Chapter 4

Brandon immediately changed his tune. “Aubrey, the technology license Harrington Corp granted Hayes Enterprises is almost expiring. I need to go negotiate the renewal first.”

I reached out, expressionless. “Brandon Hayes, give me that ring first.”

Brandon frowned. “Don’t make a scene, I…”

“Aubrey, you’re being so unreasonable. Hayes Enterprises signed a high-stakes performance agreement this year, and Harrington Corp’s technology is crucial.”

“Mr. Thompson is only meeting us because of my friendship with his relative.”

Serena directly linked her arm through Brandon’s. “Brandon, let’s go pick out a gift for Mr. Thompson first.”

She raised a hand and beckoned the sales assistant. “But we shouldn’t let Aubrey’s trip be in vain. Just confirm the plain wedding dress for her.”

“This…”

The sales assistant looked confused. Who was Mr. Hayes’s fiancée, exactly?

Even my gentle nature was provoked. “Ms. Serena, you sound so much like my mother-in-law, so concerned about Brandon and me.”

“You!”

Serena choked, her eyes red with feigned hurt. “Brandon…”

Brandon, caught in the middle, looked increasingly impatient. “Alright, Aubrey, just take that one. You can go home now.”

With that, he pulled Serena and turned to leave, without a single explanation.

The sharp thorns I had put up collapsed.

I had been sheltered under my parents’ wings since childhood, always kind, believing in love and light in the world.

But when I shed the aura of the heiress and walked alone as an orphan,

I witnessed more facets of this world.

Greed, indifference, and even cruel harm for personal gain.

Less than half an hour after I left the bridal shop, Mrs. Hayes called.

“Aubrey! What kind of trash did you pick out?! Get your ass over here right now!”

Mrs. Hayes’s shrill voice pierced through the phone, almost shattering my eardrums.

I remembered I still had a significant program saved on the Hayes family computer.

It was a smart drone program I had designed for Brandon’s and my wedding.

One hundred thousand drones would patrol the city skies all day long.

Letting everyone know they were married, and letting them know that ‘Aubrey’ and Brandon Hayes were a match made in heaven.

Now, none of that was needed. Brandon Hayes simply wasn’t worthy of me!

I needed to delete that program, just as I was deleting Brandon Hayes from my life.

I arrived at the Hayes mansion. As soon as I stepped inside, a strong, cloying perfume hit me, making me cough repeatedly.

Mrs. Hayes liked to use expensive perfumes as air fresheners, to flaunt the Hayes' wealth.

“Mrs. Hayes.”

“Look at you, cowering. You have no air of a wealthy socialite whatsoever!”

My covering my nose only fueled Mrs. Hayes’s anger. I picked up a teacup, raised my hand, and the slightly warm tea splashed onto me.

“Ah!” I only managed to turn sideways. A red mark instantly appeared on my neck, burning painfully.

“You have the nerve to complain.”

Mrs. Hayes snapped, without an ounce of apology. “Aubrey, you chose a wedding dress without a single diamond. Are you trying to make everyone in Brighton laugh at how poor Hayes Enterprises is?”

I thought to myself, I had specifically asked for that. My original plan was to reveal my identity to Brandon on the day we picked the wedding dress.

Then I would tell him that my mother had already prepared my wedding dress.

Even the diamond-free authentic version cost twenty million. If it were fully diamond-encrusted, I was afraid Brandon would feel the gap between us was too vast.

“I’ve had someone buy a wedding dress from abroad. This one is a million.”

Mrs. Hayes pointed to a magazine showing a dress adorned with diamonds and crystals, then added, “Time is tight. Don’t eat lunch or dinner for the next few days, so you’ll fit into it.”

I glanced at it. Another knock-off. A relative had worn something similar five years ago. The authentic one cost ten million.

Mrs. Hayes and I were always on different wavelengths, and I didn’t want to waste my breath.

“I’ll go change first.”

I changed my clothes, deleted the program, and as I opened the door, I heard voices in the hallway.

“Aubrey is an orphan. Why didn’t Mrs. Hayes choose Ms. King? She’s a celebrity, after all.”

“My own husband ran off with a celebrity. How could Mrs. Hayes accept a celebrity as a daughter-in-law?”

“But she clearly doesn’t like Aubrey. Why didn’t she keep objecting?”

“If Ms. King hadn’t been pestering Mr. Hayes, Mrs. Hayes probably wouldn’t have agreed so quickly.”

“Good thing the water wasn’t too hot just now, or the poor girl would have been disfigured. What a sin.”

“I think Mr. Hayes prefers… otherwise…”

The two women chatted as they walked away. My hand on the doorknob trembled.

I felt like all my past patience with Mrs. Hayes had been a joke.

Ever since Mrs. Hayes learned that Brandon and I were dating, she tormented me in every conceivable way, every single day.

Daily 'routine' scolding, from my background to my taste, even small things, a single gesture, could become a point of attack.

If I didn't come to the Hayes mansion, Mrs. Hayes would bombard me with messages on SnapChat, her words even more scathing.

I had never heard so much vitriol. In just one week, Mrs. Hayes almost drove me to depression.

When Brandon found out, he had a huge fight with his mother, and her attacks on me finally subsided a bit.

After that, she switched to physically exhausting me.

“I want the mung bean cake from King’s in Southside. Go get it for me.”

“I heard a new French dessert shop opened in Eastside. Go queue up and buy their signature item.”

“I suddenly want the Osmanthus cake from South City. You…”

I was like a delivery person, sent running around by Mrs. Hayes.

Some of the shops were even in other cities. I ran back and forth, utterly exhausted, yet I couldn't refuse to buy food for my boyfriend's mother.