Chapter 1

Lying in bed, Samuel Bennett spotted me through the gap in the curtains. In a low voice, he called out to Amelia Laurent beneath him, "Penny."

When Amelia heard that, she moved more aggressively. "Call me Amy."

Samuel grinned at me smugly and kept calling out Amelia's name. The Amelia thrashing on the bed looked nothing like the cold, aloof woman who had pushed me away every day for the past seven years.

I pressed my hands tightly over my ears, but the moans from the hospital bed still reached me, and my heart ached with every sound.

They continued throughout the entire night and finally drifted into a deep sleep as dawn broke. My body was cold and stiff as I shuffled out of the hospital room.

…

I returned to the Laurent residence.

My daughter, Charlotte Robinson, was having breakfast. Seeing how devastated I looked, she said flatly, "You're always moping around. Even looking at you irritates me. Where were you last night?"

Charlotte looked a lot like Amelia, almost like a smaller version of her.

She continued, "Mom just passed away. You should stay at the Laurent residence and stop running around all day. If someone catches you on camera, it'll ruin the Laurent family's image."

Ever since she could speak, she had spent every day by Amelia's side in the chapel. I never expected her to pick up Amelia's way of speaking so completely.

Normally, seeing her so serious only made me think that she was mature. But that day, when I studied her face carefully, I noticed the disgust in her eyes as she looked at me.

A sense of bitterness settled over me. I felt like I had completely failed as a father over the past seven years.

I said numbly, "I came back to get the documents to process the death certificate."

Charlotte's face brightened, and her tone turned cheerful. "Dad, you've finally come to your senses!"

I forced a slight smile. "Even if I hadn't, what difference would it make? You've all already made up your minds."

She lowered her head, looking a little guilty. "No matter what, you're still the Laurent family's son-in-law."

I let out a mocking laugh.

When I first followed Penelope Laurent to the Laurent residence seven years ago, I was overjoyed.

Back then, a rush swept over me after I drank the glass of wine Samuel had given me. When I woke up the next morning, I found myself in Amelia's bed. Even so, I was thrilled, thinking that fate was giving us another chance.

But I never expected Amelia to glare at me with contempt and say, "I never thought you'd have the nerve to pull something like this."

Even though she married me later on, she never once treated me with any warmth.

She told me coldly, "From now on, you're the Laurent family's son-in-law, but don't expect anything more than that."

Only now did I realize that she hated me for taking away her chance to be with the man she truly loved. Marrying me was the last thing she could do for Samuel.

To get back at me, she moved into the chapel the day after our wedding. For the past seven years, no matter how hard I tried to get close to her, nothing I did could ever move her.