As I opened the door and stepped out, Adrian called again.

“Wait—Number 18. Haven’t we met before?”

I froze, my shoulders tensing.

“Mr. Walker, I don’t understand what you mean. You’re a big boss, and I’m just a new hostess. How could we have met?”

I put on a strong local accent and raised my voice. The lounge fell silent for a moment, but before I could say more, loud voices echoed from the hallway.

“I want her! Who the hell are you to cut in?”

“She’s mine. I picked her first!”

Two guests were fighting over a hostess. In the chaos, I slipped away.

Later, I pretended I had a stomachache and begged Emily Smith to take my place in Adrian’s lounge.

“Fine, but you owe me two days’ worth of fried rice. Yours is too delicious to resist.”

I agreed, watching her enter Adrian’s lounge and not come out again. Finally, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Staring at my reflection in the glass door, I wondered—had he recognized me?

I remembered back at the Bennett estate, when I was still treated as the real daughter. Adrian often came with Mrs. Johnson to work. With him helping, Mrs. Johnson had more time to run her food stand selling fried rice.

Her fried rice was so good that I begged her to teach me. I learned perfectly. For that, I was truly grateful to Adrian’s mother.

Even now, I spent my free time running a small food stand myself, and business was decent.

Back then, Adrian had the face of a sweet puppy, which my adolescent heart adored.

I ordered him around constantly—fetching drinks, cleaning up—and when he apologized timidly, I couldn’t help but laugh.

Once, I made him hand-wash my clothes, forgetting to take out my underwear. He blushed furiously the whole time, while I scolded him with a red face of my own.

Then, for a long while, he stopped coming with Mrs. Johnson.

I asked Mrs. Bennett about it and learned that Adrian had a younger sister, Olivia, who was born with a congenital heart disease. They still hadn’t found a donor, and the treatments were overwhelmingly expensive.

Mr. Walker worked day and night to save for the surgery, sleeping only three hours a day. Before he could raise enough, he collapsed and died at work.

The family’s situation went from hard to unbearable.

I begged Mr. Bennett to help Olivia get a donor and used all my savings to cover her treatment.

Mrs. Johnson no longer had to juggle two jobs, and she was so grateful she practically overfed me.

Adrian still came by after school to help.

But no one else knew that he and I had struck a deal.

I would cover Olivia’s medical expenses. In return, Adrian had to be my secret lover.

More precisely—my bed partner.

I gave him my first time, and he gave me his.

We were both so inexperienced that during our first time, he couldn’t even find the right place.

I ordered him around in everything, and he never once said no.

Among our circle, people whispered that he was my pet dog—a very obedient one.

I laughed every time I heard it.

Once, lying in his arms, I asked if he’d be willing to be my little puppy forever.

He stayed silent. Just when I thought he wouldn’t answer, he leaned down and kissed me.

I thought that meant yes, so I clung to him and pulled him into another long, breathless night.

By our third year together, Isabella came to the Bennett estate.

She revealed she’d been switched at birth by her adoptive parents. A DNA test confirmed she was the true Bennett heiress. She moved into my bedroom, while I was cast out of the family.

Overnight, I went from the pampered heiress of the Bennetts to the daughter of an abusive gambler.

Adrian didn’t know about my fall from grace.

At that time, his upgraded drone model had just succeeded. I gave him a break and booked flights for his family to Miami.

After being thrown out of the estate, I rushed to Miami to find him—only to overhear him talking with a friend.

“Adrian, you’ve been with Sophia Bennett for so long. When are you going to make it official?”

He fell silent.

“Do you even like her?”

“Not really.”

My blood froze, though I forced down the ache in my chest.

That night, I went to him again, desperate. We spent hours together, but afterward, as I traced the hard lines of his abs, I made my decision.

“Adrian, we’re done.”

He stayed silent again.

But he must have been relieved. No longer would he be treated like a dog at my beck and call.

I left, tossing my phone into the trash, and returned to my biological parents’ home.

I knew Adrian was destined for greatness—he was smart enough.

What I hadn’t expected was that he’d end up with the real heiress.

At 3 a.m., I curled up in the nightclub’s breakroom, catching a nap before my shift ended. By 5 a.m., I had to set up my food stand for the office crowd’s breakfast rush.

Business was good as usual, and just as I was about to close up, another customer ordered fried rice.

“No scallions. More onions. Two eggs. And absolutely no shrimp—our boss is allergic to seafood.”

My hand froze mid-motion. That was exactly Adrian’s habit. He too was allergic to seafood.

I laughed bitterly. What was I even thinking?

I cooked quickly, plated the food, and handed it over.

As I packed up my cart and got on my motorbike, a voice stopped me.

“Did you make this fried rice?”

It was Adrian’s voice.

I pulled my mask higher and croaked a reply.

“Tastes good. Who taught you to cook like this?”

“My mom.”

He sneered. “Oh? Since when did my mom become your mom, Number 18?”

I lowered the brim of my cap and insisted he’d mistaken me for someone else.

“Sophia Bennett, you kept me for three years. Then you tossed me aside, ended it like it was nothing. Did you really think I was just your dog?”

I trembled. He had recognized me.

“Sophia, do you really think you’re so powerful? Disappearing on me like that? You’re the dog here, with that stubborn temper you’ll never change.”

He was using my own words against me.

The next second, he yanked off my mask. Our eyes locked, the tension between us swelling like a rising tide.

“Adrian, what are you doing? Hurry, or you’ll be late for the board meeting!”

Isabella Bennett’s voice came from behind, shattering the strange tension.

“Are you hiding from me?”

Adrian Walker ignored Isabella, turning to stand by my side, blocking her view.

Was he afraid Isabella would see me?

“Why else? Mr. Walker, you’re a big shot now, standing with the real heiress. Why would you bother with this fake’s ex? Besides, you never really loved me, did you?”

For a moment, Adrian’s expression faltered. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end said nothing. Instead, he pulled out a card from his pocket, slipped it into the basket of my motorbike, and walked back to Isabella.

I watched as Adrian and Isabella walked side by side toward the stretch limousine parked at the curb.

A perfect couple—handsome man, beautiful woman. Their love must be strong.

Suddenly I felt like a rat in the gutter, spying on someone else’s happiness.

From that day on, Adrian kept coming to the nightclub, urging me to quit. He said this wasn’t a decent job.

Of course I knew that. But my gambling-addicted father owed Mr. Davis money, and I was nothing but collateral to pay off his debt.

“Sophia… I’ll give you a hundred thousand dollars a month.”

I froze. What did he mean?

“Two hundred thousand. Three hundred thousand… Five hundred thousand. Is that enough? If not, I can add more.”

Clink! The bottle slipped from my hand and shattered. I stumbled back in shock. He… wanted to keep me, just like I once kept him.

Life was a cruel cycle. Everything from the past now pierced me like knives. I shut my eyes, letting silent tears fall.

“I apologize for what I did before. Please, just let me go.”

I wiped my tears and fled, broken.

Curled up in the tiny breakroom, I cried until I lost my strength.

I loved him. After all these years, I still loved him. But now, I was no match for him.

And his hatred for me… was only natural.

I stared at the card in my hand. At first I wanted to return it, but after some hesitation, I went to Mr. Davis’s office.

“There’s two hundred thousand on this card. My father’s debt is cleared.”

With the debt settled, I went back to my small apartment and packed away everything of mine. For my biological father, I had done more than enough.

It was time to start a new life.

In my closet, I found a family heirloom pendant—the Walker family’s gift to their future daughter-in-law. I had forced it from Adrian years ago. I decided to keep it as a memory.

I booked a flight three days later. From then on, I would be free.

But before leaving for the airport, I realized my ID was still being held by the nightclub.

When I went back to retrieve it, I saw Adrian at the bar counter, asking questions. I quickly hid in the shadows.

“Excuse me, why hasn’t Sophia Bennett been coming to work?”

“She resigned.”

“When?”

“Three days ago.”

I slipped out the back door.

“Sophia Bennett!”

I froze. Looking up, I saw Isabella in a luxury dress standing on a raised platform, arms crossed, gazing down at me with disdain. Her smug smile made my blood boil. I met her stare with equal arrogance, and her smile faltered.

“Sophia, I suggest you stay away from Adrian. He’s my boyfriend now.”

I laughed coldly.

“Isabella, what are you so proud of? Everything you have is secondhand. Our parents were mine first—and so was Adrian.”