After my father passes away, my mother—now married into the wealthy Hawthorne family—brings me to live with them.

Everyone laughs, saying I'm being groomed to become either of the Hawthorne brothers' bride.

Even I start to believe it.

But later, when I try to marry one of them, both reject me.

The older brother says, "I'll need to marry for business one day. Why would I marry her?"

The younger one scoffs. "She's older than me. Who'd want an old woman?"

But the very next day, the two of them propose—together—to my assistant. I instantly become a joke.

After that, I call my mother. "Mom, I'm willing to marry into the Grant family."

Just as I stepped out of the office, my phone buzzed. It was Wesley Hawthorne.

His voice was cold, laced with irritation.

"Savannah, why did you leave without saying anything? Didn't I tell you to wait for Jade?"

From the background, Nathan Hawthorne couldn't help but chime in. "Yeah, why didn't you tell us you were leaving early? Jade's still at the office. Now that you're gone, who's supposed to take her home?"

I caught my reflection on the phone's screen.

My complexion was ghostly pale, and my body felt so fragile that a breeze might carry me away.

I was born premature and struggled with ongoing health problems from the very start.

When I first came to live with the Hawthorne family, both Wesley and Nathan showered me with care and attention.

As a child, they watched over every meal I ate, carefully managing my diet.

Whenever I fell ill, they never left my side, doing everything they could to comfort me and lift my spirits.

There was a time when Wesley was halfway across the world on a business trip. The moment I mentioned a headache, he booked three connecting flights just to get back overnight.

However, everything shifted after Jade Aldridge came into the picture.

Suddenly, my migraines were met with indifference.

When I fell sick, their worry had all but disappeared.

I ended the call quietly.

Once inside the car, I called my mother, Tina McCurdy, saying, "Mom, I've made my decision. I'm ready to go through with the marriage into the Grant family."

There was a pause before she asked, "Savannah, are you sure about this?"

When I was little, my parents divorced, and I stayed with my father, Henry Lockwood.

He passed away from illness when I was eight. After that, my mother who remarried into the wealthy Hawthorne family brought me to live with her.

I still remembered what she said to me back then. "Savannah, if you want to remain in this family, you have to please Mr. Francis Hawthorne and his two sons."

Later, she added, "Mr. Hawthorne wants to form an alliance with the Grant family. You should give serious thought to marrying their son."

At the time, I couldn't understand why she was pushing me into an arranged marriage, especially after all her efforts to bring me into the Hawthorne family.

Eventually, I realized she'd been the one with clarity all along.

She always knew I was nothing more than a passing amusement for Wesley and Nathan.

So from the very beginning, she had mapped out a way for me to escape.

I opened my phone to book a plane ticket. Just then, a message from Jade appeared, accompanied by a photo.

"True love always falls from the sky. I'm thankful for fate's blessing."

In the photo, she proudly wore two emerald bracelets on her wrist, set against the unmistakable backdrop of my greenhouse.

Those bracelets had once been a birthday gift from the Hawthorne brothers. Now, they were hers.

I didn't hesitate to block Jade immediately.

"Mom, I'm serious. I'm ready to marry into the Grant family."

"Okay, I'll talk to Mr. Hawthorne. The Grant family's set the date—it's Wednesday. They say it's a lucky day for wedding registrations. Just make sure you're in Frostholm before then."

"Okay," I replied.

Maybe my mother already suspected the truth.

Just before hanging up, she added, "Make sure you have a proper conversation with them."

I said nothing. Instead, I tilted my head and gazed up at the sky.

Six days remained, and I was determined to say a proper goodbye to it all.

The moment I stepped through the gate, a blast of freezing water hit me head-on.

The wind whipped around me, and I couldn't stop shivering.

"Ms. Lockwood, I was filling the pond. You could've warned me before showing up," Jade said, still holding the hose steady.

She didn't stop spraying until I was drenched to the bone.

I forced my eyes open.

To my dismay, the roses I had carefully tended for years at the Hawthorne residence were torn out and tossed across the lawn.

Where the flowerbed once bloomed, a small pond had been installed, with workers now busy planting water lilies along its edge.

I said nothing and turned to walk away.

But the weight of my drenched clothes slowed me down. After just a few steps, I began to shiver again.

Meanwhile, Wesley and Nathan lounged in the living room, sharing a look of disdain as they took in my disheveled appearance.

It was clear they were ridiculing me for making a fuss the moment I stepped through the door.

"Damn, Savannah, you actually remembered to come home. I thought you'd vanished for good," Wesley sneered.

Nathan chimed in, "Her dad's dead, so her mom brought her into our family. Where else would someone like her go?"

A sharp ache tightened my chest.

My mind drifted back to the day I first arrived at the Hawthorne residence.

Nathan had gripped my hand tightly, worried I'd feel out of place. He kept telling jokes, trying to coax a smile from me.

"Savannah," he said gently, "this is your home now."

Wesley had even given up the largest, most comfortable room so I could have it.

Though we moved countless times over the years, he never wavered, always ensuring I had the best space.

Once he started working, he bought a house close to his office.

He promised to put it in my name, saying it would be a home for the three of us.

Once Jade became my assistant, though, she began to get in and out the company and the villa at will. Every day, she either latched onto the Hawthorne brothers or schemed to turn them against me.

At first, I held back, feeling sorry for her troubled past.

But to my disbelief, she crossed the line—shattering the keepsake my father had entrusted to me, right before my eyes.

I couldn't stay silent any longer. I stepped forward to confront her, only to be pushed aside.

Wesley's expression darkened. "Jade's had a hard life. Why do you have to make things worse for her?"

Nathan added, "She just graduated. You're older—can't you show some leniency?"

Gazing at the broken fragments of my father's keepsake, a sense of confusion and helplessness washed over me.

From that moment forward, everything changed.

To them, I was no longer important.

Jade was quietly taking over, becoming the mistress of the house and driving me out without mercy.

At that point, staying wasn't even an option anymore.

Staring at the chaos they'd created, one thought repeated in my mind—pack up and leave now.

As I made my way upstairs, I spotted my belongings thrown carelessly across the hallway.

With his arm draped around Jade, Wesley was barking orders to the housekeepers to clear my things out.

Their eyes blazed with arrogant contempt.

"Savannah, you and your mother are nothing but dogs raised by our family. Since you can't recognize your place, it's time you learn some respect!

"From this moment on, you're off the clock. Jade will take over your duties. You'd better step down and learn how to be a proper assistant instead of bullying your subordinates."

Nathan was even harsher. Just to please Jade, he smashed the birthday gift my mother had bought for me.

"Savannah, stay away from Jade, or I won't go easy on you."

If the old me had heard those words, I'd have been broken, tossing and turning through countless sleepless nights.

But now, I was ready to walk away, drained of any desire to argue.

It all felt meaningless.

I simply nodded, a faint smile on my lips. "Yes, you're right about everything. I'll gather my things and leave soon.

"Mr. Wesley, if you see me as a liability to the company, then I'll resign."

Wesley sneered, "Just like Jade said—you've been clinging to our family, trying to take what doesn't belong to you. Too bad this company carries our name. You won't see a single dime.

"Still, for your mother's sake, I'll throw you a bone and offer you the assistant position.

"But don't get it twisted—in my eyes, that's the only role you're fit for. Don't even think about aiming for more."

I walked past Wesley without hesitation. "I won't ask for anything," I murmured.

This place had once been filled with moments I held dear, but in the end, it was never truly mine to call home.

At first, I expected packing to take forever.

However, when I was done, I realized I owned very little.

Every piece of clothing I had was a gift from Wesley, who used to say, "You're so beautiful, my princess. You deserve nothing but the finest."

Now, those clothes were drenched and reeked of a foul, unexplainable odor.

I had gone from being his cherished treasure to a worthless parasite.

Hidden among the clothes were a few photographs. They were taken by Nathan—quiet reminders of our happier times, moments of joy frozen forever.

Nathan used to be obsessed with photographing me, saying he wanted to capture every version of who I was.

Whenever we took group photos, the two brothers always competed to stand closer to me, but now, in those very pictures of the three of us, my face had been ruthlessly crossed out in red ink.

I couldn't bear it any longer—I grabbed everything and tossed it into the trash without a second thought.

Just then, Wesley and Jade came downstairs and caught me.

A flash of shock crossed Wesley's eyes—after all, I used to cherish those photos like priceless treasures. That quickly faded into a sneer as he taunted, "So this is how you waste our family's money, huh?"

There was a time when Wesley spared no expense just to see me smile, but now, in his eyes, everything I did was wrong.

I had lost the right to be stubborn, and with it, the will to stand up for myself.

I said firmly, "I will repay Mr. Hawthorne for every penny I've ever spent."

"Our family doesn't care about the money, but remember this—don't ever cause trouble for Jade again."

Jade pulled Wesley aside. "Wesley, don't waste your energy on those who don't matter. I want to get to the Prism Room. Let's move."

My footsteps wavered as a flood of memories crashed over me all at once.