been allowed in the door. Joe’s father, the family patriarch, slammed his glass down. “Joe! What is the meaning of this? Bringing an outsider to a private family dinner!” Kristen’s eyes immediately reddened, and she scurried behind Joe like a frightened mouse. Joe, full of righteous indignation, shielded her. “Kristen is Eleanor’s cousin, which makes her my family too. There’s no reason she can’t be here.” His defiant gaze then fell upon Julian, who was now seated beside me. Joe’s face froze, but he didn’t dare say a word. As he watched Julian place another piece of food on my plate and refill my soup bowl, his expression grew darker and darker. My phone buzzed with a text from him. [What the hell do you think you’re doing? Just because I brought Kristen, you’re going to use my uncle to make me jealous? Is that it?!] I flipped my phone over, ignoring it. Across the table, Joe seethed, his glare so intense it felt like it could burn a hole through me. Just then, Mr. Levitan raised his glass. “As you all know, we have wonderful news to celebrate, something the whole city is talking about.” “This dinner tonight is to make it all official.” “We’ll be discussing the timeline for filing the license and planning the wedding. Everything will be settled tonight…” Before he could finish, Joe jumped in. “Dad, don’t worry. We’ve pretty much handled the license already. We’ll take care of it ourselves, you and Mom don’t need to stress about it.” He looked at me, his eyes wide with meaning. “Right, Eleanor?” I kept my eyes down, refusing to meet his gaze. It wasn’t my wedding he was talking about. There was nothing for me to say. Joe’s face went rigid with anger and disapproval. My phone buzzed again. [SAY SOMETHING! If you keep this up, I swear to God I will cancel the wedding!] [Eleanor, do not test me.] Annoyed, I opened my phone and blocked his number. When he realized what I’d done, his eyes widened in disbelief, the veins on his hands standing out in sharp relief. At that moment, under the table, Julian’s hand gently found mine. His voice, calm and steady, cut through the tension. “For all the arrangements, I will respect Eleanor’s wishes completely. Whatever she decides, we will do.” The warmth of his palm spread through me, and my heart skipped a beat. Hearing this, Joe nodded eagerly. “Yes! Exactly! Uncle Julian is right! Mom, Dad, Eleanor and I have it all figured out. You two just get ready to come to our wedding!” The other family members looked at him, baffled. Finally, his father’s patience snapped. “We are discussing your uncle’s marriage! Why do you keep interrupting!”

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1 I gave up a multimillion-dollar inheritance and spent ten years of my life supporting Liam, a simple college athlete, through grueling day-and-night training. I did it all because he promised he’d propose the moment he won a world championship. So, on the day of his gold medal press conference, I arrived full of hope, wearing a wedding gown, with all our friends and family in tow to witness the world champion’s proposal. But he acted as if I wasn’t even there. His gaze was fixed on a girl in the front row, cheering her heart out. A reporter sensed the story and asked if the girl was his girlfriend. I expected him to deny it. Instead, he just offered a sweet, bashful smile and said nothing. As a chorus of “Aww, I ship it!” rippled through the room, I tore off my veil and slipped out of the conference hall. Then I went home and purged every trace of him from my life. He had begged me not to come, claiming a recent injury meant he couldn’t win and he was afraid of embarrassing me. It was all a lie to bring another woman. A man like that? Someone else can have him. I’m done. … The first thing I did when I got home was shove my wedding dress into the fireplace. I watched the flames lick at the pristine white fabric, turning it black, then to ash—a perfect metaphor for the love I’d shared with Liam for ten years, now reduced to nothing. I called my family’s lawyer and instructed him to sell the downtown aquatic center. I had built that facility for Liam. Using the prize money from my graduate design project, I had created a top-tier training center, with every detail meticulously replicating international competition standards. I even hired a world-renowned swimming coach to create a custom training regimen just for him. But back then, Liam was fresh out of college, proud and full of ambition. He didn’t want to be known as a “kept man” living off a rich girlfriend. To protect his fragile ego, I agreed to live with him in a cramped walk-up apartment behind his old athletic school. I’d spend my days watching him train and my nights drafting designs to pay our bills. Now that I was leaving him, there was no reason to keep the facility open. After settling the final severance payments for the staff, the lawyer began the transfer process. Seeing the withdrawal notifications flood my phone gave me a dark thrill. Spending money was this much fun? And I had spent years scrimping and saving, living like a pauper when I could have been enjoying my life as an heiress. I had turned myself into a glorified housemaid for a man who wasn’t worth it. I was packing the last of Liam’s belongings, ready to throw them out, when he came home. “I thought we agreed you wouldn’t come to the press conference today! My fans saw you in the wedding dress!” he fumed. “You just had to try and force my hand in public, didn’t you? Are you happy now that you’ve nearly ruined my career?” He spoke as if I’d committed some unforgivable crime. If I hadn’t seen him exchanging loving glances with Margo, if I hadn’t seen him implicitly confirm she was his girlfriend, I might have actually believed that going public with our relationship would end his athletic career. “What’s wrong? Afraid I’d see you and Margo making your big announcement?” I shot back. “Liam, I was blind, but I see clearly now. Let’s go our separate ways. Take your things and get out of my house.” I shoved his bags out the door, my eyes cold and devoid of any lingering affection. Liam’s face hardened. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back inside. “Sophia, what is this now? How many times do I have to tell you? Margo is just a junior training partner. What kind of nonsense do you fill your head with all day?” He continued, oblivious. “By the way, next month, Margo and I are representing the team at a training camp in Bali. You have a villa there, right? Call your property manager and let them know we’re coming. Do that, and I’ll forget about the whole wedding dress stunt this morning.” He spoke as if it were a done deal, completely missing the news report rolling on the TV behind him. The headline blared: Swimming Champion Protectively Shields His New Love. On screen, reporters were swarming Margo, asking about her relationship with Liam. The footage showed Liam rushing forward without a second thought, pulling her into a fierce, protective embrace. Seeing him shield her like that felt like a thousand frozen shards of glass exploding in my chest. I had kept that villa empty for a decade, saving it for our honeymoon. Now, he wanted to take another woman there. My gaze flickered to the television. Liam seemed to realize his mistake, a flicker of embarrassment crossing his face. 2 He immediately lunged for the TV and yanked the plug from the wall, turning back to me with a sheepish grin. “Sophie, that’s all fake. You know how the media is. They’ll do anything for ratings.” “You’ve always wanted a fairy-tale wedding, right? I promise you, just one more gold medal at a world event, and I will propose. I swear.” “Now, hurry up and arrange the villa. I don’t want any drama when we get there.” I couldn’t help it. A cold, bitter laugh escaped my lips. So that was it. I had been wondering why the ever-arrogant Liam was suddenly trying so hard to placate me, even bringing up marriage. It was all for Margo. He wanted a free flight and a luxury villa for his little getaway. I pushed him toward the door, my patience gone. “Sophia, that’s enough,” he snapped, his temper flaring. He shoved my shoulder. “I already said I’d marry you, what more do you want? Don’t push your luck!” I used to let him get away with this, which made him think he could control me. I sidestepped his hand. “Liam,” I said with a calm, shallow smile. “We’re done. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other.” I slammed the door in his face and locked it, ignoring the frantic pounding from the other side. “Sophia, don’t you come crying to me when you regret this!” he bellowed. Finally, he left. Just as the silence settled, my phone rang. “Ms. Wright, there’s a situation at the aquatic center. I think you should come down here.” I clutched the phone, a knot of dread forming in my stomach. Although Liam had refused to train at the facility, he’d insisted it shouldn’t lose money. He said he’d have a “trusted friend” manage it, so I rarely got involved. My heart sank. I jumped in my car and sped over. As expected, the moment I walked into the lobby, my lawyer, Mr. Chen, rushed toward me like a man seeing a lifeboat. “Ms. Wright, there’s a woman here causing a scene. She’s accusing me of being a fraud and threatening to call the police, claiming we’re trying to seize her property!” He gestured helplessly toward the pool area. I walked past him, confused. And then I saw her. Margo, lounging casually in a designer swimsuit, looking as if she owned the place. My world went white. Liam had said he was training with Margo… here. In the very facility I had custom-built for him. The place he had publicly refused to use out of “pride,” he had been secretly using all along, carrying on an affair right under my nose, nurturing his little mistress. I bit my lip so hard I could taste blood. Before I could say a word, Margo spoke first. “You must be the new cleaning lady Liam hired,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Be careful with those tiles, they’re imported. You can’t afford to replace them.” I slapped her pointing hand away. “This facility has been sold,” I managed to choke out. “Please leave immediately.” Margo looked at me as if I’d just told the world’s greatest joke. She stood up, her eyes raking over my simple clothes with contempt. “Wow, the economy really must be in the toilet!” she announced to the room. “Even the cleaning staff are pretending to be business owners now! Everyone, come look! This lady says she owns the place!” A crowd of onlookers gathered. “Give me a break. She must be desperate for money. Everyone knows this pool was Liam’s birthday gift to Ms. Margo. It’s been ten years!” “Exactly! I’ve been a member for a decade. We all know Ms. Margo was here with Liam, day and night, for ten years straight!” “Did you see the press conference this morning? It’s official. Liam is so protective of her. This old hag is probably just some crazy person trying to cash in!” The whispers and accusations washed over me. I suppressed my rage and pulled the corporate ownership documents from my bag. “I’ll say it one more time. This is my aquatic center, and it has been sold. We are closing for the transition. Please leave now, or I will call the police.” Margo didn’t even glance at the papers. She snatched them from my hand and tossed them into the pool. Then, she gave a subtle nod to her assistant behind her. 3 A moment later, the huge LCD screen in the aquatic center flickered to life, showing a livestream. After the morning’s press conference, Margo had gained over a million followers in just a few hours, becoming the nation’s “perfect girlfriend.” “Ma’am,” she said to the camera, her sharp tone instantly replaced by a soft, vulnerable one. “If you’re having financial trouble, just say so. We’re happy to help. But claiming this place is yours… that’s going too far. Everyone knows this was a gift of love from Liam.” I was stunned by the sudden livestream. I reached out to knock the phone away, but someone shoved me hard. I stumbled back, teetering on the edge of the pool. Online, viewers who knew nothing of the situation were crucifying me. A sharp-eyed user even posted the photo of me in the wedding dress at the press conference. The livestream chat exploded. 【It’s that psycho stalker fan! First, she tries to force a proposal, now she’s ambushing them at their private pool? Disgusting!】 【She saw our ‘Chliam’ go official this morning and now she’s trying to steal their property. She’s obsessed!】 【Let’s go! I’m heading there right now to deal with this shameless old hag myself!】 The screen filled with hateful comments. My face burned with humiliation, my chest so tight with rage I thought I would explode. Seeing me clutch my chest in silence, Margo pushed the camera closer. I stared daggers at the woman who had stolen my life, and my furious expression on screen only fueled another wave of attacks. Mr. Chen, realizing my predicament, quickly produced his backup copies of the tax and ownership documents. “Everyone, please,” he tried to explain to the crowd. “All of this proves that the legal owner of this establishment is my client, Ms. Soph—” He was cut off by a figure rushing through the doors. It was Liam. Just as I thought the truth would finally come out, Margo did something insane. She grabbed my hand and threw herself backward, pulling me with her into the pool. Before I could even process what was happening, we hit the water with a loud splash. The livestream cut out. I flailed in the water, choking, and cried out to Liam for help. For a fleeting, foolish moment, when I saw him dive into the pool without hesitation, a flicker of warmth ignited in my heart. But that warmth turned to ice when he swam right past me, scooped Margo into his arms, and carried her to the side, wrapping her in a thick blanket. He wasn’t saving me. By the time a lifeguard pulled me out, I wasn’t met with Liam’s concern, but with a mob of rabid “couple” fans who had stormed the facility and were now screaming at me. I collapsed onto a nearby chair, helpless, as tears streamed down my face. So, this is what it felt like. Even when the love was gone, the pain was still real. “It’s you, isn’t it? Take a look at yourself! You think you’re worthy of being his wife?” “Seriously, a toad trying to eat swan meat!” Liam’s female fans pointed and jeered. One of them even tried to shove me back into the pool. Margo, seeing her chance, rose from Liam’s embrace, her voice trembling with fake tears as she pointed at me. “Liam, it was her! She came here to cause trouble and pushed me into the pool! If you hadn’t arrived when you did, who knows what would have happened!”

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Only when they saw Aethelgard’s corpse-strewn fields and Lady Agnes’s head on the Crimson Covenant’s gates did they believe me. They turned on Seraphina, voices raw. “You said Caden was jealous! You made us celebrate Lysander’s birthday! How could this happen?” Seraphina trembled. Last life, when the Covenant attacked, Seraphina had led our best mages to celebrate novice Lysander’s birthday. I’d raced back to help repel the attack—but too late for Lysander. The cultists tortured him to death, dismembered him, and hung his remains on their gates. Seraphina alone retrieved his body. After three months secluded, she emerged—and ran me through with her sword. “If you hadn’t conspired with them,” she hissed, “Lysander would live. You never should have existed.” 1 When I opened my eyes, I was back. It was the day of the attack. I scrambled out of my chambers. Lady Agnes and a handful of junior disciples were at the main gate, desperately pouring their aether into the Great Ward. In the distance, a horde of Covenant cultists watched like wolves, launching fireball after fireball at the shimmering barrier, trying to batter their way through. I began my own incantation, adding my aether to the Ward. Sensing my presence, Lady Agnes turned. “Caden! Go to the rear mountain! Find Seraphina and bring the others back, quickly!” It pained me, but I had to tell her the truth. “My Lady, they aren’t at the rear mountain. They’ve gone down to the village to celebrate Lysander’s birthday.” Ever since the Shadow Lord of the Covenant was captured and imprisoned within Aethelgard, a new rule had been established: no Adept-rank mage was to leave the Citadel without the Grandmaster’s explicit permission. And the dozen mages who had left with Seraphina were the Order’s strongest. “Those irresponsible fools!” Lady Agnes cursed. “Use the Vox Crystal! Tell them to return at once!” I hesitated. “My Lady, perhaps we shouldn’t. If we interrupt Lysander’s birthday, Seraphina will be furious.” “Caden, have you lost all sense? A birthday party or the fate of Aethelgard? Which do you think is more important?” Before I could answer, she had already activated the Vox Crystal herself, her voice ringing with urgency. “Seraphina! The Crimson Covenant is at the gates! Bring your brothers and sisters back now!” Lady Agnes was her mother. In the past, Seraphina had always been the most obedient of daughters. But this time, a cold, dismissive laugh came through the crystal. “Mother, please, spare me the theatrics.” Lady Agnes frowned. “What are you talking about?” “I know you’ve never been fond of Lysander, but you shouldn’t stoop to conspiring with Caden to trick me back with such a ridiculous lie. I made inquiries this morning. The Covenant’s high priest is getting married today. The entire cult is celebrating. They have no time to attack Aethelgard. Today is Lysander’s birthday—the first one he’s ever truly celebrated. We promised him we would spend the entire day with him. So please, you and Caden, just behave yourselves and don’t bother us.” The connection was severed. Lady Agnes’s face was a mask of fury. “That boy, Lysander! What potion has he fed my daughter that she no longer trusts her own mother’s word?” Suddenly, the entire mountain shuddered. She whipped her head around, her face draining of color. “Sky-Breaker… How do they have the Sky-Breaker Axe?” At the head of the enemy horde, two hulking figures were swinging a colossal axe, each blow sending spiderweb cracks across the surface of the Great Ward. Sky-Breaker was the legendary weapon of our Order’s first Grandmaster. Upon his Ascension, he had left it behind as the Citadel’s ultimate defense. “They stole it,” Lady Agnes whispered in horror. “No wonder they could bypass the lower wards.” She turned to me, her eyes filled with desperate resolve. “Caden, I will hold the Ward here. You must go to your master.” “But the Grandmaster is in seclusion!” I protested. “To disturb him now could cause his aether to run wild, it could kill him!” Three years ago, after subduing the Shadow Lord, our master had been gravely wounded. He’d been meditating in the sealed Grotto of Sorrows ever since, leaving the Order in Seraphina’s care—which was precisely why she’d been able to lead so many adepts away. “Caden,” Lady Agnes said, her voice stern and unyielding. “Do you know what lies south of this mountain? The mortal realms. The Covenant first grew its power by devouring mortal souls. The First Grandmaster founded this Order here to protect those people, to beat the darkness back. We bear a responsibility not just to contain the Covenant, but to shield the innocent.” She looked me dead in the eye. “Compared to the lives of all those people, what is your master’s life? What is mine?” Her words struck me like a tolling bell. I clenched my fists. “Then you go to the Grandmaster. I will defend the Ward.” “No.” She shoved me back. “My power is greater than yours. I can hold them for half an hour. Go! You must return with him before then!” With tears in my eyes, I nodded, and launched myself into the air, flying toward the Grotto of Sorrows. But as I reached the foot of the sealed mountain, a flash of light slammed into me, sending me crashing to the ground. I thought the Covenant had found me. But when I looked up, it was my junior sister, Rhea, standing over me. My eyes widened. “Rhea! What are you doing here?” “I was waiting for you.” 2 Rhea’s expression was strange, unreadable. I didn’t have time for this. “The Covenant is at the gates! Rhea, you have to help Lady Agnes! I’m going to get the Grandmaster.” Rhea was the most gifted prodigy in our Order. With her help, they could surely hold on longer. I tried to take flight again, but a hand grabbed the back of my tunic. In one smooth motion, Rhea twisted and threw me over her shoulder, slamming me hard onto the packed earth. “Oh, cut the act, Caden. Don’t play these games with me.” Her words were almost identical to Seraphina’s. My mind went blank. “What are you talking about?” “You’re just jealous that Seraphina organized a party for Lysander, aren’t you? Is it really necessary to bother the Grandmaster over something so petty? He’s at a critical point in his healing. If you disturb him over this, he’ll never forgive you.” “Rhea, I’m not jealous!” I scrambled to explain. “The Covenant is really here!” “Don’t lie to me,” she scoffed. “Seraphina told us this morning. She said you were upset about her and Lysander and would definitely cause a scene. She even took us down the mountain to reinforce the lower wards herself. Even if the Shadow Lord himself escaped, he couldn’t break through them.” I sighed, a wave of exhaustion washing over me. “They stole the Sky-Breaker Axe. Rhea, I swear on my life, everything I’m saying is true.” Perhaps the desperation in my voice gave her pause. She seemed to hesitate. But then a small, pitying smile touched her lips. “You really are a terrible liar, Caden. Sky-Breaker is locked in the Grandmaster’s private chambers. How could they possibly have stolen it?” No matter how I tried to explain, she was convinced I was lying. I couldn’t waste any more time. I twisted out of her grip. “Fine, don’t believe me! But I have to get to the Grandmaster, or all of Aethelgard will be lost!” “Don’t run!” The next moment, Rhea produced a set of silver chains. With a single word of power, they flew through the air and wrapped around me, binding me tight. I struggled on the ground, helpless. “Rhea, let me go! There’s no time! Lady Agnes is still at the gate! If you won’t save her, are you going to stop anyone else from trying?” She shook her head. “Stop shouting, Caden. To be honest, Seraphina told me to wait here specifically to catch you. I’ve been here for a while, and I haven’t seen a single cultist.” She looked at me with genuine confusion. “I just don’t get it. Seraphina and Lysander are perfect for each other, a match made in the heavens. Why do you have to be so conniving and try to ruin their happiness?” I knew. They all thought I was a scheming, petty villain. And Lysander, their precious Lysander, was a true gentleman. A year ago, Seraphina had found him, an orphan with no discernible aether, and brought him back to the Citadel. She had insisted on taking him as her personal apprentice, a position of incredible honor. I had argued with her, pointing out how unfair it was to the other, more talented disciples. It broke all our traditions. It was a clear abuse of her authority. I was trying to stand up for fairness, but somehow, I was branded as being jealous of Lysander. From that day on, my relationship with Seraphina had grown colder and more distant. When Lysander’s training wand broke, she accused me of sabotaging it. When he “tripped” and fell down a flight of stairs, she accused me of pushing him. When he had a manic episode and was found scrubbing the floors in the middle of the night, she said I had bullied him into it. It wasn’t just her. As Lysander’s “misfortunes” piled up, everyone began to see me as the villain, jealous of his closeness to Seraphina. They all seemed to have forgotten that I was the one betrothed to her. Worried the chains weren’t enough, Rhea placed a paralysis sigil on my chest. She dusted off her hands. “There. Don’t be so upset, Caden. I’ll keep you company today.” I was so frantic I could have wept. “Rhea, I’ll stay with you, I promise! Just… just go back to the Citadel and look! Please! If you’re too late, it won’t just be Aethelgard that falls, the mortal realms will be plunged into chaos!” Despite my repeated, desperate pleas, she stood firm. “No. Seraphina said she’s planning a firework display from the top of the Citadel for Lysander tonight. I have to take you somewhere else.” As the words left her mouth, the jade pendants we all wore at our waists began to chime violently. Clang, clang, clang! The color drained from Rhea’s face. The Citadel Jade trembles for only one reason. The Great Ward of Aethelgard, the unbreakable shield of the Order, had been shattered.

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The night my wife tried to drown herself in the river, they pulled her out naked and shivering. “Jack… I’m so sorry,” she sobbed, her body wracked with cold. “I gambled it all away.” I stripped off my coat and wrapped it around her, my fury a furnace inside my chest. “You’re going to put our daughter on the table,” I said, my voice dangerously calm. “And you’re going to win it all back.” 1 My wife, fifteen years my junior, clung to me, her sobs shaking her entire frame as she shook her head frantically. “No, Jack, please, no… Our little girl is only three months old. I know I was wrong, please…” she pleaded. “I’ll never gamble again, I swear. Just forgive me.” I’d made my money in a life I’d left behind long ago. It wasn’t a fortune, but it was enough to settle down in this quiet town and marry a woman who was little more than a girl. I adored her. I showered her with jewelry, designer bags, a brand-new BMW. But the pampering had gone to her head. She’d grown arrogant, flaunting her new life for everyone to see. And now, somehow, she’d found her way into a high-stakes poker game and lost everything, right down to the clothes on her back. “It’s too late for that,” I told her, my voice hard. “We have nothing left. The only chip we have is our daughter.” A strangled cry escaped her lips, and she began to weep with a raw, desperate terror. It tore my heart out, but I kept my face a mask of stone. The bags, the jewelry, the car… it added up to nearly half a million dollars. She was a naive twenty-year-old; she would never have the nerve to play for those kinds of stakes on her own. This was a setup, plain and simple. Fine. I’d use this opportunity to scare her straight, to teach her a lesson she’d never forget. Maybe then she’d learn to keep a lower profile and stop attracting the attention of sharks. “Don’t sell our baby,” she begged, her eyes wild. “Please, I’ll… I’ll sell myself to pay the debt.” Her words sent a fresh wave of rage through me. I could live with them taking my money; God knows it wasn’t all clean. But to strip my wife naked, to humiliate her and drive her to the brink of suicide? They had crossed a line. We went home. I dressed her, picked up our sleeping three-month-old, and hailed a cab back to the underground casino where she’d lost it all. Lily’s face was chalk-white, drained of all color. I forced a smile. “Don’t be scared. Just show me the table. I want to have a little chat with them.” We found it easily enough. Three people were sitting there: my wife’s so-called best friend, Tiffany; her husband, AJ; and a bald brute with a gleaming gold tooth. Tiffany’s eyes lit up when she saw Lily. “Well, well, look what the cat dragged in! Can you believe the nerve?” Tiffany and AJ ran a hair salon downtown. Lily had met her while getting a perm. Tiffany was always sweet-talking her into trying new, expensive styles, and I’d warned Lily to keep her distance. But Lily, in her innocence, just figured the woman was trying to earn a little extra money. Now, it was clear what she’d really been after. The bald man, Goldtooth, stood up, a nasty sneer on his face. “You back for more, bitch? The deal’s the same. No cash, you pay with your body.” I recognized him. My memory is photographic. I’d seen him years ago working as a bouncer at a major outfit in the city. Seeing the three of them together, the whole picture snapped into focus. Tiffany found the mark, AJ reeled her in, and Goldtooth ran the crooked game. A classic con, and they’d run it on my family. Lily was trembling too much to speak. I stepped forward, my smile placid. “My wife isn’t feeling well. Mind if I take her seat?” Lily grabbed my sleeve, her fingers digging into the fabric. “Jack, let’s just go home. Please.” I shot her a sharp look. “Home? What home? You lost it, remember?” Her eyes filled with tears, and she fell silent. Goldtooth sized me up, his expression dripping with contempt. “You want to play? You got the buy-in? Your wife still owes me ten grand. If you can’t pay, she can spend a few months in my bed.” He let out a greasy laugh. “Or hell, make it six months. I’ll even stake you the ten grand myself.” This was the animal who had tried to force himself on her, who had stripped her and left her with no choice but to throw herself in the river. “I have the buy-in,” I said, my smile never wavering. I scooped up our three-month-old daughter and placed her right in the middle of the green felt. “Call your manager. Let’s get a price.” This was a black-market joint. If a player was crazy enough to put it on the table, they were happy to take it. In that moment, a surreal tableau of despair unfolded. My daughter, startled, began to wail from on top of the table. My wife, below it, collapsed to her knees, her own cries swallowed by the smoky air. The sight was a knife in my gut, but I had to see this through. I had to burn the horror of this night into her memory forever. The floor manager, a man with dead eyes, came over and casually peeled back the corner of the baby’s blanket. “A girl,” he said, his voice flat. “We can give you a hundred and fifty thousand in chips. If you don’t buy her back in 24 hours, she’s ours. No questions asked.” I looked Goldtooth dead in the eye. “Give me fifty thousand. The other hundred is to clear her debt to you.” Goldtooth was genuinely stunned. Then, a slow, ugly grin spread across his face, flashing his namesake. “Well, damn, kid. You got balls. Have a seat. Let’s play.” 2 Tiffany claimed she was “just a lady” and sat out, leaving the three of us at the table. Goldtooth, eager to get his hands on my chips, reached for the deck. I held up a hand. “Hold on. My wife lost a fortune. I’ll deal first.” AJ’s face darkened, but Goldtooth just chuckled. “Makes no difference to me. You deal, I deal, it’s all up to lady luck. Go ahead.” Tiffany shot AJ a look, a silent command. “Where are your manners? Her husband’s trying to win back what she lost.” AJ mumbled an apology and nodded. I hid my smirk. They were already trading signals. I pretended not to notice as I dealt the cards. The rules were simple: a hundred-dollar ante, with a five-thousand-dollar betting cap per round. As the dealer, I looked at my cards and pushed out a hundred dollars. AJ, to my left, didn’t even glance at his hand. He shoved five thousand into the pot. Goldtooth immediately matched it. “Five thousand, blind.” He then fixed me with a challenging stare. Tiffany let out a little snort of amusement. The play was obvious. Since I had already looked at my cards, the rules required me to double their bet to stay in. I’d have to put in ten thousand, but I only had forty-nine thousand nine hundred left after the valuation. I didn’t have enough. They were squeezing me out on the very first hand, a blatant, legal way to bleed my stack. Tiffany patted AJ on the head. “Honey, you’re not being very fair. The man’s a little short-stacked.” AJ had the grace to look embarrassed. “Ah, my bad, man. I forgot. Tell you what, we’ll take it easy on you. Next hand, we’ll cap the bets at a grand.” He reached out to collect my hundred-dollar ante. “Wait,” I said. “I’m in. Ten thousand.” Goldtooth’s grin vanished. “What, you gonna pay with air, pal? You don’t have the chips.” AJ chimed in, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Yeah, and I’ll raise you a million imaginary dollars.” Lily grabbed my arm. “Jack, he’s right! We’re short by five thousand!” Without a word, I pulled her to her feet and pushed her toward the table. “Manager! How much is my wife worth?” “No… no, no, no…” Lily’s last shred of hope shattered. She broke down, sobbing hysterically. The manager checked her ID. “Twenty years old,” he announced coolly. “Sold to the trafficking rings down south… she’s worth a million. We’ll even handle the shipping. 24-hour redemption window.” Sold to the rings. A one-way ticket to being drugged, used, and then parted out for organs. A crowd of gamblers had gathered around our table, their whispers a low hum in the background. “Another one who’s lost his mind. First the kid, now the wife.” “He’s a damn lunatic.” Lily clung to me, her screams raw with terror. “Jack, no! I know I was wrong, please stop! Let Goldtooth have me! Just take the money, get our daughter back, and find someone new!” I pried her hands from my arm, my own heart feeling like it was being ripped in two. “You want me to stop now? Why weren’t you this clear-headed when you were throwing away our future? The moment you sit at this table, you have to be ready to lose everything. Understand?” She crumpled, clutching our daughter and weeping, snot and tears streaming down her face. It was agony to watch, but I had to maintain this cold facade. I needed her to see, to feel, the terrifying reality of what she had done. The contract was signed. A million dollars in chips were pushed my way. I slid ten thousand into the pot. “I call. And I raise.” Goldtooth stared at me, his jaw slack. “You… you crazy son of a bitch. You’re really coming after me.” “You cleaned out my entire life,” I said, my voice like ice. “Did you think I was going to play nice? Your turn, AJ.” AJ frowned, hesitating for a few seconds before tossing his cards onto the table. “I fold.” He had no idea what I held, and with the hand being my deal, he wasn’t willing to risk it. Goldtooth folded too. The first pot was mine. Ten thousand, two hundred dollars. Goldtooth snatched the deck, his teeth grinding. “I lost. My deal.” “As it should be,” I agreed. He glared at me, rubbing his gold tooth with his thumb. “Alright, psycho. You want to play hardball? Let’s take the limits off this hand. What do you say? You got the guts for that?” “Fine by me,” I said. It was exactly what I was waiting for. “Jack, no!” Lily cried, shaking my arm, her face a mask of fear. She was terrified I was about to lose her in a single hand. “Does a piece of property get a say in the matter?” Goldtooth sneered. “Yeah, this is men’s business,” AJ added. “Shut your mouth.” “He didn’t stop you when you were playing with no limits, did he?” Tiffany piled on. Before I could speak, they had ganged up on her. I feigned anger, shaking her hand off my arm. “Get off me! This is all your fault! Say another word and I’m walking out of here with the money!” Lily went silent, her body trembling. Goldtooth dealt the cards. As the dealer, he immediately shoved a hundred thousand dollars in chips into the center of the table. “A hundred grand, blind. You in?” he taunted. I pretended to hesitate, to agonize over the decision. Then, with a theatrical sigh of resolve, I said, “I’m in. A hundred grand.” AJ, without missing a beat, pushed a hundred thousand in as well. I let out a slow breath. The trap was set. 3 Goldtooth dealt the hand, which meant my cards were almost certainly garbage. If I looked at them, I’d have to fold and lose my hundred grand. If I didn’t look, I’d have to keep matching their bets. They planned to bleed me dry, round by round, in a slow, torturous death by a thousand cuts. Several rounds later, the pot had swollen. Each of us had over a million dollars on the table. The action was on Goldtooth. He was out of chips. He glanced at my stack; I still had a hundred and fifty thousand left. He let out a low, predatory chuckle. Clack. He tossed the keys to my wife’s BMW onto the pile. “Your wife said this car is worth three hundred grand,” he announced. “I’m all in. You don’t have enough to call. Time to fold, my friend.” He crossed his arms, leaning back like a king on his throne. “Sorry, but that’s the game. Don’t blame me for being ruthless.” He then pulled a set of chains from under the table. “Manager! Get the crate ready for his wife!” He reached for the mountain of chips in the center. “Wait,” I said calmly. “Who said I was folding?” “What are you gonna bet with?” Goldtooth sneered. “Myself.” I called the manager over again, ready to sign my own life away. But Lily lunged forward, grabbing my hand with surprising strength. “Stop, Jack, please! Don’t sign it. Let’s just walk away.” I squeezed her hand. “Lily, if I don’t sign this, there’s no way to win you and our daughter back.” Her voice was a choked sob. “It’s not too late to fold! We can borrow money from friends, we can buy our daughter back! Forget about me! This is all my fault, I deserve this!” But I shook my head, my voice low and steady. “No. We see this through. I won’t let our daughter grow up without a mother.”

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1 “Let’s try dating if we’re both single at twenty-eight.” Because of his first love’s drunken promise, he rejected my proposals eight times. When I learned the truth, I gave up. “Dad, Mom… I’ll come home. I’ll marry him.” Their relieved voices crackled through the phone. “Nina! As Tang Corporation’s heir, you can’t wander forever. How about a January 19th wedding? When can you meet him—” The bedroom door burst open. “Whose wedding?” Nicholas frowned. I hung up, deadpanning: “A friend’s. She wants me as bridesmaid.” He shrugged. “Go ahead. I’m too busy to join you.” “Fine.” My quick agreement surprised him. As he showered, his jacket buzzed. I pulled out his phone. A message from “Aria” glowed on the screen. “You still remember what I said back then? Don’t tell me you’re actually planning on marrying me, haha.” My hand froze. I swiped up. The message Nicholas had sent her just minutes before stared back at me. “Aria, in thirty-three days, it will be your twenty-eight birthday. Do you remember what you promised me?” I laughed. A drunken joke, and he had been waiting all these years. In thirty-three days, Aria would turn twenty-eight. It was also the day I had chosen to break up with him, go home, and get married. I hoped he got his wish. The bathroom door opened. Nicholas walked out, toweling his hair, and sat beside me. “Your phone buzzed a few times,” I said calmly. He quickly dried his hands and grabbed the phone, his eyes scanning the screen with an intense focus I rarely saw. “Who is it?” I asked lightly. His usual calm demeanor vanished. He stood up abruptly. “It’s work. I need to take care of this. You go to bed first.” I saw the defensiveness in his eyes, the poorly constructed lie, and a bitter self-mockery welled up inside me. I simply nodded. As he disappeared into the study, I turned off the lights and lay down. Hours later, the faintest of footsteps creaked in the dark room. A softly glowing phone was placed on the nightstand, and an arm gently wrapped around my waist. I waited until his breathing became deep and even before I opened my eyes, reached over, and took his phone. The chat was still open. He had added a single, four-word reply. “Never forgotten, never will.” A simple phrase, yet I could picture him typing it. Lips pressed together, eyes glued to the screen, carefully composing and deleting, weighing each word. Desperate for his feelings to be known, yet terrified of revealing too much. He only ever showed this kind of cautious devotion to Aria. A bitter smile touched my lips. I opened his social media profile. The background was a stark black image. But if you looked closely, you could see a single line of text at the bottom. “What you never forget, you will one day have.” When we first got together, I’d asked him about it. He’d brushed it off, saying it was just a random picture he found online. Now I knew the truth. It wasn’t random at all. It was a calculated, heartfelt declaration. He was waiting for her twenty-eighth birthday. Waiting for Aria to finally say yes. I lay awake all night. As dawn broke, he started to stir. I opened my eyes. “Let’s get off work early today.” He paused, fastening his cufflinks. “Why? Is something wrong?” “It’s your birthday,” I said quietly. “Did you forget?” He froze for a second. His mind had been so consumed with Aria’s twenty-eighth birthday promise that he’d forgotten his own. “Let’s just cancel it,” he said. “Keep it simple.” For years, I had been the one to plan his birthdays, pouring my heart into lavish parties just to see him smile. He never appreciated it. So, hearing him say that now, a wave of self-pity washed over me. “It’s already planned. Everyone’s coming. It’s too late to cancel.” I’d started planning this party three months ago, back when I still believed I was the only one. He didn’t argue further. He just grabbed his phone and left the room, a slight frown creasing his brow. I looked down, whispering to myself, “Not anymore.” I would never plan another birthday for him again. 2 The first thing I did at the office was hand in my resignation. The news sent a shockwave through the department. “Nina, you’re leaving? Just like that? Do you have another job lined up?” “So sudden! Don’t tell me you’re going home to inherit a billion-dollar fortune!” a coworker joked. I smiled. “I’m going home to get married.” That explanation satisfied most of them, but my closest work friend, Chloe, pulled me aside. “Nina, did he finally propose? I thought he avoided the topic of marriage like the plague.” I didn’t want to explain. “Thanks for everything all these years. Dinner’s on me tonight.” After a two-hour dinner with a few colleagues, it was already eight o’clock by the time I reached the hotel for Nicholas’s party. As I approached the private room, I heard voices from within and paused. “It’s freezing out. Who did Nick go to pick up?” “Who else? Aria, of course. She said she was coming back today, and he ran off like an eager puppy.” “So he must be thrilled, right? It’s his twenty-eighth birthday today, and she’ll be twenty-eight in a month. She’s not really back to fulfill that promise, is she?” “But if they get together, what about Nina? It’s been seven years, and she doesn’t even know who Aria is. She’s completely devoted to him.” “What can you do? Nick’s been hung up on Aria forever. If she says yes, Nina’s out. It’s just bad luck. At least she doesn’t come from a powerful family, so it’ll be easy to pay her off.” “I know she’s been great to us and to Nick, but we’re his friends. We have to be on his side. When they break up, we should handle it for him. Give her a car, a condo… a nice severance package.” I listened, feeling a strange sense of detachment. Now that I had a plan, the pain from a few weeks ago was gone, replaced by a dark amusement. He was going to have his friends break up with me on his behalf. What kind of relationship had I been in for seven years? Too bad for them. They wouldn’t get to see me humiliated. This time, I was the one leaving first. A waiter pushed a cart of drinks past, and the door swung open, silencing the conversation inside. I walked in, a practiced smile on my face, greeting everyone as if nothing had happened. A few minutes later, Nicholas returned with a woman I’d never met. She looked vaguely familiar, a stranger who shared three or four of my features. He introduced her around the room before finally bringing her to me. “This is my childhood friend, Aria.” Aria extended a hand gracefully. Nicholas hesitated for a beat before introducing me. “And this… is a friend of mine, Nina Collins.” 3 The party roared back to life. Aria was an extrovert, easily charming everyone in the room. She held court, playing drinking games and laughing loudly, leaving the few other girlfriends in attendance on the sidelines. At one point, she was holding cards and wanted a piece of watermelon. Without a thought, Nicholas speared a piece with his own fork and fed it to her. She took it just as casually, then grabbed his wine glass and took a long drink, leaving a bright red lipstick stain on the rim. I watched from a few feet away as Nicholas held that glass, his thumb tracing the lipstick mark, and drank from that exact spot, again and again. Finally, it was time for the cake. The room quieted. I rose and pushed the cart forward, lighting the candles. Staring at the number ‘28,’ Nicholas rubbed his temples as if trying to clear his head. His gaze, hazy with alcohol, swept the room and landed on Aria. He held up a finger. “This year, instead of a wish, I have a question.” His finger curled, pointing directly at her. His voice was thick but his eyes were burning. “Aria, you’re almost twenty-eight. I want to ask you… do you have a boyfriend right now?” A stunned silence fell. Then, Aria, after a slight pause, answered. “Right now? No.” A collective “Whoa!” erupted, and the room exploded. His drunk friends mobbed him, singing and dancing. I sat perfectly still, a silent observer playing the part of the clueless “friend.” The party finally ended in the early hours of the morning. I helped a very drunk Nicholas into the car. He collapsed against my shoulder, his inhibitions washed away by alcohol and joy, and poured out his heart. “Aria, don’t go. Stay with me, please?” “Why can they have you, but I can’t, Aria?” “Aria, do you know how much I love you?” “I’ve waited for you for so many years…” The female driver kept glancing at us in the rearview mirror, smirking. As she helped me get him upstairs, she remarked, “Your boyfriend really loves you, Aria.” I smiled faintly. “He does. But I’m not Aria.” The next morning, hungover and remembering the previous night, Nicholas rushed to explain. “Nina, I was so drunk last night. I probably said a lot of stupid things. Don’t take it to heart.” I hadn’t expected him to remember, or to come up with such a flimsy excuse. Still, I played along. “It’s okay. I know.” My placid reaction seemed to unnerve him. He changed the subject. “I’m sorry I ignored you last night. Let’s go on a date after work today, okay? To make it up to you.” “I’m not angry. But I have plans this afternoon. I can’t.” My refusal only made him more insistent. I finally relented. That evening, as I was getting ready, a text from Chloe popped up. “Nina, you didn’t tell your boyfriend you quit? He just came by looking for you. He seems really mad.” Before I could finish reading, his call came through. His voice was laced with fury. “Your colleague told me you quit your job? To get married?” 4 “I told you, I have no plans to get married right now!” he continued, his voice rising. So that’s what this was about. He thought I was trying to force his hand. “It was just a joke with my colleagues,” I explained patiently. “They must have taken it seriously. I quit because I was tired and wanted a break.” His tone softened. “Don’t make jokes like that again.” He asked where I was, offering to pick me up. I was about to give him the address when I heard a faint laugh in the background. It sounded exactly like Aria. I remembered seeing a selfie she’d posted from inside a car just moments before. She was with him. The “okay” on my lips turned into a “no need.” He hung up quickly. Too quickly. If he really wanted to pick me up, he wouldn’t have been in such a rush. It was just an empty gesture. I hailed a cab and went to the restaurant we’d agreed on. The hostess led me to a private room on the top floor. The table was laden with food, but the room was empty. “Mr. Chen called ten minutes ago,” the hostess explained. “He said you should start without him, as he was delayed by an urgent matter.” An urgent matter. Of course. He was with Aria. I suppose it wasn’t a lie. To him, anything involving her was an urgent matter. I sat down. The table was filled with seafood. I’d grown tired of it during my years in Europe. In the past, I would have forced myself to eat it for his sake. Not anymore. I waved the waitress over and had her clear the entire table. “Ma’am,” she hesitated, “Mr. Chen has already paid for this. It’s quite expensive, and we don’t offer refunds.” I handed her my card. “I know. Just charge the new order to this.” He never showed up. I finished my meal, paid, and went home. On the way, he texted. “Nina, can you stay somewhere else tonight?” “Aria’s back suddenly, and her old place isn’t ready. The lights are broken.” “She’s afraid of the dark. I want her to stay here for the night. Is that okay?” Juggling his precious Aria while trying to keep our relationship a secret from her. How amusing. This time, I didn’t play along. “Why do you have to hide our relationship from your ‘friend’? How long are you planning on keeping this up?” His reply came much later. No explanation. Just a date. “January 18th.”

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At my daughter’s one-month celebration, I caught my best friend in my husband’s arms. “Edward,” she whispered, “your idiot wife still doesn’t know I switched our babies?” “Not a chance,” he chuckled. “She dotes on our daughter daily. Where’s the child she actually bore?” “Got bored after a month,” she shrugged. “Drowned it. You’re not angry?” “Married her for the money,” he scoffed. “Who cares?” I wiped a tear and pretended not to hear. For twenty years, I raised their child as my own. When their daughter returned from abroad, I transferred all my shares and assets to her at a press conference. That’s when they approached with a paternity test. “Hospital mistake,” my best friend declared. “Shelley is ours. Time to return her.” My husband slid divorce papers and a $5,000 debit card toward me. “Sign this so we can be a family.” I smiled coldly. “Alright.” 1 “Honey, I noticed you had a bit of a cough yesterday, so I woke up early to make you some pear soup. Here, drink it while it’s hot.” Edward, my husband, gently placed the bowl in front of me, his eyes overflowing with what looked like pure, unadulterated love. “Dad, you’re so good to Mom,” our daughter, Shelley, chimed in from the breakfast table. Yes. He was good to me. Everyone could see it. He was always the first to notice when I was down, showering me with comfort and surprises. He’d nurse me devotedly when I was sick. In our most intimate moments, he would hold me tight and whisper that marrying me was the greatest blessing of his life. If I hadn’t overheard that conversation all those years ago, I never would have believed this sensitive, caring man was a monster. I took the soup and drank it without a word. Soon, the doorbell rang. “It must be Godmommy!” Shelley squealed, jumping up to answer the door. There stood my best friend, Amelia, laden with shopping bags. Her face lit up when she saw Shelley. “Shelley, darling, it’s getting colder. Godmommy bought you some new winter clothes.” She set the bags down. “And I know how much you love my pastries, so I made some more for you.” Shelley’s eyes curved into crescent moons. “Thank you, Godmommy! You’re the best!” Amelia pulled the girl into a warm embrace. “Of course, I am! You’re my precious little treasure. I’d give you the world if I could.” She led Shelley to the table, then looked at me. “Cassandra, Shelley mentioned her school has a parent-teacher conference today. Do you mind if I go?” Her voice took on a pitiful tone, her eyes flitting between Edward and Shelley. “You know, I’m not as lucky as you. I didn’t marry a wonderful man and have a perfect daughter. A scumbag got me pregnant, and my little… my little one… she drowned in the tub. I’ll never get the chance to go to a parent-teacher conference…” For years, she had used her dead child as an excuse to overstep every boundary. It wasn’t just daily visits. She organized Shelley’s birthday parties every year. She took her out for holidays, attended her school’s family events. On Mother’s Day, she would take Shelley out for the entire day, plastering their photos all over social media. Her excuse was always the same. “My poor baby died so young, and I don’t think I can ever have another. We’re best friends, Cassandra. I just want to love Shelley as if she were my own.” Before I could even respond, Edward jumped in. “Honey, Amelia’s been through so much. It’s a tragedy. Why not let her experience what it’s like? Just this once.” The three of them stared at me with expectant eyes. I managed a small smile. “Of course. I’m busy today, anyway.” Amelia’s face broke into a satisfied grin. Shelley clapped her hands in delight. After breakfast, Amelia eagerly whisked Shelley off to school, with Edward tagging along, saying he’d give them a ride. I watched the three of them leave, a happy little family, and said nothing at all. 2 Perhaps because I was so easy to fool, so oblivious, Amelia grew bolder. At first, she would only meet Edward in secret when I was at the office. Now, she found excuses to come over even when I was home. “Cassandra, I’ve been teaching myself to cook! I came to show off my new skills.” “Cassandra, I just got back from the countryside and brought you some fresh produce.” “Cassandra, my pipes burst! Can I stay with you for a few days?” … I knew she was only here for Edward and Shelley. But I never refused. I welcomed her politely, agreed to every request. Edward reveled in it. His lips would curl into a smile the moment she walked through the door. Sometimes, he’d exchange flirtatious glances with her right in front of me. Even Shelley grew closer to Amelia, buying her a special pair of slippers to keep at our house for her frequent visits. This continued until Shelley’s college entrance exams. The day the scores were released, Amelia was at our house first thing in the morning. When Shelley’s abysmal scores appeared on the screen, Edward feigned outrage. “How could you score so low?” Shelley shrugged. “We’re rich. Why should I work myself to death studying? Mom can just buy me a degree, can’t she?” Edward shot me a look. When I said nothing, he continued his act. “Even if your mother spoils you, she can’t let you be this reckless! It’s not easy for her to run the company alone. You need to step up! How else will you help her? How can she trust you with the company?” Amelia quickly interjected, “Cassandra is Shelley’s mother. Of course, she’ll take care of her.” “Exactly,” Shelley added. “I’m her only daughter. She’s not going to let me starve with all her companies, is she?” Amelia gave Shelley an appreciative glance, then turned to me. “Cassandra, Shelley is a good girl. You can’t let her go to some diploma mill. What if she gets bullied? Why don’t you make her a general manager at your company? Let her learn the ropes.” The truth was, Shelley, spoiled rotten by Amelia and Edward, was lazy, arrogant, and completely incompetent. She wasn’t even qualified for an internship at my company. But I didn’t say that. Instead, I said seriously, “General manager isn’t enough. She’s my only child. She deserves to inherit everything.” “I have it all planned out. First, I’ll send her abroad to study. When she returns, I will hand the entire company over to her.” Amelia’s eyes lit up. She laughed heartily. “Yes, yes! A brilliant girl like Shelley deserves to be a CEO, looking down on everyone. I always said she was born for a life of luxury, so much better than that short-lived little brat of mine!” Edward and Shelley nodded enthusiastically, their faces beaming. Watching the three of them laugh, so smug and triumphant, I smiled too. They laughed at my stupidity. I laughed at their naivety. 3 While handling the paperwork for her studies abroad, I brought Shelley to the office every day, patiently teaching her the ins and outs of the business. The day she left, Amelia rushed to the airport, loaded with gifts, fussing over her as if she were her own. The scene was touching, a perfect portrait of a mother’s love. Long after the plane was a tiny speck in the sky, Amelia stood there, tears in her eyes, before reluctantly leaving. With Shelley gone, Amelia’s visits became less frequent. But Edward started going out more. He would come home looking drained, hollowed out. He’d claim he was out with friends, or that he’d joined a gym. When he ran out of excuses, he’d sigh dramatically. “I raised Shelley. She’s never been away from me before. I miss her so much. If I don’t keep busy, I think I’ll fall apart.” I ignored the cloying scent of Amelia’s perfume that clung to him and pretended to comfort him. “She’ll be back soon. Then our family can be together again.” Edward gave a faint, knowing smile. “Yes. Soon, our family of three will finally be reunited.” Three years later, Shelley returned. Amelia, whom I hadn’t seen in ages, was at our house early, ready to go to the airport with us. The moment she saw Shelley, she lost all control, rushing forward to pull her into a tight, tearful embrace. After their emotional reunion, Shelley walked straight up to me. “Mom, I’m back. When are you handing over the company?” Seeing her impatience, I smiled faintly. “Let’s go. I’ve already called a press conference. I’m about to give you everything, in front of everyone.” 4 The press conference was packed. Media, journalists, business tycoons—everyone had gathered to witness the transfer of power at the colossal C&S Group. Under the glare of the spotlights, I announced that my daughter, Shelley, would be succeeding me as CEO. With lawyers and cameras as my witnesses, I signed the share transfer agreements, handing over all my personal assets and company shares to her. The room erupted in thunderous applause. People marveled at our mother-daughter bond, their eyes on Shelley filled with envy. And at that precise moment, Amelia, arm in arm with Edward, made her grand entrance. Under the confused and startled gazes of the crowd, she held up a paternity test report and announced, “Cassandra, Edward and I have been in love for a long time. We had our daughters at the same time. There was a mix-up at the hospital. Shelley is our biological daughter. You’ve had her for long enough. It’s time to give her back.” The room exploded. “Isn’t that Amelia, Cassandra’s best friend? She was sleeping with her husband? And they have a child?” “Wait, Amelia’s baby died after a month! If there was a mix-up, doesn’t that mean… Cassandra’s real daughter is the one who died?” “That’s monstrous! She steals her husband, and lets her real daughter die? What kind of monster is she?” “And she reveals this right after Cassandra gave her daughter all her money? Is she even human?” Amid the outrage, Edward spoke up, his voice ringing with self-righteousness. “For years, I was trapped in a loveless marriage. I tried to be a responsible husband. But I’m a human being! Night after night, I asked myself, is this the life I want? Cassandra has been good to me and Shelley, but Amelia is the one I truly love. All I want is to pursue my true love. Is that so wrong? Marriage is for happiness, and so is divorce. It shouldn’t be a cage. I hope you can all wish us well!” He sounded like a tragic hero, breaking free from the chains of a miserable marriage. I ignored him. I looked straight at Shelley. “What do you think?” Shelley glanced at the share transfer agreement in her hand, then looked at me calmly. “Mom… this is the last time I’ll call you that. You raised me for twenty years, but you’re not my real mother. Blood is thicker than water. Please, don’t stand in the way of our family’s reunion.” Amelia smirked. “Have some dignity, Cassandra. Just because your own daughter died young, don’t cling to someone else’s.” Edward slapped a divorce agreement and a debit card on the table. “Let’s get this over with while everyone’s here. There’s five thousand dollars on the card. A little something for your years of service and the divorce settlement.” The crowd was incensed. “Like father, like daughter, like mistress. What a disgusting family.” “After everything Cassandra did for her? Raised her like a princess, gave her billions, and she just ditches her for her real mom?” “Five thousand dollars? Is he serious? That’s an insult!” “I can’t even watch this! Cassandra, don’t listen to these animals!” “They’ve gone too far!” Everyone was on my side, some even offering legal help to get my assets back. Through it all, Amelia and Edward remained calm, as if they were prepared for anything. But amid the storm of outrage, a dark, knowing smile touched my lips. “Alright.” As the entire room stared in disbelief, I signed the divorce papers. Amelia and Edward looked stunned, not expecting me to agree so easily. They snatched up the documents, checked them carefully, and only then did they relax, their faces breaking into triumphant smiles. As they were basking in their victory, I spoke again. “Since you’ve given me such a big surprise,” I said, my voice carrying across the silent room, “I have a gift for you in return.” 5 Edward looked baffled. “A gift? What gift?” Everyone’s eyes turned to me. Under the intense scrutiny of the crowd, I produced a box made of exquisite golden nanmu wood. I handed it to Edward. “Even though Shelley disowns me as a mother, I raised her for twenty years. In my heart, she will always be my only heir. This is my family’s heirloom. I give it to you. May your family live in harmony forever.” Edward’s eyes widened. He took the box, opened it cautiously, and pulled out an ancient, priceless jade archer’s ring. The crowd was dumbfounded. “Is that really the C&S family heirloom? Is Cassandra insane? Giving it to these scumbags?” “She must have snapped. The shock was too much.” “It’s tragic. The husband and daughter she loved for years… one betrayed her, the other wasn’t even hers and took all her money. And her real daughter is dead. Who could handle that?” “But that’s no reason to enable them! If it were me, I’d want to kill Amelia!” The crowd looked at me with a mixture of pity and contempt. Amelia started clapping. “Cassandra, I always thought you were just a rich fool. But today, you’ve truly impressed me. You’re not just a fool. You’re a born doormat. The most pathetic, groveling woman I have ever seen.” Shelley wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Thank God you’re not my real mother. I would die of embarrassment.” Edward rolled his eyes. “Being married to you, Cassandra, is the greatest shame of my life. Don’t you ever say you know me again. I can’t afford the humiliation.” With that, he wrapped his arm around Amelia, and the three of them strode out of the press conference. I became an instant headline. The entire event had been live-streamed. The whole country had witnessed what happened. The internet exploded. “Is there something wrong with this woman’s brain?” “Her own daughter is dead, and she’s giving her blessing to this family of vipers? Is that something a human being does?!” “I’m so frustrated I could scream! How can such a spineless, stupid woman exist in this world?” “Can we please stop trending these infuriating stories? It’s bad for my health!” The internet seethed. There was outrage, there was pity. Some well-meaning people even contacted me, offering to help me capitalize on the drama, to do livestreams, play the victim, and earn some money back. I refused them all and went home. When I arrived, Amelia was moving her luggage in. Edward and Shelley were throwing my belongings out like trash. Seeing me, Edward tilted his chin up, his eyes full of loathing. “Cassandra, this house belongs to Shelley now. We’re divorced. Take your junk and get out. Don’t interrupt our family reunion.”

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Victoria was pregnant with her male assistant’s child. On our ninth wedding anniversary, she brought him home. Her instructions were delivered with an air of casual indifference. “Alex has a picky palate. From now on, his three meals a day can’t be repetitive.” “He’s a light sleeper, and you snore too loudly. Pack your things and move to the guest room.” I didn’t say a word. I just picked up the suitcase I had already packed and walked calmly toward the front door. The butler tried to intervene, but a cold sneer from Victoria stopped him in his tracks. “Let him go,” she said, her voice dripping with contempt. “He’ll come crawling back like a dog within three days.” Her words drew laughter from our guests. Right there, in front of me, they made a ten-million-dollar bet on how long I would last. The consensus was that I wouldn’t even make it through the night before I was back, begging her to let me in. But they didn’t know. They didn’t know that the Maybach, sent by the one person who still cared, was already waiting for me just beyond the gate. This time, I was really leaving. 1. As I was about to step out the door, Victoria’s voice cut through the air. “Samuel. Leave your bracelet. Alex has been having nightmares lately.” The jade bracelet was the last thing my parents left me. She met my reddening eyes, her own gaze as cold as ice. “Name your price.” What was the price of nine years of a marriage that had ground my dignity into dust? I couldn’t be bothered to calculate it. I only knew the consequence of refusing her last request—when I’d refused to give Alex my ski goggles on the slopes, her bodyguards had stripped me bare and left me to freeze on the mountainside. I slipped the heirloom from my wrist and slid it onto Alex’s. “I wish the three of you a lifetime of happiness,” I said, my voice even. “And peace.” For the first time all night, Victoria seemed to offer an olive branch. “Samuel, if you just learn to behave, our child can be your child, too.” The words had barely left her lips when the bracelet on Alex’s wrist suddenly slipped, shattering on the marble floor. A shard sliced into his leg. “Alex!” Victoria cried out, rushing to his side, her face a mask of panic. She barked at the butler to call the family doctor. The other guests watched the scene unfold, their faces painted with amusement at my expense. It wasn’t just them. I found it laughable, too. Just last night, my chronic heart condition had flared up. As I collapsed, gasping for breath, Victoria was on her way out to go stargazing with Alex. She stepped right over my convulsing body without a second glance. The last thing I heard before I lost consciousness was her order to the butler. “Have the entire living room disinfected. Alex is coming home tomorrow, and I won’t have him smelling this filth.” My hand tightened on the handle of my suitcase. I turned to leave, but she grabbed my wrist, her face a thundercloud. “Apologize.” “What—” Before I could finish, she shoved me to the floor in front of Alex. My knee landed on the sharp fragments of jade, and blood bloomed against the white stone. Seeing the blood, Victoria released me with a look of disgust. “You deliberately broke Alex’s bracelet and got him hurt. Don’t you think you owe him an apology?” “I’m sorry.” The words had become my mantra in this marriage. The soup is too bland, I’m sorry. I worried you were drinking too much and texted you, I’m sorry. I accidentally saw a text from Alex asking you to a hotel, invading your privacy, I’m truly sorry… I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood, then forced myself to my feet. I bowed deeply to Alex—once, twice, three times. Then I turned my dead eyes to Victoria. “Is that enough?” I asked softly. She saw the blood on my lips, and her chest heaved with a sharp breath. “Samuel, the Old Man isn’t here to protect you. Who are you putting on this pathetic, disgusting act for?” Before I could answer, the doctor rushed in. Victoria pushed me aside like an inconvenient piece of furniture and led him to Alex. While her world revolved around him, I walked out the door. The moment I cleared the villa, I heard a sharp double honk. Seeing the silver sedan outside the iron gates, I quickened my pace. But before the gates could open, two bodyguards appeared out of nowhere, grabbing me and dragging me back inside. They threw me into the study. Victoria had me tied to a chair. She ordered the doctor to insert a needle—one as thick as a child’s arm—into my vein. Through the half-open door, I heard the doctor’s frantic whisper. “Ma’am, Mr. Lee and Mr. Fang both have the rare RH-negative blood type, but Mr. Lee has a history of heart disease. Forcing a blood transfusion could induce acute shock. We should go to a hospital…” “I don’t need your advice,” Victoria cut him off, her voice glacial. “Your only job is to make Alex well. I’ll handle the rest.” I heard her footsteps approaching and closed my eyes. “Does it hurt?” Her voice was uncharacteristically gentle. “Just bear it a little longer. It’ll be over soon.” I turned my head away, unwilling to waste another word on her. After they had drawn 800cc of my blood, my lips were turning blue. Just then, Alex, lying in the master bedroom, let out a weak cough. At the sound, Victoria’s hand shot out, stopping the doctor from removing the needle. “Take more. Double it.” The doctor, sweating profusely, pleaded with her. “Ma’am, any more and you could kill him!” She hesitated for two seconds. “Alex’s health comes first.” “But—” “Just do it,” I interrupted the doctor, my voice a hollow rasp. “Finish it, and let me leave.” Victoria stared at my bloodless face, her eyes flashing with a cold fury. She opened her mouth, about to demand if I was done with my tantrum, if I was really going to leave home over such a small matter. But then, a frail voice drifted from the bedroom. “Tori~” And just like that, she was gone. Two days later, I woke up in a hospital bed, having been admitted for shock. The first thing I saw was Victoria, sitting in a chair by my bed, reviewing a stack of documents. Our eyes met and held for a long moment. Expressionless, she brought a bowl of porridge to my lips. I shook my head. “I can do it myself.” She watched me quietly eat half the bowl before asking, “Are you feeling unwell anywhere?” I ignored her question. “Please give me my phone.” My tone must have been too distant. She froze for a few seconds before calling the butler to have my phone brought over. She noticed the screen lit up with missed calls. “Who was that?” she asked sharply. She never used to ask so many questions. A flash of annoyance crossed my mind. “Someone you don’t know.” She undid the top button of her silk blouse and looked down at me, her eyes cold. “Samuel, how long are you going to keep up this childish act? You think you can walk all over me now?” In the past, her anger would have sent me scrambling to appease her, to figure out what I’d done wrong. Now, I just pointed at her own vibrating phone. “It’s Alex.” A smile touched her lips. As was her habit, she stepped out into the hallway to take the call. The moment she left, my phone rang. I answered. Before I could speak, the anxious voice on the other end burst out, “You said you were coming! Samuel, did you change your mind?” “No, I didn’t. There was just… an incident.” “An incident? What happened to you? That’s it, I’m flying back right now—” I cut him off, my voice low. “Just give me a few more days.” Victoria returned to the room just as I ended the call. She saw the faint, unfamiliar smile on my lips, and a strange tightness constricted her chest. But she had just promised Alex she would go pick out a crib with him. There was no time to ask who I was talking to. It must be that cousin of his, she thought. He’s the only one left who still talks to him. She gathered her files. “Samuel, something’s come up at the office. I’ll be back tomorrow,” she said coldly, not even glancing back as she left. She didn’t come back the next day. Or the day after. But thanks to our mutual “friends,” my phone was constantly flooded with photos and videos of her and Alex. She took him to banquets and business dinners, acting like a teenager in the throes of first love, eager to show off her new partner to the world. The day I was discharged, Victoria posted a nine-photo collage on her social media. In it, she and Alex were kissing passionately in a hot air balloon against a romantic sunset. I left a comment: 【Wishing you both a long and happy life, and a healthy baby soon.】 Ten minutes later, my phone rang. It was her. I didn’t answer. Half an hour later, after finishing my discharge paperwork alone, I saw them. They were standing outside the obstetrics and gynecology department. I overheard a young nurse at the reception desk say to her, “Mrs. Fang, your husband is so good to you! He’s here for every single appointment. He even warms up the ultrasound gel in his hands so you won’t get cold.” The other pregnant women in the waiting area looked on with envy. I remembered, against my will, that we once had a child, too. A child Victoria had aborted in secret. The day she did it, Alex sent me a voice message. “Tori lost a bet to me. Does this mean she can only have my children from now on?” Before I could even process it, Victoria herself had called me, not to explain, but to scream at me for being petty and stupid. “Samuel,” she had spat, “a pathetic waste of space like you, what makes you think you’re worthy of having my children? If I’m going to have a child, it will be with someone who has good genes!” … Snapping back to the present, I was about to take a different route when Victoria spotted me. “What are you doing just standing there?” she demanded. I looked down, instinctively explaining, “I wasn’t following you. It’s just a coincidence. Sorry to disturb you.” “Wait.” As the word left her lips, a flash of jealousy crossed Alex’s eyes. He tightened his arm around Victoria’s waist and smiled at me. “Mr. Lee, thank you so much for the blood. I was feeling so dizzy, but now I’m all better. Tori, why don’t we let Mr. Lee come home with us? Please?” Victoria gave Alex a look of pure adoration. “Anything for you, my sweet, kind Alex. Whatever you say.” Since I needed to get my luggage anyway, I didn’t refuse his “kindness.” Inside the spacious, dark car, I soon found what Alex wanted me to find. Tucked in the crevice of the seat was a pair of lace underwear. “Oh! How did this get here? Tori, I must have forgotten to clean up…” Alex feigned embarrassment, snatching the underwear and carefully tucking it into his pocket. Victoria playfully punched his chest, all the while watching my face for a reaction. When she saw none—no anger, no pain—the tightness in her chest from the hospital returned, stronger this time. “Samuel, you’ve been staring at your phone since we got in the car,” she said, her tone sharp with an unfamiliar jealousy. “Are you talking to your cousin? Or someone else I don’t know?” I had just finished booking my flight. I turned off the screen. “Just reading the news.” Her brow furrowed even deeper. In a swift motion, she snatched the phone from my grasp. “What’s the password?” she demanded. “My birthday.” Nine years of marriage. Such a simple six-digit number. She tried over and over until the phone locked her out. She never got it right. The rest of the ride was silent. The car had barely stopped at the villa when Victoria felt a wave of morning sickness. Alex helped her back to the master bedroom. He played the part of the man of the house perfectly, ordering the chef to prepare all of Victoria’s favorite foods. As she came downstairs later, she saw my lonely figure heading toward the guest room. After a moment’s thought, she told the chef, “Make a few of Mr. Lee’s usual dishes as well. And set the table for three.” In the guest room, I opened my suitcase. All my clothes had been slashed to ribbons. Thankfully, my passport and other documents, tucked in an inner layer, were untouched. I gathered my papers, ready to leave for good, but Alex was blocking the doorway. He held a black canister, his eyes raking over me with contempt. “Samuel, you have more patience than I thought. I’ve moved into your house, humiliated you in front of our entire social circle, and you’re still clinging to her like a leech.” “Then again,” he sneered, “that old hag grandmother of yours finally kicked the bucket last month. Without her protection, I guess Tori is the only lifeline you have left.” A cruel memory sparked in his eyes. “You know, that day you were crying, begging Tori to send the helicopter to take you to the hospital to see your grandmother one last time? Do you know why she refused?” He grinned. “Because she had promised to take me to the beach to watch the sunset.” He held up his phone. “This picture of us kissing? We took it right then.” Smack. I knocked the phone from his hand. My own hands, moving before I could think, closed around his throat. The canister fell from his grasp, and the acrid sting of gasoline filled the air. In the struggle, Alex frantically fumbled with a lighter and ignited the fuel on the floor. Flames erupted. Thick smoke filled the room. Weakened from my hospital stay, I was quickly overcome, my body going limp as I collapsed. Through the roaring fire, I heard her voice. “Samuel!” It was followed by the frantic shouts of the staff. “Ma’am, it’s too dangerous! You can’t go in! Wait for security to bring the fire extinguishers!” “Get out of my way! Samuel is in there!” She burst through the flames. But then she saw him. She saw Alex, also on the floor. “Tori, save—” He didn’t need to finish. She ran to him without a moment’s hesitation, scooped him up, and turned to leave without a single glance in my direction. Half an hour later, after she had soothed and settled Alex, Victoria searched the entire villa. She couldn’t find me. That night at the airport, I mailed a package, then boarded a flight to London, my lungs aching with each cough. Just before takeoff, I received a text from her: 【I don’t have time for your hide-and-seek games. Alex has a check-up at 10 AM tomorrow. You be there too. For a lung scan.】 I didn’t reply. I simply removed the SIM card and turned off the phone. Victoria, from this day forward, we will never meet again. …

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Fred insisted I get a hysterectomy to cement our child-free commitment. It was our ultimate pact. Ten years later, he surprised me with adopted twins to raise. I devoted myself completely. Eighteen years later, they got into Ivy League schools. At their acceptance party, Fred slid asset transfer papers toward me. My mother grabbed my arm in panic. “You can’t give them everything! We don’t even know their origins!” I calmly replied, “I trust my judgment.” When my father’s slap cracked through the hall, shouting “Disgrace!”, I still signed. Fred’s triumphant grin appeared as he embraced another woman. She smugly presented divorce papers. “Thank you for caring for my family,” she cooed. My slow smile matched hers. “Of course.” … Eighteen years ago, Fred, the man who had sworn we’d walk through life hand-in-hand, just the two of us, came home with those twins. They were a little scrawny, a bit dark-skinned, but they had these infectious giggles that charmed everyone instantly. He told me he’d found them at an orphanage. From that day on, I became a mother. I was there for every scraped knee, every feverish night, every nightmare. I nurtured them, guided them, and eighteen years later, they had Ivy League acceptance letters in their hands. The news that I was transferring my entire fortune to them at the party sent shockwaves through our social circle. Friends and family descended on me, all pleading for me to keep something for myself, a safety net. I ignored them all. I signed the papers. The moment the documents were in his hands, Fred couldn’t contain his joy. A loud, booming laugh escaped him as he strode through the crowd, pulling a woman I knew all too well toward me. Together, they presented the divorce papers. The terms were simple: I would leave with nothing. My world tilted. A roar filled my ears as I stared at him, the sense of betrayal a physical blow, a shard of ice piercing my heart. This was the man for whom I had sacrificed my womb, my ability to ever bear my own children. For years, I had been the perfect wife, the doting mother—a role model in our community. And now, this. My voice, when it came, was a ragged scream. “Fred! You and Vivian… you were together all along!” Vivian. A cunning, ambitious woman who had started as a junior employee at my company and, with a few well-placed smiles and manipulations, had climbed her way up to director. She just smiled, a picture of poise. “Don’t be angry, Lana. If you truly love Fred, you should be willing to sacrifice for his happiness.” Fred’s voice was sharp with impatience. “Just sign it already. What are you waiting for?” We met in college. Fred came from nothing, a kid from a dirt-poor town who could barely afford tuition, let alone food. He used to hide in his dorm, surviving on stale bread. Malnutrition had left his hair thin and his skin sallow; he walked with a perpetual stoop. I found him collapsed on the athletic field one day and carried him to the campus clinic myself. That’s when I learned about his struggles. I started covering his expenses. One thing led to another, and we fell in love. Vivian was his high school sweetheart, a flame I thought had long been extinguished. I was wrong. They had reconnected and conspired behind my back. The whispers in the ballroom started to swell. “My God, can you believe this? The moment she signs the assets over, he drops the act.” “I heard they swore to be child-free. Then he just shows up with two kids. Now we know why.” “I bet those twins are his and that homewrecker’s.” “You think? It’s obvious! Why else would he push Lana to give them everything?” “Poor Lana. Played for a fool for almost two decades.” My mother’s face was slick with tears. “Lana, you see? You walked right into their trap. Your father and I warned you. We told you that man was a shark, that he was only with you for the money. We told you something was off about those kids, but you wouldn’t listen!” My father, who had returned, his face pale with fury, spat, “How did I raise such an idiot? Throwing away a family legacy for a man like that!” The noise, the accusations, the pity—it all swirled around me. I kept my head down, staring at the divorce papers. No one could see the smile playing on my lips. “Don’t blame me, Lana,” Fred said, trying to sound reasonable, as if justifying his affair would soothe his conscience. “I’m a normal man. You couldn’t have children. I had to find someone who could.” I finally looked up, a bitter laugh escaping me. “You were the one who begged me to have the surgery! You said it would protect us from ever changing our minds. I did that for you.” “That was then! The reality is, you’re barren. I wanted my own legacy, so I went to Vivian.” Vivian nodded in agreement. “Exactly. What’s the point of a woman building an empire if she has no one to leave it to?” A murmur of assent rippled through the hall. My mother, her voice trembling with memories, turned on Fred. “You came from nothing! Your family was so poor they couldn’t even afford to eat, let alone send you to school. Your own mother was dying, and you didn’t have a penny for her treatment. If it wasn’t for Lana’s family stepping in, you and your mother would be dead!” “We didn’t ask for a dowry. We gave you a house and a car when you married our daughter.” “You loved sweet and sour ribs, so Lana hired the best chefs and even learned to make it perfectly herself. Your brother was jobless for years, his own family had left him, and Lana’s father gave him a managerial position with a six-figure salary!” For a moment, the three of us were lost in the past. “We gave you everything,” my mother whispered, her voice breaking. “And you repay us by stealing our family’s fortune.” Fred was silent for a beat, then a cold smile spread across his face. “What’s the point of bringing all that up now?” He looked at me. “Alright, Lana. Are you going to stare at those papers all night?” “It doesn’t matter if you sign or not,” he continued, his voice dripping with condescension. “The assets are already in the children’s names. All that’s left in our joint account is a few thousand dollars. Consider it a parting gift for your years of service. For your retirement.” The crowd buzzed again. “He’s right. Without Lana, his mother would be dead and he’d be nothing.” “Her father was too generous. He let a viper into his home.” “And look at him now, so smug…” Hearing them, Fred’s grin widened until it looked like it might split his face. CRACK! My father, moving faster than I’d seen him move in years, lunged forward and slapped Fred hard across the cheek. “You animal!” To see his daughter’s life savings stolen, to know she’d sacrificed her body for this snake—it was too much. “Security! Get this old man! Teach him a lesson!” Fred bellowed, his face contorted with rage and humiliation. The same guards who had been bowing and scraping to my father just an hour ago now closed in, their expressions menacing. “You dare touch me?” my father thundered, his old authority still carrying weight. The guards hesitated, but Vivian, emboldened by their new power, surged forward and struck my father herself. My father froze, stunned. He was a respected figure, the former president of the state’s business association, a man who mingled with governors and billionaires. To be struck by this… this nobody… was the ultimate insult. He was about to explode, but I pulled him back. The guests were aghast. “They hit Mr. Gable?” “The man has donated millions to charity, built schools for the poor… and they treat him like this?” “You can’t blame them entirely. It’s his daughter’s fault. She chose this path. Didn’t she know a man can have kids at eighty, but a woman’s choice is final?” “It’s always the children who squander the family fortune. If I had a daughter like that, I’d disown her!” “What a pair of vipers. They deserve a special kind of hell. But here they are, the richest people in the city…” The crowd seethed with a mixture of pity for me and contempt for them. “Had enough?” Fred snarled, his glare sweeping across the room, silencing the chatter. He turned his cold eyes back to me. “Lana. Yes or no? Are you signing?” “I’ll sign.” The agreement was brutally simple. A few thousand dollars. I was being thrown out with less than nothing. I picked up the pen and, with a steady hand, scrawled my name. Fred snatched the document, his eyes scanning the signature. A wave of relief washed over him, replaced by a sneer. “Excellent, excellent. Thank you, Lana, for the generous gift of a multi-billion dollar fortune. Our family won’t have to work for generations! You truly are our greatest benefactor.” Vivian raised a champagne flute. “You’re like a second mother to me! I have to toast to that!” she crowed, downing the glass. I smiled. Oh, really? Let’s see who has the last laugh. My father watched them, gloating and triumphant, the legacy his great-grandfather had built now in the hands of thieves. Suddenly, he choked, a spray of blood erupting from his lips as he collapsed to the floor. His heart was weak; my hysterectomy years ago had nearly killed him from the stress. “Dad!” “John!” My mother and I, along with our relatives, rushed to his side, a frantic scene of chaos and fear. Fred noticed a man who was helping us, his brow furrowing. “Ethan? What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’ve got a thing for this washed-up old hag.” Ethan and Fred had grown up together, two poor kids from the same town. Fred never missed a chance to mock him, calling him a country bumpkin. Ethan just gave a small, unreadable smile and said nothing. My father regained consciousness, and they helped him to a quiet room to rest. “Where are their precious Ivy League twins?” someone whispered. “I heard they went to pick up their official acceptance letters.” Just then, two figures in school uniforms appeared at the entrance. They were a bit overweight, but they walked in with a sunny, confident air. When they saw me, their faces twisted in disgust. They walked straight past me to Fred. “Dad! Aunt Vivian! We got them!” the girl, Maya, chirped. Fred beamed, pulling them close. “From now on, you’ll call her ‘Mom’.” “Mom.” “Mom.” The word, from the children I had raised, directed at another woman, was a knife in my gut. “Good children,” Vivian cooed. “Now Mommy doesn’t have to sneak into your school just to see you anymore.” My own mother was shaking with rage. She pointed a trembling finger at them. “Maya! Mason! Your mother raised you for eighteen years! Is this how you repay her?” “Mason, you were such a sickly child, always running a fever. One night, it spiked to 104. Your mother drove you to the hospital herself in the middle of a thunderstorm!” “And Maya! In high school, you fell in with that punk crowd. They were going to drug you at a party, but your mother showed up with help just in time. She was stabbed ten times protecting you! You would have been ruined if not for her!” “She was the one who taught you what to do when you got your first period, for God’s sake!” The two teenagers fell silent, a flicker of something—shame, perhaps—in their eyes. It was all true. I had given them everything. After a moment, Maya tossed her head. “Whatever. It’s not like she’s our real mom.” Mason chimed in, “Yeah, look in a mirror. You were never good enough to be our mother, Lana.” He then threw a piece of paper on the table in front of me. A paternity test. It confirmed what everyone already suspected: they were Vivian’s children. A collective gasp went through the room, even though it was an open secret. “My God, the rumors were true.” “It was obvious from the start. A man who wants to be child-free suddenly adopts twins? Please.” “Lana is the biggest joke in the city. She raised her husband’s illegitimate children, gave them her fortune, and now they call another woman ‘Mom’.” All eyes were on me, a mixture of morbid curiosity and pity. They were waiting for the breakdown, the hysterics. Instead, I pulled out a document of my own. “Maya, Mason,” I said, my voice clear and steady. “Since we’re clearing the air, let’s sign this. A formal disownment.” The room fell silent. Eighteen years of devotion, thrown away just like that? Maya let out a shrill laugh. “You’re disowning us? We couldn’t be happier!” They signed the papers without a second’s hesitation and went to sit with Fred and Vivian. The four of them beamed at each other, a perfect, happy family, finally out in the open. “Excellent,” I said, a genuine smile spreading across my face. I had given them a final test of character, a chance to show a sliver of loyalty. They failed. Some people, like the sun, are impossible to look at directly without being burned. No one in that room could possibly understand why I, a shrewd businesswoman with a billion-dollar empire, would willingly walk into such an obvious trap. “Lana, this party has nothing to do with you anymore. You can leave,” Fred announced, the lord of the manor. “And please have yourself and your parents out of the house by tonight. The deed is in my children’s names now.” “I’m not going anywhere just yet.”

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Eight years into our marathon of love, Ava Harrison said she was finally ready to announce our engagement to the world! Overjoyed, I called my mother, telling her to come to the city for our engagement party. To ensure she wouldn’t be looked down upon by my future in-laws, my mother took out all her savings to buy an exquisite, custom-tailored silk dress and got ready with the utmost care. But when the moment of the announcement arrived, Ava stood on the banquet stage, her arm intimately linked with her male assistant, Ryan. “Tonight, besides celebrating a major new project for the company, I have another wonderful piece of news to share,” she announced, her voice ringing through the hall. “I have decided to marry… Ryan!” As her words fell, every head in the room turned to me. Their eyes were filled with mockery, pity, and contempt. My mother, confused, stood up and asked, “Marcus, didn’t you say tonight was your engagement party with Ava?” I looked at Ava, hoping for an explanation from her own lips. But in the next second, her voice cut through the air, cold and sharp. “A country bumpkin thinking he can marry a princess. Utterly ridiculous.” 1 After she spoke, Ava didn’t spare me another glance. She and Ryan descended from the stage, mingling warmly with the guests who were now laughing at my mother and me for not knowing our place. I was left standing there, paralyzed by grief, while my mother began to blame herself. “Son, is it our fault? Did we hold you back? Is it because of your humble beginnings that they look down on you?” I wanted to comfort her immediately, to tell her no, that even though we came from the countryside, we had built our own wealth with our own two hands and were no less than any of them. But suddenly, my mother clutched her chest and crumpled to the ground, her face so pale it trembled. As she fell, she accidentally bumped into a woman in a tight black dress standing behind her. It was Ryan’s sister, Chloe. “Hey! You old hag! How dare you bump into me and spill wine all over me!” Chloe’s face was a thundercloud. When she looked down at my mother, her voice was pure venom. “Oh, it’s you, the pathetic pauper!” “What, your son isn’t good enough to marry my sister-in-law, so now you’re playing dirty behind her back?” “Do you have any idea how expensive this dress is? It was custom-made for me by Ava herself! You’ve ruined it! You’re going to pay for this!” Before I could stop her, Chloe slapped my mother across the face. “Chloe, stop it!” “I’ll pay for the dress, but my mother didn’t do it on purpose. You apologize to her.” The commotion we were making was loud enough to attract Ava’s attention from across the room. She stormed over with security guards in tow, her face dark. Without even asking what had happened, she began to yell at me. “Marcus, must you ruin everything for me?” “This was supposed to be a perfect evening, and you’ve completely destroyed it!” In her rage, Ava threw the contents of her wine glass in my face. Seeing this, my mother’s self-blame only intensified. She tried to stand up to apologize for me, but the pain in her stomach was so severe she couldn’t even speak. “Ava,” Chloe whined, “it was his mother! She threw wine on me on purpose and said my brother stole you from him!” Hearing Chloe’s blatant lies, my anger boiled over. “You’re lying—” “Apologize!” Ava roared, cutting me off. We had done nothing wrong. We would not apologize. Right now, my only concern was my mother. I knew her chronic stomach condition was flaring up; I had to get her to a hospital. Seeing that my mother had no intention of apologizing, Ava’s fury reached its peak. She ordered the security guards to seize me, trying to force my mother to apologize to Chloe. “Marcus, make your mother apologize to Chloe right now! Everyone is watching!” “Are you determined to humiliate me?” “Ava, my mother’s stomach condition is acting up! Tell them to let go of me! I need to take her to the hospital!” Ryan sauntered over, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Oh, what a coincidence. No stomach problems before, no stomach problems after, but the moment she’s asked to apologize to Chloe, she suddenly has a flare-up. You must think we’re idiots.” “So that’s it! You’re just trying to make a scene!” I started to explain, but Chloe interrupted me. “Since she won’t apologize, let’s just give her a taste of her own medicine.” She suddenly produced a pair of scissors and started walking towards my mother. I struggled frantically, terrified, but I couldn’t break free from the guards’ grip. 2 SNIP! Chloe snipped at the silk of my mother’s dress, tearing at the fabric with her hands. “Ava, make her stop!” This humiliation was worse than death for my mother. She cried and struggled, but she was in too much pain to even resist. In that moment, I felt a profound despair. I had wanted her to come here and celebrate, to be happy. I never imagined she would be subjected to such casual, brutal cruelty. Ava Harrison, I was so wrong about you. A crowd was gathering, but Ava just watched, unmoved. She even leaned back into Ryan’s arms, ignoring my desperate calls. My mother, overwhelmed with shame, gave me one last, deep look, and then the pain became too much, and she fainted. Perhaps sensing the icy chill that emanated from me, Ava finally pulled away from Ryan. She glanced down at my unconscious mother and told Chloe to stop. I kicked the guards away and rushed to my mother’s side. I touched her face, my hands trembling with fear, terrified that something was terribly wrong. I scooped her into my arms and ran. Ava chased after me, blocking my path. “Marcus, I had my reasons for what happened tonight.” “Take Mom home first. I’ll come back later and explain everything.” As Ava turned to leave, I called out to her. “Ava, I don’t care what your reasons are. My mother has fainted. We don’t have a car. You need to drive us to the hospital. Now.” All I wanted was for my mother to be safe. Nothing else mattered. Ava seemed about to agree, but Ryan walked over and wrapped his arms around her. “Ava, don’t go,” he pleaded. “Don’t leave me to face all these guests alone.” Ryan’s plea was all it took. Ava chose to stay. No matter how much I begged, she turned and walked away. Since she was so cold, so indifferent, I stopped begging. I carried my mother out into the night. We were on a hillside, and it was hard to find a taxi. By the time I finally flagged one down and we reached the hospital, my mother had stopped breathing. The doctor said she was brought in too late. If we had arrived just a little earlier, they could have saved her. That night, I held my mother’s body and cried until dawn. Looking at the regret etched on her peaceful face, my own guilt was a crushing weight. I know you can’t turn back time, but I wished with all my soul that I could. Just then, Ryan updated his social media. It was a picture of him and Ava, exchanging engagement rings, locked in a passionate kiss. “I finally get to marry the most beautiful and wonderful woman in the world!” I saw that Ava had liked the post, giving her silent approval. My heart turned to ash. I took the matching ring she had given me years ago and threw it out the window. Then, I left a comment under Ryan’s post: “Wishing you a happy marriage and a long life together.” After that, I turned off my phone. I handled my mother’s funeral arrangements alone, then took her ashes back to our hometown to be buried. Once everything was settled, I returned to the city. There were still loose ends to tie up. When I turned my phone back on, I saw hundreds of missed calls from Ava. My messaging apps were flooded with her texts. I deleted them all. The moment I was done, Ava’s call came through. 3 “You finally turned your phone on! I was starting to think you were dead!” Even through the phone, I could feel Ava’s nervous excitement, and beneath it, a hint of relief. When I didn’t speak, she softened her tone. “My engagement to Ryan… it was because he helped me land a huge project. His only condition was that I agree to an engagement.” “Don’t worry! It’s just an engagement. We’re not actually getting married.” “So you don’t need to be angry anymore. You’re such a jealous one.” I gripped my phone so tightly the veins on the back of my hand bulged. That project—I was the one who had secured it. The client had insisted on a drinking contest with hard liquor. I drank with them until my stomach felt like it was bleeding, but I got the contract signed. While I was recovering in the hospital, Ryan had swooped in and claimed the project as his own. I never had a chance to set the record straight because Ava had announced she was going public with our engagement, and in the excitement, I’d forgotten all about it. What infuriated me even more was that if she had agreed to Ryan’s demand, why didn’t she tell me sooner? I never would have brought my mother to that party. Now, after my mother’s death, I’d had a few days to think. A lot of things had become painfully clear. “Ava, it doesn’t matter. Even if you do marry him, I have no objections.” Ava’s voice immediately rose, her tone sharp. “Marcus, don’t push your luck. I’m not playing these games.” “And stop with the sarcasm. If you don’t, I might just make this engagement real, and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.” Regret? I laughed, a bitter, hollow sound. The biggest regret of my life was ever being with you. It cost my mother her life. “Fine. I’ll support you completely. I won’t stand in your way.” “And now, I’m breaking up with you.” Ava was stunned into silence. This was the first time since we’d met that I had spoken to her with such coldness, the first time I had ever suggested breaking up. Suddenly, Ryan’s voice, smug and close, came through the phone. “Ava, can you bring me my underwear from the bed? I’m completely naked over here.” “You don’t expect me to walk out like this, do you?” I had already guessed they were living together. This casual, intimate request only confirmed it. I could hear Ava walking over, the rustle of fabric, and then Ryan’s playful voice again. “Why don’t you help me put them on, Ms. Harrison?” Ava agreed without a moment’s hesitation. Then, her voice turned cold as she spoke into the phone. “Marcus, you want to break up? Fine. I’ll grant you that wish.” “But you remember this. When you come crawling back, full of regret, I won’t take you back—” I hung up before she could finish. I didn’t need to guess what they would do next. But for the first time, I felt no pain, no heartbreak. Ava never returned to the home she once claimed was her sanctuary. She used to be so clingy. When I cooked, she would wrap her arms around my waist from behind and wait for her meal. Now, when I looked at the kitchen, all I saw was a cold, empty space. The laughter and joy that once filled it were gone, vanished without a trace. Ava, I’m giving up on you. I rolled up my sleeves and began to purge every trace of her from my life. When I was done, I took a shower and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. The next day at the office, my colleagues looked at me strangely. 4 “Director Cole, you’re finally back!” “You’re still calling him Director? Be careful Director Pierce doesn’t hear you. He’ll have you fired. Didn’t he warn us?” “Marcus’s just Ryan’s assistant now. You should get his title right.” Hearing these whispers, I realized that Ava, for Ryan’s sake, had demoted me without my consent. She had given Ryan my position and made me his assistant. A rage unlike any I had ever felt before surged through me. I stormed into the conference room where Ava was leading a meeting. I dragged her out into the hallway. “What is the meaning of this?” Ava bit her lip and pulled her hand away, unable to meet my eyes. “I just think Ryan is a better fit for the position.” I laughed, a strangled, incredulous sound. From the day this company started, I had worked like a dog for her, tirelessly building the business. Where was Ryan then? He was nothing but a useless parasite who relied on women to get ahead. And now she wanted me to be an assistant to that waste of space? Was he even worthy? If it hadn’t been for her, I would have accepted a high-paying position at a major corporation years ago. But I turned it down to help her build her dream. And for what? So Ryan could reap the rewards. “Come on, it’s not so bad being Ryan’s assistant.” “How about this? When things slow down, I’ll go back to our hometown with you to see Mom. I’ll apologize to her.” I stared at her as she prattled on, and the woman before me became more and more of a stranger. The love I once felt for her scattered like stardust, gone forever. “Ava, my mother is not fortunate enough to receive a visit from you.” “And when I said I was breaking up with you that night, I meant it. And my resignation, right now, is also real.” Ava froze, then her brow furrowed in annoyance. “Marcus, how long are you going to keep this up?” “I’m not keeping anything up. I’ve just seen things more clearly. Isn’t it better for me to get out of your way?” Ava’s face flushed with anger. Just as she was about to speak, Ryan walked out. “You can’t leave yet. The project is secured, but someone still needs to manage it.” “If you walk out, I’ll fire every single employee who came up with you.” “I’m sure you wouldn’t want to see them all unemployed, would you?” I narrowed my eyes, my gaze sharp and dangerous as I looked at Ryan. “And you? Do you agree with this?” I said, my words directed at Ava. She didn’t speak. Her silence was a clear endorsement of his threat. In that second, my heart turned completely to ash. For the sake of my colleagues, I swallowed my pride and stayed. Seeing me relent, Ava smiled, relieved. “That’s better. Just work hard under Ryan. When he gets promoted to manager, I’ll give you your director position back.” “Come on, don’t be angry. I’ve already had a designer create a new custom dress for Mom. I’ll give it to her myself.” After that, Ryan treated me like a dog. One moment he was demanding coffee, the next he was forcing me to give him a massage. When Chloe came to visit, she would join in, ordering me around as well. I kept telling myself to stay calm, not to be impulsive. Because I was secretly contacting the company that had tried to recruit me years ago. I recommended all my former colleagues to them. If Ava didn’t appreciate their talent, I would find them a better stage on which to shine. The other company, recognizing their skills, agreed without hesitation. After I had arranged everything, I received a video call from Ryan. The moment I answered, the sound of grotesque, labored breathing filled my ears. On the screen, Ava had shed her usual icy demeanor. She was writhing beneath Ryan, lost in a shameless act of passion. Strangely, I felt no anger. Looking at her, I felt only a profound sense of calm. It was as if she were a complete stranger. Ryan had sent this to provoke me, to make me lose control and cause a scene, to make Ava hate me even more. But he miscalculated. At that very moment, I was sitting in an airport lounge, about to embark on a journey I had long dreamed of. I blocked and deleted all of Ava’s contact information. By the time Ava and Ryan returned to the office, her new assistant, Chloe, ran up to her. “This is bad, Ava! Marcus and all his people just quit! They didn’t even take their final paychecks!” “And the client for the new project is here. He’s saying he’ll only continue to cooperate if Marcus is managing the project.”

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