Chapter 1

Chester Miller lit a cigarette and casually said, "Oh, yeah, Felix. I heard from the staff that you two never use protection. Be careful. Don't get her pregnant."

Giselle Thorne pouted, looking slightly unhappy. "Chester, if she really got pregnant, would you actually feel bad for her?"

Chester snorted. "Feel bad? I just don't want our family's bloodline mixed with someone that low."

"You're the only woman I would ever have a child with," he added, lifting her chin.

Giselle blushed and lightly smacked his chest before turning to Felix Miller, who had been quiet the whole time. "Felix, you've been sleeping with her for some time. How is she?"

"It was fine," Felix said casually. "She acts all classy during the day, but she is pretty wild in bed. She was game for anything I wanted. I even recorded a video. Do you want to see?"

My body froze. A video? When did he ever record that?

Before I could react, Giselle had already grabbed the phone and stared at the screen.

"Chester, slow down. It hurts."

In the video, Felix slammed into me, gripping my hand tightly. "Say it. Say you love me."

"I love you, Chester…"

My moans rang out, blending seamlessly with the laughter that never stopped.

Even Chester, who was usually cold and unreadable, smirked. "She really is shameless."

Giselle covered her mouth as she laughed. "Chester, what do you think about playing this at our wedding?"

Felix and Chester answered at the same time, "Great idea."

Felix grabbed his phone back and chuckled. "Too bad it won't last much longer. Once you marry her, Miranda and I are done for."

"What, you're not willing to give her up?" Chester asked, looking at him meaningfully.

"Miranda? Give me a break," Felix said with a smirk. "She was just a one-night fling, like any hostess at a club. I just can't help feeling a little jealous that you get to marry someone as hot as Giselle."

Chester's face darkened immediately.

"What was that? Mind your words," he said sharply. "Don't say stuff like that around Giselle. She's not a cheap woman like Miranda. She's the Thorne family's only daughter, my wife, and the future lady of the house."

Felix immediately went quiet.

Giselle tried to lighten the mood, but no matter what she did, it didn't help.

In the end, she leaned in and kissed his neck, and the tension ignited instantly. Chester wrapped an arm around her waist, lifted her up, and carried her straight into the bedroom.

I hurriedly slipped to the corner of the hallway, clamping a hand over my mouth to stop myself from sobbing.

All of it was a lie, and I couldn't stomach any of it.

The only daughter of the Thorne family?

I laughed bitterly.

The only daughter of the Thorne family was obviously me.

After my parents died in a car accident, they left behind a massive inheritance for me alone. The housekeeper, Anne Coleman, suddenly offered to help manage it. When I refused, she held a knife to my throat.

She took everything from me and let her own daughter take my place as the family's young lady.

Giselle's real name was Giselle Holt. After pretending to be the heiress, she changed her surname.

She didn't just steal my identity. She bullied me constantly and kept a close watch on everything I did.

At school, she ripped up my homework and turned my classmates against me. Anyone who dared to treat me kindly became a target overnight.

Back then, I dreaded going to school. I was always being dragged into alleys and beaten—until one day, a man appeared out of nowhere at the entrance.

"Hey, cut it out! You're making too much noise."

Chester leaned back casually, bathed in the warm glow of the sun.

No one at the school failed to recognize who he was. They immediately apologized, lowered their heads, and ran off.

I limped away as well, but he caught my wrist.

Before I could react, he scooped me up and carried me straight to the infirmary, treating my wounds himself. He seemed fierce, but his touch was unexpectedly soft.

From that day on, Chester became my shield at school. No one dared to bully me again.

After he asked me to lunch for the tenth time, I finally blurted out, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Without looking up, he said softly, "Because you're worth it."

With that, he grabbed my hand and pulled me into that dark alley. He pressed my head down and kissed me.

My face flushed instantly. When he pulled away, I met his eyes.

Chester wiped the corner of his mouth and said, "Miranda, be my girlfriend."

It wasn't really a question. He left no room for choice, and I nodded without a second thought.

After we got together, he started acting distant. Since Chester was always cold by nature, I didn't think much of it. When we were together at night, he was completely alive, whispering sweet words that always made me melt.

Who would have thought that the man who pinned me to the headboard and called me Mira was actually his twin brother, Felix?

The thought made my chest ache until I could barely breathe, and a sharp pain twisted in my stomach.

I struggled to keep walking, but in the end, I collapsed at the doorway.

As I slipped into unconsciousness, I saw Felix rushing toward me. He got me to the hospital but didn't stay for long.

"She's in your care now. I don't know when my brother will be back, so I need to leave before we run into him."

Felix looked down at me and muttered, "I told you to eat more. You probably passed out from anemia again. You really are a handful."

Even so, he still took a moment to fold the blanket neatly before leaving.

Only after the door clicked shut did I slowly open my eyes.

Thanks to Giselle, I usually had to survive on the scraps they left behind.

When Felix held me at night, he would sometimes grimace at how thin I was, complaining that I felt all bones in his arms.

Thinking back to those moments of care and warmth, my eyes burned with unshed tears.

I took a deep breath and dialed an overseas number.

"My wedding is in three days. I don't care what it takes. You need to be here. I want them to pay for what they've done."