Chapter 1

"If the engagement can't be called off, then I'll marry his uncle, Louis Sterling, instead."

I lightly traced the rim of my teacup with my fingertip. My voice was firm and unwavering.

My mother's eyes widened in horror. She quickly covered my mouth and apologized to the Sterlings.

Then she leaned toward me and whispered, "Queenie! What nonsense are you talking about? Louis is practically useless now!"

She glanced at Mr. Sterling Senior, then lowered her voice even further.

"That lunatic was rumored to be impotent even when he was healthy, and now he's disabled! He's always been a cold-blooded killer who wouldn't bat an eye at taking a life. And when he beats someone, he shows absolutely no mercy.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

I gently rubbed her hand, trying to reassure her, and forced a faint smile.

"It's okay, Mom. At this point, it doesn't matter to me who I marry."

An image of Benjamin Sterling and my older sister, Rebecca Beaumont, tangled together in bed involuntarily flashed through my mind.

"Besides, I don't want to be called the other woman anymore."

The moment Mr. Sterling Senior heard that I was going to marry Louis, his expression immediately relaxed. He kept praising me for having such good judgment.

My father lowered his head and apologized. "She's young and was only speaking out of anger. Please don't take it to heart.

"Once we get home, I'll straighten her out and make sure she settles down with Benjamin."

"I disagree." A man slowly wheeled himself out of the room.

"A man should keep his word. Ms. Beaumont just said she would marry me. There's no taking it back now."

The moment my father saw him, he was too terrified to speak. Sweat trickled down his back, soaking through his shirt.

Everyone in Caldwell knew what kind of man Louis was. He was a cold-blooded killer who wouldn't bat an eye at taking a life.

He had killed his stepmother himself and broken both of his uncle's legs.

When my father didn't respond, he spoke again.

"If Ms. Beaumont agrees to this marriage, I'm willing to offer Frostroot and Jadeheart as a gesture of good faith."

There had long been rumors that these two herbal medicines could cure Rebecca's cancer, but despite my father asking everyone he could, he had never managed to find them.

How could he possibly say no when they were right in front of him?

"I agree."

My parents were still hesitating when I spoke up, breaking the silence.

Louis's marriage had long been a major concern for Mr. Sterling Senior.

Now that the matter was finally settled, he clapped his hands in delight and immediately ordered his staff to start making arrangements for the wedding and preparing the wedding gifts.

On the way home, my father asked in confusion, "Quin, haven't you always said you'd never marry anyone but Benjamin?

"What made you change your mind now?"

I turned to look out the window and said nothing.

Everyone called me a shameless slut who had seduced Rebecca's fiancé.

I had been secretly in love with Benjamin since I was a little girl. I was willing to give him everything I had, yet he had never once really looked at me.

When Rebecca was diagnosed with cancer and given little time left to live, the Sterling family demanded that I fulfill my engagement to Benjamin.

The moment I heard the news, I was so overjoyed I nearly fainted. I thought I could finally be with Benjamin.

But on our wedding night, he kicked me out, claiming that his obsession with cleanliness made him unwilling to sleep with me.

Then, as soon as I was gone, he went straight to Rebecca and slept with her in our bridal suite.

"Rebecca, I only married that pathetic simp so I could have a chance to spend every night with you."

It was only then that I realized that, in their eyes, all my sacrifices were nothing more than a joke.