In the fifth year of our secret relationship, Jeremy Hudson, who had been unwilling to make it public, suddenly proposed to me.  I cried tears of joy, unaware that what awaited me was a hellish life.

The day after we got our marriage certificate, he brought home his stepsister, whom I had never met.

After his stepfather died in a car accident, this so-called “stepsister” moved in as if it were obvious.  

When I stared at Lucy Hudson's face, which bore seventy percent similarity to mine, my heart clenched instantly.  

Later, I deliberately fell ill with a high fever on her birthday, forcing Jeremy to abandon her and stay by my side. Then, under the pretense of pilgrimage, I made him kneel and crawl for a day and night to pray for us at a sacred site.

After testing him repeatedly, Jeremy's compromise and indulgence led me to let go of my suspicions gradually.

That was until the wedding day. As we exchanged rings, the stepsister who had been well-behaved and weak suddenly picked up the fruit knife and rushed towards me.

As I clutched the dagger with all my strength, my gaze locked onto Lucy's neck. On it, there was an identical tattoo to the one that Jeremy had on his lower abdomen.

My world shattered and instantly, the strength drained from my hands.

Then the cold metal plunged into my body. Before I fainted, I heard my beloved husband screaming the name of another woman heartbreakingly.

###Chapter 1

The melodious wedding march filled my ears as I gazed upon the man I loved most, dressed in a suit, ready to slip the ring symbolizing our love onto my finger. I thought this must be the happiest moment imaginable.

But the next second, Lucy, who had been sitting quietly in the front row of the audience, suddenly ran toward us, her right hand clutching a gleaming piece of metal.

By the time I recognized what it was, it was already too late.

She lunged at me and the sharp blade cut through my customized wedding dress. The diamonds on it fell one by one and the crisp sound resounded throughout the hall.

Only then did the people around us realize what had happened. Relatives and friends nearby rushed onto the stage, flustered as they struggled to restrain the crazed woman.

My eyes instinctively sought Jeremy, only to find that he had vanished from beside me.

When I turned back, I saw him standing beside Lucy.

“Quick! Let her go! She’s my sister!”

I looked at Jeremy, who used to be so reserved and was losing his composure and pushed away the relatives and friends who were holding Lucy one by one.

His two relatives and friends on his side immediately released their grip upon hearing his words.

My relatives and friends, however, held firm, looking up at me to gauge my stance, because after all, I was the one Lucy wanted to hurt.

“What do you say, Anne?”

Before I could even gather my thoughts or decide how to handle this, Jeremy beside me had already spoken up for me.

"Anne is standing right here, isn't she? Let's just think this matter is over."

After he said that, he pushed my relatives and friends away. As he was protecting the perpetrator, Lucy, in his arms, he looked at me and said, "Anne, I'll take Lucy home first."

“What about the wedding?” I blurted out instinctively.

"What? At a time like this, you’re still thinking about the wedding?” Jeremy retorted impatiently.

I laughed bitterly.

“Jeremy, so you do realize what just happened wasn't trivial. As the victim, I demand an explanation from Lucy. Otherwise, no one leaves here.”

Jeremy held the pitiful-looking Lucy tightly, signaling for her not to be afraid. Then he looked at me with an expression that said I was being unreasonable.

“Anne, we're family. Don't make a big deal out of this. Do you really want her to go to jail? She's practically your sister!”

I took a few steps toward them. "What sister? The sister who tried to kill me? Your earlier suggestion was spot-on—she should rot in jail. I’ll press charges for intentional assault!"

“You!” Jeremy pointed at me furiously.

"Anne Larson! You always force Jeremy like this! I hate you! I'll never let you marry him!"

As she shouted this, Lucy lunged at me and stabbed me with a fruit knife.

None of us present, myself included, had expected her to bring two knives.

Fortunately, I reacted in time and was able to hold the blade with all my strength. Because we were so close, for the first time, I saw clearly the tattoo on Lucy's neck. It was identical to the one on Jeremy's lower abdomen.

My world shattered. The strength drained from my hand instantly. The blade pierced my body and searing pain erupted through me.

Before I lost consciousness, I heard Jeremy shouting Lucy’s name and saw him pull her into his arms again.

Then everything went dark. In a haze, I felt someone carelessly touching my body. They kept touching my unhealed wound several times and jolting me awake with pain.

My eyes fell upon Jeremy, dressed in his usual formal attire. He, who never lifted a finger for household chores, now held a towel, wiping my arm.

I instinctively pulled my arm away. Seeing me awake, he showed none of the joy a husband should feel, nor any concern or care. He only said stiffly, “You've been lying here for two days. It's time to clean up.”

I sneered. “Then should I thank you?”

Caught off guard by my retort, Jeremy was momentarily speechless. He could only sigh deeply, as if I were just some unreasonable woman.

“Get dressed.”

After a long moment, Jeremy rose, picked up my coat and walked to the hospital bed, preparing to help me up.

“What are you doing?” I snapped, a little irritated.

“We're going to the bridal shop.” His tone was calm and indifferent.

“What do you mean?” I pushed him away when he tried to lift me into his arms.

Interrupted mid-motion, he frowned slightly.

“Your wedding dress is ruined. I've already contacted the designer to have a new one custom-made for you. He's leaving the country tonight. Don't delay any longer.”

Hearing this, I burrowed straight back under the covers, refusing to look at him.

“You know better than anyone why the dress was ruined. Instead of confronting the culprit, you're here tormenting me?”

“I'm not tormenting you. You're the bride, so you need to be present for the new dress fitting. I've also rescheduled the wedding and secured a new venue—it will be even more grand and magnificent than the first time.”

The more he spoke, the louder his voice became, as if I should be grateful that he still remembered to make it up to me afterward.

"Jeremy, a wedding dress can be mended—but how do you mend an injured body and a mind?" I asked. I struggled to sit up, propped myself up with my arms and locked eyes with him.

But Jeremy seized that chance to pick me up. And because of my injuries, I did not dare to resist.

“This hospital belongs to the Hudson Group. The doctors here are the best. You won’t be left with scars. As for Lucy …”

The moment I heard her name, a physical shiver went through me.

“I’ve already sent her to the villa in the mountains. There won’t be any accidents at next week’s wedding.”

So, this was the man I'd loved for eight years. Not only did he show zero concern when I was stabbed in the back, but he also shielded the culprit, afraid I might confront her.

“Jeremy, from just now until this moment, all you’ve talked about is holding the wedding again. Did you ever ask me what I think? Why are you so sure I’ll agree?”

Jeremy gently placed me in the passenger seat, fastened my seatbelt, then asked in disbelief, “We've been married for five years. If not me, who else could you marry?”

Facing such a natural question from him, my heart became colder.

“So … you knew we'd been married for five years all along. Then why did you insist on keeping it secret?”

As the engine started, I finally asked the question that had troubled me the most all these years.

Back then, when my father fell ill, he entrusted both the Carson Corporation and me to Jeremy before his death.

Jeremy had once been my father’s most capable subordinate. His talent in programming and computing was second only to mine.

Since I loved him and my father trusted him, after seeing our marriage certificate, my father closed his eyes in peace.

What I never anticipated was that after my father’s funeral, Jeremy insisted on keeping our marriage secret. He claimed it was inauspicious to celebrate a wedding so soon after a funeral and that it would damage his reputation.

I thought that in two years, at most, we would have a grand wedding. But three years passed, then four…

The wedding kept being delayed. Then, in the fifth year, he finally proposed to me and the wedding date was set quickly.

I thought my happiness had finally arrived—until I saw Lucy. That's when panic seized me...

Ring ring ...

The phone rang, interrupting my thoughts and questioning.

Jeremy turned on the car’s speaker immediately. Then I heard his secretary’s voice, panicked and fearful.

"Mr. Hudson, Miss Lucy escaped from the villa. We’ve searched for an hour, but we still can’t find her...”

Jeremy slammed on the brakes. The seatbelt dug into my wound and I felt a faint warmth flow. It was likely that the wound reopened.

Gritting my teeth, beads of sweat rolled down my forehead as I instinctively asked Jeremy’s help, "Jeremy, my wound …."

“Get out of the car!”

His icy, sharp tone instantly silenced me.

“What?” I couldn’t believe what he had just said.

“I said, get out! Anne, didn't you hear what Jean just said? It'll be dark soon. Who knows what lurks in these mountains? How could I possibly feel at ease leaving Lucy, a girl, alone?”

“Then what about me?” I asked instinctively.

“You take a taxi back first. I didn’t drive very far. I’ll reschedule with the designer.”

Jeremy's long, slender fingers tapped rhythmically on the steering wheel. It was his physical sign that his patience was about to run out.

“No need.”

Then I forced my broken body to open the door and get out of the car.

The moment I slammed the door shut, Jeremy’s car shot forward like a bullet, racing against the clock.

The truth staring me in the face was too obvious and I could not deny it any longer. In Jeremy's heart, Lucy, his stepsister, was more important than me, his partner, who had been with him for eight years.

As I was staring at the blood seeping through my clothes, I fought to stay conscious to flag down a taxi and instruct the driver to take me to the hospital.

Seeing the blood on me, the driver stepped on the accelerator and drove as fast as he could, afraid something might happen to me.

When I got out, he insisted on supporting me, escorting me into the nurse's care before leaving.

It felt like ages since I had experienced such concern and care. My eyes involuntarily reddened. At my most vulnerable moment, even a stranger showed me more warmth than Jeremy, my own husband.

When the nurse changed my bandages and saw the wound, she instinctively gasped. “You haven't healed when you left the hospital. When your husband insisted on bringing you home, I thought someone would take care of you. How did it get this bad?”

I gave her a weak, forced smile. “I didn’t walk steadily and hit the edge of a table.”

After that, the nurse started chatting with another nurse who had just come in and they were talking about someone who was at Staten Bridge and threatening to jump into the river.

"Exactly! A young girl, quite pretty too, why would she be so desperate?"

"A girl at her age jumping over a river like that? It's probably just a matter of love. Maybe she's trying to force her boyfriend to show up!”

I looked out the window. The sun was shining brightly and the occasional crisp chirp of birds filled the air.

On such a beautiful day, in the prime of her life, how could someone be so foolish?

“Hey, sir! This is a private room. You can't just barge in like that!”

I heard the nurse beside me raise her voice in protest. Instinctively, I turned my head toward the doorway.

It was Jeremy.

His face was filled with anxiety. Jeremy, who always cared about appearances, now had his suit and tie loosened and even the top button of his shirt was undone.

Ignoring the nurse's protests, he rushed toward me and grabbed my arm so tightly that it made me wince.

“Come with me!”

Just as I was about to pull my arm free, the nurse strode over in long steps, pushed Jeremy away and pointed at him angrily.

“Now I remember—you're her husband, right? You never took proper care of her before and now her wound has reopened. Not only did you fail to look after her, but you're making a scene here. What kind of irresponsible husband are you?”

Clearly, Jeremy was ignoring the nurse's words. He kept staring at me with bloodshot eyes.

“Anne, just come with me this once. After this, I won’t trouble you again. I’ll let you recover properly.”

How ridiculous! Do I need his permission to recover in peace?

Seeing the indifferent look on my face, he immediately grew even more dissatisfied and snapped irritably, "Anne, this is a matter of life and death! How can you be so cold-hearted? Lucy is so distraught over your refusal to forgive her that she's threatening to jump into the river. You must come with me and tell her personally that you've forgiven her!”

Before hearing those two words, I could have let him rant and rave on and on. But now...

I grabbed the pillow behind me and hurled it at him with all my strength.

“Get lost! Let her live or die!”

Jeremy clenched the pillow I’d thrown at him, his knuckles white as he gritted his teeth and said, "Anne, why didn't I see it earlier that you're such a vicious woman? No matter how much you dislike Lucy, she’s about to lose her life. And you can still say something so malicious?”

“You clearly weren’t like this before.”

“This is my fault. I spoiled you too much. That’s why you’ve become so unreasonable and tyrannical now, unable to tolerate even Lucy, your own sister.”