Chapter 1

I was the only heiress among the five great families, and all my fiance were the heirs of the other four families. Initially, I was supposed to choose one of them to be my life partner, but things changed completely after Julia Leonhart came into the picture. That night at the bar, Ethan Quinn, who always bore an aloof temperament, got on his knees in front of Julia and planted kisses on the back of her hand. "I will only love you. I'll still be with you even if I'm the one Penny chooses. On her birthday, no matter what her decision is, we will turn her down for you." Xander Schneider, Kyle Young, and Henry Johannson also surrounded Julia and agreed with Ethan. Julia was moved by his words, her eyes brimming with tears. "If Ms. Sullivan were to discover that the car crash on the day of the design award happened because of me, you guys would be blamed." Ethan brushed the tears away from her cheeks gently. Xander, who seemed to want to make his existence known, hurriedly said, "What she has is more than enough. It's only a design award, and you're the one who truly needs it." Upon hearing his words, I held my chest. It had always been my dream to pursue design. Back then, if I had won the gold award, I would've had the chance to study design overseas. However, just because Julia wanted to win the same award, I got into a car accident. Although Julia was only the daughter of a housekeeper, she captivated the hearts of all three of them. I had no idea what had gone wrong. I felt as though I had plunged into despair. All of a sudden, a drunk man appeared next to Julia. He gripped Julia's hand, and the others could only surround him nervously, warning him from the side. They were afraid of hurting Julia. Just then, Ethan caught sight of me. He stepped forward without hesitation and grabbed my hand before shoving me toward the drunkard. "This woman is prettier, and she's wilder. If you want to have fun, then do it with her!" he said. Ethan then took advantage of the drunkard's distraction to pull Julia to him and leave. The other three followed right after. None of them cared about my safety. As I watched their figures grow more and more distant, I understood that there was no place for me in their hearts anymore. Then, I should also choose to leave and find someone who loved me. But why was it that after they found out I no longer loved them, they ended up regretting it? … "Penny, your 20th birthday is coming soon. It's time for you to make your choice." On the other end of the phone, my father's dignified voice rang out. I had just managed to escape from that drunkard at the bar. My body was still trembling. Before I could reply, he continued, "I know you like Ethan, but Kyle, Xander, and Henry are also very good choices. You can pick whoever you want. My daughter deserves the best." As he spoke, his tone softened. My eyes instantly grew red. My father didn't know what they had just done to me. They always acted as if they doted on me on the surface, but their eyes were always dripping with disdain. As I thought about that, I took a deep breath and firmly said, "Dad, I want to choose Zack Green." "What?" he exclaimed in surprise. "Why would you choose Zack? He's far too much of a playboy. I really can't feel at ease entrusting you to him." His voice carried genuine concern. "We're not in dire straits that you need to sacrifice yourself. You only need to choose someone you truly like. "You've always liked following Ethan around, right? Though I think he's rather calculating, and you might need to be wary of him in the future, he's still better than Zack, regardless," he added. I lowered my eyes, smiling bitterly. My father's impression of them was still stuck in the past. He didn't know that after Julia entered their household, everything changed. They used to surround me, all four of them. They would bicker and laugh with me every day. However, ever since Julia arrived, she would always stand in the corner with tears in her eyes as if we had bullied her. At first, Ethan and the others could ignore Julia. They had even told me that women like her only looked pitiful on the outside, but deep down, she was actually malicious. I believed them… until one night when the rain poured down in torrents, and they received a phone call. After that, their expressions turned grim, and they left my side one by one. As if driven by some unseen force, I followed them, only to witness the scene before my eyes. Ethan carefully lifted the disheveled Julia from the ground, his eyes filled with distress. Henry and Xander stood to the side, their expressions dark. "Penny is getting more and more outrageous. She's aware that Julia likes us, yet she insists on acting close with us right in front of her. How vicious." "If we hadn't been worried that Penny might go after Julia once she learned the truth, we would've stopped pretending long ago." Ethan looked at Julia tenderly, gently wiping away the tears on her face as he comforted her, saying, "Don't be afraid. Even if Penny chooses me, I'll reject her for you. None of us will accept her." At that moment, a realization dawned upon me. They had long since been moved by Julia's tears. But to keep me from doing anything that might harm her, they had been pretending in front of me all along. Realizing this, I could no longer hold myself back and broke into bitter sobs. I sulked for several days before a close friend dragged me to a bar. It was there that Ethan, without a moment's hesitation, shoved me at a drunkard just to protect Julia. Only at that moment did I truly believe that I no longer had any place in their hearts. I snapped back from memory before saying to my father on the other end of the phone, "I've already made up my mind. On my birthday in seven days, I'll go abroad and marry Zack." When I thought of how Zack might react, I added, "You and Mom should head overseas first and prepare the venue for the wedding alliance. I'll take care of breaking off the engagements with the other four families." I had made my decision. My father fell silent for a moment but agreed in the end. I let out a long breath, ready to start preparing for the banquet that would be held in seven days. Just then, a sudden sound came from the door, and I instinctively hid myself.