Chapter 1

My throat tightened as I looked at the greed and calculation in her eyes.

With all eyes on me, I strode out of the ballroom in my crystal heels and casually pointed at a poor office worker clutching a trash can as he vomited.

"Him," I said.

The entire ballroom fell silent. My younger sister, Zelda York, froze mid-smile, and my parents stared at me in shock.

I simply curled my lips into a smile. "I'll marry no one but him."

My father, Damon York, flew into a rage. My mother, Isabella Parker, was so furious that she suffered a heart attack.

I stared straight at Zelda, but she avoided my gaze. She pouted and said, "Lauren, so you can make a bad call after all."

I smiled. "So you're not as stupid as I thought."

The incident made headlines everywhere, leaving my parents trapped with no way out. Everyone egged me on, saying, "A York heiress never goes back on her word."

On my wedding day, my father gave me the York family's harshest punishment. Ninety-nine lashes, to sever the bond between father and daughter.

My mother thought I was too calculating, so she gave me an abacus as my wedding gift.

"I can't believe how petty you are. Zelda was only trying to follow your example and make a better life for herself. Why couldn't you just let her be?

"Lauren, you ruined your own life just to get back at Zelda. Are you happy now?"

I said I was happy.

A cool, detached voice came from behind me. "I won't let her regret it."

I turned and met a pair of clear, tranquil eyes.

I really did marry Nicholas Zane. He took me back to his rented apartment.

In the three years we were married, he never gave me a reason to regret it.

He may have been poor, but he was more driven than anyone I knew.

Despite the York family's efforts to suppress him, it took him just three years to become a highly sought-after talent in the tech industry, with companies fighting to recruit him.

The day we moved into the villa, he made it up to me with a marriage proposal.

After slipping the ring onto my finger, he kissed my ring finger and said playfully, "A man who loves his wife thrives in life. Darling, thank you for choosing me all those years ago."

Eventually, even the York family reached out with an offer of their own.

The people I'd planted around Nicholas told me Zelda had been secretly trying to arrange private meetings with him, but he'd rejected her outright every time. He'd even given her a brutal tongue-lashing.

He called her a despicable thief who wouldn't work for what she wanted and only knew how to covet what was mine.

When I learned all this, the weight that had been pressing on my chest for years suddenly lifted.

For a while, I thought I had escaped Zelda's curse.

That was until Thanksgiving, when no matter how many times I called Nicholas, all I got was an automated voice telling me he couldn't be reached.

Just as I was growing frantic, a message from Zelda came through.

A photo of a wedding invitation bearing both her name and Nicholas's.

Then came a voice message, dripping with sweetness.

"Lauren, Mom was right. Whatever you set your sights on really is the best."

I stared at Nicholas's name on the wedding invitation, a chill spreading through me.

The wedding was today. My mind went completely blank, and by the time I came to my senses, I was already standing at the wedding venue.

Beneath the glittering crystal chandeliers, Nicholas was kissing Zelda.

"Nicholas..." My whole body trembled as I screamed and tried to rush onto the stage. "Nicholas!"

Before any of the guests could notice, a pair of wrinkled hands clamped over my mouth and dragged me into a corner.

Before I could even struggle, a sharp slap came crashing down across my face.

My father glared at me furiously. "Have you lost your mind? You've ruined your own life, and now you want to ruin Zelda's, too?"

My mother took my hand and tried to reason with me. "Lauren, we never wanted to deceive you. But Zelda has always been fiercely competitive. She always wants to be the best at everything. She said that if she couldn't marry the best man, she'd rather stay single for the rest of her life.

"You know she's always looked up to you. If you like something, she likes it too. For Zelda's happiness, can't you let her have this one, just this once?"

I didn't care what they thought. I kept my eyes fixed on Nicholas, who stood onstage with a smile on his face.

"He agreed to it," my mother explained. "Zelda is carrying his child. They've been in love for a long time."

So I'd been kept in the dark all along.

So there was never any escaping it.