Liora's POV

The day after I was found and brought back to my wealthy biological family, they tried to force me to take my sister’s place and become the canary of some mentally unstable, possessive CEO.

All because the family was on the verge of bankruptcy, and selling me off was their way of repaying debts and saving themselves.

My chest tightened with bitterness, and I was just about to refuse when suddenly, a floating text appeared right in front of me like subtitles in a livestream.

[Poor little sister. Lost by her family when she was young, now being sacrificed to repay her sister’s debt! That obsessive psycho CEO is a total control freak. He’ll lock her up in a luxurious mansion full of bodyguards and maids, dictate what she eats, what she wears, secretly monitor her every move, and even force her to love him. Her future is pitch black. All she can do is lie flat and accept food being handed to her and clothes chosen for her. How pitiful!]

I froze on the spot.

Pitiful? Seriously, that was what you call pitiful?

I’d been wandering alone for eighteen years with no one loving me. I had to work to feed myself, and even when I was sick, I could only tough it out alone.

And now someone wanted to feed me, clothe me, watch over me, and obsessively care about me?

I gladly volunteer to be that canary!

“If my sister doesn’t want to go, I’ll go in her place.”

A lovesick lunatic? Sounded like the perfect match for someone like me, who was starved of affection.

——

“Mom, Dad, you really love me the most! You were smart enough to make my sister go instead of me to stay with that freak, Alistair Hawthorne! I heard he’s cruel and twisted. He murdered his own father and beat his brother so badly that he had to be sent abroad. I don’t want to be tortured by a man like that!”

“Thank goodness Liora looks exactly like me,” my sister Daphne Fairborne giggled sweetly, clinging to our parents. “As long as we dress her up like me, that psycho will never know the difference!”

My mom hugged her tightly, relieved. “Yes, thank God we found her. If we’d really sent you into that pit of fire, I would’ve been devastated.”

My dad sighed. “This is the only way left to save the company.”

My heart tightened.

So, this was why they brought me home, not to make up for losing me all those years, but to throw me into the flames in my sister’s place.

Why? We were both their daughters. Why was I the sacrifice while she was protected like a treasure?

I was about to confront them when more comments appeared before me.

[Poor little sister. Lost by her family when she was young, now being sacrificed to repay her sister’s debt! That obsessive psycho CEO is a total control freak. He’ll lock her up in a luxurious mansion full of bodyguards and maids, dictate what she eats, what she wears, secretly monitor her every move, and even force her to love him. Her future is pitch black. All she can do is lie flat and accept food being handed to her and clothes chosen for her. How pitiful!]

I froze on the spot.

Pitiful? Seriously, that was what you call pitiful?

I’d been wandering alone for eighteen years with no one loving me. I had to work to feed myself, and even when I was sick, I could only tough it out alone.

And now someone wanted to feed me, clothe me, watch over me, and obsessively care about me?

That was honestly the life I’d been dreaming of.

As I was still processing, my parents finally noticed me and my expression.

My mother immediately pulled my sister behind her and coldly said, “You heard everything, didn’t you? Starting today, you’ll take your sister’s place and serve Alistair. If you refuse, then don’t call us your parents anymore. You’ll no longer be part of this family—”

But before she could finish, I cut them off with a smile. “If my sister doesn’t want to go, I’ll go. But I have one condition.”

Rather than staying with this fake, biased family and being torn apart, I’d rather gamble on my own future.

A lovesick lunatic? Sounded like the perfect match for someone like me, who was starved of affection.

My family quickly agreed to my condition. They dressed me up and sent me straight to the Hawthorne estate.

That very night, I met the so-called obsessive, deranged Alistair.

To my surprise, he was gorgeous.

Tall, lean, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with sharp features and a cold, elegant face.

Liora's POV

Alistair's eyes were cold and distant when he looked at me, and even his voice carried a chill as he said, “Since your family sent you here, you belong to me now. You’ll follow my rules.”

Comments popped up again in front of me like a livestream chat.

[Oh my God! How can a psycho CEO be this handsome?!]

[His voice is unfairly attractive. I don’t care if he’s insane. I’m in love. Hahaha.]

He looked calm and composed on the outside, but I could tell that deep beneath that quiet exterior, he was studying me.

If he really was the kind of obsessive, insecure control freak, then the first thing I needed to do was earn his trust.

I lowered my head, eyes red, fingers tightly gripping the hem of my dress, and asked, “If I follow all your rules, you won’t throw me out, right?”

Alistair seemed surprised, like he hadn’t expected me to say that. For a moment, something curious flickered in his eyes. “You want to stay here that badly?”

I bit my lip and let a few hopeless tears fall. “Yes. If they could send me here so easily, it means they never loved me. I just want someone who sees me, needs me, and keeps me close. Someone who makes me their whole world.”

As soon as I said that, the air shifted instantly, and his eyes darkened.

He stood up, stepped toward me, and gently lifted my chin with his long fingers. “Good. Remember what you just said. From now on, you’re mine.”

The comment section instantly went wild.

[Help! Why does it feel like they’re diagnosing each other’s mental instability with their eyes?!]

[She just hit the crazy man’s weak spot. Seems like he loves a girl whose world revolves only around him!]

And just like that, I officially started my dream life, where I didn’t have to cook, clean, or lift a finger.

Alistair would also personally take my measurements and hire designers to make clothes in whatever styles he liked. He even had a nutritionist create meal plans for me based on my health reports. He also gave me a phone with a built-in tracker so he could monitor me at all times.

Yet, the comments were unimpressed.

[Bro’s raising her like a pampered pet. That level of control is insane.]

But I lowered my head, eyes watery.

Alistair immediately panicked. “What’s wrong? You don’t like what I’ve done?”

I shook my head and threw myself into his arms. “No. It’s just that no one has ever treated me this well before.”

For eighteen years, I’d gone hungry, worn thin clothes in the cold, and survived on my own. Now someone was willing to go to all this trouble for me, so how could I not feel touched?

He relaxed and gently wiped my tears, speaking in that possessive, twisted tenderness, “Then, never leave me. Ever.”

Choking back tears, I nodded and hugged him tighter.

When he noticed how much I loved staying at home, he directly transferred ownership of the entire villa and the whole estate to my name. He even had a swing installed and bought small animals to keep me entertained.

During the day, he went to work, and I stayed home, eating, relaxing, and making little gifts for him, like a horribly decorated cake or a messy bouquet of flowers.

Every day, I’d call him first and report everything I did, ending with a soft, “I miss you.” He loved it more and more.

At night, I would cling to him, asking for kisses and cuddles endlessly. Even in my sleep, I’d make him hold me like a frightened kitten who couldn’t rest unless she was in his arms.

When it thundered and rained, I’d cry and crawl into his embrace. “Alistair, could you please hold me tighter? I’m scared.”

The comments went crazy.

[She’s good. She knows exactly how to melt a psycho’s heart!]

Late at night, I could always feel his burning gaze on me. He’d gently stroke my cheek and whisper, almost to himself, “I think I can’t live without you anymore.”

Step by step, he fell completely.

Eventually, he announced publicly that I was his girlfriend.

Liora's POV

In less than a year, Alistair couldn’t wait any longer and wanted to get engaged.

The moment my parents heard the news, they completely lost it.

They never expected their useless, insignificant younger daughter to win the affection of someone like Alistair, the infamous, obsessive, and unpredictable CEO.

They rushed over from their house that same night and insisted we meet somewhere discreet in public.

I didn’t want to go, but over the phone, they threatened me. “If Alistair finds out you’re a fraud, what do you think he’ll do to you?”

That one sentence hit the deepest fear in my heart.

Over this past year, my feelings for him had already changed, from calculation and survival to something real. I’d seen his vulnerabilities, the soft side he hid from everyone else. In his eyes, I wasn’t just someone he kept; I was his only light.

The thought of him learning the truth, the thought of him breaking because of me, I couldn’t bear it.

So, I went.

In the private room, my mother folded her arms and immediately started yelling. “So, now that you’ve climbed higher, you think you can forget where you came from? If we hadn’t brought you back and given you a chance, you’d still be some nobody struggling to survive! Now that you’ve secured your position, you want to cut ties with us? Over our dead bodies!”

I swallowed my anger and replied coldly, “Don’t forget that you agreed to my terms when I left. Our relationship is over. My last name isn't Fairborne anymore.”

My mother sneered. “Oh, really? But you’re pretending to be your sister right now, aren’t you? And while you’re using her identity, you’re telling me you can’t do anything for your family? Or do you want that Hawthorne boy to find out his beloved fiancée is a fake and is just using him for benefits?”

I clenched my jaw. “You've already gotten plenty from me, haven’t you? Your company rose from bankruptcy because of Hawthorne Corporation’s support. Alistair even erased the debt you owed. What more do you want?”

Looking cunning, my father slid a contract across the table and said, “He spoils you so much. Getting his signature shouldn’t be hard, right? As long as you help us secure this seventy-million-dollar project, we promise you could be Mrs. Hawthorne forever. Your sister will stay abroad and never bother you again.”

I glanced at the contract and laughed. “Fairborne Corporation gets 90% of the profit, while Hawthorne Corporation takes all the risk. How generous of you. I’m not going to help you scam him. Don’t come to me again, or deal with the consequences. Before you think about exposing me, think about yourselves. If Alistair finds out you tricked him, too, do you think he’ll let you all survive a second time?”

After that, I stood up and left, slamming the door behind me and shutting out their angry voices.

That night, Alistair held me in his arms and asked softly, “I thought you cut ties with them. Why did you still go?”

“They heard about the engagement, so they just wanted to see me,” I simply answered.

He didn’t press further. Even though selling their daughter for profit was inhuman, he was still grateful for them doing that, as we ended up being together because of that.

But then, he offered, “Baby, if you don’t like them, I can make them disappear. Forever.”

I shook my head. “No need. At the end of the day, they’re still my parents.”

The comments sighed.

[She’s still too soft-hearted. Her family definitely won’t stop.]

Well, as long as I didn't give them the chance, they couldn't do anything.

The next three months were peaceful. I was completely absorbed in the excitement of preparing for the engagement, ignoring every call from my parents. Even so, they didn’t dare step into the Hawthorne estate, so things quieted down.

Until the day before the engagement.

Alistair was supposed to come with me to try on my dress, but something urgent came up at the company and he had to leave.

He was about to send someone to drive me home when we ran right into my parents.

“Mr. Hawthorne,” they said with a smile, “let us take our daughter to try on her dress. We wouldn’t want to delay tomorrow’s engagement, would we?”