Christian's voice turned sharp. "If this has nothing to do with us, then get out. We are not going the same way from here."

Jessica handed me an umbrella at just the right moment with a faint smile.

I said nothing. I opened the door and stepped out.

By the time I grabbed my luggage, the car was already gone. It sped off, splashing roadside water all over me. Meanwhile, the umbrella was broken. I struggled with it for a long time, but it would not open. Within minutes, I was soaked through.

The rain fell too hard to catch a cab. I finally found a spot with a little cover, then called my best friend, Rachel Tanner, and asked her to pick me up.

While I waited, I checked my phone and saw a voice message from my husband, Virgil Carrington. He had sent it an hour earlier.

I tapped it open, and my daughter's voice came through at once.

"Mommy, Daddy said my visa should be ready soon. Just 10 more days, and I can come back to Imperius with Daddy to find Mommy!"

Her soft voice brought a smile to my face before I realized it.

It was already late at night in Goldridge. Virgil and Anna were probably asleep, so I did not start a video call. I sent back a gentle voice reply instead.

After I closed my chat with Virgil, I saw a new post from Jessica.

[My sister's back in the country. It should be a happy thing, but for some reason, I feel a little sad.]

The attached photo showed my side profile as I slept in the car.

The comments had already exploded.

[Oh my God, Juliana is back? She actually got this skinny? Why did she come back now? Is she trying to steal the groom?]

[She can try all she wants. Chris has moved on. It doesn't matter how much she changed. She came back too late.]

[Sending hugs, Jessie. You treated Juliana like a sister, and she comes back just to steal your man. Shameless.]

At the very bottom was Christian's reply.

[Don't be upset. Only you will ever be my Mrs. Fairmont.]

Jessica replied with a heart.

My temple throbbed. I locked my phone and put it away. It was better not to look.

Before long, Rachel arrived and picked me up.

She had obviously seen Jessica's post, because she spent the entire drive complaining on my behalf. "I seriously don't know if Jessica ever gets tired of putting on that act. She's happy because of your return?? Did she forget that she and her mother drove you out of the Winslow family and stole your engagement?"

She rolled her eyes so hard I almost laughed. "Good thing the Carringtons weren't blind. The second they found out your father had swapped the engagement to Jessica, they annulled it outright. But Christian really is blind. I thought after living in a church for five years, he must have been deeply devoted to you. Who knew he would end up engaged to Jessica of all people."

I smiled faintly. "Christian was never devoted to me. The one he always wanted to marry was Jessica."

Rachel's eyes flew open. "How is that possible? He treated you so well back then."

Did he? The answer stirred inside me and brought back the old pain, sharp enough to scorch my heart.

I was 13 when my mother found out my father was cheating.

She could not accept it. She walked into the sea and killed herself. Not even a body was recovered.

From that day on, my life felt like a nightmare I couldn't escape.

After my mother's funeral, my father brought Jessica and her mother home.

They took my room, sold my mother's belongings whenever they pleased, and framed me more than once. In the end, they pushed my father into throwing me out of the house.

I had no choice but to move into Nazerm, the old district, into damp rooms that smelled of mildew. Not long after, a doctor diagnosed me with severe psychological issues. The medication caused my weight to climb until I reached 200 pounds.

My father found me embarrassing, so he stopped caring about what happened to me.

Then Christian appeared and pulled me out of that nightmare. He was the heir to the Fairmont family, the untouchable prize no one could reach.

Yet he moved into the old district just to live next door to me. When people mocked my size, he stood in front of me and shut them down. He accompanied me to see my psychiatrist.

When he learned that part of my illness came from growing up without love, he opened his arms without hesitation. "Juliana, be with me. I will love you."

That was the only warmth I touched in the seven years after my mother died. I fell for Christian so completely that I never tried to resist.

When my father demanded that I give up my engagement to the Carrington heir and hand it to Jessica, I agreed without hesitation.

It did not matter. As long as I had Christian, I thought I had enough.

That day, I returned to the old district feeling lighter than I had in years, only to find Christian dead drunk.

He caught my hand, pulled a ring from his pocket, and slurred, "Juliana, marry me."

Sweetness flooded my chest. I didn't even answer before he passed out.

I tried to help him back to his room, but then his phone lit up.

A message from his friend, Jason Moore, appeared on the screen.

Jason: [Chris, are you seriously proposing to Pigliana? Even if you can't marry Jessica, you don't need to ruin the rest of your life on her.]

I froze. A second later, I realized Pigliana meant me. My whole body went rigid. My hands shook as I picked up his phone and scrolled through his earlier messages with Jason.

Christian: [Jessie thinks being an illegitimate daughter makes her too tainted for me. She thinks she is beneath me. So I will find a woman even more beneath her and prove I don't care about any of that.]

Christian: [I found one. Her name is Juliana. She is fat and poor. She is low enough. Jessie is a million times better than her.]

Christian: [I might have overdone the act. That fatty is so in love with me now I'm honestly worried she will cling to me when I dump her.]

Christian: [Turns out Juliana is Jessie's sister. She has been bullying Jessie for years, and she even shoved the engagement she didn't want onto Jessie.]

Christian: [I want to tear Juliana apart, but Jessie doesn't want me to hurt her. She says that Juliana is still her sister, so she asked me to treat her well.]

Christian: [Treat her well? Fine. I might as well marry her. That way, even if I can't marry Jessie, Jessie and I will still end up as family.]

I felt as if I had been dropped into an ice pit.

That was the truth. Christian had never loved me, not once. Every bit of tenderness, every moment he protected me, every soft word he had given me had been false.

I was a tool he used to prove a point. A backup choice he reached for in his own despair.

The image of my mother walking into the sea after learning she had been betrayed flashed before my eyes. I clutched my aching chest as tears streamed down my face.

That same night, I booked a flight out of the country and changed my name.

From that moment on, Christian and I had nothing to do with each other.

"Julie." Rachel's voice pulled me back to the present. "We're here."

I turned my head and saw the familiar estate. A dozen emotions hit me at once.

Ever since they threw me out at 13, I had not returned in 12 years.

When I walked in, my father sat on the living room sofa. The moment he saw me, his expression changed. "You've lost weight."

I nodded. I had no interest in small talk. "You were so mysterious on the phone. Can you tell me about my mother's things now?"

"No rush. Go sleep off the jet lag first," he said.

I was exhausted enough that I did not argue. I followed the housekeeper to a guest room.

When I woke, it was already noon the next day.

I headed downstairs for something to eat, but the moment I reached the landing, I heard laughter spilling from the living room.

"Things moved fast, but every proper step will still be followed. Jessie will not be slighted."

It was Christian's mother.

Smiling, she slid a bracelet onto Jessica's wrist, the kind the Fairmont family gave its daughters-in-law.

Jessica looked down at it, delighted and shy at once. She lifted her hand to show Christian, but he only gave it a bland glance.

I looked across the room. The Winslows and Fairmonts sat together on the sofas.

I was about to circle around and head for the kitchen when Jessica called out to me, "Julie, you're awake. We're talking about the wedding. Do you want to listen too? Actually, I still need a bridesmaid. Why don't you help me out?"

I stopped.

I turned and looked at her. The hand with the bracelet remained raised, as if she were afraid I might miss it.

Christian sat beside her. His face looked as cold as ever, yet I still had the strange feeling he was waiting for my answer.

I looked away and spoke evenly. "I'm married. I have a child. I can't be your bridesmaid."

Christian's eyes snapped up to me.

The room froze for a few seconds.

Then Jessica laughed. "Julie, even if you don't want to be my bridesmaid, you don't have to lie like that. If you were really married with a child, why didn't your husband and child come back with you?"

My father, Robert Winslow, finally came out of his daze. "You can lie about marriage and children so casually now? These years abroad have taught you fewer and fewer manners."

"I'm not lying. They will be back in a few days." I took out my phone, planning to pull up photos of Virgil and Anna.

Before I could, Christian let out a soft, mocking laugh. "Juliana, play your part long enough and you might actually fool yourself."

Then he stood and strode out.

Jessica gave me a strange look and hurried after him.

Everyone in the room followed them with their eyes. No one paid attention to me again.

It was fine by me. I put my phone away without opening the album and went to the kitchen to get something to eat.

There was a 16-hour time difference between Sothoris and Goldridge. I drifted through the afternoon with nothing to do. Around 2:00 a.m., I finally finished a video call with Virgil. After that, I fell into a deep sleep.

I woke to a burst of noise.

When I got up to check, I found Christian and Jessica in the garden, taking photos.

The photographer directed them. Christian wrapped his arms around Jessica from behind and rested his chin on her head. Smiling, she turned and kissed his cheek.

The housekeeper noticed where I was looking and stepped over to explain. "Mr. Fairmont suggested taking the photos here at the house. He said Miss Jessica grew up here, so it would be more meaningful."

I nodded without much reaction.

They were making too much noise for me to get back to sleep, so I found a place to sit and opened a book instead.

I asked my father about my mother's belongings several more times after that. He still would not tell me anything directly. He only sighed and asked, "Julie, if I tell you now, will you move out of the house right away?"

I would. After all, this had stopped being my home a long time ago.

My father knew me well enough. That was why he refused to tell me anything. As long as he kept quiet, I had no choice but to stay in the Winslow residence.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Christian and Jessica change locations again and again.

Maybe I imagined it, but in a villa this large, they always seemed to be shooting right in front of me.

I did not care. I kept reading.

Not far away, the photographer called out, "Mr. Fairmont, watch your expressions. Don't look so grim. Smile a little..."

A moment later, another direction followed. "Mr. Fairmont, keep your eyes on Miss Jessica's face. Don't look elsewhere."

I glanced up without thinking, and my eyes met Christian's.

He looked away at once, his face turning cool again. His fingers pressed lightly against the back of Jessica's hand. "Jessie, let's take ten."

Jessica pressed her lips together. She did not speak, but when she looked at me again, her eyes flashed with pure venom.

I had no idea what her problem was.

After a moment, I decided to head back to my room.

As I passed their shooting area, Jessica chose her moment and kicked one of the octagonal fill lights.

The metal stand scraped across the ground with a sharp screech, then tipped straight toward us both.

Christian moved quickly and yanked Jessica out of the way. The heavy metal stand slammed into my head instead. Heat spread across my forehead at once, and the smell of blood filled my nose.

I hit the ground and shoved the light stand off me with both hands. Pain flared through my body.

I had not even caught my breath when Jessica's voice echoed, already thick with tears. "Julie, why did you push the light stand? If Chris hadn't reacted in time, it would have hit me in the face. If I got disfigured, we would have to postpone the engagement party."

Christian's expression hardened with cold understanding. He turned to me, his face chilly. "Juliana. No wonder you looked so calm watching Jessie and me take photos for our engagement party. You had already planned how to ruin them."

He stared down at me, his voice hard. "You think if you stop our shoot, you'll get another chance with me? Keep dreaming."

He did not wait for a response. He turned and walked away with Jessica in his arms.

Through my blurred vision, I saw Jessica curve her red lips into a small, vicious smile.

The housekeeper arranged a car and sent me to the hospital.

After the doctor cleaned and bandaged the wound, I did not go home. I took the injury report straight to the police station and filed a report.

I did not expect it to be dismissed so quickly.

I was still on my way back when I received a call.

"Ms. Winslow, your case was just withdrawn. This is considered a family matter, so it isn't something we can interfere with much. You should discuss it with your family and handle it privately."

The officer kept it vague, but I understood at once. Someone had buried my report.

There were not many people in Sothoris with that kind of power, and even fewer who would use it to protect Jessica.

The answer was obvious. It was Christian.

My hand clenched around the phone until the edge bit into my palm.

The moment I pushed open the door to the Winslow house, Christian's icy voice cut across the room. "Jessie and I already let the light stand incident go. How do you still have the nerve to pretend you're the victim and call the police?"

Jessica shrank into his arms, her face full of grievance. "Exactly, Julie. You deliberately ruined our shoot, and I didn't even make a fuss because you're my sister. But I never thought you would file a police report."

I looked at them, and a surge of anger slammed through my chest so hard my voice shook. "I'm pretending to be the victim? I deliberately ruined your shoot? Do you dare pull up the security footage and say that again?"

Christian looked completely fed up. "I don't need security footage. I just need you to remember this. Don't try any tricks to sabotage my engagement to Jessie. Juliana, the moment you walked away from me five years ago, you lost any right to regret it."

The whole thing was so absurd I almost laughed. I looked straight at him and spoke one word at a time. "I have never regretted leaving you."

I held his gaze. "And let me say this again. I didn't come back for you. I already have a husband and a child."

His face darkened at once.

I did not stay to watch. I turned and went back to my room.

I was afraid Virgil and Anna would see the cut on my forehead and worry, so I stopped our nightly video calls and switched to voice messages.

Virgil noticed something was off. He asked twice, but I gave vague answers both times and let it drop.

Once the wound had begun to heal, my father finally told me what he knew. "At tomorrow's auction, there will be a pendant your mother used to love."

I froze. My heart pounded against my ribs.

After my mother died at sea, most of her belongings had been thrown out by Jessica's mother or sold off piece by piece. In 12 years, this was the first real lead I had found on anything that had belonged to her.

I looked up at my father, but there was little gratitude in my eyes. "I understand."

…

The auction was held at one of the largest hotels downtown.

I arrived half an hour early on purpose. I had just found my seat when Christian and Jessica walked in. They wore matching colors. Their bodies leaned toward each other without thought. They looked every bit like a perfect couple.

When Jessica saw me, her eyes lit up at once. She caught Christian by the arm and hurried over, her voice bright with surprise. "Julie, you actually came to the auction? Did Dad tell you we'd be here, so you followed us? You never used to come to events like this."