Chapter 4

The Shaws didn't have the blatant favoritism and suffocatingly transactional attitude toward relationships that I'd felt from the Garners. That was the most important thing to me.

I had already escaped the Garner family. Rather than continue drifting through the rest of my pre-adulthood in an orphanage, I might as well find myself a stable home.

After a moment of silence, I nodded and agreed to be adopted.

When the Shaws brought me home, the car stopped outside a heavily guarded villa. Seeing how stunned I looked, they smiled and drew me into their arms.

"Our family is pretty well-off, Nessa. If there's anything you want in the future, just tell us."

Only later did I learn that being "pretty well-off" was a massive understatement. The Shaws were the wealthiest family in Beldingham, although they were living elsewhere at the time.

And so, I spent the next ten years living peacefully with my new family.

Mom and Dad treated me well and loved me as their own. Our home was filled with warmth and bliss.

As I grew up and spent many years in school, I became more outgoing. Their kindness and love led me out of the murky shadows of my past life.

I threw myself into my studies, working hard until I was finally accepted into one of Beldingham's top universities. The day my admission letter arrived, Mom and Dad sat with me in the living room and brought up something important.

"Nessa, you'll be attending college in Beldingham soon, and most of our business operations have always been based there, too. Once the school year starts, we'll move back to Beldingham and settle down there."

When I heard that, my heart gave a sudden lurch, and I felt a sinking feeling.

The Garners were from Beldingham, too. It was the city where all my nightmares had begun.

My fingers curled slightly, and a strong sense of unease rose within me. Nevertheless, I tried to reassure myself.

Beldingham was a huge metropolis, filled with countless wealthy and influential families. There was no guarantee we'd ever cross paths with the Garners. As long as I kept my identity hidden and avoided contact with them, I wouldn't have to see them again.

Suppressing my apprehension, I nodded in agreement.

Alas, never would it have occurred to me that fate had already ensured our paths would intertwine.

After moving to Beldingham, I found out that the Shaws and the Garners were neighbors. To make matters worse, the two families were acquainted enough to visit each other during the holidays. Their social circles overlapped so extensively that it was practically impossible to avoid them.

It wasn't long before Cassidy appeared in my life as well.

After spending some time around her, I realized she wasn't actually a bad person. She was simply spoiled rotten from having grown up with a family who doted on her like nobody's business.

She liked having everyone's attention on her, loved cajoling others into doing what she wanted, and was prone to throwing little tantrums.

I didn't see Frank Garner and Maureen Hill, my biological parents, very often. Whenever we happened to cross paths, their gazes would linger on my face, and they would momentarily lose themselves in thought. Their eyes clouded over with a strange, inexplicable emotion.

I knew it was the pull of the blood that we shared. They saw traces of their biological daughter in me.

But what caught my attention the most was Shane. When I saw him again, he had shed the awkwardness of adolescence and grown into a tall young man with an imposing demeanor.

The way he looked at me was particularly strange. Sometimes, he would instinctively put his guard up around me, his frosty gaze brimming with hostility, as though I were some kind of terrifying beast.

Yet at other times, he would inexplicably treat me well, quietly stepping in to help me out of difficult situations.

I couldn't tell what he was thinking, but I didn't care enough to figure him out.

In my previous life, he had sent me to a psychiatric hospital without the slightest hesitation. In this life, I would never trust a single word out of his mouth.

Life continued in this quiet manner, and soon, it was the height of summer.

One day, Mom and Dad spontaneously decided to ditch me and enjoy some time alone together. I was all alone in the enormous villa.

It was late at night, and darkness hung thick in the air. I had just finished showering and was about to turn in when my bedroom door was suddenly flung open.

Shane stood in the doorway, emanating a murderous air. His face was frighteningly dark, and fury churned in his eyes. Everything about him screamed danger.