Chapter 3

I wasn't surprised by Julian's explosive rage. After all, I had spent ten years walking on eggshells just to please him.

Back in college, he was the golden-boy film directing student, proud and haughty as a peacock.

Back then, it was true—I practically begged to be in his indie projects, even for a non-speaking background role.

Even when there was no part for me, I'd still show up on set, doing grueling manual labor as a crew hand.

His classmates used to tease him: "Chloe is drop-dead gorgeous, Julian. Why don't you ever give her a shot at leading lady?"

Julian would only sneer dismissively. "She looks too seductive. She doesn't fit my artistic vision."

After graduation, a massive fallout with his father over his career choice led to his funds being cut off. He was kicked out of the family mansion.

Julian’s avant-garde style had zero commercial appeal. Stripped of his family fortune, his so-called friends vanished overnight.

Back then, I took a role in a trashy low-budget web drama—the kind of project he looked down on the most. I brought every penny of my paycheck to his feet, telling him I would always stand by him.

I escorted him to shady investor dinners, drinking until my stomach was bleeding just to buy him his very first shot.

In the hospital room, Julian held me in his arms for the first time, whispering that I was the only one who truly understood him.

Thrilled and overwhelmed, I hugged him tighter. "I'm the one who should thank you. If you hadn't saved my life, there wouldn't be a Chloe Jiang today."

The very next second, Julian shoved me away. The look in his eyes was so cold it chilled me to the bone.

I thought he was just overwhelmed in the moment.

I never expected that "moment" to drag on for seven whole years.

Pushing down the tidal wave of memories, I composed myself and pulled open the car door.

Julian Shea set down his iPad and turned his head.

"Is everything settled?"

Before I could answer, his face darkened slightly, and he leaned in close.

"What's wrong...?"

Julian didn't say a word. He gently took my chin between his fingers, tilting my face upward, his thumb lightly brushing the bruised skin.

Unused to such intimacy, I instinctively pulled back, but stopped dead when I caught sight of the driver in the rearview mirror.

His mother's personal driver.

In front of the elders, Julian Shea and I were a quick courthouse wedding, but it wasn't supposed to be fake.

"It's bruised."

His warm breath brushed against my cheeks, sending an involuntary shiver down my spine.

His tone was calm, yet I could sense a subtle, simmering frustration radiating from him.

He was probably worried about how to explain the mark to his family at the estate.

"I'll cover it with some concealer. Grandpa won't notice a thing."

Julian froze, slowly pulling his hand back. "That's not why."

His voice dropped an octave, colder than before.

I could never figure out this young billionaire's moods. The rest of the drive to the estate was wrapped in thick silence.

I couldn't help sneaking a glance at him.

An impossibly striking face, a razor-sharp jawline, beautifully sculpted lips. No wonder the media labeled him the country's most eligible bachelor.

And this very man had tracked me down holding a diamond ring.

He had found me in a foreign city where I had no one, carefully bandaging the bloody cuts the trophy had left on my hands.

The heir to the Shea empire had literally walked into my life just to propose.

Shock had drowned out any excitement; I had dumbly asked him if I had accidentally offended him in a past life.

Grandpa Shea was on his deathbed. His final wish was to locate the granddaughter of his late best friend, Chloe Shen, and fulfill an old arranged marriage promise made between their families.

I had tried to piece his logic together: "So... you want me to pretend to be Chloe Shen?"

Julian had looked at me with helpless exasperation, dropping a bombshell that shook my entire world: "You are Chloe Shen."