The day I returned from an overseas business trip, my brother’s lover opened the door for me.

I was long used to his string of mistresses, so I said nothing and headed upstairs.

But she grabbed my arm and barked, “A new maid? Perfect. Wash my feet.”

I curled my lips, too tired to waste words, and turned away.

“Stop!”

Her shriek pierced the air, followed by a stinging slap across my cheek.

“How dare a servant glare at me? I own this house now! Obey, or you’ll be out by tonight.”

My cheek burned, but my voice was ice as I pulled out my phone.

“You have ten minutes to get that woman out of my house,” I told my brother. “Otherwise, kiss your last shares goodbye.”

——

My family always favored sons over daughters.

Sons were indulged; daughters were expected to carry the business.

So while I studied finance, my brother kept mistresses.

While I built trade overseas, he kept mistresses.

My parents weren’t worried about his ruin—only that his debauchery might rub off on me. So they sent me abroad at eighteen, calling it “further study.” In truth, they wanted to look away.

Now, the family’s survival rests in my hands, and my brother long ago learned to obey me. How dare his lover try to trample me?

Just as my brother was about to pick up, the woman snatched my phone, hurled it to the ground, and crushed it beneath her heel.

“There’ve been ten girls like you today, all pretending to be Thaddeus' sister.” Her smirk dripped arrogance. “Don’t you know? His real sister, Cassandra, went abroad years ago. She might even be dead. This villa is mine now. Unless you want to vanish from Chicago, be smart and wash my feet.”

I crouched, gathering the shards of my phone, her words ringing absurdly in my ears.

Did Thaddeus really not tell her that the Langley family survives only because of me?

“You ignorant fool,” I sneered. “What decisions has Thaddeus ever made for this family?”

She tossed her curls and crossed her legs. “Listen well. First, I’m the eldest daughter of the Morrow family. I’ve never wanted for anything. Second, I’m here for Damian Cross. The Langley family is under his management now. Even Thaddeus has to beg for his approval. And you—just a maid—dare mention him to me?”

Damian?

My chest tightened. Wasn’t he the childhood fiancé my parents chose for me? I’d asked him to handle a few of my parents’ businesses while I was abroad. How had he become the general manager?

Seeing my silence, she mistook it for fear and kicked my suitcase.

“What are you standing there for? Go boil water! Fail to serve me, and you’ll disappear from the capital tomorrow.”

I ignored her tirade. My eyes locked on the necklace at her throat.

I recognized it instantly—it was the gift I’d instructed my assistant to give Thaddeus last year. He’d claimed it was for someone important.

So this was “important”?

Hiding behind Damian’s name while seducing my brother right under my nose.

“No need to boil the water.”

My voice was colder than I realized as I pulled out the Langley family’s intercom.

“Housekeeper. Bodyguards. Restrain this woman.”

Vivienne Morrow dared to toy with my brother? Dissolute as he was, no one had the right to humiliate him.

But when I pressed the intercom, only silence answered. No buzz, no light. I pressed it again. And again. Still nothing—the security feed in the entrance hall was completely dead.

Vivienne snatched the device from my hand with a laugh. “How did you even get this?” Her eyes narrowed. “This model was discarded ages ago. Don’t tell me… you’re just some thief who sneaked in here?”

I kept my silence. I had designed this villa’s security system myself—flawless enough to detect even a fly slipping through a window. Yet now, the entire system was dead. Why?

Clapping her hands as if a revelation struck, she sneered. “I know! You’re that ex who’s been stalking Damian. Pathetic. Even after he dumped you, you still came crawling back?”

Before I could move, her heel slammed into my knee. Pain shot up my leg as I fell hard to the floor.

“Do you really think Mr. Cross still cares for you?” Her voice dripped venom. “He won’t even look at you now. Take a good look in the mirror—are you worthy of him?”

The sting in my knee sharpened my clarity. During the three years I’d been abroad, Damian hadn’t just betrayed me—he’d stolen the Langley family’s core technology and betrayed my trust.

Vivienne pulled out a newer intercom and barked a command. Within moments, bodyguards and servants rushed in. Strangers. None of the familiar faces I’d left behind.

They ignored me completely, fussing over her instead.

“Miss Morrow, calm down. You’re pregnant. Don’t upset yourself—there could be a risk of miscarriage.”

“Pregnant?” My gaze snapped to her flat belly, my voice like ice. “Is it Thaddeus'?”

“Bah!” She spat on the floor. “That loser? Don’t insult me. This child belongs to Mr. Cross.”

She smoothed her stomach with both hands, pride radiating from her. “When the baby is born, I’ll be Mrs. Cross. The Langley family—and the entire capital—will be mine.”

Damian’s?

For one foolish second, I’d hoped he was only playing games. Now, all illusions shattered. The boy who once clung to me, promising marriage when I returned… the man I trusted to protect my family… had betrayed me completely.

“What are you staring at?” Vivienne faltered under my gaze, then snapped her chin toward the guards. “Slap her! The thought of her near Mr. Cross disgusts me.”

I rose unsteadily, my voice cutting like steel. “I dare you. Look closely—I’m Cassandra, eldest daughter of the Langley family. Do I not resemble Thaddeus? I am his blood sister.”

The weight of my words froze the guards. They hesitated, exchanging uncertain glances.

Vivienne’s fury exploded. “She’s bluffing! Don’t let this pretender scare you. Hold her down! If you won’t strike her, I will!”

The guard’s grip locked around my arms. I struggled, but the difference in strength was overwhelming. A hand drew back, ready to slap me—

—and at that exact moment, the villa’s front door swung open.

A familiar voice cut through the chaos.

“What are you doing?”

Damian’s tall figure filled the doorway.

I shoved myself up from the floor, fury igniting every word.

“Damian—you’d better give me an explanation!”

The color drained from his face. Those eyes, once gentle, now flickered with panic.

“Damien!”

Vivienne rushed into his arms, clinging to him, her voice honey-sweet.

“Finally! You’re here! She’s your stalker ex, isn’t she? So shameless—she tried to impersonate the Langley family’s eldest daughter. I already taught her a lesson for you.”

I stared at the two of them tangled together—and laughed, low and bitter.

“Ex? Damian, do you dare tell her what we really are?”

I jabbed a finger at him, each word slamming into the air like a hammer. “Have you forgotten what child-raising husband means? Or have three years of leeching off the Langley family made you forget your place?”

Damian’s face flushed, rage and humiliation twisting his features.

Vivienne blinked at me, stunned. Then she whipped around to him, voice trembling.

“Child-raising husband? What is she talking about? Tell me it’s nonsense!”

I sneered. “Vivienne, look at the truth yourself.”

I pointed to the framed photo of Thaddeus and me hanging in the living room’s center.

“You’ve paraded around as my brother’s lover, yet you’re pregnant with Damian’s child. Has he once given you a name? If he truly had power, would he let you rot under the title of ‘mistress’?”

Vivienne’s face drained of color. Her grip on Damian’s arm tightened.

“Damien… is she right? Have you been lying to me?”

“Shut up!”

The last mask of gentleness shattered from his face, revealing nothing but cruelty.

“You bitch—how dare you try to turn Vivienne against me?”

He stabbed a finger toward me, voice like a knife.

“Well? Didn’t you want to hit her just now? Keep going! A madwoman like her only shuts up once she’s beaten to death!”

The bodyguards hesitated, exchanging wary looks, then closed in.

I stared at Damian’s twisted expression, the final warmth in my chest turning to ice.

“So this is the man I entrusted my family’s fortune to… the one I waited three years for.”

I straightened, back against the wall, my tone deadly calm.

“Damian, if you dare touch me, even if I can’t strike back now, my brother will make sure you vanish from this world.”

At my words, his sneer only deepened, as though I had told the funniest joke.

He suddenly fisted his hand in my hair and yanked me forward. Pain tore through my scalp, forcing me to lift my head.

“Thaddeus?” His voice dripped with contempt. “You’re counting on that idiot? He’s probably sprawled drunk in some club right now—waiting for me to wire him more money.”

He released me with a shove. I stumbled back, barely keeping my balance—

then the bodyguard’s palm cracked across my face.

And again.

And again.

Fire seared across my cheeks. The metallic taste of blood spread in my mouth.

Through the ringing in my ears, I heard Damian’s voice, low and venomous, meant for me alone:

“Cassandra, after you left, your uncle and aunt went abroad for their endless tours. Your brother is useless. No one will save you. Not today.”

His lips curled into a smile colder than death.

“Tell me—how do you think the world will view the Langley family’s eldest daughter… if she dies suddenly abroad?”

I glared at him, teeth grinding.

“Damian—how dare you!”

He smirked, arrogance oozing.

“Why wouldn’t I? While you were away, I mastered every corner of the Langley family’s business. If the Cross family hadn’t fallen on hard times, do you think I would’ve lowered myself to be your so-called ward husband?”

My eyes closed for a brief second. Back then, to preserve his pride, my family never announced his humiliating title. Only the Langley family knew the truth—yet we never treated him poorly.

Now, he used that silence as a weapon against me.

The commotion drew bystanders. Damian’s voice dripped with false innocence as he spun a lie—that I was nothing more than a crazed woman impersonating the Langley family’s eldest daughter, his “fiancée.”

Whispers swelled like wildfire.

“She’s pretending to be someone’s fiancée? Shameless.”

“And she looks so respectable, too!”

“Poor Mr. Cross, meeting such a lunatic…”

Damian folded his arms, standing tall as if he were the wronged party. At his side, Vivienne smirked into her hand, eyes gleaming with triumph.

Each word from the crowd sliced into me, but instead of weakening me, the pain carved my resolve sharper.

The Langley family’s secret burned at the edge of my tongue.

Two factions. Two heirs. Light and Dark.

I am the Light.

And the brother the world believes to be useless—he is the Dark.

“Thaddeus.”

My voice wasn’t loud, but it cut through the jeers like a blade.

“If you keep hiding, I’ll send you abroad to starve—and don’t even dream of coming home.”