From Stand-In to Queen

Everyone said I was lucky. After the Don, Lucas Vaughn, brought me back to his estate, I became the woman he treasured most.

He would halt billion-dollar deals just to be home on time to put me to sleep. He even learned sign language in secret, just so he could communicate with me after my vocal cords were damaged.

At first, I didn’t dare give him my heart.

Whenever he looked at me, his focus would drift. He showered me with gifts, yet always disappeared on the days that mattered most.

As the child in my womb grew, and as Lucas’s devotion intensified day by day, I let my guard down. I devoted myself completely to the role of wife and Donna.

Until the night I gave birth.

I hemorrhaged during a difficult labor, but Lucas never showed up.

After surviving by sheer luck, I finally saw the trending news. Lucas attended a Thames-side gala arm-in-arm with rising movie star, Serena Vale.

That was when I understood. To him, I had only ever been a substitute.

He broke his rules for her again and again. He indulged her humiliations toward me and even shoved me toward armed attackers at the brink of life and death.

Filled with hatred, I closed my eyes and sank into the deep sea, just as he wished.

Later, he knelt, clutching the hem of my dress, begging, "Zoe, please give me one more chance. I’ll repay you with my life."

His life was worth too little now. I no longer wanted it.

The hospital room was cold and silent, a single-occupancy ward stripped down to the bare minimum.

When the door was kicked open, I was forcing myself to endure the tearing pain in my abdomen while rocking my newborn daughter, Luna Vaughn, to sleep.

"How is your recovery, Miss Lang?" Her tone was deliberately restrained, yet nothing could conceal the innate elegance she carried.

The moment I saw her face clearly, I froze.

So this was Serena Vale, the national darling who had recently been appearing everywhere at Lucas Vaughn's side.

My fingers trembled as I instinctively pulled the blanket tighter around myself.

Before I could think further, she bent down toward the swaddled baby, handling her casually. Her sharp, manicured nails scraped across my daughter's cheek, leaving a red mark behind.

"So it's a girl?" she said lightly. "Lucas needs an heir who can inherit the family. Your womb is really disappointing."

Her mockery hit me like a blade.

I shook my head frantically.

That was not true!

When he had leaned down to feel the baby's movements, his eyes had been full of anticipation. I had seen it clearly.

"Don't get worked up." Serena chuckled softly, her voice dripping with disdain. "She doesn't look like Lucas at all. She looks like you. Hopefully, she won't end up like you—crippled."

I raised my hands urgently, signing with shaking fingers: [Please don't curse my daughter. She is healthy.]

"Tsk. Communicating like this is such a hassle." Her red lips moved closer to my ear, every word sharp enough to cut flesh. "You really think giving birth to a child secures your place as Donna? Do you know why Lucas still hasn't married you?

"Oh, right. I forgot to introduce myself properly. I'm Serena Vale, Lucas's first love. Back then, I went abroad to further my career and suggested the breakup. That's when he chose you. What? Don't you think we look quite alike?

"One more thing. Lucas couldn't bear to hold me back or let me suffer through childbirth. So he sweet-talked you into becoming a breeding mare. I'll raise the child. What he did with you was just for appearances. It's over now."

She was standing very close.

Close enough that I could see my own disheveled reflection in her eyes.

As I stared at her face, cold crept into my heart, inch by inch.

It was true. We looked seventy percent alike, especially our eyes and brows.

Suddenly, I remembered how Lucas would always lose focus when he looked at me.

Could it be because…

No. That couldn't be right. She had to be lying.

I refused to believe an outsider, rejected such a blood-soaked truth. I would only believe what Lucas said himself.

So I stubbornly signed again: [The Don loves me. He swore it.]

"A mute stand-in with quite the backbone," Serena sneered, contempt flooding her eyes.

"Waaah!"

A piercing cry suddenly exploded through the room as my daughter began thrashing violently.

What happened to her?!

I lunged toward the crib in panic.

Serena recoiled in exaggerated fear, deliberately raising her voice, "Miss Lang! How could you be so cruel? Just because he didn't come see you, you take it out on a newborn?"

Her assistants at the door turned to look, their faces filled with disgust.

"Figures. A mistress who abuses a baby just for money."

"Breaking up someone else's relationship. How shameless."

"Staying in a dump like this? Must have been dumped by her sugar daddy."

…

The vicious whispers drilled into my ears.

I wanted to argue, to explain, but no sound would come out.

"Miss Lang, I know you're angry," Serena continued softly. "I heard you went through a difficult delivery. Lucas was with me on a yacht that night, celebrating. He didn't make it back to you. I'm really sorry.

"But she is Lucas's flesh and blood." Serena frowned, looking heartbroken. "If you don't want to raise her, I'll take her back and care for her. That way, he can rest easy."

I didn't understand why she was suddenly repeating herself so loudly.

The next second, the metallic stench of blood filled the air as Lucas walked in.