Chapter 4

When Natalie returned to the living room, Zia immediately grabbed her arm with forced enthusiasm. "Natalie, Lucas said he managed to get the concert tickets! Don't be mad anymore. Let's go out and have fun!" "If you're not interested, don't force yourself. I can have the driver take you home to rest—" Lucas said. Natalie expressionlessly pulled her arm free, cutting him off. "Of course I'm going. Those tickets are nearly impossible to get. Why wouldn't I?" Lucas' expression changed at once. Natalie watched his reaction coldly. The day before, she'd seen two tickets to an international master's concert tucked inside his wallet. She'd thought it was a surprise for her. It turned out that she wasn't even part of the plan. She wanted to see exactly how he planned to get three people in with only two tickets. She'd made up her mind. If Lucas wanted to keep acting, then as the female lead of this ridiculous charade that had dragged on for ten years, how could she just walk offstage so easily? Before she walked away for good, she would play along with the two brothers to the very end. And at the birthday banquet they were so eagerly anticipating, she would prepare a surprise of her own. She smiled and deliberately laced her fingers through Lucas' hand. "Let's go. Since Zia loves tagging along as a third wheel, we'll just accommodate her." Lucas' fingers stiffened. He glanced nervously at Zia's darkening face. The entire drive passed in silence. Lucas kept turning back stiffly, sneaking looks at Zia's face. Behind them, Zia clenched her fists so hard they nearly drew blood. Natalie found it absurd. She was Lucas' fiancee, but she felt more like an unwanted intruder now. "Natalie, I ordered coffee. Can you go grab it?" Lucas finally couldn't take it anymore. "Sure." Natalie's lips curved slightly as she stepped out of the car. She was actually quite curious how this stand-in act of his was supposed to work. The coffee was ready. Just as Natalie turned around, she saw Lucas running toward her, out of breath. To be exact, it was Lucas' twin brother, Nelson, standing in for him. His hair was slightly mussed from running. The black suit was identical, but the hastily fastened cuff gave him away. And yet this clumsy performance had fooled her for ten years. Their eyes met. A flicker of discomfort flashed across Nelson's gaze before he quickly smoothed his expression. "Zia ran into some friends. I gave her the tickets and let them go on their own." He took the coffee from her. "Let's go somewhere else. Just the two of us." Natalie's eyes glinted icily, but her face lit up with a bright smile. "Sure. As long as I'm with you, anything is fine." She naturally looped her arm through Nelson's, her fair fingers sliding along his toned arm and wrapping around his hand. Nelson was about to scoff at her romantic antics, but the instant their skin touched, his whole body stiffened, his heart skipping a beat. He forced his gaze downward, tense, while Natalie pinned him with a heated, intent look, daring him to look away. In that instant, the broken moans and heated whispers from the night before exploded in his mind. His ears burned, and another part of him betrayed him in an undeniable, involuntary way. Everyone assumed he was just a reckless playboy, and even Lucas thought the same. That was why Lucas had handed him the task of humiliating Natalie. But it had been his first time, too. He'd thought it was just instinct, nothing serious. Besides, he hated Natalie, the impostor who'd stolen Zia's life. The chance to personally avenge Zia was something he didn't want to miss. Yet now, the desire surging through him was nearly overwhelming for someone who had only experienced it for the first time. "Nelson, what the hell are you doing? Last night was only supposed to be revenge for Zia!" He cursed himself viciously, his thoughts drifting back to the first time he'd met Zia. Back then, she was a new waitress at the school's cafe. On her very first day, she spilled coffee all over a spoiled rich student. She clutched the soaked tray, her face pale as she bit down on her lip. Her teary eyes made her look like a little bunny that had wandered by mistake into a world it didn't belong in. "That's a three-hundred-thousand-dollar limited-edition hoodie!" the guy roared. "You poor nobody. How are you going to pay for it?" Zia stood there, flustered and trembling, apologizing over and over with red-rimmed eyes. The guy sneered. "Why don't you sleep with me for a night to make it up to me?" Zia was forced down beneath him. At the critical moment, Nelson threw down 500 thousand and beat the guy badly enough to land him in the hospital. After that, both he and Lucas found their attention drawn entirely to Zia. Unlike Natalie, who never needed help and stood proud and independent, Zia was fragile. As if she might shatter at any second. Yet she was also resilient, always biting her lip and forcing herself to endure. As though it were fate, he and Lucas kept running into her on campus. Through repeated rescues and quiet expressions of gratitude, they gradually grew closer. Using the Moore family's influence, they got Zia, who had no academic record, into the school. And to make it easier for her to accept their help, they became her sponsors. But no matter what they did, Zia rarely smiled. When they finally pressed her, they learned that her adoptive parents had died, and her biological parents were nowhere to be found. While helping her search for her family, they uncovered the truth. Zia was the real heiress, switched at birth by a nanny from the Shaw family, forced to suffer through years of hardship. And Natalie, the one who had grown up radiant and accomplished, was the impostor who had stolen the life meant for Zia. Zia's constant unease only deepened his sense that every smile Natalie wore was corrupt. Especially after Zia returned to the Shaw residence, crying again and again that Natalie didn't like her. That was when he and Lucas decided the fake heiress had to pay the price she deserved. Since Natalie was the reason Zia had lived a life of displacement and had nearly lost her innocence the day they met, they would make Natalie pay with her first time.