Chapter 1

Ten years after our breakup, I found out my ex-boyfriend was still offering a huge reward to find me. I let out a scoff and swiped the message away. We didn’t end things peacefully. The year we broke up, he got another woman pregnant. And thanks to his mother’s scheme, I ended up pregnant by someone else too. When he found out, he lost control and made me take abortion pills. He cried and said, “I just want you to understand. In a family like ours, my life isn’t my own to live.” “I can give you anything except an official status in my life.” His mother said, “Our family will never accept someone from the bottom. There’s no way I’ll let our bloodline continue with someone like that!” He just stood there, listening, not saying a word. After that, I disappeared from his world. A decade passed. Suddenly, he was in front of me again. His face, even more refined and elegant than before, showed a rare vulnerability as his eyes grew red. He said, “I’ve changed. My parents no longer have the power to dictate who I love.” “Can we start over?” I shook my head. “No.” He looked lost. “Why?” I answered calmly, “Because my husband wouldn’t allow it.” ... He froze. His eyes trembled. With tears brimming, his gaze looked especially bright. I thought this would finally make him give up, but instead I heard him say— “Just like ten years ago, you still know how to hurt me with your words.” Eric Carter’s voice was choked for a second. Then he looked at me with an intensity that bordered on desperate. “I should treat you the way I did ten years ago.” With that, he strode over. I panicked and stepped back, dodging his embrace and his forceful kiss. Ten years ago, whenever I said something sharp, he would silence me with a kiss. He’d only let me go when I was nearly out of breath, proud of himself and always wanting more. Facing my rejection and distance, he paused, just hesitated for a moment, then came toward me again. I retreated again, putting more distance between us. My voice rose. “Eric!” He stopped. In an instant, all his hope was replaced with hurt. “It’s been ten years. I don’t believe you haven’t missed me.” What a joke. I sneered inside. No one ever misses an ex when their new love is good enough. “That’s your problem,” I said. “The past is in the past.” “We’re not the same people anymore.” My calm attitude hit him hard. He couldn’t accept it, and let out a hollow laugh. “I can’t move on.” “I thought I could forget you, but the longer I try, the more impossible it becomes!” His eyes glistened as he sniffed quietly, trying to keep his composure. This time, his voice softened. “I know what’s on your mind.” “I divorced her. The child… didn’t survive. So you don’t have to worry, you won’t have to be a stepmom.” “As for my mom… she had a stroke. She won’t bully you again.” “I’m in charge of the family business now. In the Carter family, I make the decisions.” “I can marry you in a proper, official way.” He rushed to say it all in one breath. Ten years later, he’d ripped open all the old wounds that had already scarred over, exposing them again. That chapter—the one that haunts my nightmares—flashed through my mind like it was yesterday. The day I turned twenty, he’d said: “Vivian Reed, I can openly and officially marry you!” “I’ll spend my life loving you. Please, will you marry me?” I said yes. I even accepted the giant diamond ring he offered. But the next day, my family lost everything because of that engagement ring. Diane Carter, his mother, dressed in her expensive clothes, showed up at my door. She regarded me with utter contempt, as if I were nothing more than a nuisance under her boot. She circled me repeatedly, her gaze sharp and suffocating, steeped in the arrogance of long-held power. “Get real. This isn’t a fairy tale—princes don’t fall for Cinderellas anymore.” “I can accept you as my son’s plaything. But a girl from the bottom of society? There’s no way you’re marrying into a family like the Carters.” She pulled out a lawsuit and slammed it into my face. “Return the ring! or get ready for a lawsuit!”