Chapter 2

My parents died in a plane crash when I was young, leaving me with no relatives. As a result, I became an orphan.

Roderick saw how vulnerable I was and supported me financially. Because of him, I had the opportunity to grow up with stability.

Our bond was like that of family. But when I turned 18, I realized I had developed feelings for him.

I knew, however, that we could never be together. So, I wrote my feelings down in my journal.

If Roderick had never seen it, I could have buried those feelings and kept them hidden forever. But he had found it.

In a fit of anger, he had ripped my journal apart. When he looked at me, his eyes were filled with disgust. "Savannah Lloyd, how could you feel that?" he had spat.

I had wanted to explain, but I hadn't known how. Ultimately, all I could do was apologize repeatedly, telling him that I shouldn't have feelings for him.

I hadn't understood why it was wrong to have feelings for Roderick. But if it had disgusted him that much, then maybe the fault was mine after all.

Even so, he hadn't let it go.

The next day, Roderick pulled me out of school. Before I could even understand what was happening, he had put me on a plane bound for another country.

He had also arranged for me to attend a university in a remote place. To make sure I had no contact with the outside world, he had hired bodyguards and housekeepers to keep watch over me around the clock.

At first, I couldn't understand why he had done this. It wasn't until two months later, when Roderick's wedding had hit the headlines, that everything became clear.

That was when I realized that, all these years, he had never gotten over his first love.

And so, Roderick gave Francesca the most extravagant wedding.

I watched that video countless times. In it, he looked at her with such tenderness as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. He had never looked at me that way.

At that moment, everything clicked. Roderick had only helped me because he felt sorry for me.

"Ms. Lloyd, please get in the car."

The voice of Curtis Moore, Roderick's assistant, jolted me back to the present.