Chapter 1

Wendy Locke and Julian Gray's daughter, Lila Gray, had suddenly come down with a high fever in the middle of the night in the third year of their marriage. In the emergency room, a nurse took the medical card. Then, she looked down and tapped the keyboard a few times before looking up again with a hint of hesitation. "I'm sorry, but this card belongs to someone named Adrian Gray. You're not his direct relative, so by regulation, you can't use his card to register your child." "Adrian?" Wendy was stunned. "That's impossible. I made this card together with my husband, Julian Gray. Why would it have his twin brother's name?" The nurse turned the screen toward her and pointed at it. "The system shows it's registered under Adrian Gray. All the information matches. It shouldn't be an error." As Wendy stared at Adrian's name on the screen, a deafening buzz filled her head. The memories from her marriage suddenly flooded her mind. She remembered buying a mango cake on their first anniversary. Julian had taken a few bites and broken out in hives. Yet, he had happily eaten half a bowl of mango sorbet just a week earlier. On their second anniversary, she'd wanted to visit a vintage noodle restaurant at Westhaven. However, Julian had gotten lost along the way even though he had driven her there countless times when they were dating. On their third anniversary, she had a fever late at night and asked Julian to grab the medicine from the nightstand. But he'd given her a confused look and asked if it was placed on the left or the right. That was weird considering that they'd slept in that same room for three years, and the medicine's spot had never changed. It turned out that those fleeting moments of unfamiliarity and strangeness hadn't been her imagination. Could it be that her husband was actually two different men? Wendy felt the world spinning around her. Her chest tightened in pain, as if an invisible hand were gripping her heart, and a wave of intense dizziness and nausea washed over her. Nevertheless, she endured the heartache and completed her daughter's hospital admission. It wasn't until she saw that her daughter's fever finally subsided that she stumbled into the restroom and clutched the toilet bowl as she violently vomited. Her heart felt as if it were being torn apart, and every breath she took hurt. Wendy took out her phone with shaking hands and looked up Julian's location on his social media—he was at a bar. She planned to confront him in person and get to the bottom of things. As she drove, her mind was in turmoil, but she kept convincing herself that it might be a misunderstanding. However, when she reached the door of the private room, the words she heard pierced her like knives. Julian's friend spoke in a mocking tone, "Julian, you're a genius! You take the Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while your twin brother handles the Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. That way, you've got more time to spend with Bianca. "Wendy's such a fool. I can't believe she hasn't noticed a thing! Do you think she'll lose it and jump off a building if she finds out that her husband has been two different men all along?" Another voice chimed in, laughing and saying, "That's not all. All the bullying and humiliation she went through during those years she spent in prison was all Julian's doing." "Serves her right! Everyone knows Bianca is the one Julian really loves. Bianca's child wouldn't have died if Wendy hadn't pushed her down the stairs and schemed her way into stealing Julian." For a moment, the room fell silent. Then, Julian's cold voice cut through the stillness, "She owes Bianca and that unborn child. It's a debt she can never repay. My brother and I impregnated her more than ten times over the year, only to make her lose the babies again and again. That's how we made her atone for Bianca and the child. "In seven days, I'll tell her everything on our anniversary—including that Lila, the daughter she gave birth to and raised with such care, is actually my and Bianca's illegitimate child born while she was in prison! "I'll shatter her happiness and let her fall into hell. That's far more cruel than killing her outright!" Wendy stood frozen outside the room. A deafening buzz filled her ears, and she felt like her heart was being ground into pieces. The pain made her vision go dark, and her thoughts drifted back to the past. She'd once gotten lost in a shopping mall when she was six years old and was taken in by her adoptive father. However, he'd abused her every day. Years later, she'd risked her life to escape and finally found her birth parents at the age of 19. At the time, she'd thought she had finally found the warmth of having a home, but the first thing her parents told her to do was marry Julian, the eldest son of the Gray family. "There are two sons in the Gray family. One of them is cold and ruthless, while the other is a notorious flirt. Your sister, Bianca, is too delicate to marry into that family. As the eldest daughter of the Locke family, you should marry Julian to help us through this financial crisis." However, Bianca had long been in love with Julian and was already pregnant with his child. When she learned that Wendy would marry Julian instead, her jealousy soon turned to hatred. Because of that, Bianca staged a quarrel on the stairs, deliberately fell down, and accused Wendy of pushing her. In the end, Wendy was convicted of intentional assault and sent to prison, and during her two years of imprisonment, the torture she went through was worse than death. She'd once been grabbed by the hair and slammed into a wall for taking an extra spoonful of food, and it had left her bleeding profusely. Another time, she'd received over a dozen slaps and got her head stomped on until her face bled—all for failing to wash a fellow inmate's clothes. She remembered the blood mingling with her tears, trickling down into her collar from the corners of her mouth. But the most humiliating moment in prison was when her food was dumped on the floor, and Wendy was forced to eat it regardless. The day Wendy was released from prison, the drizzling sky hung heavy with gray clouds. As she carried her heartbroken and despairing spirit, she made her way to the rooftop of an abandoned building, ready to end her life. Yet, someone caught her wrist just as she was about to jump off the building. It was Julian. He was soaked halfway through from the rain, yet his gaze was unusually resolute. "Don't do anything foolish. The engagement still counts. I'll marry you." Wendy's voice trembled as she replied, "I've spent two years in prison. I was beaten, humiliated, and even… I'm filthy and unworthy of you." However, Julian didn't falter. Instead, he pulled her into his arms and shielded her from the wind. "You did nothing wrong. The filthy ones are those who hurt you. Believe me. Let me stay by your side from now on, alright?" Eventually, Julian did many things for her. He'd turned down a billion-dollar business deal to stay with her when she had period cramps. He'd bought out entire Michelin-star kitchens so that chefs could cook for her at any time. He'd even purchased houses in several cities so he could whisk her away for quiet and romantic getaways whenever he wanted. Those little moments of tenderness slowly lit up Wendy's dark and broken world. Gradually, she accepted him. Julian had held her hand on their wedding day and earnestly said, "Wendy, I swear I'll love you with all my life. I'll never lie to you nor betray you." At this thought, Wendy suddenly laughed. She laughed until her whole body trembled, until tears streamed down her face, and until the taste of blood filled her throat. How stupid she had been. The love she had cherished, the vows she had believed in, her husband, and her child were all lies. Meanwhile, the laughter continued in the private room. Someone nudged Adrian. "Adrian, was Wendy good in bed?" Adrian's voice carried undisguised contempt. "She has fair skin and a supple waist, but she's terribly insecure. She wouldn't dare refuse any position I demanded." "You haven't caught feelings for her, have you?" "How could that be?" Adrian scoffed. "She's nothing but a tool to satisfy my desires. How could I possibly have fallen for her?" Every word felt like a cut, tearing Wendy's heart to pieces. She couldn't stand it anymore. She tried to turn around to leave, but her foot hit an empty can by the corner. "Who's there?" The private room instantly fell silent.