Chapter 1

The second before Greta Ormond's high heel came down, I hurriedly balled my hands into fists. The sharp heel grazed the back of my hand, plunging right into the shards of glass.

A jagged shard shot upward, slicing a deep gash across my palm. Blood instantly gushed out.

"Ms. Sullivan!" The housekeeper, Maya Brooks, blanched and hurried over to check my hand.

Ms. Ormond raised her leg to block her. "What's the fuss? It's just a scratch, not a fatal blow."

I cradled my bleeding hand, spots of black dancing before my eyes from the pain.

Before Caspian Blackwood went abroad, he had repeatedly warned them that no harm must come to me. He had even padded all the sharp corners of the tables in the villa. Yet, merely three days after he left, Ms. Ormond had given me such a grand welcoming gift.

I took a deep breath and patiently explained, "I don't love Caspian, nor do I plan to marry him, Ms. Ormond. He gives me 1.5 million dollars a month, and my only job is to live comfortably here. The two of you can get engaged or married whenever you want. I pose absolutely no threat to you."

Ms. Ormond glanced at the luxury goods scattered throughout the house and sneered, "You're living in Caspian's house, spending Caspian's money, yet you dare claim you have no designs on him? Do you take me for a three-year-old?"

I shook my head in all seriousness. "No. Three-year-olds are much easier to reason with."

Ms. Ormond's expression instantly hardened.

As the sole heiress of the Ormond family, she had a considerable standing in the capital's high society. However, compared to Blackwood Group, which controlled half of the continent's business world, Ormond Pharmaceutical was, at best, a respectable sidekick.

Her family had spent years desperately attempting to bring her and Caspian together so they could ride the Blackwoods' coattails and reach greater heights. Ms. Ormond was after Caspian's influence, whereas I was after Caspian's wealth.

Both of us could get what we needed out of this arrangement. Hence, there was no reason we couldn't coexist in peace.

I reminded her yet again, "If you genuinely want to be the lady of the Blackwood family in the future, you'd better let me tend to my wound right now. My injury isn't going to do you any favors."

Ms. Ormond looked as though she had finally caught me red-handed. "At last, you're showing your true colors, huh? Are you using Caspian to threaten me? You're just a gold digger with no title or status. How dare you teach me how to be the lady of the Blackwood family?"

Having said her piece, she snatched the first-aid kit from Maya's hands and hurled it into the pool.

Maya was so anxious her voice cracked. "Mr. Blackwood's one and only line in the sand is that Ms. Sullivan must never come to harm! If you keep this up, your family won't be able to bear the consequences!"

After hearing that, the jealousy in Ms. Ormond's eyes burned even hotter. "His one and only line in the sand? Who does she think she is?"

She raised her hand to strike me again. I took a step back to dodge it, but my bare foot landed on a shard of glass, and the pain made me collapse beside the couch.

Ms. Ormond stared at my bleeding foot and jeered. "Aren't you supposed to be oh so important? Why hasn't Caspian flown back from abroad to stand up for you?"

She jerked her chin at her bodyguards. "Search the place. I'd like to see what kind of spell she used to bewitch Caspian!"

Several bodyguards immediately stormed into my bedroom. My clothes, jewelry, and handbags were tossed all over the floor.

Minutes later, her assistant emerged with a phone I'd never seen before.

It was filled with flirtatious messages between me and another man, along with screenshots showing that I had agreed to steal Blackwood Group's bid price and the other party had transferred me 7.5 million dollars.

Ms. Ormond raised the phone, her eyes gleaming with triumph. "I've caught you red-handed. Lucia, what do you have to say for yourself?"

I flipped through a few pages and could not help but frown. "You can accuse me of betraying Caspian, but you can't insult my professional integrity! He gives me 1.5 million dollars a month. Do you really think 7.5 million dollars is enough to buy me off? Who are you looking down on?"

Ms. Ormond was enraged. "Pin her down! I'll get rid of this ungrateful traitor for Caspian once and for all!"

The moment her bodyguards seized my arms, the massive doors to the villa were kicked open.

Caspian's chief secretary, Peter Brandt, rushed in with a medical team. As soon as he spotted the pool of blood on the floor, all the color drained from his face. "Unhand her this instant, Ms. Ormond. If anything else happens to Ms. Sullivan, you won't be the only one who suffers; you'll drag your whole family down with you!"