Chapter 1

"Alice, don't be scared. This is Mr. Lucas Shaw. He's your biological brother. He's been searching for you for twenty years."

My best friend, Alice Woods, was nestled in the arms of my husband's "childhood friend", Jack Colby, looking fearfully at the powerful man on the couch.

My entire body turned cold, and my fingers gripped the bedsheets tightly.

Alice clearly had parents. How could she be the long-lost sister of an influential man from the capital?

"Scumbag Daddy bribed that woman's parents and fabricated a lie that she was adopted when she was a child, all for today! Her greedy parents have been silenced by money!"

The child's voice echoed in my mind again, and I broke out in a cold sweat.

Three days ago, Jack brought the news that my husband, Steve Landale, had died in an accident on a business trip abroad.

I was heartbroken.

I would force myself to eat during the day for the sake of my child.

But every night, I would dream of Steve being swallowed by the sea and wake up in tears. On several occasions, I almost took my own life to go meet him.

Jack, my husband's so-called childhood friend, witnessed all this.

He comforted me as Steve's best friend, telling me to take care of myself, and even swore he would treat the children in my womb like his own nephews.

I was incredibly grateful to him and felt sorry for my best friend, Alice, who was by my side during my toughest times.

Because of that, I even gave her a very important design that I had prepared for the studio.

But now, looking back, it was all a meticulously-planned scam!

I felt a wave of nausea.

The child's tender and sorrowful thoughts echoed in my mind again.

"Poor Mommy. Even until your death, you'll never know that your real family has been looking for you all these years. To prevent that woman's secret from being exposed, Scumbag Daddy will claim that you're mentally unstable and lock you up until you die in childbirth. This is the closest you'll ever be to your real family."

The child's voice was tearful, and my eyes instantly welled up.

Twenty years ago, I was rescued from a big fire, and when I woke up, I had lost all my memories.

My adoptive parents didn't treat me well. It was Steve who always protected me. He even said he would marry me.

For him, I gave up the chance to study at a top design college abroad and stayed to establish a design studio with him.

I thought we were each other's true love, that we were soulmates.

Now, all that seemed like a joke.

I wanted to rush out and tear off their hypocritical masks right then and there.

But reason stopped me.

I quietly pulled the door open a crack.

"Mr. Colby, I believe that your intention is sincere, but my sister has been missing for twenty years, and our family has been deceived too many times over the years. Do you have any concrete proof that she's my sister?"

The man on the couch called Lucas Shaw spoke with a calm yet sharp tone.

Jack's expression remained unchanged. He gently gestured to Alice, who then took off a brooch from her chest.

"Mr. Shaw, please look at this feather brooch. Alice has been wearing it since she was a child."