Chapter 1

That night, Thea Storme held the ring she had just finished making.

By chance, she overheard the helpers addressing her poor boyfriend, Leonard Falkner, respectfully.

"Mr. Falkner, are you really going to just stand there and watch Ms. Clara become a widow? Mr. Larkin Senior used to be a military commander. He isn't someone we can cross. Once Ms. Clara marries his grandson, it'll be too late!"

The gentle look Leonard always wore was gone. What replaced it was a coldness Thea had never seen.

"I underestimated Clara. I thought marrying her sister would force her to give in. Didn't expect the little thing to have such a temper.

"Let's do this. The wedding goes on as planned. But before the ceremony, tie Thea up and hand her over to the Larkin family."

"This whole thing and my identity stay secret. I'm going to use this chance to smooth out Clara's rough edges."

In that instant, Thea felt like she had fallen into an icy abyss. The ring slipped from her fingers and shattered against the floor.

She sent her brother, Jeremy Stratton, a message. "I agree to take Clara's place and marry Mr. Larkin to bring him good luck."

…

"I've thought it through. I won't back out. I'll marry Mr. Larkin."

Thea pushed open the door to Jeremy's office. Her expression was hidden in the shadows, giving nothing away.

Jeremy had been gaming. The moment he heard her, he tossed his phone aside.

"You agreed? Really? That's great!" The Larkins just called again. Mr. Larkin's condition is getting worse. He has at most half a month left. They need the wedding before that. I'll start preparing everything right now. What kind of cars do you like? Take your pick from my garage—"

"Doesn't matter," Thea cut him off. "I don't care about any of that. But if you still remember that I'm your real sister, agree to two conditions."

The air went still.

Jeremy turned his head away, avoiding her eyes. "What conditions?"

"First, I want two courtyard houses. Second, the fact that I'm going to marry Mr. Larkin must be kept secret from everyone, including Clara and Leonard."

Jeremy froze, and then he stared at her like she had lost her mind.

"Two courtyard houses are worth over 1.6 billion dollars. You're really greedy, huh? Don't forget, you were the one who insisted on fighting Clara over Leonard. You pushed her into agreeing to marry into the Larkin family in the first place.

"All that fear she went through was because of you! I thought you were being mature by taking her place. Turns out you're just cruel. You want her to keep worrying!"

"That's on her!" Thea snapped, raising her head.

Ever since being brought back to the Storme family, she had never raised her voice like this.

"Did I force her to agree to the marriage? You feel bad when she's just scared for a few days, but I'm the one marrying a man who's about to die! Why don't you feel bad for me? If Clara is the only sister you care about, why bring me back at all? Why not send me back to the orphanage?"

Thea took a deep breath before continuing, "And those two courtyard houses were wedding gifts Dad and Mom left for me at birth. I'm just taking back what's mine! Who are you to call that greedy?"

The barrage of questions made the veins on Jeremy's forehead bulge. Yet, he couldn't say a word.

He stared at Thea for a long time. When he realized she had no intention of backing down, he clenched his teeth and replied, "Fine. I'm done arguing. You're marrying into the Larkin family anyway. That's settled.

"I've transferred the houses into Clara's name. I'll have someone handle the transfer paperwork for you."

Thea let out a sneer and turned to leave.

Just before the door closed, Jeremy asked one last question, "Forget the houses. I get why you want them back. But why hide this from Leonard?

"He's so crazy about you that he's even willing to be a live-in son-in-law for you. Your wedding is about to happen. How are we supposed to explain this to him?"

"No need to explain."

Thea left those four words behind, her voice colder than ever.

Only then did Jeremy realize that this young lady raised in an orphanage was nothing like the pushover she seemed to be.

Once outside the room, Thea's eyes finally reddened.

As she looked at her new phone wallpaper—a wedding photo of her and Leonard—the pain in her chest felt like a knife twisting deeper and deeper.

Leonard called right then. "Thea, when are you coming back?"

He always checked on her like this.

She was about to speak when she heard a low grunt from the other end. She paused, forcing her voice to stay steady before casually asking, "What are you doing?"

"Thinking about you, of course. Since you won't give it to me, I had to handle it myself."

Thea commanded the system to pull up Leonard's live feed.

She watched Leonard pleasure himself while casting a vile smirk at Clara Storme.

Every sweet word he whispered to Thea made Clara's eyes fill with tears of pure fury.

Unable to contain her rage, Clara reached out and seized him. Another pronounced, muffled groan echoed simultaneously through the phone on Thea's end.

Leonard got what he wanted. He casually tossed his phone aside.

He had no idea that Thea could see everything.

She watched him lift Clara's chin and ask, "You're mad already? Just give in and say you love me, and I won't marry Thea."

Thea didn't watch what came next.

She cut off the feed and ended the call. Tears slid down her cheeks.

Why did she insist on hiding her marriage from Leonard?

To outsiders, they looked deeply in love.

But only Thea knew that his affection toward her was never real. Every bit of it existed only to force the Storme family's precious daughter, Clara, to submit.

Since he had deceived her for so long, it didn't seem too much for her to deceive him just once.