Chapter 5

A memory, not my own, flooded my mind.

It was of Julian and me. We were childhood sweethearts, and when we reached marrying age, we got married.

And Serena? She became Mrs. Thorne, the young matriarch of the powerful Thorne family.

Only Serena and I knew the real truth.

Serena, sensing the shift in identities, was ecstatic.

While the Lin family was prominent, compared to the Thorne family, they were worlds apart.

That's why she had gone to such lengths, finding a witch and now using her last chance, sacrificing ten years of her life to swap places with me.

Now, she was Mrs. Thorne. She had finally surpassed me.

But she hadn't considered what her situation would be like, given her true identity and past actions, even as Mrs. Thorne.

And I had no obligation to warn her. I smiled, genuinely congratulating her. "Congratulations, Mrs. Thorne."

Welcome, Serena, to the Thorne family's hell.

Yes, I call the Thorne family's mansion hell.

I was merely a tool my father used to secure a marriage alliance for the Thorne family. They had searched for a long time and finally settled on me.