Chapter 2

It wasn't until I was hooked up to an IV drip that I received a call from **Alistair**.

"Where are you? Did you get lost throwing up, or are you throwing a tantrum?"

His tone carried an implicit note of displeasure.

I paused. "At the hospital, on an IV."

He chuckled. "Spending all these years with me has made you quite delicate, hasn't it?"

I didn't say anything, just looked up at the flickering fluorescent light above me.

Perhaps the light was too harsh, stinging my eyes, filling them with tears.

"I'll have my driver pick you up from the hospital later. No one else takes care of me as thoroughly as you do."

With that, **Alistair** hung up.

He had injured his legs and ears saving **Seraphina** back then.

**Seraphina** abandoned him and went abroad, and I married into the Vance family in her place.

Because **Alistair** was paralyzed, we didn't even have a marital life.

I, his wife in name only, was nothing more than his personal caregiver.

When I got home late that night, **Seraphina** was already asleep.

**Alistair** was waiting for me in his study.

He'd had some wine, looking at me hazily. "The money has been transferred to your card."

"Okay."

"Audrey, don't blame me. Sera has never suffered any grievances since she was a child. She's not like you."

I sniffled and softly said, "I understand."

"Mr. Vance, I'd like to go abroad next month to see an art exhibition, if I may?"

**Alistair** smiled. "Of course, you can."

"Audrey, see? Your so-called dreams are only worth this much money, aren't they?"

I said yes.

Perhaps due to the alcohol, he leaned back in his wheelchair, eyelids heavy with drowsiness.

Looking at that face, which was maybe thirty percent similar to the one in my memory.

I reached out, took off his hearing aid, and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Liam."

Just that one name, and tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.

"It's been seven years. Please, let me find you next month, okay?"

5

Perhaps because I was going to look for him.

That night, I dreamed of **Liam** again.

We grew up in the same orphanage.

He was always brave and had a strong sense of justice.

Later, he became a SWAT officer.

I wanted to study art, to go to art school, and he sent me all his income.

"Go to a good art studio, don't skimp on materials."

He came to visit me at school, ruffled my hair, and slipped me a debit card.

"You just pursue your dreams. Leave everything else to me, Audrey."

I wanted to become a famous painter, to make **Liam** proud of me.

But all of that was destroyed by **Seraphina Hayes**.

The second month after my fingers were broken, **Liam** returned from a mission.

He almost lost his mind.

The unit's expert marksman, capable of shooting accurately from thousands of yards away, his bullet never deviating from its trajectory.

But he held my hand, trembling uncontrollably.

He couldn't suppress the anger in his voice. "I'll kill them."

"Don't say such things, **Liam**."

I rested my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes wearily. "I'm so tired."

"I need to sleep for a bit."

For that entire month, my injuries healed slowly.

**Alistair** kept sending people to torment me mentally.

Every day, I woke up repeatedly from pain and nightmares.

It wasn't until I leaned against **Liam**, smelling his familiar scent, that I finally relaxed.

The Hayes family's influence was too great, and they had the Vance family allied with them.

They produced a psychiatric diagnosis certificate for **Seraphina**.

And paid me a large sum for medical expenses.

**Liam** was a man of integrity and honor, risking his life to protect others.

But he was helpless against **Seraphina Hayes**.

After I recovered, he returned to his unit.

Before he left, he held me and promised, "One day, I'll see **Seraphina Hayes** brought to justice."

"You believe me, Audrey."

Tears streaming down my face, I nodded desperately.

I had always believed him.

I just… didn't wait for him.

6

With **Alistair's** relentless help, **Seraphina Hayes** perfectly integrated back into the social circles within half a month of her return.

The night before I was to leave the country, I dropped them off at a business meeting and prepared to head back.

"My flight is early tomorrow morning."

I softly told **Alistair**, "Mr. Vance, I'll head back and rest now."

He nodded, his expression indifferent.

**Seraphina**, standing nearby, suddenly spoke up. "Hold it."

She held a glass of red wine, tilting her head slightly as she looked at me. "I heard you're going abroad to see an art exhibition?"

"Your hands are useless, you can't even hold a paintbrush. **Audrey Stone**, are you still dreaming of being a great artist?"

I ignored her and continued towards the door.

She directly smashed the wine glass against my back. The wine splashed out, staining the back of my dress.

"Did I say you could leave?"

**Seraphina** lowered her voice. "Get back here and help me drink tonight."

"Anyway, you common folk, you're born to serve."

I froze in place, unmoving.

**Alistair** sighed softly, speaking to me with a resigned yet indulgent tone. "Listen to Sera, Audrey."

"Otherwise, I'll have to cancel your flight for tomorrow."

In that moment.

I suddenly thought of **Liam** again.

Back in the art studio, the first time **Seraphina Hayes** publicly humiliated me.

She pinched her nose, standing several feet away, and said loudly, "It stinks."

"How dare people like you stay in the same art studio as us?"

That night, I called **Liam**.

"Are people born with different statuses, high or low?"

He was on his way to a mission then.

The car window was open.

The wind from the open field whistled through the phone into my ear.

**Liam's** voice was slightly muffled, but it seemed to carry the force of a thunderclap. "Audrey, all humans are born equal."

"No matter where they're born or raised, for example, right now, the same moon shines on all of us."

7

Under **Alistair's** protection, no one dared to mention **Seraphina Hayes's** messy divorce anymore.

Everyone praised her instead.

"I hear Ms. Hayes is a renowned painter and artist abroad."

"Her works are priceless, even royal families from various countries compete to buy them."

**Seraphina** was very pleased, her smile elegant.

"You all flatter me. I just have a bit of talent for painting."

She was allergic to alcohol, so she couldn't drink.

I had to drink for her.

That night, I went to the restroom several times to throw up.

My neck broke out in red rashes.

When I went back, I happened to hear people quietly discussing.

"That woman Seraphina is with, is that Mr. Vance's wife? She looks so much like her."

"What wife? She's just a servant. She sold herself to be a stand-in for money, lost all her dignity."

"That knockoff will be kicked out of the family soon, won't she?"

A few people laughed, their eyes full of scorn.

My back was soaked with cold sweat. I leaned against the hallway wall, trying to catch my breath.

I opened my phone.

**Alistair** had transferred another million.

"I hung 'Moonlight Over the Wild' in the exhibition. Sera is in a bad mood, don't blame her."

I knew.

Recently, she was holding an art exhibition, and someone offered a high price, wanting her to paint another piece exactly like 'Moonlight Over the Wild.'

But that painting wasn't by **Seraphina Hayes**.

It was a piece I’d painted after that phone call with **Liam**, when I was seventeen, staying up all night.

Later, to raise money, I sold it for twenty thousand dollars.

After marrying **Alistair**, I found out he was the anonymous buyer.

The wind in the wilderness had shape, and the moonlight shone equally on every piece of land.

This was something **Seraphina Hayes**, who constantly called people "inferior," could never paint.

8

The seventh year.

I finally found the photographer who took that picture.

"Do you know where he is now?"

He shook his head.

Seeing my disappointment, he hesitated, then lowered his voice.

"Actually, I photographed this person again six months ago."

I stiffened abruptly.

"But the place where the photo was taken is very dangerous. If I expose it to you, I'll have to move from here immediately and move across the ocean."

"If you want it, you'll have to pay a high price."

I was still two million short of the money I needed.

After returning home, I found **Alistair**.

Before he could say anything, **Seraphina Hayes**, who was beside him, laughed.

"How shameless. Do you really think you're worth that much money?"

I ignored her, my gaze fixed on **Alistair**. "Mr. Vance, whatever your terms, just name them."

He met my desperate gaze, a slight愣.

But still said, "**Audrey**, Sera isn't happy lately. I need to console her."

"This matter, she'll decide."

**Seraphina** looked at me, smiling slowly.

"Audrey Stone, aren't you proud that your talent is higher than mine? Don't you despise us rich people the most?"

"You want money? Fine, then get on your knees and beg me."

The moment I knelt before her.

My lips were chapped and bleeding.

**Seraphina** suddenly burst into laughter.

"You actually believed that? How stupid can you be?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Just kidding."

"Back when I broke your hands, your brother went to my uncle just like that, saying he'd bring me to justice—he didn't know that when he was begging like that, I was sitting right next door, enjoying the show."

"Your brother is just like you, naive and foolish, one of those common folk."

"I heard he died? Well, that's truly—"

She leaned slightly closer, her smile as sweet as a poisonous flower, mesmerizing.

"Per-fect."

The taut string in my mind snapped.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I was grabbing her hair, slamming her head against the edge of the table.

I bit into her shoulder, wanting to tear a piece of flesh off.

**Seraphina** had never suffered like this. Tears streamed down her face from the pain.

But she was used to living in luxury, utterly no match for my strength.

"Audrey Stone, are you insane?!"

She struggled desperately to push me away, screaming hysterically, "You rabid dog!"

Finally, **Alistair**, sitting in his wheelchair, called for the butler and servants.

His face was cold, for the first time dropping his facade of gentle politeness in front of me.

"Audrey, you've been married into this family for seven years, and you still haven't learned what decorum means."

"I've been too good to you, letting you lose your sense of proportion."

When I was forcibly pulled away by several people, my mouth was full of blood.

**Seraphina** was nearly hysterical.

She slapped me twice, then ordered the others to drag me into the bathroom.

The bathtub was filled with cold water.

My face was shoved in. Water flooded my nostrils and eyes, making me tremble and convulse with pain.

Just as I was about to suffocate, I was yanked up by my hair.

And shoved back down again.

In the second before I lost consciousness.

I wondered.

When **Liam** fell into the open sea.

Was it like this too?

Was he this desperate too?

Did he think of me like this?

9

**Seraphina Hayes's** attack was too brutal.

In the end, I was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

I fell seriously ill.

As compensation, **Alistair** transferred three million dollars to me.

He said, "It's more than what you asked for, so don't make a fuss with me anymore, Audrey."

I didn't bother arguing with him. I transferred the money, wanting to buy that photo.

But the money was sent back.

The photographer's account was deactivated.

I sat blankly in the hospital.

The sunlight poured in like molten gold through the window, illuminating me.

But I felt like I couldn't perceive any warmth at all.

I don't know how much time passed, but then there was a knock on the door.

I looked up and saw a serious-looking middle-aged man.

On the day I was discharged, he led me into an unassuming, secret small building.

"The situation is very dangerous. Don't look for **Liam** anymore. We can't even contact him right now."

He said, "Whether he's alive or dead, we'll have an answer in at most a month."

I looked at him blankly. "So, he's not dead?"

"He wasn't before, but now it's hard to say. His mission is extremely dangerous. He went off-grid a week ago."

Tears streamed down my face.

My voice trembling, I asked, "Then why didn't he let you tell me?"

"Liam knew you were married, and that you married... **Alistair Vance**."

"He said it was to avoid disturbing you."

"He wanted you to believe he died seven years ago."

...

When I left the small building, darkness had fallen.

I looked at the setting sun, feeling as if fate had played a cruel joke on me.

When I returned, **Alistair** was waiting in his wheelchair in the villa's courtyard.

Seeing me, he spoke in a low voice, "Where did you go after the hospital, Audrey?"

"Are you mad at me?"

I looked at his arrogant face, subtly hinting at displeasure.

In truth, it bore only a fleeting resemblance to **Liam's** sharp, battle-hardened face after going through so many life-or-death situations.

I just... I just missed him too much.

Even that small resemblance was enough to pull me back from the brink of suffocation.

But after today, it seemed everything was meaningless.

I walked past him numbly, ignoring him.

But my wrist was grabbed.

"If it's about Sera, I admit, I did favor her a bit."

His tone was deliberately softened.

As if he'd made a huge concession for me.

"As compensation, I'll have my assistant transfer another sum of money to you."

"Don't make a scene anymore."

I didn't speak, just stared into the distance, at the setting sun during twilight.

It was swallowed by the distant mountains, little by little.

The moment night fell, I spoke quietly.

"Alistair, let's get a divorce."

10

He frowned, warning me, "These years, I've really spoiled you, made you forget your place."

"Who else would give someone in your position this much money if you leave me?"

I covered my face and laughed. "What use is money to me?"

"Useless? Did you forget how you knelt and begged me before?"

I ignored him, simply placing the drafted divorce papers on his desk.

And moved out of the Vance mansion.

Days passed.

A month later, I received an invitation from the orphanage where I grew up.

To attend their charity fundraiser.

These days, **Alistair** initially thought I was just sulking, not wanting me to push my luck.

Later, he seemed to realize I was serious.

And started lowering himself to coax me.

"Don't make a fuss with me, Audrey."

"Come back, and I'll have Sera personally apologize to you."

I never replied.

On the day of the fundraiser.

I walked onto the stage and immediately spotted **Alistair** in the audience.

He was staring intently at me.

The host asked me, "I hear Ms. Stone grew up in this orphanage and has made multiple donations since."

"Yes, I want the children who come after to have a better life."

This was something **Liam** had been doing ever since he graduated.

He was gone, so it fell to me.

"As far as I know, Ms. Stone had a brother who grew up with her here, working a very commendable profession, named **Liam Carter**?"

Hearing **Liam's** name, I suddenly froze.

My gaze swept across the room, then settled on a dim corner of the hall.

The heart in my chest suddenly began to pound wildly.

It took a long time to find my voice. "...Not my brother."

"He's not my brother."

"Liam is six years older than me, but I never called him brother, because I love him."

Below the stage, **Alistair**, sitting in his wheelchair, his face abruptly turned ashen.

The most fervent, unmasked affection of my life had always been reserved for **Liam** alone.

The host was stunned. "But... Ms. Stone seems to be connected to Mr. Vance, who is also here tonight—"

"It was just a transaction. **Alistair** and I are already divorced."

I said, "Thank you, Mr. Vance, for the compensation all these years, which gave me ample funds to search for **Liam**."

"Whether he's alive or dead, I had to find him."

"He will always be a hero in my heart."

As I said these words, I didn't look at **Alistair**, whose eyes were red.

I just stared intently at that dim corner.

Watching that familiar figure step out of the shadows.

Into the light.

Walking step by step toward me.

He was so much thinner, his cheeks slightly sunken, and exposed skin was covered in scars.

But those cold, sharp eyes were fixed on me, bright as stars, softening in an instant.

"Now, you've found me."