Chapter 1

I was Julian, the Sterling family’s adopted son for eleven years, a fake young master in an elite household.

Then, when I turned twenty-one, the real heir, Asher, returned.

From that moment on, my entire adoptive family showered Asher with affection. Even Chloe, my fiancée, gazed at him with a tenderness that meant she couldn’t bear for him to suffer even a little.

The contrast with me couldn't have been starker. My adoptive father called me trash, my adoptive mother branded me an ungrateful wretch, my adoptive sister Valerie demanded I vacate my position as the Sterling family's son for Asher, and my fiancée insisted I hand over the prestigious university placement I'd worked three years to secure.

If I dared to disagree, the torment would begin.

Today, I sought out Chloe precisely because I couldn’t endure the torture any longer. I decided to give in.

The heavy mansion gates finally swung open, and Chloe gazed at me with an icy stare, where I'd been standing, drenched and shivering, for two agonizing hours.

"Chloe, I agree. I'll give Asher my university placement."

"It would have been so much easier if you'd just listened earlier," she said, holding an umbrella over me as she led me inside.

A rare flicker of satisfaction danced in Chloe's usually aloof eyes.

She poured me a cup of hot water, a fleeting softness on her face. "Julian, it's good you've come to your senses. Your grades are exceptional; missing out on university isn't really that important."

"Asher is different. He was stuck in a disadvantaged neighborhood for years. His education suffered, he's behind in his studies. It's rare for him to show this ambition, so just help him out this time."

Chloe's tone, seemingly gentle yet utterly resolute, conveyed a certainty that I would bend to her will.

I stared at the woman I loved, so close to me, and my body began to tremble uncontrollably. I felt a chill that cut deeper than any rain-soaked cold outside.

This was the woman I had loved for eleven years, my girlfriend, my fiancée.

It was only today that I truly understood. She wasn't born cold-hearted.

She simply… didn’t love me.