Chapter 1

Ashton Ford ran an impatient hand through his hair when he saw me still lying motionlessly on the bed. He lit a cigarette as he strode over to me. He then leaned down and caged me between his arms.

I coughed violently when he blew a mouthful of smoke in my face. Unable to hold myself back, I slapped him hard across the face. "Do you have a death wish, Ashton?"

Ashton's cheek immediately reddened. However, he didn't seem to be angered at all. Instead, he licked his lips and grasped my chin.

"I admit that you look a lot like Elizabeth, but at the end of the day, you're not her. Take the money and leave. Don't try to curry favor with me again. Sunny will get angry."

Ashton's statement seemed to excite whoever was sending the comments.

"Look at how Ashton's protecting his wife! I love their dynamic so much—a delicate woman who's like the sun, and a cold and ruthless man. Who wouldn't love a couple like that?"

"Am I the only one who thinks that this woman is actually Elizabeth reborn? She's the spitting image of her."

"She probably got plastic surgery. The last time Sunny got angry, the woman whom she left in Ashton's bed also looked really similar to Elizabeth."

"The author isn't going to surprise us with something angsty, right? This slut needs to disappear right now. We only want to see the sweet romance between Ashton and Sunny."

"I'm not the first one, am I?" I asked suddenly, stunning Ashton momentarily.

"What?"

I stared into his eyes and asked again, "I'm not the first woman who looks like her who was left in your bed, right?"

Ashton laughed helplessly, sounding impossibly fond. "You're the ninth one. Sunny tends to leave women in my bed when she gets angry, but there's nothing much I can do to stop her."

Another string of comments flooded my vision, squealing about how adorable Ashton's and Sunny Olson's relationship was.

"This is just one of the ways to spice up a relationship. A stupid woman like her wouldn't get it."

"Did you hear how fond Mr. Ford sounded? He's the picture-perfect representation of a Daddy-type boyfriend."

"That slut needs to stay away from Mr. Ford right now. He needs to save himself for Sunny."

At the very bottom of the barrage of comments, I spotted one that was starkly different from the others. "Elizabeth, please help Ashton. You have to save him!"

However, the comment disappeared in the blink of an eye, making me suspect that my eyes had been playing tricks on me.

I rose to my feet and grabbed the card that Ashton had tossed on the bed. Unable to help myself, I tapped his shoulder and said, "Your girlfriend sure has a twisted sense of humor. I'll be looking forward to our next meeting."

Ashton and I were essentially childhood friends. But we were a little different compared to other childhood friends—we were more like sworn enemies.

He loved to pull my braids when we were younger, and I would retaliate by slapping him. Even though he would always run back home wailing after I hit him, he never learned his lesson not to cross me.

Fortunately, he always carried fruit candy in his pocket. I would always reluctantly forgive him because he would always generously share the candy with me.

When we were in high school, whenever I got second place in the class while Ashton got first place, he would boast about his results directly to my face. He would hold up his test papers and point out my mistakes. To "thank" him for his help, I would always repay him with two slaps across the face.

Relying completely on myself, I established a company after we grew up. The company did well and became quite successful.

Ashton, the copycat, also established a company of his own and secretly competed with me, always trying to steal my projects away from me. However, whenever he successfully poached one of my projects, he would compensate me with one that was even better.

I thought that we would keep competing with each other for a long time, but my life was cut short when one of my enemies stabbed me multiple times to take revenge on me.

Before I lost consciousness, I saw Ashton rushing over to me with tears streaming down his face.

"I'm begging you, Elizabeth. Don't die. Don't leave me…"

I thought he was being exceptionally noisy at the time.