The year we loved each other most, Alexander Hughes took a bullet for me, had his legs shattered, and nearly lost his life.

I hid the truth from him, trading my own life for his, only to be branded by others as a filthy woman who had been passed around by countless men.

But in the year we hated each other most, Alexander forced me to have an abortion, cut off every path of survival for my family—just to make his childhood sweetheart smile.

I refused to give in. I fought back tooth for tooth, leaving Alexander besieged from all sides.

We should have been lovers for a lifetime, yet we became enemies locked in endless schemes.

Three years later, at a Hughes family banquet, Alexander walked in with Isabella Reed, heavily pregnant, yet his gaze lingered only on me.

“The Hughes family banquet isn’t something just any stray cat or dog can walk into.”

Stray cat or dog? Was he talking about me?

By seniority, he should be calling me aunt.

The moment Alexander spoke, the room fell silent.

When I said nothing, he released Isabella’s hand.

“What right do you have to be here?”

“With your status now, do you deserve to stand in the Hughes family’s hall?”

What didn’t I deserve?

I was no longer the woman everyone spat on and scorned three years ago.

I swept my gaze over the crowd.

“No one here dares say I don’t belong.”

It was the truth.

But Alexander took it as provocation.

He strode toward me, seized my wrist, and dragged me toward the door.

“I said you don’t belong—so you don’t.”

His steps quickened, his grip bruising my wrist.

As we passed, Isabella suddenly let out a cry and collapsed to the side.

“Claire, how could you push me?”

Alexander panicked at once.

“You venomous woman, I knew you came here today with ill intent.”

With a violent shove, he threw me aside as if I were trash.

All eyes turned toward us.

He rushed to cradle Isabella, who sobbed in his arms.

“Alexander, I can’t believe it’s been three years and Claire still won’t let me go.”

The onlookers wore mixed expressions.

Alexander, busy comforting Isabella, didn’t notice I had walked back to stand before them.

I looked down on them from above.

Thinking I meant to strike again, Alexander shielded Isabella.

“What are you trying to do now?”

But I merely glanced at them, expressionless, then walked past and returned to my seat.

Everyone was stunned.

They had expected me to erupt like I had three years ago.

After all, I had once loved Alexander madly.

Back then, everyone knew I was his most cherished treasure, his goddess.

He had even taken a bullet for me, endured kidnapping and humiliation, nearly dying in the process.

And I, too, had given him everything.

But all of that changed the moment Isabella returned from abroad.

Her presence turned our love into a cruel joke—made me into the cruelest joke of all.

So when Alexander appeared with Isabella, pregnant and glowing, the others were already waiting for a spectacle.

What had just happened only stoked their eagerness for drama.

Yet while I sat there calm and composed, Alexander grew restless.

Why had I changed?

Isabella, seeing his eyes still fixed on me, suddenly spoke.

“Alexander, my stomach hurts. Claire must have come here to harm our child.”

At her words, his agitation flared alive once more.

Yes—that must be it.

I was only playing hard to get, putting on this act.

If he thought I had gone after Isabella, then it meant he still cared.

But since I had indeed hurt Isabella and her unborn child, he had to stand up for them.

So Alexander Hughes helped Isabella to her feet and turned to me.

“Claire Bennett, apologize.”

Before I could speak, a message lit up my phone.

“Enjoy the banquet if you wish. If not, Thomas Reed is already waiting outside.”

I recalled what Ethan Walker had said earlier—he might not be able to accompany me to the Hughes family banquet. He told me if I didn’t want to go, I didn’t have to.

What had I answered then?

I had been indifferent.

Since I had chosen to marry Ethan and live my life with him, I would never let the past trouble me.

But today, Alexander and Isabella had gone out of their way to provoke me.

The rest of the Hughes family watched eagerly, their desire for drama plain as day.

I had no intention of being their monkey, performing for their amusement.

Picking up my bag, I stood to leave.

Alexander blocked my path.

“I told you to apologize. Did you not hear me?”

His eyes burned with anger.

I yanked my hand free with no hesitation.

“Apologize? Does she deserve that from me?”

My words made Alexander laugh coldly.

“You think you’re in any position to talk about qualifications? What leverage do you have to challenge me?”

“Didn’t you come here today just to win me back?”

“Claire, if you want to play games, don’t overdo it.”

He was still the same arrogant man he had been years ago.

But I was no longer the woman I had been back then.

Even the Hughes family members around us grew restless.

His sister, Emily Hughes, stepped forward first.

“Claire, my brother’s already been generous by not throwing you out. That’s more face than you deserve. What are you pretending for?”

Emily had followed Isabella since childhood, hanging on her every word.

Three years ago, she had made trouble for me more times than I could count.

Now, Emily supported Isabella and sneered.

“Isabella carries the Hughes family’s eldest legitimate heir. He’s precious. And you, with your worthless bones, dare provoke her?”

Hearing this, Isabella’s face brightened with delight.

Back then, Alexander’s branch of the Hughes family had been insignificant.

If not for Alexander’s father working under Ethan, Alexander wouldn’t have even been qualified to attend the banquet.

But now, Emily thought their family could strut proudly through the Hughes estate.

And Isabella believed that once her child was born into the main Hughes line, she would rise to glory.

The other Hughes family members exchanged glances but stayed silent, turning their eyes toward me.

I gave a cold laugh.

“The eldest heir? From her?”

Alexander hadn’t expected my defiance.

“Watch your mouth. Isabella is pregnant, she carries a child. Don’t upset her.”

So he did remember that pregnant women shouldn’t be angered. He could still handle them with such care.

Yet when I had been pregnant, he had forced me to dance for three days and nights—just to make Isabella laugh.

When I bled out and miscarried, he had ordered the doctor to deny me anesthesia because I hadn’t been able to keep dancing to please Isabella.

He had said that since I had upset her, I would pay her back in agony a hundredfold.

Emily sneered at me.

“Brother, why waste your breath on a barren hen like her? She’ll never bear children again.”

That wound—my lifelong scar—was now being mocked as a joke.

For the first time, a trace of sorrow flickered across Alexander’s face.

I had no intention of tangling with them any further and walked straight toward the exit.

Seeing me leave, Alexander Hughes made to chase after me at once.

But Isabella Reed let out a pained cry, halting him mid-stride. He turned back in alarm to check on her.

Outside, Thomas Reed approached the moment I stepped out.

He opened his mouth to say, “Ma’am—” but Alexander’s sharp voice cut him off.

“Drive to the nearest hospital. Now!”

He yanked open the car door and carried the unconscious Isabella into the back seat.

When Thomas didn’t move fast enough, Alexander lost his temper.

“Are you deaf? I said drive her to the hospital!”

But Thomas remained at my side.

Fury darkened Alexander’s face.

“Claire Bennett, you actually dared to buy off people from the Hughes family? Do you even realize where you are? This is Hughes territory—you don’t get to run wild here.”

Of course I knew where I was.

And I remembered clearly what Ethan Walker had once told me: When you can’t endure anymore—don’t.

Seeing me stand calm and unmoved, Alexander’s expression soured further.

“I’ll let this slide for now. But if Isabella or her child suffers even the slightest harm, I’ll make you pay dearly.”

Look at him—clutching that woman protectively. The sight was sickening.

My voice was cold.

“Get out of the car.”

Alexander blinked, as though he hadn’t heard me correctly.

“What did you say?”

I had no patience for his games. With a glance at the bodyguard behind me, the man understood at once. He stepped forward and dragged both Alexander and Isabella from the back seat.

Isabella hit the ground and woke with a cry of pain.

Alexander was still reeling.

“Claire, how dare you! To defy me here, on Hughes ground?”

I gave a cold snort.

“Defy you? Alexander, don’t forget who you are.”

Of course he hadn’t forgotten.

Whenever he represented the Hughes branch family at these banquets, his father always warned him to tread carefully.

But he hadn’t expected me to show up—or to strike at Isabella right in front of everyone.

That was why he’d lost control.

Now, desperate to salvage his standing, he moved as if to rush at me, but the bodyguard blocked his path.

I cast Alexander a dismissive glance and slid into the car without hesitation.

Only then did he notice the license plate.

His face shifted.

“Get out! That’s not a car you’re qualified to sit in.”

What a joke. Since when did I need his permission for where I sat?

As I pulled the door shut, Alexander lunged, jamming his arm into the frame despite the pain.

“Claire, get out now. This is my uncle Ethan’s car.”

He was so focused on me he didn’t even hear Isabella’s moans behind him.

I stared at him, unimpressed.

“So what?”

Seeing my indifference, Alexander grew anxious.

“You don’t understand—my uncle’s methods are ruthless. No one in New York high society dares cross him. Don’t bring disaster on yourself.”

I didn’t know who he thought he was pretending for, but his false concern only made me sick.

“Let go. Stop being an eyesore.”

When he realized I had no intention of yielding, his patience snapped. He reached to drag me out of the car.

“Claire, I told you—this is the Hughes estate. Here, you obey me.”

I slipped out of his grasp with a glare.

“Don’t touch me.”

Perhaps it was the hardness of my tone—or the undisguised disgust in my eyes—that finally made him falter.