LOGINTo avoid a ridiculous arranged marriage that had been decided before I was even born, I beg my father to send the family a picture of an ordinary-looking woman with a face covered in spots. I've heard before that Austin Hammond, the most distinguished scion in Jarlesbury and the man I was supposed to marry, has an obsession with looks. If anyone who doesn't meet his standards comes within ten feet of him, he instructs his bodyguards to get them out of his sight. Since then, I've continued to hide my captivating face and pretend to be a plain, unattractive woman—and one day, Joshua Farrell shows up. On the day he proposes to me, he holds my hand and promises, "Your looks don't matter to me, Ellie. No matter what you look like, I will still love you." Believing his words, I ignore my father's protests and insist on getting engaged to Joshua. Finally, our wedding day arrives. Just when we're about to exchange our wedding rings, he stares lovingly at the surgically-enhanced face of his first love, Isabel Grady, and abandons me at the altar. The guests mutter among themselves, casting pitying looks in my direction, but I simply smile. It occurs to me then just how easy it is to see a man's true colors. It's just as well. This means I can settle for being Mrs. Hammond without a care in the world.
View MoreAustin held my hand and led me off the private jet. A silk scarf covered my eyes, turning my vision completely dark, but all my other senses were heightened to the extreme.The salty sea breeze brushed across my cheeks, carrying an overwhelming scent of white roses.Finally, he untied the blindfold.The moment the light hit my eyes, I was stunned. Before me was a private island, and a sea of white roses stretched on as far as my eyes could see.White roses were my favorite.Austin wrapped his arms around me from behind and rested his chin lightly on my shoulder, his voice low and gentle as he spoke, "The moment we got engaged, I had my people buy this island. You said you didn't like weddings. I figured you simply didn't like a marriage centered on schemes and an exchange of benefits, as if it were a business transaction."He led me forward, step by step, into the center of the sea of roses. There were no guests or officiant, only a floral arch woven from roses and vines.Under
Joshua had gone insane. Following his family's bankruptcy and Isabel's imprisonment for attempted murder, he had a complete breakdown.Somehow, he managed to find out where Mom's grave was. He started hanging around there like a ghost haunting the place, convinced that I would show up at some point.It rained heavily on the anniversary of Mom's death. Austin and I visited her grave together.The car had just stopped when we saw a figure kneeling in front of the headstone.It was Joshua.He'd lost so much weight that I could hardly recognize him. His eyes were now sunken deep into his face, and he gave off a sour, moldy stench. Not a single trace of the erstwhile sophisticated scion remained.When he saw me disembark from the car, his dull eyes became alarmingly bright. He scrambled over like a drowning man grabbing onto a lifeline."Ellie! Ellie!"The bodyguards instantly stepped forward to keep him back. He was forced to stay ten feet away from me. Falling to his knees, he cri
The possessive desire in Austin's eyes surrounded me like a cage, trapping me in.That night, I didn't refuse him.The next day, Austin chartered a luxury yacht and threw an extravagant private party for me.As the sea breeze brushed against my red dress, I stood among the guests with a glass of champagne, like a queen surrounded by her subjects.Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a figure that should never have been allowed onto the yacht.A heavily dolled-up Isabel was clinging to a pot-bellied, middle-aged businessman. Her gaze swept through the crowd with greed and jealousy as she searched for her next target.But when she saw me, her carefully made-up face twisted. She probably never expected me to be the host of the party.Not wanting to waste my time on a clown like her, I turned to head off in search of Austin.Austin had gone off to the side to take a phone call when all of a sudden, a scream suddenly rang out behind me."Eliza, you bitch! I'm going to ruin your f
Austin's kiss felt like a violent storm rampaging through—as if he wanted to devour me whole. I neither responded nor fought against it, but as he tried to press deeper, I calmly opened my eyes.The moment our lips separated, I looked into his burning, desire-filled eyes and said coldly, "Mr. Hammond, my mother died because of an arranged marriage."Till her dying breath, she waited for the man who had never loved her for even a second to show up. She didn't even get a proper funeral service."I refuse to share her fate."I opened up about Mom's tragic life to him, baring to him the defenses deep within my heart.Under my icy gaze, the fire in Austin's eyes slowly died, sinking into the depths of his unfathomable gaze.He didn't force me into anything. Instead, he stepped back, putting enough distance between us to end the intimacy. Then, he turned around and took a document from the safe in his study, solemnly placing it on the desk in front of me.It was a transfer agreement f
Over the next two days, Isabel kept sending me relatively cozy and intimate photos of her with Joshua. The background ranged from hospital rooms to high-end restaurants and even the front passenger seat of Joshua's sports car.In every single one of the photos, Joshua stared adoringly at Isabel.I
"That's impossible! Why would the Hammonds…" Joshua's instinctive reaction was to refute me, his eyes awash with panic."She's definitely lying, Joshie! The Hammonds would never… She's just angry that you ran off from the wedding, so she hired a few people to put on this act and scare you!"Isabel
Dad took in my real face with mixed emotions in his eyes. Sighing, he said, "You foolish child. Why did you even bother to pretend to be ugly if you were going to end up doing this anyway?"I studied my reflection in the mirror. With these dark eyes and fair skin, I bore a striking resemblance to m
As the wedding march cut off, the undisguised mockery and contempt the guests threw my way nearly drowned me."Hah! How embarrassing! She can't even hang onto a man.""I've been saying from the start that there's no way Joshua Farrell, the heir to his family, would actually marry an ugly hag like












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