A Sick Romance

The little boy I had saved when we were kids grew up to be a possessive, obsessive CEO.

For ten years, he kept me by his side, using my grandmother's illness as a bargaining chip to force me into marrying him.

He tried everything to win my heart, pulling every trick in the book, but no matter what he did, he could never make me love him.

In a fit of rage, he found a woman who looked almost exactly like me to take my place.

They flaunted their relationship for everyone to see, and people whispered that the CEO had finally found his true love.

But that day, the woman, riding on his affection, barged into the villa with her entourage.

She broke my fingers one by one, slashed my face with a utility knife, and removed my clothes to humiliate me.

"Even though you had surgery to look like me, I'll let that slide. But you even learned to paint like me, too? You really did your homework. Let's see how you try to seduce men now!"

Just as I was bleeding out and on the verge of death, the obsessive CEO finally showed up.

The stand-in grabbed my hair and dragged me in front of him, smugly reporting, "Honey, this wench was hiding in the villa trying to seduce you. I've made sure she can't succeed!"

After my parents were mistakenly killed by the Palmers' enemies, the boy from next door became the Palmers' heir and brought me into his home.

For the next ten years, he controlled me with his unhealthy obsession, manipulating me into marrying him by using my grandmother's illness as leverage.

Two months ago, fed up with my cold indifference, he found a woman who looked almost identical to me and started flaunting their affection in front of me.

He sent me countless intimate photos, hoping to provoke a jealous reaction from me.

I looked at them, said nothing, and instead picked up a paintbrush, covered in colors, and filled the walls with sunflowers.

Today, the villa's walls were almost completely covered in them, and my grandmother should be out of the hospital soon.

Felix Palmer had promised to let me see her once she was discharged.

In a good mood, I hummed a little tune, when I suddenly heard voices from outside.

"Every night without fail, he stays here. Tonight, I'm going to give him a surprise and win him over!"

The others eagerly agreed. "Darcy, once you're the CEO's wife, don't forget about us!"

I rushed out, wanting to warn them to leave quickly. Felix didn't allow anyone to come over here.

There was a time when I had tried to escape by asking a passerby for help, only for him to turn that person into a vegetable. After that, he locked me in this remote villa on the outskirts.

It was isolated, and there was no way for me to escape. He left only a loyal maid to take care of my daily needs.

But as soon as I opened the door, I came face-to-face with a woman who looked almost exactly like me, freezing the air in the room.

From her hairstyle to her face, to the flawless white dress, the resemblance was so striking that even I was shocked.

This was Felix's new girlfriend, Darcy Sherman—finding a substitute so similar to me wasn't easy.

Darcy froze for a moment, and the joy on her face quickly turned to anger. She raised her hand and slapped me.

"What are you doing here? How dare you sneak into my man's villa! You really have guts!"

Before I could explain, she roughly grabbed my hair and dragged me out into the sunflower-filled garden.

"You wench, how dare you get plastic surgery to look like me and hide in my man's villa! Looks like you've done your homework well! You've been spying on me and my man, haven't you?"

She pinched my face, her eyes full of venom. "Not only did you get surgery, but you even learned to paint like me, too. You're pathetic! How dare you try to seduce my man! You're asking for trouble! If I hadn't come today, you would've really gotten away with it!"

My knees and arms scraped against the ground, tearing open, the pain shooting through me like needles.

With the maid, Mona, gone, I was all alone in the house. I had no chance in a physical fight.

I quickly explained, "I'm Felix's legal wife. If you don't believe me, I can call him."

But just as I reached for my phone, Darcy snatched it from my hands.

She grabbed my hand and unlocked my phone. She found the number saved under "Honey" before letting out a laugh.

"You're telling me this is my man's number? Ha! Then whose is this one?"