Chapter 1

Celine Sherman and I were supposed to get married on the same day.

Three days before my wedding, by the uncanniest of coincidences, I found out that my fiancé, Andrew Hammond, intended to swap the two wedding cars intended for Celine and me, respectively.

Celine was supposed to marry into the struggling and powerless Wright family, but Andrew planned to have me take her place.

His words came as a huge shock to me, and it was something that I never would've seen coming.

Just as I was about to head into the room he was in and confront him, the sound of quiet sobbing rang out.

"Thank you so much for everything you're doing for me, Andy," Celine said. "But considering my identity, even marrying into the Wright family is a blessing for me. Are you sure it's worth it for you to go to such lengths for me?"

Andrew's voice was tender and full of pity as he insisted, "I forbid you from saying that about yourself, Celine! Even though you're not biologically related to the Shermans, I'll see to it that you get just as much as what Joanna gets from them.

"Here are some shares in Hammond Group, as well as the deed for some of the land my family owns. I've already made all the arrangements for you. Once the wedding day arrives, you just have to leave without worrying about anything.

"As soon as Joanna and I complete our wedding ceremony, I'll come and look for you."

"Andy! Are you crazy?" Celine choked out. "Those are too valuable. I can't accept them!"

Andrew pulled her into his arms and declared, "Nothing is more valuable than your happiness."

The other people in the room chuckled and teasingly remarked, "Since Andrew wants to give it to you, just take it, Celine. In the future, not only will he have the Hammond family's fortune, but he'll have the Sherman family's wealth as well. What's a few deeds and shares in comparison to that?"

Laughing, Andrew chided his friends, but his tone was just as smug.

He then proceeded to take out an exquisite emerald necklace and said to Celine, "Stop worrying so much.

"Here. This emerald necklace is the Hammonds' family heirloom. This should be enough to reassure you, right?"

After carefully putting the necklace on for Celine, he said, "But make sure you don't wear it on our wedding day, just in case it messes things up when we switch the cars."

Celine's eyes crinkled in joy, but she soon began frowning again. "But what if Joanna finds out about this?"

"Joanna trusts me completely. She won't doubt a word I say," Andrew confidently replied. "Once you leave, I'll pick her up myself, and everything will be fine.

"Now, go get some rest. My friends and I will need to run through the details of the plan for the wedding day again to ensure that nothing goes wrong."

Their voices slowly faded out of earshot as I walked out of the house. As I stared up at the sky, I felt chilled to the bone.

"Joanna?"

At some point, Celine appeared and grabbed me from behind. When she noticed my hollow, dazed expression, she raised her eyebrows and gently caressed the emerald necklace around her neck.

"I guess you heard everything, didn't you? Andy says that this necklace can only be worn by the daughter-in-law of the Hammond family. Do you like it?

"Even if you do, however, it doesn't matter at all. Andy gave it to me!"

The smug, haughty look on Celine's face was completely foreign to me. I could hardly recognize her.

Under the sunlight, the emerald necklace gleamed brightly.

Frowning, I took a step forward. Yet, just as I was about to speak, Andrew showed up and grabbed my wrist. "Ever since you got the necklace, you just left it there collecting dust anyway. I thought it'd suit Celine quite well, so I took it out and gave it to her to wear for a few days."

Meanwhile, Celine stood behind Andrew with a pitiful, helpless look on her face. It was a stark contrast from the look of gloating delight she had earlier.

"Andy, maybe I should just return the necklace to Joanna anyway. I don't want to upset her."

Andrew gave her a reassuring pat on the hand before saying to me in a commanding tone, "It's just a necklace. Besides, when it comes down to it, the necklace belongs to my family, the Hammonds. I can give it to whoever I want.

"I'm sure you're not that petty, right, Joanna?"

I remained silent and forced myself to maintain my composure. Then, I walked away from them.

My mother had designed that emerald necklace herself. It wasn't just the Hammonds' family heirloom, it was also the final piece of jewelry that Mom had made before she passed away.

For that very reason, when Mrs. Hammond had given me the necklace, I'd put it away to keep it safe.

I'd looked forward to wearing it on my wedding day. It would be like Mom was there to witness that significant and joyous moment of my life.

Then, a few days ago, Andrew abruptly told me that he wanted to send the necklace to a jeweler for maintenance.

I didn't think much of it then. But who would've thought he'd take my most important belonging and give it to Celine instead?

It was such a clumsy excuse too. Like so many times before, he'd made it sound like he was just looking after my younger sister for me.

He did this despite knowing that I was the one who needed him the most, and despite knowing the true relationship between Celine, my so-called sister, and me.

Even though we shared the same last name, Celine was the daughter of my family's driver.

Five years ago, there had been a car accident that changed the entire trajectory of our lives. Three people died in that crash—my parents, and Celine's father.

Since Celine and I had grown up together, I publicly declared that she was basically a sister to me. I had truly treated her as one as well. I'd even asked Andrew to look out for her.

But of course, I never expected his care for her to extend this far.

Nevertheless, it didn't matter anymore.

Slowly but surely, I walked away.

All along, I'd always obliged whenever Celine or Andrew asked me for something. This time, just like always, I was going to grant their wish as well.