Chapter 1

My boyfriend Julian claimed he loved me to death, yet he'd run from our wedding 99 times.

To stall the wedding, he even staged a car accident, causing me to lose our baby.

Heartbroken and devastated, I overheard Julian laughing with his best friend.

"Seven years of dating was just a revenge plot I cooked up for my goddess, Chloe."

My body went cold, my mind reeling.

He never loved me. But thankfully, it wasn't too late to turn things around.

I slowly regained my composure, adjusted my mindset, and then I turned around and accepted another man's proposal.

The hundredth time Julian planned to escape our wedding, I was marrying gloriously in a neighboring city.

On the way to register our marriage for the 99th time, Julian, desperate to escape, drove us directly into the back of a large truck. The scene was chaotic, and we were both rushed to the hospital.

Minutes later, covered in blood, I lay unconscious on a cold operating table, as doctors performed an induced termination of my seven-month-old fetus.

When I awoke, the surgery was over. I quickly learned that our baby was gone, and tears streamed down my face.

The doctor told me I needed to rest, but I was so worried about Julian that I secretly snuck off to his room.

But as I reached the door, I heard laughter spilling out from inside.

"Julian, you're something else! You almost got yourself killed just to skip the wedding. But Stella did carry your child, and the doctor said it was a boy. Don't you regret it?"

Julian scoffed. "Regret? Don't forget, I only got involved with Stella to help Chloe get her revenge. Forget one kid; I wouldn't regret it even if it cost her life."

His eyes were cold, that handsome face devoid of the tenderness and affection I'd once known.

My breath hitched, my slender shoulders trembling. I rubbed my eyes, trying to confirm the faces of the speakers.

No matter how much I doubted, I had to admit, the two men talking were my own brother, Dominic, and the boyfriend I'd loved for seven years.

"Exactly," Dominic's expression hardened. "If she hadn't insisted on coming back to the Kingston family seven years ago, Chloe wouldn't have had to study abroad and be separated from us! She's nothing but trouble."

"Good thing Chloe said she's coming back soon." Mentioning her, Julian's tone unconsciously softened.

"Once I've escaped the wedding 100 times, I'll break up with Stella, then bring Chloe back! Don't worry, bro, Stella loves me to death right now. If she finds out these past seven years were all a lie, she'll be so heartbroken she'll never show her face again!"

Hearing this, my body went limp, tears flowing like a flood.

I stumbled out, leaning on the wall, and sat on a garden bench, sobbing uncontrollably. I couldn't believe what I had just heard was true.

I had never been lucky. I got lost as a child and was only found by my biological parents at 18. When I returned, I found my family loved their adopted daughter, Chloe, more than they loved me.

The moment I stepped through the door, my own brother, Dominic, warned me fiercely:

"Chloe is my only sister. You are not allowed to call me 'brother'!"

I was sent to sleep in the smallest maid's room, forced to wear Chloe's hand-me-down clothes, and eventually sent to work at a questionable late-night establishment to earn my tuition.

After school started, many men posted revealing photos of me on the campus forum.

Slut-shaming whispers spread everywhere, and I even tried to take my own life after being cornered and harassed in an alley by a perverted creep.

In my darkest hour, completely despondent, I wanted to hit my head against a wall and end it all. It was Julian who appeared and saved me.

He took off his jacket and gently draped it over me, arranged my transfer, and confronted those who bullied me.

He sent me countless beautiful gowns, protecting me under his wing, doing everything he could for me.

He slowly healed my wounds and even gave me a grand proposal ceremony.

I always thought Julian was the light that pulled me out of the abyss.

But only now did I understand that it was all a lie.

Julian was with me because I took Chloe's place as the Kingston family's eldest daughter, which supposedly caused Chloe pain and made her leave the country.

He had no love for me; seven years of companionship was just a twisted game of torment and revenge.

First, pull me out of the abyss, then cruelly push me into an even deeper one.

I sobbed, gasping for breath, finally understanding why there were always "accidents" every time we went to register our marriage. Julian never intended to go through with it.

I touched my flat stomach, trembling as I dialed a number.