Chapter 1

Prologue:

I once believed Damien Lawrence would be my sanctuary for life.

For him, I waited five years, endured five years, and surrendered everything that belonged to me to his savior—Chloe Carter.

It wasn't until I lost our baby on the operating table that I learned his supposed business trips were nothing more than an excuse to be with Chloe.

He even planned to hold a wedding with her, just to spare her an arranged marriage with the Foster family.

At that moment, my heart finally died.

Since he couldn't bear to let Chloe go, I would step aside and let them have each other.

I took the initiative to agree to marry the lunatic from the Foster family, whom everyone else avoided like the plague, to reclaim my mother's inheritance and completely sever my past with Damien.

From now on, I would never compromise myself for anyone again.

Melanie's POV

"I'll marry the lunatic from the Foster family."

I sat on the sofa in the study, my face slightly pale.

My father, Jonathan Sterling, shook so violently that his cup clattered against the edge of the desk, spilling coffee across half the surface.

Ignoring the mess, his face broke into a broad smile. "Melanie, you've finally come to your senses! The Fosters are a prominent and prestigious family. They won't mistreat you! This is an exceptional match!"

I let out a cold laugh. "If it's such an exceptional match, why don't you marry off your bastard daughter instead?"

His expression hardened instantly, and he snapped, "Watch your mouth! Chloe is my adopted daughter, your sister! Calling her a bastard—how vulgar!"

I scoffed, waving my phone in the air. "Vulgar? You had no problem doing it, yet now you find the word vulgar?"

He glared intently at my phone. "What is that?"

My eyes were filled with mockery.

"Pardon me, but yesterday, the conversation between you and Wendy Wilson in this very study was recorded by me. Chloe Carter is the illegitimate daughter of you and Wendy Wilson. You admitted it yourself."

His face drained of color, and he lunged forward in a panic to snatch my phone.

I sidestepped, easily evading him.

"Grabbing it won't do you any good. I've backed it up in a hundred places."

"You!"

His face flushed crimson with rage.

"What exactly do you want?"

I pulled a document from my bag and pushed it across to him.

"It's simple. Before I get married, you sign this."

He looked down. Emblazoned across the cover were the words: Confirmation of Inheritance Renunciation and Transfer.

He slammed his hand on the desk. "In your dreams!"

I remained completely unruffled.

"As far as I know, Sterling Enterprises is stuck in a bottleneck. You need the Foster family's patent to stay afloat; otherwise, you won't last six months."

"The Fosters will only share the patent with their daughter-in-law. If I don't marry him, you won't get it. Once Sterling Enterprises goes bankrupt, even if you keep the shares my mother left me, they'll be nothing more than scrap paper."

Having his sore spot struck, his shame flared into rage. "You dare plot against me? I am your father!"

I met his gaze without backing down.

"Those shares were left to me by my mother in the first place! You refused to sign off on them under the pretext of bank inheritance regulations, and now you're accusing me? You certainly have thick skin, Mr. Sterling!"

"You... you... you..."

He pointed a trembling finger at me, his lips quivering, unable to form a complete sentence.

Losing patience, I stood up and moved toward the door.

"If you don't agree, forget it. Find someone else to marry into the Foster family—or let your precious bastard daughter go."

"Stop!"

He called out frantically, gritting his teeth. "Fine! I'll sign!"

He was right. Sterling Enterprises had been in steep decline these past few years. Without the Foster family's patent, bankruptcy was only a matter of time.

As long as he obtained that patent, the company would catch its breath.

He signed his name, but then placed the confirmation in a drawer and locked it.

"The Foster family is sending someone to pick you up next month. The day you step into their car is the day I hand this confirmation over to you."

He glared at me. "If you dare run away, I'll have you dragged back in ropes."

Not at all surprised by his deceitful nature, I sneered.

"It's a deal. But if you try any tricks, I'll make the recording public, and we can all burn together!"

Enduring a dull ache in my lower abdomen, I turned and walked away.

Just as my hand touched the doorknob, his voice came from behind.

"Haven't you insisted on marrying Damien Lawrence since you were little? Why the sudden change of heart to marry into the Foster family?"

My steps halted. A sudden constriction clamped around my heart, dragging out a sharp, stinging ache.

Without turning back, I left him with a single sentence.

"Save Damien Lawrence for your precious bastard daughter. I don't want him anymore."

Damien Lawrence, Julian Carter, Chloe Carter, and I had grown up together.

As the heir to the Lawrence family, Damien was calm, collected, and composed, and the two of us had been in love since childhood.

Everyone used to say we were a match made in heaven, and both families had tacitly agreed we would marry once we came of age.

Chloe was the daughter of our family driver, Trevor, and our maid, Wendy Wilson.

Julian was Trevor's son from a previous marriage, which made him Chloe's stepbrother.

Among the four of us, Julian was the oldest and always looked after the three of us.

Six years ago, Damien, Julian, and I went to the Sterling family's riding arena.

Chloe claimed she wasn't feeling well and stayed home.

A fire suddenly broke out in the storage room behind the stables, trapping us inside.

Julian kept his head. He smashed open a transom window and told us to step on his back to jump out first.

Having inhaled too much thick smoke, Damien and I lost consciousness from lack of oxygen the moment our feet hit the ground.

When we woke up, we were greeted with the news of Julian's death in the inferno, accompanied by Chloe's heart-wrenching wails.

Misfortune did not stop there.

Only a month after Julian passed away, my mother, Serena Windsor, died of a sudden asthma attack.

With Mother gone, the father who had once showered me with affection seemed to vanish along with her.

Just two months after her death, he adopted Chloe.

Chloe moved into the Sterling mansion under the guise of the family's second daughter.

With the fragile, harmless Chloe as a contrast, my vibrant, spirited nature was painted as arrogant and domineering in the eyes of others.

The dishes on the dinner table gradually shifted to Chloe's favorites.

The rose garden my mother had planted for me was leveled completely on my father's orders, simply because a thorn had pricked Chloe's finger.

I had lost my mother, and I had lost my father.

I thought that at the very least, I still had Damien.

He had been by my side since childhood and had promised never to abandon me.

Yet Damien changed too.

When we were trapped in the fire, all three of us had left our final words in despair.

Julian's dying wish was for Chloe to grow up well and live a good life.

To fulfill Julian's wish and repay the debt of saving our lives, Damien, whose eyes had once held only me, made protecting Chloe his absolute priority.

After Julian's death, Damien never spent another birthday with me, because my birthday fell on the exact same day as Julian's.

Halfway through our dates, a single phone call from Chloe could summon him away.

If Chloe lingered an extra second looking at a new dress I bought, Damien would ask me to give it to her.

When Chloe mentioned she liked the puppy I raised, Damien carried it to her room with his own hands.

At first, I swallowed the pain and yielded to everything.

Julian had traded his life for ours, and I was genuinely grateful for that sacrifice.

Five years ago, I received an offer of admission from my dream, top-tier university.

Yet Damien told me, "Defer for a year. Let Chloe go first. I promise, this will be the last time."

He said that if Chloe went to a prestigious school and established her own footing, he wouldn't have to worry over her every move anymore.

Moved by his promise of "the last time," I deferred for a year and let her go first.

Once Chloe went abroad, Damien truly reverted to the man who held me at the center of his world.

I thought my Damien had finally returned, and that the nightmare named Chloe Carter was finally over.

Until a few days ago, when I slipped in the bathroom and passed out from heavy bleeding.

When I woke up, I learned it was our maid, Maggie, who had rushed me to the hospital.

The doctor told me I had been ten weeks pregnant, that my condition was critical, and that surgery was required immediately.

Maggie dialed Damien thirty-seven times using my phone, but no one ever picked up.

The baby was gone.

After the surgery, I returned home to recover.

This morning, groggy and barely awake, before I even opened my eyes, I heard Damien on a call by the bed.

On the other end was Chase Sheridan. Chase had always spoken with a loud voice, and in the quiet bedroom, every word carried distinctly.

"Damien, how's Melanie doing? She didn't find out you went out of your way to sit with Chloe's rabbit while it got an IV drip and missed her calls, did she? Did she give you a hard time?"

Damien stood with his back to the bed.

I couldn't see his expression; I only heard his deep, calm voice.

"She doesn't know. I just got back, and she isn't awake yet. Watch yourself and don't let it slip."

It struck me like a bolt from the blue.

His promise of "the last time" back then had been a lie.

While I was losing our child on the operating table, the only reason he didn't pick up was because Chloe's rabbit was sick?!

Did he even know that our baby was gone?

Chase's careless voice continued through the speaker.

"Relax! It's been five years, and you visit Chloe every single month. When have I ever let it slip?"

"Still, Chloe's coming back soon. I heard her say she's supposed to marry that Foster family lunatic. What are you going to do? Can you really bear to watch her suffer?"

Damien went silent for a moment, and his next words plunged me into an icy abyss.

"I can't. Julian died to save me. I will look after Chloe for the rest of my life, and I won't let her marry into the Foster family. I plan to hold a wedding with Chloe to completely crush Jonathan Sterling's thoughts of using her for an alliance. Once the dust settles, I'll separate from her."

Chase was clearly stunned. "Isn't that taking it too far? Would Melanie ever agree to that?"

Fighting back my tears, I felt my heart tearing apart with agony.

And here I thought Damien had devoted himself entirely to me over these past five years.

Yet it turned out he had been visiting Chloe Carter every single month.

Five years. Exactly sixty times.

I remembered the time I had a burning fever. He had told me an emergency had cropped up with an overseas merger, that they couldn't close the deal without him.

And another time, my car was caught in a massive pile-up on the highway.

He had merely rushed out an excuse over the phone, claiming an international inspection project was falling apart and that he had to board a flight right away, leaving only his assistant behind to handle the aftermath.

Every single one of his helpless emergencies had been for Chloe Carter.

Beneath the duvet, I clenched my fists and held my breath, waiting for his answer.

"She won't find out."

Damien Lawrence's tone was calm, absolute.

"Even if she does, Melanie ought to understand. Chloe's brother gave his life to save the two of us. Melanie and I owe her for the rest of our days."

A silent, cold laugh rose in my chest.

I stopped owing her a long time ago.

If you want to repay her, do it yourself. I'm done playing along.

The bedroom door was pushed open, and Maggie came in carrying a glass of water.

The moment she saw Damien, her eyes rimmed with red in agitation.

"Mr. Lawrence, you're finally back! Where on earth have you been these past few days? None of our calls would go through. Do you have any idea that Melanie mis—"

"Maggie!"

My eyes snapped open, and I cut her off with a sharp voice. "I'm hungry. I want that broth you make."