Chapter 1

That year, my stepbrother Liam Hayes, took eighteen knife wounds to protect me from a group of thugs who were bullying me. It felt like the purest love.

When I was twenty-three, my father wanted to marry me off to a wealthy, elderly businessman for the sake of our family's business.

Liam got one of his legs broken and knelt in the rain for a day and a night, all to make my father change his mind.

On the wedding day, he dragged his injured leg and whisked me away, right from the ceremony.

Five years after Liam and I secretly got together, I gave birth to a pair of stillborn twins.

But when I, still weak, went to find Liam, I overheard a conversation between him and his friend.

"Liam, your method really worked. Ever since we used those two kids as foundation stakes, our project has been running so smoothly."

"You're one cold son of a bitch, you know that? Those were *your* kids. How could you just… give them up? Didn't Harper throw a fit when she found out?"

Liam scoffed, downing the rest of his red wine in one gulp.

"If her mother hadn't destroyed my parents' marriage, my mom wouldn't have died."

"A lowlife like her, giving birth to lowlife offspring, that's all the use they ever had."

"Once I marry Chloe this time, she won't be in my life anymore."

I stood by the door of the recovery room, feeling utterly frozen.

So, what I thought was five years of true love, the heroic protection he once offered…

It was all just Liam Hayes’ elaborate plan for revenge.