Terri pulled up the contract on her phone.

Without hesitation, she signed it.

She put on her sunglasses as she got into the car.

She didn’t want to go, but she had no choice.

Her makeup was thick, covering the dark circles under her eyes.

After Blayne left last night, she cried herself into a daze and couldn’t sleep no matter what.

In the middle of the night, Mrs. Tilley texted her.

Blayne had gone back to get the jewelry his mother left behind.

Terri knew that necklace.

Back when Blayne was lost in the moment, kissing her with unrestrained passion, he had promised—once she married him, he would put it on her himself.

And now?

They weren’t even officially together, but even drunk, Blayne still made sure Valerie got her dignity.

Bitterness filled Terri’s chest, yet somehow, she felt a little lighter.

It didn’t matter. She had already signed the termination papers.

Five more days, and she could finally leave.

“Terri, isn’t it?”

Terri snapped out of her thoughts and turned toward the voice.

The car window on the other side rolled down—both front and back.

She finally saw who it was.

Her sister—Valerie.

And someone else.

Blayne was there too.

The two of them sat together in the backseat, their fingers tightly interlocked, leaning into each other.

Side by side, they looked straight at Terri.

She had been prepared for this, but seeing them like that still sent a sharp sting through her chest.

Then, she scoffed at herself.

Why was she even reacting?

She had known this was coming.

“You only sent a driver to take Terri? Today’s her first public appearance as your wife, after all.”

Valerie glanced at Terri, then turned to Blayne, pretending to chide him.

Her eyes were full of warmth—sisterly concern, soft and affectionate.

But she never let go of his hand.

Terri was Valerie’s younger sister.

And Blayne was, in name at least, Valerie’s brother-in-law.

Yet here he was, sitting with her.

“One person is fine. She’ll have to get used to it sooner or later.”

Blayne shrugged, his gaze on Valerie filled with tenderness.

Even with Terri sitting right there, he didn’t spare her a glance.

In the backseat, Terri clenched her fingers together.

The spot on her waist—where Blayne had held her down last night—was still faintly warm.

The thrill of being wanted.

The sting of being ignored.

The emotions tangled together, making her legs instinctively press tight against each other as she swallowed back the aching in her chest.

“I don’t mind going alone…”

She had barely started speaking when Valerie cut in.

“We happened to run into each other. I’ll go have a chat with Terri—we haven’t seen each other in a while.”

Without waiting for a response, she turned to Blayne.

He didn’t object.

He only sat up straighter, watching Valerie step out of the car.

His warm expression shifted into something else.

A warning.

His lips moved silently.

“Stay in your place. Don’t make trouble.”

Terri suddenly felt like laughing.

Stay in her place?

Don’t make trouble?

What trouble, exactly?

Did he mean when he had almost forced himself on her after finding out Valerie had left the country?

Or when he had thrown money at her face, only to pull her into bed night after night?

Valerie was his precious jewel.

And Terri?

What was she?

A stand-in? A decoration?

For once, a faint sense of satisfaction burned in Terri’s chest.

She lowered her gaze, pretending not to see Blayne’s warning look.

“I heard Blayne went to see you last night?”

Valerie got into the car, rolling up the window behind her.

The outside world disappeared.

Her earlier warmth vanished.

Her eyes were cold as she looked at Terri.

“He didn’t come to see me. He came to warn me.”

Terri’s voice was calm, but the bitterness was impossible to hide.

Terri denied it.

Valerie’s eyes were filled with undisguised disdain.

She let out a sneer and tossed the phone over.

On the screen, only Blayne’s back was visible, but Terri’s legs were clearly wrapped around his waist.

The way their lower bodies overlapped made it look like she was begging for him.

In the world of adults, some things don’t need to be spelled out.

Terri’s expression tightened. “It’s not what you think—”

Before she could finish, Valerie’s slap landed hard across Terri’s face.

“A stray raised under someone else’s roof, and you actually think you’re a real Darton?”

Five distinct finger marks instantly appeared on Terri’s pale skin.

She wasn’t the type to just take it. Clenching her teeth, she wanted to slap back.

Her fingers curled, but then, they loosened. In the end, she held back.

Valerie sat at an angle, looking down at her, her gaze sharp with warning.

“I’ll arrange a match for you. You and Blayne aren’t legally married, so when I tell you to leave, you leave.

“Terri, be smart. Don’t covet things that aren’t yours.”

With that, Valerie stepped out of the car.

Terri froze. Her skin was fair, making the slap mark stand out even more, both in color and in pain.

Yet, as if determined to rub salt in the wound, she turned her head to look outside.

In the side mirror, she saw Valerie stepping out—and Blayne immediately following, reaching for her hand.

From beginning to end, through it all…

Despite Terri being right there, Blayne didn’t spare her a single glance.

One was a handsome, accomplished man. The other, a beautiful, elegant woman.

They were a perfect match.

Blayne could feel someone’s gaze lingering behind him. He knew it was Terri.

A voice in his head told him to turn around and look at her.

But he didn’t.

His steps hesitated for a second—just one second.

Then, he tightened his grip on Valerie’s hand and walked away without looking back.

Terri stared blankly, memories suddenly flooding back.

Everyone said Valerie and Blayne were childhood sweethearts, a match made in heaven.

But after Valerie became an adult, she left the country without informing anyone—disappearing completely.

The Holzmans were powerful.

When word got out that Blayne was single, Terri’s mother forced her into his life, pushing her to seduce him.

She refused.

Clarissa, her mother, slapped her face and used her own life to threaten her, forcing Terri to comply.

Trying to change the family’s fate through her.

But Terri wasn’t cheap. She had no interest in being a replacement, in scheming her way into power as some pathetic mistress.

Yet when Clarissa pressed a shard of glass to her own wrist, Terri gave in.

She understood her place.

Valerie was the one Blayne truly cared about. She had neither the status nor the history to compare.

Even if Valerie openly said she only saw Blayne as a backup plan, even if she never intended to marry him…

Being sent to his bed was still a humiliation.

At worst, she’d just be thrown out.

Terri was used to being humiliated. If it could fulfill her mother’s dream of climbing the social ladder, so be it.

That night, Blayne had been drinking.

He pinned her against the stairwell wall, tearing her clothes, gripping her shoulders, ready to take her.

She had no experience—she broke down crying.

Her tears dripped onto his skin, scalding hot.

Maybe he pitied her. Maybe he just found it troublesome.

Either way, Blayne let go.

In the end, all he did was hold her through the night.

After that, wherever he went, Terri followed.

He was gentle with her. Attentive.

Terri loved steamers. So this high-born, privileged young master peeled them for her by hand.

He knew she had a hard time in the Dartons, so he directed a few lucrative projects their way—making it clear they had to treat her well.

Terri was anxious as she put on the lingerie her mother had stuffed into her hands, preparing to offer herself in return for a favor.

But Blayne’s expression turned uncharacteristically cold. Holding her tightly in his arms, he was both angry and heartbroken.

He cradled her like something precious, his voice gentle as he placed a hand over his chest and swore, “I don’t need you to repay me. I just like you. I like you, Terri. For you, I’d do anything willingly.”

From then on, he gave her whatever she wanted. He never raised his voice and never forced her to do anything she didn’t want.

Terri thought it was real. She had always thought so.

But everything changed when Valerie returned from Scotland.

Being someone’s stand-in never ends well.

Terri knew that. But at the time, she hadn’t believed it.

Now, she did, so she didn’t bother to cover the marks on her face.

When they arrived at the party, she got out of the car alone, walking in with her head high.

She wasn’t ashamed.

She had spent too much of her life being humiliated by others. This was nothing.

But before she could take more than a couple of steps, someone grabbed her wrist.

Blayne frowned at her. “Do you even know what kind of event this is? And what’s with your face? Are you deliberately making a fool of yourself, or are you trying to embarrass the Holzmans?”

To the outside world, Terri was known as Blayne’s parents’ daughter-in-law. So, whether he wanted to or not, Blayne had to come back and pick her up for an occasion like this.

But the moment he turned around and saw the slap marks on her face, his sharp-tempered nature flared. His tone, half-questioning, half-mocking, was laced with concern.

It was the first time he had shown any real concern for Terri since Valerie returned.

Terri suddenly recalled the way Blayne used to be—how he was always by her side, inseparable.

Back then, it hadn’t felt like she was just a stand-in. There had been no distance, no Valerie between them.

As if they had never changed.

But it was just as if.

Pulled back to the present by his questioning, Terri spoke, her tone indifferent.

“It’s nothing. I just happened to run into you and Valerie. How do you think this happened?”

Blayne’s grip tightened. “What do you mean? You’re saying Vee hit you?”

“What else?”

She lifted her head, meeting his gaze head-on, unwavering.

“Blayne! Terri! What are you two talking about? Why aren’t you coming over?”

Valerie approached them, but when she saw the slap marks on Terri’s face, she gasped, covering her mouth in shock.

“What happened? Terri, I told you I don’t blame you—why would you hurt yourself like this?”

Blayne’s expression darkened. “What do you mean?”

Valerie sighed and explained, “After I left the country, Terri took my place by your side. She kept bringing up the past, saying she felt guilty toward me. I told her I didn’t blame her, but she wouldn’t believe it. She even grabbed my hand and made me slap her! She got so emotional that I had to get out of the car.”

She hesitated, then looked troubled. “And… she squeezed my wrist too hard. She left a bruise.”

Blayne’s face hardened instantly. He stepped forward. “Let me see.”

Terri was shoved aside, stumbling slightly.

Standing behind them, she watched as Blayne’s concern for Valerie played out before her eyes.

Valerie rolled up her sleeve, revealing a faint bluish mark on her wrist.

The look in Blayne’s eyes shifted—from shock and suspicion to something darker.

“Apologize to Vee.”

“I didn’t do it!”

Terri lifted her chin. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, but she refused to back down.

“I’ll say it again. Apologize to Vee.”

Blayne’s gaze sharpened, his voice carrying an unmistakable warning.

That made Terri’s throat tighten.