I had been running for a long time and was just about to call my grandmother when I realized I had left my bag at the bridal shop.

I deliberately waited at the bus stop for an hour before taking a cab back to the store, only to find Chester and Giselle still there.

He was picking out a wedding dress for her. He didn't lounge on the couch reading a newspaper like usual. Instead, he went through each dress carefully.

I had never seen Chester so focused and gentle, not even the first time we met when he had tended to my injury.

I let out a self-mocking laugh, wondering if that was what it truly felt like to love someone.

They spent another hour in the shop, and I watched from a nearby gazebo the entire time. Finally, they left together, carrying their selections. On the rain-soaked street, they kissed in the car.

I lowered my head and walked into the shop to grab my bag, just in time to hear the staff whispering.

"Oh, my God, I always thought Mr. Miller was all tough and intimidating, but he's shockingly gentle."

"Yeah, but he seemed a bit cold to his fiancee just now. At times, I almost thought Ms. Thorne was the one he really cared about."

"That makes sense. Ms. Thorne does come from a prominent family. I heard the fiancee today is just the daughter of one of the Thorne family's household staff."

"Are you serious? She's barely of any standing and still throws a fit, and Mr. Miller doesn't even bat an eye? He's way too patient."

I stood in the doorway, glaring at them. "Are you done yet?"

Their chatter died instantly. I snorted, grabbed my bag from the couch, and walked out. As I stepped outside, someone muttered under their breath, "She's so arrogant. No wonder her husband doesn't even care about her."

I swallowed the anger roaring in my chest and walked away. At that moment, I had never felt so utterly drained.

Why did my parents have to die so young, leaving me to be mistreated by everyone?

My clothes were soaked, and the cold wind cut through me painfully. I walked all the way home that night and only arrived home very late.

Along the way, Felix called me several times. Even though the caller ID still said Chester, I knew it had to be Felix.

Chester would never call that many times. He was always far colder than Felix. Just seeing the two of them now made my skin crawl.

Suddenly, a blinding white light cut through the darkness, and a familiar figure ran toward me. It was Felix. Only he would run toward me like that.

Seeing me soaked, he immediately took off his coat and draped it over my shoulders.

"Why are you soaking wet again? You just got out of the hospital. Do you even know how to take care of yourself?"

He looked a little angry, but I couldn't understand what right he had to be mad.

Since I didn't respond, he added gently, "What happened at the bridal shop today was my mistake, but the Thornes are a powerful family. I made the decision after weighing everything carefully."

They must have shared information ahead of time. His words sounded carefully prepared.

I let out a self-mocking laugh. To pull off this act, they really had put in a lot of effort. I had thought Felix might be sincere, but it turned out he was just better at pretending than Chester.

I got into the car with a cold expression. Felix froze for a moment, then followed quickly. I had to admit, his patience was far better than Chester's. He called me "darling" the whole way and nuzzled my neck affectionately.

I stared quietly out the window, completely unmoved.

Chester and Felix were worlds apart, yet I had never questioned it before. Maybe I had underestimated just how cruel people could be. Normal people couldn't behave like this.

I was lost in thought when the car suddenly screeched to a halt, and a loud commotion erupted outside.

"Mira! Watch out!" Felix shouted, pressing my head down.

The sounds of a chaotic fight reached my ears. I shivered, hugging my stomach tightly.

"Damn it! Could this be the rival family because of that business deal?" Felix muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, someone lurked from the side, yanked open the car door, and pulled me out.

Panic surged in Felix's eyes as he lunged toward me, only to be stopped in his tracks by a knife pressed sharply against my neck.

He froze, dropping the gun he always carried and raising both hands.

"Let her go! Do whatever you want to me…"

His eyes were bloodshot.

I froze, wondering if all of this was also part of the act.

"Felix…" I whispered his name softly.

The man guarding me grinned and gave a signal for the others to go after Felix.

In an instant, I bit down hard on the man's hand, and he let go with a sharp yelp of pain.

Felix's reflexes were lightning-fast as he grabbed his gun, but he was a moment too late. A knife plunged deep into my shoulder.

…

At the hospital, Felix stayed by my side all night. His right arm was bandaged, clearly injured as well, and he sat with his head down, lost in thought.

Footsteps echoed in the distance as Chester walked toward us.

"You're a real mess," he said with a soft chuckle.

Felix clenched his fists. "Why didn't you warn me in advance?"

"This was a show you staged yourself," Chester said. "If you had seen the script beforehand, how could you have played your part so perfectly? Look at the result. After this, she won't just forgive you—she will love you even more.

"At first, I was worried Miranda might actually want to break up. After today, I see I underestimated her. Her loyalty is relentless, and she would risk everything for me without hesitation.

"Felix, you got hurt protecting her. Are you really starting to care about her?"

"No way!" Felix said immediately, looking slightly annoyed. "How could I like a housekeeper's daughter? I saved her for you and Giselle! If she died, how would you even pull off your revenge plan?"

Chester raised his eyebrows in surprise but quickly smiled again. "Good. If you had fallen for her, it would have been a betrayal of Giselle, me, and the Millers."

Felix hummed in acknowledgment and said no more.

Just as Chester turned to leave, Felix called out to him, saying, "Chester, there's something I need to tell you…"

He frowned. "During that accident just now, Miranda seemed to call my name."

Chester froze in place and turned to look at him. "What did you say?"

"You must have misheard," Chester said firmly. "How could a woman like her possibly know about our plans? Even if she did, there's no way she could tell us apart."

Felix kept his head down, saying nothing. After a moment, he finally nodded.

Chester frowned at him. "Felix, make sure you know your place. A woman of her status isn't even fit to be a housekeeper for our family. Stay out of this."

Felix smiled and firmly said, "Of course, Chester."

Even so, Chester kept a wary eye on him. "Go back for now. I'll take care of things here. There are only two days left. If she stays calm over these two days, it will all be over."

…

When I woke up again, Chester was sitting beside my bed. By now, I could easily tell them apart. Chester was arrogant, while Felix was gentle and a little shy.

"You're so foolish. I could have handled everything," Chester said, showing a rare hint of warmth.

He even reached out to brush my hair, looking genuinely concerned, but I didn't accept it and pushed his hand away.

The fragile warmth he had shown vanished immediately. He snapped, "Miranda, you were ready to risk your life for me a moment ago! Why are you acting like this now?"

I stared at his angry face, then shifted my gaze to his perfectly unharmed right arm. He had acted so convincingly yet left such an obvious flaw. I didn't answer him and turned away. "You should go. I'm tired and need to rest."

Hearing my cold response, Chester snorted and slammed the door on his way out.

Before leaving, he commanded the doctor, "Give her the best treatment possible. I don't want to see a single scar on her at the wedding in two days."

Once the door closed behind him, I finally exhaled, feeling a small measure of relief. However, it didn't last long, as the Thorne family arrived shortly after.

Seeing my dark expression, Giselle snorted. "What's with that look? I came to visit you, and instead of being grateful, you actually have the nerve to glare at me?"

I let out a soft laugh. "Ms. Holt, you stole my identity from me. Why should I be grateful?"

"What did you say?"

Giselle's face flushed red with anger. She clearly hadn't expected someone as meek as me to talk back.

Suddenly, a sneer spread across her face as if a new thought had struck her. "Miranda, do you really think you can act so arrogant just because you're about to marry Mr. Miller? Let me make this clear—being Mrs. Miller isn't that easy. Someone as lowly as you will never rise above your station.

"When we were kids, I could take your paintings and your inheritance. Now that we're adults, I can take your husband just as easily."

I stayed quiet, unmoved by her words. Instead, I smiled. "Chester will never be yours."

The second I finished, Giselle and Anne laughed, ridiculing my overconfidence.

I ignored them and kept the record button pressed on my phone beneath the blanket.

My calm only seemed to infuriate Giselle further. "I'm talking to you! Are you deaf?" she shouted, raising her hand as if to strike me.

However, I refused to submit any longer and grabbed her wrist midair.

"You dare fight back? The marriage isn't even official, and you're already acting like the lady of the house?" she snapped. "Very well. Miranda, do you really think I can't deal with you? Just wait. You'll be on your knees begging me to forgive you for what you did today."

That was the last thing she said before leaving.

I didn't take it to heart. Giselle had always been that arrogant.

Not long after, a doctor came to inform me that Chester had already completed my discharge paperwork.

I finally lost my patience and called him. "Chester, didn't you say you'd give me the best treatment? Why am I being discharged all of a sudden? Don't you realize my wound is still bleeding?"

He answered calmly, "There are doctors at home who can look after you. I don't feel comfortable leaving you alone in the hospital."

It was such an obvious lie, yet I didn't have the energy to argue. After a long silence, I hung up the phone.

The knife wound on my body suddenly throbbed, and blood seeped through the white bandage, glaring against the darkness.

Back in college, Chester had already been the heir to the Millers, making him completely out of place among his peers and leaving him with few social connections.

The only person he ever let close was me, but word got out to business rivals, who saw me as his weakness. Later, they even tried to abduct me, using my safety to control Chester.

I never imagined Chester would come for me. Back then, my grandmother hadn't found me, and the rest of the world treated me like I didn't exist. Yet Chester had kicked the door open and appeared at the entrance like a knight.

He bent down beside me, gently brushing the scars on my face and whispering, "I'm sorry I'm late."

Thinking of that, I couldn't help but reach up to touch my cheek. The scar had faded, but I could still feel it. The man who had tended to it so carefully was already dead on the night I learned the truth.

I realized the one who had actually saved me that day must have been Felix. Chester loved Giselle with all his heart and had never felt anything for me. Felix, on the other hand, truly cared for me, though his feelings were fragile, tangled with pretense and insecurity.

The memory faded as the bodyguards opened the door, leaving me no chance to refuse. However, they didn't take me home. Instead, the car headed toward the Thorne residence.

"Our heroine has finally arrived."

The moment the door opened, Giselle came toward me, holding a glass of champagne. "Miranda, welcome to my birthday party."

Today wasn't Giselle's birthday—it was mine. Every piece of her personal information had been registered under my name. She was doing this on purpose to humiliate me.

Before I could even react, Chester stepped out from behind her. He frowned when he saw my plain short-sleeved outfit. "Why didn't you change her clothes before bringing her here?"

The bodyguard immediately explained, "Sorry, Mr. Miller. We left in a rush…"

"Don't blame them, Mr. Miller," Giselle said with a light laugh, covering her mouth. "This outfit actually suits Miranda. She probably isn't used to wearing evening gowns anyway."

The other guests didn't know me, but they laughed along with her.

Chester shot them a cold glance, and the laughter stopped at once.

"Come inside," he said, taking my hand. "It's chilly out here."

Giselle let out a soft sigh and said, "I really envy you, Miranda. You have such a wonderful boyfriend who is both powerful and handsome. Unlike me, I'm still single."

I ignored her thinly veiled mockery and looked at Chester. "My injuries haven't fully healed yet. Could you have the bodyguards take me home?"

Chester glanced at my hand wrapped in layers of gauze and flatly said, "It's just a birthday party. As my future wife, it's only natural for you to be there. Do you mean to tell me you don't want to be my wife anymore?"

It was a clear threat.

I let out a self-mocking smile, pushed past him, and walked into the banquet hall.

I wasn't about to give up being his wife. After all, I planned to personally destroy the two of them at the wedding.

When Chester saw me give in, he raised his brows in satisfaction and exchanged a look with Giselle.

Throughout the banquet, his eyes never left her. Every so often, he walked over to chat with her.

The socialites who had come over to me out of courtesy to Chester slowly drifted away, leaving my corner of the bustling banquet feeling unusually cold and empty.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Chester grab Giselle's wine glass. "You've had enough for today. Stop drinking," he said, before finishing the rest himself.

Chester was never one to interfere. At my graduation ceremony, I had been forced to drink again and again, and he had just sat there, watching me drink until I was vomiting nonstop.

I had thought his coldness was just part of his personality. Now, I realized it was simply because he didn't love me.

I smiled bitterly. Wasn't this something I had known all along?

Years of pain had dulled my once-burning heart, but for everyone else, seeing him treat Giselle with such care was a first, and they immediately started whispering, "Mr. Miller, won't your fiancee get jealous? She doesn't seem happy."

"Why marry her at all? Ms. Thorne would clearly be a better fit for you."

They thought they were whispering, but I heard it all.

Chester didn't respond. Instead, he instinctively wrapped an arm around Giselle's waist.

I looked away and quietly ate the dessert in front of me.

When I glanced up again, the two who had been chatting moments ago were gone.

I didn't think much of it, but on my way to the restroom, I overheard what was happening. In the study, Chester had Giselle on the desk, pressing kisses to her eagerly.

"I agreed to let her come to your birthday banquet, and this is what you give me? 'Single,' huh?"

His breaths came out heavy.

"Chester, I was wrong. I really was," Giselle said, attempting to push him away, though her body pressed closer anyway. "Don't leave any marks on me. Someone might see…"

"Let them see," he said calmly. "You'll be my wife soon enough. Even if Miranda saw us together, she'd still swallow her pride and marry me. Three years have passed, and with only two days left, there's no way she'd let herself lose now."

Not long after, faint moans came from the study.

I looked at their intertwined figures and thoughtfully closed the door for them.

About half an hour later, the two of them finally came out. The moment they stepped back into the banquet hall, Giselle walked straight toward me.

She deliberately revealed the red marks on her neck. "Oh? Do you know where Chester went? He was with me the whole time just now. Why did he suddenly disappear?"

When I stayed silent, she let out a light laugh. "Oh, I forgot. He never went to your side in the first place, so how would you know where he is? Sorry for asking you such a difficult question."

I lowered my head without a word and continued eating my cake.

Seeing that I was ignoring her, Giselle grew irritated and pressed a glass of champagne into my hand. "Future Mrs. Miller, you haven't even had a drink with me yet."

I placed the glass back on the table. "I can't drink."

"You can't drink?" She scoffed. "If I remember correctly, you were famous for holding your liquor back in college, and now you're saying you can't drink at all? Miranda, are you trying to make things difficult for me on purpose?"

I had no interest in arguing with her and turned to leave, only to see Chester walking toward me with a glass of wine in hand.

"Drink it. Do I really need to teach you even basic etiquette?"

I stared at the glass of red wine he held out, my fist tightening instantly. "I said I'm not drinking."

The tense atmosphere immediately drew everyone's attention.

"She won't even drink a single glass. They're not even married yet, and she already has such an attitude."

"I think she's just jealous that Mr. Miller has been spending all his time with Ms. Thorne. That's why she's throwing a fit."

"Today's Ms. Thorne's birthday, and she's letting her personal grudges ruin everything. Is this really how the future Mrs. Miller behaves?"

With every remark, Chester's expression darkened further. They were clearly criticizing me, yet it felt like every word was a slap to his face.

"Guards," he said, looking at the bodyguards. "Make sure Mrs. Miller finishes this glass."

I looked up in disbelief, but before I could protest, a strong stream of red wine was forced into my mouth.

The bodyguards gripped my arms as I fought back. The wine poured over my face, drenching me in utter humiliation.

"Chester, stop! I'm pregnant…" I tried to speak, but the burning wine made it impossible to form complete words, and the crowd's laughter drowned me out.

Overwhelmed with shame, I pushed the bodyguards away with all my strength.

I hadn't expected that shove to knock Giselle backward. She stumbled and crashed into the statue behind her.

"Giselle!"

Chester shoved me aside, and I crashed into a nearby table. Blood poured from the wounds as shattered dishes dug into my skin, and a searing pain ripped through my abdomen, forcing me to curl up tightly.

"It hurts. Take me to the hospital…" I begged, looking at Chester weakly.

All I could see was him clutching Giselle, panic written across his pale face like I had never seen before. "Giselle, are you alright? Don't scare me."

Even the always-calculated Chester appeared unguarded with Giselle, as if a crisis could strip away all pretense and reveal the heart beneath.

Soon, the ambulance arrived. Chester immediately lifted Giselle into one of the vehicles.

He instinctively went to follow, but Giselle deliberately stopped him. "Mr. Miller, you should stay with your future wife. She looks like she's hurt worse than I am."

Chester frowned as he looked down at me lying on the floor. "She was the one who pushed you and ruined your birthday. I have to take responsibility for her actions, so I'll stay with you, Ms. Thorne," he said coldly. "As for her, let the bodyguards take her to the hospital."

When the car door slammed shut, it completely severed the last thread of hope I had been clinging to.

My stomach hurt terribly. I didn't know if it was from the fall or the alcohol.

I closed my eyes in despair and slipped into darkness. When I woke up again, the heartbeat inside my belly was gone.

It hadn't survived.

Even though I had already decided not to keep this child, the real loss still hurt like a knife.

Exhausted, I leaned against the wall as I walked toward the door, but I caught the nurses' conversation at the corner.

"I've been a doctor for years, and I've never seen anything like this. They made a pregnant patient donate blood during emergency treatment. We did everything we could to save the baby, but it was lost because of the donation."

I froze, gripping their hands in shock. "What did you just say?"