Chapter 1

When the real heiress returned, James and I had been married for three years.

She looked at our clasped hands, her eyes reddening with grievance.

"So all those childhood promises to marry me were lies."

As soon as she spoke, James, who was usually calm and composed, instantly lost his rationality.

I watched their tightly embracing silhouettes and silently prepared the divorce papers.

The real heiress had returned, so it was time for me, the fake one, to exit the stage.

But James tore up the divorce agreement and forcefully kissed my lips:

"Lily, don't overthink it. I only see her as a sister."

That day, the stars in his eyes were especially dazzling.

I thought, perhaps he really belonged to me.

But it wasn't until the very end that I understood - what didn't belong to me never would.

In the Bennett family's private clinic, Claire was banging her head against the stark white wall like a madwoman, until it was dotted with blood stains.

This act was solely to keep James from leaving.

"Go ahead and leave! If you go, I'll kill myself. Then there will finally be no one left to interfere with you and that fake's lovey-dovey act."

Claire cried heartbrokenly, her swollen red eyes fixed on James as his hand touched the door handle.

"Claire, I haven't been home in three days already."

Though he said this, James's hand had already fallen away from the door.

"James, please, we're begging you. Stay with Claire a bit longer, alright?"

"This child has had such a hard life. She finally made it back home, only to suffer another shock. We're really afraid something might happen to her."

Mr. and Mrs. Bennett earnestly tried to persuade him to stay with Claire longer.

They had completely forgotten that I was James's wife.

I looked at James without a shred of hope.

Because I knew he would choose to stay.

As I expected, he sat back down by the hospital bed, allowing Claire to clutch his hand as she wept.

Perhaps out of guilt, he personally tended to the wound on her forehead, as if they were the married couple.