Chapter 1

When I was eighteen, my brothers, who once adored me, begged me with desperate eyes to take a bullet for their newly adopted sister. Naive as I was, I agreed without question and eventually fell off a cliff into the raging sea.

After surviving the fall, I saved Hunter, a desperate soldier with nowhere to run.

Later, he fought his way up to become the Don, treating me like a queen and spoiling me for six whole years.

I thought he was different from my brothers, that he was my saving grace. That changed on a rainy night in our seventh year together, when he risked his life to bring back the first love who had betrayed him.

The front doors of the estate were kicked open violently. Clutching my sketchbook, I stood at the top of the stairs, staring blankly as Hunter rushed in with a woman in his arms.

I didn't understand what this meant. I also couldn't understand the pity in the guards' eyes.

I didn't know her, either.

But I knew it was pouring rain outside. She must be very cold and in a lot of pain.

So I panicked, grabbed a towel and the medical kit, and ran over to them.

"Hunter, she is bleeding. Let's put some medicine on it and blow on the wound. Then it won't hurt anymore."

The next second, the man swatted my hand away. The gauze and medicine bottles smashed onto the floor.

Hunter, who had never lost his temper with me in seven years, had a terrifyingly dark look in his eyes.

When he spoke, his voice was as cold as a knife. "All of you, step back! Don't touch her!"

I didn't know if he was talking to me, but I shrank back from his yelling. I rubbed the back of my red, stinging hand and looked up at him blankly.

His eyes were entirely focused on the woman in his arms. He didn't even look at me.

Panic set in. It felt like I was going to be abandoned by my family again.

The next second, the mob doctors who had been waiting in the estate swarmed in with their medical kits.

They gathered around me, just like they usually did.

Just as one of them bent down to check my hand, Hunter yelled furiously.

"Are you all fucking blind? I brought you here to save Sadie! Why are you crowding around Piper, that freak! She is fine!"

The doctors froze in place. The bodyguards and maids peeking from the corners were also stunned.

After all, for the past seven years, the word 'freak' was the biggest taboo in this estate.

Hunter could never stand hearing others call me that. If anyone dared to say a word, he would pull out his gun on the spot.

There was once a soldier who acted nice to my face but cursed me behind my back.

The man called me an idiot, a parasite who only knew how to spread her legs and climb into bed.

He said I clung to Hunter on purpose, taking up space as his wife and making him a laughingstock at the Commission meetings.

During that time, I actually got hurt a lot. I hid all the bruises under my clothes, too afraid to tell Hunter.

I was afraid he would take his gun and risk his life like before. Once a gun is fired, there will be blood and pain.

I didn't want him to hurt. I also didn't want the other bosses to look down on him because of me, saying he married a fool to be his wife.

So even if it hurt so much that I couldn't eat or sleep, I just endured it.

But new wounds kept piling up on top of the old ones, and I couldn't hide them anymore.

He flew into a massive rage and executed that soldier right then and there following the mafia code.

But at night, he held me, his voice trembling and choked with emotion. "Piper, please don't hide things from me next time, okay?"

"Don't shut me out of your world."

"Try to rely on your husband a bit more, okay?"

Hunter's fragile look felt somewhat familiar. In a daze, I reached out to touch his handsome face and tried to comfort him.

"Don't cry, don't cry, brother. It's my fault. I will change."

Hunter froze, then tightened his arms around me, his voice turning hoarse.

"Piper, I am Hunter, not your brother. You're confused again."

I came back to my senses, lowered my head guiltily, and started apologizing with practiced ease. "I'm sorry."

That night, Hunter was so mad that I called him the wrong name and hid my injuries from him. He held me and sulked for the entire night.

But the next day, he brought hot milk to my bed right on time, gently woke me up, and helped me get washed and dressed.

He even put an entire medical team on the payroll to stay at the estate full-time, just to look after my health.

All the bodyguards and maids in the estate were replaced. He personally looked into the background of every single new hire.

So, these doctors and bodyguards were the ones who had witnessed with their own eyes how Hunter protected me with his life.

Because of this, they never expected that seven years later, the first person to publicly break the taboo and call me a freak would be the very same Don who had worshipped me.

But everyone's shock only lasted for a moment.

After all, in this estate, Hunter was the only one whose words mattered.

His mind was entirely focused on the woman in his arms, so the doctors immediately left me behind and turned to stop the woman's bleeding.

I blew on my hand and looked at the scene before me. It felt familiar, yet surreal.

I felt like crying, and my eyes grew hot.

It really was so similar.

It was just like the time my brothers crowded around our newly adopted sister, Vivian.

They couldn't see my burns, let alone my tears.

They would only glare at me impatiently, asking if I could just be a little more sensible and stop causing trouble for the family.