Chapter 1

Six years of constant companionship and tender care made me believe I’d found my soulmate.

Until my twenty-second birthday.

That’s when he mercilessly exposed me, naked and vulnerable, to his family. The icy, emotionless look in his eyes shattered me.

Only then did I realize that everything, *every single thing*, had been a meticulously planned act of revenge.

Damien hated everyone connected to the Davies family.

Since a broken mirror can never be whole again,

it was time for us to never meet again.

Eight PM. Silverwood City General Hospital.

It had been three years since I last stepped foot in this city I’d called home for over two decades. Grandpa Arthur was seriously ill. The moment I got Mom’s call, I booked the first flight back.

Looking at Grandpa Arthur in his hospital bed, his face pale and frail, he seemed to have aged years overnight.

“Audrey, you’ve suffered so much all these years.”

I squeezed his weathered hands, trying to reassure him. “Grandpa, I haven’t suffered. You just need to get well, fast.”

Grandpa Arthur had a long-standing heart condition, kept stable by medication. This time, a crisis at the company had overwhelmed him, causing his heart condition to flare up and leading to his collapse.

Outside his room, on the hospital ground floor, I saw a familiar figure I hadn’t seen in three years.

Damien leaned against his car, a cigarette dangling from one hand, a suit jacket slung over the other arm. He looked effortlessly elegant, so arrogantly refined.

“Audrey, have you been well these past few years?”

His voice was low and hoarse, betraying no emotion.

“Thanks to my dear Uncle, I’ve been living a life worse than death.”

I met his gaze head-on, deliberately emphasizing the word “Uncle.”

He extinguished his cigarette, acting as if he didn’t see the fury blazing in my eyes. He opened the passenger door, turning his head slightly. “Get in. I’ll take you back.”

Hearing his calm, almost indifferent tone, a wave of repressed anger choked me.

“My dearest Uncle, where exactly are you taking me back to? The old Davies family estate or your Waterside villa?”

Yes, I had nowhere else to go.

My dad had an affair, my mom remarried, and I’d lived with Grandpa Arthur since birth. Even my last name was Davies.

Three years ago, Damien’s meticulously planned revenge made it impossible for me to stay at the Davies family estate. His mother, Grandpa Arthur’s second wife, couldn’t tolerate me there for a second.

Damien’s shirt sleeves were half-rolled up, his hands resting loosely on the steering wheel. He ignored my self-deprecation, speeding through the night.

The car stopped in front of his Waterside villa, but I made no move to get out.

“Is my Uncle planning another grand performance?”

As if sensing my resistance, he softened his tone. “You’ll stay here. I’ll go back to the estate.”

He always had that composed, calm expression, as if the shameful scheme from three years ago had never happened.