Chapter 1

On his way to get his marriage license with Aurora Bowman for the 99th time, Xavier Stafford had been so desperate to avoid marrying her that he sped up and crashed into a large truck. It had been a serious crash, following which Aurora and Xavier had been rushed into the ER.

Ten minutes later, Aurora lay on the ice-cold operating table, covered in blood, as the doctors induced labor to deliver her baby at seven months. When she came to, the surgery had ended. She cried when she was told the baby hadn't survived.

The doctors had told her to recuperate, but she was so worried about Xavier that she went against their orders and snuck to his hospital room to see him. However, she arrived at the door to hear laughter coming from within.

"I've got to hand it to you, Xavier. You risked your life just to get out of marrying her. But she was pregnant with your child, you know. According to the doctors, labor was induced, and she delivered a stillborn baby boy. Are you sure you won't regret pulling this stunt?"

Xavier snorted indifferently. "Regret it? Please, did you forget that I only agreed to be with her as payback for what she did to Violet? I wouldn't regret doing this even if it had cost Aurora her life, let alone the baby's."

His eyes glinted coldly, and his handsome face was devoid of its usual warm and loving expression.

Aurora's breath hitched, and her shoulders trembled. She rubbed her eyes and took a second look at the face of the person who had spewed such hateful words.

However, it didn't matter if she doubted her vision or not. She was forced to admit that the two men speaking in the room were none other than her biological older brother and her boyfriend of seven years.

"You have a point," Ethan Bowman said, jaw clenched. "If she hadn't insisted on returning to the Bowman family seven years ago, Violet wouldn't have had to move abroad for her studies and be separated from us! That wench is nothing but trouble!"

"Thankfully, Violet is coming home soon." Xavier's tone softened at the mention of Violet. "I'll hash things out with Aurora after avoiding marrying her for the 100th time, then bring Violet home."

He added, "Don't worry, Ethan, Aurora loves me irrevocably. Once she finds out that the last seven years were a lie, she'll be so heartbroken that she won't show her face around us again!"

Aurora felt all the strength leave her body when she heard his words. Tears streamed down her face like ceaseless rivulets.

Bracing her hands against the wall to support herself, she hurtled out of the building and curled up on the bench in the garden, weeping her eyes out. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

Aurora had never been lucky. She'd gotten lost as a child, and it wasn't until she turned 18 that she was reunited with her biological parents.

However, when she returned to her family home, she discovered that her parents loved their adopted daughter, Violet Bowman, more than her.

When she first arrived at the Bowman residence, Ethan had given her a vicious warning. "Violet is the only sister I have. Don't you dare call me your brother!"

Aurora was put up in the smallest room in the house, meant for the housekeeper, and forced to wear Violet's hand-me-downs. They even sent her to work at a nightclub to pay for her school fees.

When school started, many men had posted pictures of Aurora in skimpy clothes on the school forum. Lewd rumors about her began to spread like wildfire, and a leering creep even cornered her in an alleyway and messed her up.

During her darkest moments, Aurora considered banging her head against the wall until she bled to death.

But then Xavier appeared and saved her.

He'd taken off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. He'd transferred her to a different school and taught her tormentors a lesson. He'd also sent her countless pretty dresses and showed her kindness in every possible way, protecting her like a guardian angel.

He'd slowly healed her wounds and even proposed to her in a grand, romantic ceremony.

Aurora had always believed Xavier was the light at the end of the tunnel. Only now did she realize it had all been a lie.

Xavier had only dated her because she'd taken Violet's place as the heiress of the Bowman family. Violet had been so heartbroken, she left the country.

He didn't love Aurora at all. Their seven-year relationship was nothing but an elaborate sham, a cruel act of revenge.

He had saved her in her darkest moments, only to shove her back into a darker hellscape.

Aurora wept so hard that she could barely breathe. She finally understood why all those accidents had happened whenever she and Xavier were about to get their marriage license.

Xavier never planned to marry her in the first place.

Her hand drifted to her flat stomach. Trembling, she made a call.