When she married Harry Slate, she was 22 years old while he was 32.

During their three years of marriage, he showered her with endless tenderness and would give her anything she wanted. He said he could pick the stars for her if she wanted, even the moon if she so wished. He spoiled her like she was a precious treasure.

The only thing was that he had insatiable demands every night. He would chuckle and refuse to let her go, even when she cried and begged for mercy.

She knew Harry had a lot of money and a lot of love—and all of it belonged to her. The day her father passed away, she called him 99 times, yet he declined every single one.

The next second, she received a photo taken by her best friend.

[Celine, is this your man? I saw him hugging a woman on the streets of Palto.]

After tapping the photo and seeing the man and the woman, Celine Quest felt as though she had fallen into an icy abyss.

The man was Harry, and the woman was her aunt.

Three days after Celine Quest's father, Tobias Quest, passed away, Harry Slate finally returned home. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Celine sitting on the couch. Her eyes were sunken, her figure thin and frail.

The guilt in his heart peaked. He quickly walked up to her and hugged her. "Celine, I flew to Palto for a meeting at the last minute. Due to the time difference, I didn't receive your call. That's why I couldn't accompany you to the funeral. It's my fault. What compensation do you want? I'll give it to you, okay?"

Celine quietly listened to him. Her expression was blank, showing no emotion. She said nothing and just took out two documents from her bag. She opened the last page for both of them before handing it to him. "I want these two things. Sign them."

Harry let out a sigh of relief and quickly picked up a pen to sign his name.

Seeing his unhesitating action, Celine's eyes began to well up with tears. "You didn't even look at the papers. Aren't you worried that the things I want from you are very expensive?"

Harry helplessly held the woman in his arms. "Celine, we're husband and wife. What's mine is yours. Once the baby is born, it'll belong to you and the baby. You can have whatever you want, do you understand?"

Then, he bent over to listen to the movement of the baby in her belly. "Are you going for a prenatal checkup today? Is the baby restless? How about I go with you?"

Celine remained silent, neither saying yes nor no.

Harry took it as her agreement and helped her get into the car. Throughout the journey, the atmosphere in the car was grim. Neither one of them spoke.

Harry tried to find a topic, but his phone suddenly rang.

"Harry, I'm back in the country, and I want to see you."

As they were sitting close together, Celine could hear Juniper Jenner's voice on the other end of the line. Her hand unconsciously clenched, and she soon saw Harry hang up.

"Celine, I have some work to take care of. Can you go to your prenatal checkup by yourself?"

Celine did not expose his lie and opened the car door.

Amidst the chilly wind, she hailed a cab, and memories flooded her mind as the street scenes fleeted outside the window.

Celine got into a car accident years ago. The driver fled the scene, and passersby dared not help her as they were afraid of getting into trouble. As she lay dying in a pool of blood, Harry, who was passing by, seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and picked her up.

That day, she fell in love at first sight with Harry, who was ten years older than her.

Fortunately, the mature and steady Harry was also fond of her.

After dating for a year, they got married.

Perhaps because of his age, he seemed to have unlimited patience. After they wed, they never argued, and he never missed a gift or anniversary. He always considered her feelings, except in bed.

She had no idea why he was still so energetic even at 32. Many nights, she would sob and cry, begging him to stop, but he would just smile and kiss her again and again. "My silly girl, I love you. That's why I'm like this. If we do more of this, my baby can give me a little baby."

Thus, she finally got pregnant in the third year.

Three days ago, Tobias suffered a sudden stroke. Celine rushed to his side, only to hear her father repeatedly mentioning Harry, asking when he would come. Tobias wanted to see his son-in-law.

Everyone knew he wanted to entrust Celine to Harry before he died, and everyone tried to contact Harry. Despite everyone's best efforts—Celine even almost crashed her phone from making so many calls—they could not get through to Harry.

Tobias passed away with regret and resentment.

Celine initially thought he was busy, but shortly after she finished handling Tobias' funeral arrangements, she received a photo from her best friend. She could not figure out why Harry would be embracing her aunt. Her mind was in turmoil, and she finally mustered the courage to enter Harry's study, where she was never allowed to enter.

The moment the door opened, she felt as if she had fallen into an ice pit. It was filled with things related to her aunt—a wall covered in photos, carefully preserved love letters, countless unsent gifts, and a thick ongoing love diary.

Through this diary, Celine learned everything.

He had only been in two relationships in his life. One was with her; the other was with her aunt, Juniper.

They were college sweethearts, and his relationship with her lasted a decade—passionate and intense. At the peak of their love, he accompanied her across Atolia, took her through the Amazine rainforest, and shared a passionate kiss beneath the golden sunrise on the snow-capped mountains.

At their lowest point, he smashed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of jewelry for her, abandoned his pride to travel abroad to win her back after their breakup, and even drowned his sorrows in alcohol until he suffered a stomach hemorrhage after learning she had started a new relationship.

All the joys and sorrows of his early life seemed to be closely related to Juniper.

The only reason he was with her was that he wanted a substitute who resembled Juniper after breaking up with her. Thus, he set his sights on her niece, Celine. After all, her face was strikingly similar to her aunt's!

Thus, he orchestrated a hit-and-run accident, making her fall for him at first sight. That was also why he slept with her day and night just to get her pregnant. However, he did not want a child like hers; he wanted a child who looked like Juniper.

The moment Celine learned the truth, she was struck dumb and utterly devastated.

His affection was fake, his love was fake, and even his sincerity was fake. He deceived her completely!

Although she was young, she knew one's heart had to be vacant before letting in someone new.

Besides, she was never a substitute for anyone. She was Celine Quest, the one and only Celine Quest.

However, he had been deceiving her from the very beginning, so she decided to deceive him in return. Celine deliberately did not tell him that he had signed a divorce agreement and an abortion form.

She was not a substitute for anyone, and she would not want a man who had no feelings for her...

Celine walked into the hospital and handed the abortion consent form to the attending physician. "Hello, I want to abort this child."

Three hours later, Celine returned home while clutching her belly.

After resting for a day, she looked at her pale face in the mirror and tremblingly picked up her lipstick. After doing a simple makeup look, her complexion returned to normal, but she was still sweating coldly due to the pain.

She wrapped herself in a blanket and lay on the couch. She called the housekeeper over. "Sort out all the jewelry and bags in the display cabinet and send them to the auction house for sale. All proceeds will be donated to the impoverished mountainous areas."

Harry heard that just as he pushed the door open and froze instantly. "Celine, why do you suddenly want to sell these things?"

Celine lowered her eyes and avoided his gaze, "I want to donate them because I don't like them. Consider it as doing a good deed for the baby's sake."

Fortunately, Harry did not think much of it and walked over, hugging her and soothing her. "That's good. I'll take you to an auction in a couple of days, you can pick out things you like, and we'll gradually fill the empty display cabinets, okay?"

His tone sounded like comforting a child. Celine did not reply but changed the topic. "Have you finished your work?"

"Yes, I know you've been working hard recently. How about I stay home and accompany you and the baby for the coming week?"

Harry reached out to touch her belly, yet she promptly held his hand.

He looked down and noticed her belly seemed a little flatter. His brows furrowed slightly. Just as he was about to ask, Celine's phone rang.

Seeing the word 'Uncle' on the phone screen, she answered.

"Celine, your aunt came back yesterday. Everyone's discussing having a meal at the old house. Are you coming?"

"I'm not feeling well, so I'll pass..."

Before she could finish, Harry snatched the phone from her. "I'll be there on time with Celine."

Seeing his eagerness to agree to the dinner, Celine's heart skipped a beat. She could not help but think of the 99 failed phone calls she made on the day her father died.

It turned out he seized every opportunity to see the person he truly loved when it came to her. He disregarded her wishes, nor did he care about her recent grief. He simply followed his heart to love and meet the person he loved.

After hanging up, Harry saw the expression on Celine's face and realized he had just lost his composure. He held her cold hand and explained, "Celine, I know you're upset, but you're pregnant after all. You can't wallow in pain. I'll accompany you back to the old house to see your family and clear your head."

Celine forced a smile but said nothing.

The couple arrived at the old house at 7:00 pm.

Before entering, Harry handed Celine a gift. "Your uncle said you and your Aunt Juniper haven't seen each other for years, so we should prepare a gift."

In the past, Celine would have thought him considerate. Now, she knew he just wanted to use her to give a gift to someone he liked. She did not expose him and stepped into the bustling hall.

Hearing the voice, Juniper, who was chatting with someone, turned around and saw Celine and Harry, who was holding Celine's hand. She paused for a moment before asking hesitantly, "Celine, who's this?"

Celine did not answer, unsure how to respond.

Harry remained silent, but the relatives nearby warmly introduced them, "Juniper, you've been abroad for three years and didn't come back for the wedding, so it's normal you don't know him. This is Celine's husband, Harry Slate, the president of Slate Group..."

Juniper swayed slightly, a flash of shock in her eyes. However, having seen many grand occasions, she quickly came to herself and stepped forward to shake his hand.

The two exchanged polite greetings as if it were their first meeting.

Only Celine could see the subtle tension between them. She handed the gift to Juniper, saying only one sentence, "Aunt Juniper, welcome back."

"I'm only back for a month. I'll go back to Palto after this."

Harry's expression visibly turned grim.

Juniper pretended not to notice and smiled as she unwrapped the gift. When she saw the dazzling gemstone necklace, admiration appeared in her eyes. "Celine, you have such good taste! I've had my eye on this necklace for ages."

Celine took in both of their expressions, her tone indifferent. "Harry picked it out. He has always had good taste."

Harry barely ate anything during the meal, spending most of his time drinking and helping Celine with the food.

Relatives and friends smiled dotingly and teased, "Celine is so lucky to have married such a good husband. Look how loving they are!"

Celine forced a smile, looking at the beef and lamb in her bowl without touching her cutlery. After she became pregnant, she suffered from severe nausea and could not eat any meat.

Harry knew this and had been on a vegetarian diet with her for a month. Today, he forgot all about it. He was busy changing plates to bring all the fish and shrimp on the table to Juniper.

Juniper had loved seafood since she was a child.

After the meal, Harry was completely drunk.

Their relatives and friends were worried about them going back in such a state, so they asked them to stay.

Celine called the housekeeper to help him back to a room. After washing up, she turned off the lights in the bedroom and only left the one beside the bed on.

After a while, Harry opened his eyes drowsily and reached out to hold her in his arms. "Juniper, you came back for me, right?"

Celine froze completely, but she did not tell him that he had mistaken her for someone else. She paused for a long time before asking in reply, "What about you? Who did you get drunk for today?"

"It's you, Juniper. It's only you. Don't you understand?"

Although she had already expected the outcome, hearing it with her own ears still caused her agony. She finally understood why those who buy alcohol to drown their sorrows would pretend never to drink liquor in front of her. It was because he was afraid of revealing his true feelings, like he did today, and was afraid of being discovered by her.

She clutched her hands tightly and could not breathe. She had no choice but to break free from his embrace.

She sat in the bathroom for two hours before calming down.

When she came out again, Harry was no longer in bed.

Celine opened the bedroom door and saw the voice-controlled light on the balcony turn off. She walked silently over and saw through the window Harry and Juniper standing outside.

The darkness concealed his expression, but Celine could hear his suppressed voice. "Didn't you tell me yesterday you weren't going back to Euronia? Why did you change your mind today?"

"What about you? Why did you marry Celine without telling me?"

Hearing Juniper's calm tone, Harry felt his fury burning brighter. His remaining rationality crumbled instantly, and he gripped Juniper's hand. "Don't you know why I married her? She looks so much like you, and she's your blood relative. Only by being with her can I see you openly! Instead of flying to Palto and waiting downstairs alone for dozens of hours just to sneak a glimpse of you, like what happened a few days ago!"

It turned out he had gone to Paris for Juniper, which was why he had not answered a single phone call.

Celine was terribly shocked, and her fingers dug deeply into her palm.

Juniper had not expected him to come up with such a plan and murmured, "You're insane!"

"I am insane! I've been insane since the day you insisted on breaking up with me, don't you know? I want you by my side. Even a substitute who looks like you is enough for me to cherish for the rest of my life!"

His unvented pain stunned Juniper. After a long silence, she finally managed to squeeze out an equally agonizing reply. "Harry, what do you take Celine for? You've been married for three years. She's even pregnant with your baby. Don't you feel anything for her?"

Harry laughed immediately. "Juniper, she's just a substitute. How do you expect me to feel anything? Even if I did, all I can think about is you when I look at her face that looks like yours!

"Celine and I are having a baby soon. I've already chosen a name—Harper Slate. It's a combination of our names. This way, we'll be together forever!"

Hearing that, a chill ran through Celine, and her tears could not help but stream down.

Harper Slate. What a good name.

She closed her eyes, recalling his insatiable behavior in bed after their marriage and his nervous attitude during her pregnancy. She bit her lip hard, swallowing the desperate cries of pain.

Having exhausted her last bit of strength, she leaned against the wall. Her steps faltered as she turned away.

The sounds of their argument faded. Before the bedroom door closed, she heard Juniper ask, "Aren't you afraid Celine will find out the truth?"

Harry said, "She'll never know. Even if she did, she loves me so much that she'll never leave!"

Never?

Celine touched her flat belly and showed a bitter smile. She would personally smash the cage he built and fly toward the sky of freedom, never looking back.

Harry did not return that night.

Celine got up at daybreak. Without disturbing anyone, she went home alone and completed her immigration procedures with her documents.

Just as she finished, she received a call from Juniper. "Celine, could you come with me to the cemetery today? I want to pay my respects to your father and also visit my sister's grave."

Celine's mother passed away a long time ago, so she had little contact with her maternal grandmother's side of the family. Although she and Juniper were only five years apart, they were not particularly close. However, since Juniper was going to pay her respects to her parents, Celine could only agree.

She bought a bouquet. She saw a sports car parked not far away as soon as she arrived at the cemetery entrance.

It was Harry. He saw her and immediately got out of the car. He walked to her side. "Why didn't you let me accompany you to the cemetery?"