Chapter 1

I grew up without a mother, and somewhere along the way, I fell for Liana Flores—Julian Windsor's mom.

I wanted her to notice me, so I went after Julian. I flirted, I pushed, I made myself impossible to ignore.

It worked. Julian fell for me hard.

The second I found out I was pregnant, I rushed to Liana like I'd won some kind of prize.

"Liana, look. We're having a baby." I grabbed her hands, breathless. "You can marry Julian off to whoever you want now. You and me, we can finally be together."

She stared at me like I'd just told her the sky was green.

Right. She had no idea I was in love with her.

I turned around, and there was Julian. He was standing in the doorway with his prayer beads wrapped around his fingers, and his eyes were locked on me.

The good news? Liana finally believed I wasn't with her son for his money.

The bad news? Julian locked me up and threw away the key.

*****

I was an orphan, and from the time I was little, my brain worked differently from everyone else's.

Liana was our orphanage's donor, and I'd been completely fixated on her since I was a kid.

It was all because she'd once handed me a piece of candy herself, something sweet and tangy that dissolved on my tongue. I was convinced that was what love tasted like.

It sounded ridiculous, but I was jealous of Julian. Jealous that he could call her Mom with that smug look on his face, jealous that he could act like a spoiled brat around her and get away with it.

I wanted to replace him in her heart, but Julian was her biological son. In this lifetime, I could never be her real daughter.

One day, I overheard her complaining to her secretary, some guy with an eight-pack, "It's such a shame I only have Julian. Just the one child."

I spent days thinking about it, and finally came up with the perfect solution. If I gave Julian a baby, we'd be connected by blood, and Liana would have to notice me then.

When I was eight years old, I made a solemn vow to the moon that this would be my goal.

From that point on, every year when Julian came to the orphanage with Liana, I stuck to him like glue.

Julian looked at me with pure disgust. He hated me and pretended I didn't exist.

For someone from his kind of family, countless girls were throwing themselves at him for his body and his bank account, so it made sense that he'd be sick of me, too.

But that didn't stop me from becoming Julian's personal secretary and mistress once I was old enough.

Because I was obedient, and obedient people were helpful.

Julian had this line he loved to throw at me. "Sophie Brooks, my mother will never let someone as scheming as you through our door. All I can offer you is money, so take what you can get and leave. Got it?"

Every single time, I'd stand there in my elegant business suit and nod with tears in my eyes.

Then I'd tilt my head back at exactly forty-five degrees, letting the light catch my profile just right, and that single tear would roll down my cheek in a perfect arc.

I said, "I know you don't love me. But I don't care, and I don't want your money either. I just want to be with you for a little while. I'm not trying to trap you forever."

And just like that, Julian would fall for it every time.

Not because I was that irresistible.

But because I'd mastered the art of copying his first love, Charlotte, down to every last detail. I'd studied her until I could mirror ninety percent of everything she was.

Julian's first love was Charlotte Rivers, and she was obsessed with looks.

She took one look at Julian back when he was five foot ten and three hundred pounds and wanted nothing to do with him.

And he'd gotten that big because Liana had spoiled him rotten.

God, I envied that. The jealousy ate at me constantly.

That year, the city was filled with roses and fireworks as Julian stood there sobbing his heart out, all that grand romantic gesture falling flat.

He said he would follow in his father's footsteps and become a priest to heal his broken heart.

Liana stood nearby, her mask pulled up tight, showing only her eyes, which were stunning and impossibly cold as they surveyed the scene.

She refused to acknowledge that this pathetic mess was her son.

I couldn't look away. I was transfixed.

And I saw my opening. I rushed forward like some eager puppy and announced that I could heal Julian's broken heart.

Liana glanced at me, and her gaze was seventy percent indifference, thirty percent distance.

Maybe it was because I looked so desperate and my intentions were written all over my face, but she seemed convinced I wasn't a threat. That I couldn't cause any real trouble.

From that moment on, I became Julian's "personal caretaker," and I earned the right to come and go from Windsor Manor whenever I pleased.

The woman I loved was right in front of me, but I couldn't tell her how I felt. It hurt so much.

All I could do was pour every ounce of energy into making Julian happy.

If he were pleased, then Liana would be satisfied.

From that day on, wherever he went, I followed. When he went to school, I went with him.

When he worked on his rosary beads, I handed him the strings.

When he wanted water, I made him coffee instead.

When he chased after girls, I wrote the love letters for him.

What he didn't know was that I'd been scaring those girls away behind his back.

I couldn't let another woman get to him first, not before I had a chance to carry Liana's child.

Finally, when I turned twenty, news came that Charlotte had gotten engaged.

Julian got wasted over Charlotte, so I swooped in. Okay, fine, I was cleaning up his mess.

That night, I only had one thought running through my mind. Replace him. Become him. Push him out of the picture.

I wanted to be with Liana forever.

But when I woke up, Julian grabbed my chin and forced me to drink a whole bowl of Plan B.

He said I was a vicious woman, and he'd never let me get pregnant with his child, no matter what.

All my scheming was for nothing, and I burst into tears right there on the spot.

I sobbed my heart out.

Julian caved immediately. He pinched my cheek and gave me this helpless smile.

"You really like me that much, huh? Fine, fine. I promise you'll be my only woman until we get married. Happy now?"

I stopped crying instantly.