Chapter 1

On the day of our wedding, Justin had someone take off my wedding dress so he could personally put it on my younger stepsister. He cut me an icy look. "I'll make you my wife, but my love belongs to Felicia. We'll get our marriage license after the wedding." The people around us laughed, betting that I wouldn't wait around for Justin like I had before. After all, I'd held on for five years to keep this engagement. But the moment I walked out of the church, I made a call. "Elizabeth, about your proposition the other day, my answer's yes." That night, I took a private jet and flew to my new home. From that moment on, my world was completely cut off from Justin's. Five years later, I attended a banquet with my daughter, only to run into Justin at the entrance. I hadn't seen him in five years, and he flashed a humorless smile when he saw my daughter, whom I was holding. "So, you've come crawling back after five years. Why not put the child under Felicia's care from now on? I might just let her call me 'Dad'," he sneered. He had no idea the child wasn't his. … When I heard someone calling my name, I spun instinctively and found myself staring at Justin, whom I hadn't seen in five years. Tucked beside him was my younger stepsister, Felicia Swanson. "Camille, it really is you! I didn't think you'd come back for Justin," Felicia exclaimed. Justin noted the astonishment in my gaze, then feigned nonchalance as he said, "I told you she was like a dog. There's no shaking her off." His friends burst into laughter behind him. "Share with us your dog-training tips when you have the time, Justin," someone joked. "She even dolled up! Do you think it's so she can fake a run-in with Justin?" "She'll probably die of heartbreak if she finds out Justin's already married." Felicia covered her mouth with a hand, giggling as she looped her arm through Justin's, gloating. "You might not know this, Camille. "After you threw a fit and bolted from the wedding, Dad decided to let me take your place as the bride." I'd been deeply in love with Justin five years ago, and I didn't mind waiting for him to marry me, even when he kept putting off our wedding because of Felicia. In the end, he had my wedding dress taken off on the big day itself so he could put it on Felicia instead. That day onward, I vowed to stop loving him. More importantly, I now had a husband who loved me and a daughter who was too adorable for words. I had no reason to be hung up on a piece of trash like Justin. The banquet this evening was meant to be a birthday celebration for my daughter, organized by my husband. I didn't want to get worked up on this special day. As such, I flashed my wedding band at Justin and Felicia, smiling. "Congratulations. I got married, too." Justin's face turned stormy at my words, and the air around us went still as the festive mood vanished. One of Justin's friends warned quietly, "Stop messing around, Camille. Keep pretending, and Justin might just move on from you." I couldn't help my exasperation. "I really did get married. I'm here for a party." The crowd laughed again at my words. Felicia fixed me with a contemptuous look. "Surely you can do better than spin such outrageous lies, Camille. The only birthday party here is my daughter's." I never expected Justin and Felicia's daughter to hold their daughter's birthday party at the same hotel as my daughter's. Given my husband's special identity, the party was, naturally, an exclusive affair. The fact that Justin and Felicia didn't know about it didn't surprise me, and I had no plans to tell them either. I turned to leave, but at that moment, Justin said, "I won't have beggars at my daughter's birthday party, but I'll let you in for old times' sake. I bet it's been some time since you were surrounded by such finery. Life must have been tough for you the last five years." I thought he'd cracked the biggest joke. My husband and I had been living on a private island for the last few years. It so happened that my husband had to return to Nistros to straighten out his family, and I'd only tagged along because I wanted to take back everything that once belonged to me. Not wanting to waste my breath on them, I turned and headed into the banquet hall. My daughter suddenly bounded up to me, burrowing into my arms. "Mommy, when's Daddy coming?" Justin was taken aback by my daughter's appearance. Then, understanding flickered across his face. "No wonder you came back here with such swagger. You gave birth to my kid in secret!" He lifted his head and fixed me with a haughty stare. "Unfortunately, I'm already married to Felicia, so she'll have to legally adopt the child." I regarded Justin with disgust. Shanna was not his daughter. I was about to spell this out for him when Felicia interjected, "Camille, during your absence all these years, Dad has handed the Swanson Group over to me. How do you expect a useless broad like yourself to raise a child when surely you can't even make ends meet? "You may as well give me your daughter so that she can wait on mine hand and foot. I promise to provide for her until she comes of age." I was trembling with rage. My husband and I had raised Shanna like a little princess, and Felicia was suggesting that I hand her over into servitude? "Shanna is not your child. We used protection." I shot a reproachful look at Justin as I pulled Shanna into my arms. However, Justin didn't believe me. "Everyone knows you loved me beyond reason all those years ago. Who's to say you didn't hide the condom so you could conceive?" Bitterness, the likes of which I hadn't felt in a while, seized me when I heard his scathing conjectures. So, he'd known how much I'd loved him back then. I'd swallowed my pride and given up on everything just so he'd come back. But in the end, he still made my love a laughingstock. Fortunately, I made the right choice in the end. As for him, he was a past mistake that I should have moved on from a long time ago.