Chapter 1
Inside the Kingston Bay Grand Hotel's ballroom, the crystal chandeliers were so dazzling that they made my eyes ache.
I stood at the end of the red carpet, my fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of my wedding dress.
The emcee leaned in and whispered, "Ms. Clement, Mr. Bennett will be here any moment."
I nodded, keeping a flawless smile.
The guest seats were packed with Kingston Bay's elites.
Everyone was waiting to witness the engagement between the Clement family's adopted daughter and Bennett Group's heir.
The crowd whispered, "Word is, Mr. Bennett was supposed to marry the real Lynn heiress."
"Who could've guessed some random girl would show up out of nowhere and steal the marriage?"
"An adopted daughter? Seriously, does she even deserve this?"
Whispers slithered into my ears like venomous snakes.
I pretended not to hear, letting my gaze sweep over the front row.
My adoptive mother, Helen Lynn, sat elegantly in a custom dress, chatting with her neighbor. She didn't even glance at me.
Suddenly, the doors to the ballroom swung open. Lucas Bennett strode in, dressed in a tailored suit.
He looked even more handsome than in the photos. His features were sharp and striking.
The room erupted in applause.
Lucas walked quickly toward me, but his eyes drifted past me, landing on Helen.
He said, his voice flat and emotionless, "Ellie, you look beautiful tonight."
The emcee had just started reciting the engagement vows when Lucas's phone suddenly rang.
He glanced at the screen, and his expression changed in an instant.
"Excuse me, I need to take this call," Lucas said as he hurried out of the ballroom.
The guests started whispering again.
My palms were slick with cold sweat.
Ten minutes later, Lucas finally returned to the ballroom.
His face was a mess of emotions—relief mixed with guilt. He looked at me and said, "Ellie, we need to talk."
He took my hand and led me to a quiet corner. "The engagement is off."
I froze. "Why?"
Lucas's gaze dropped to the pendant hanging around my neck. "You know why. That isn't something you should be wearing."
I instinctively clutched the pendant. It was a gift from Helen on my eighteenth birthday.
"Lucas, what's really going on?" I asked.
Lucas sneered. "The real Lynn heiress is back. She's my true fiancée."
He scanned me from head to toe, his voice dripping with disdain. "And you... You're nothing but a fake."
With that, he turned and walked away.
The whole room erupted in shock. I stood there, unable to move at all.
Just then, the ballroom doors were thrown open. Five masked men stormed in.
"Where's Ellie Clement?" the leader barked.
The guests screamed and scattered in panic.
Before I could even react, someone yanked my hair and dragged me to the floor.
"You filthy bitch! How dare you try to steal our miss's man?" one of them spat.
Boiling water was splashed right onto my face.
I screamed, and my skin burned like hell.
"Word is you're pretty good at seducing men, huh?" one said.
Another thug clamped his hand around my neck, pried my mouth open, and started pouring boiling water down my throat, one pot after another.
My throat burned, like a thousand needles were stabbing me at once.
"Look at her pathetic face," one of them sneered.
They tore my wedding dress open, and the icy blade pressed right against my chest.
I screamed, my body jerking uncontrollably from the pain.
They started carving a word into my flesh—"SLUT".
Blood streamed down my skin, soaking my white wedding dress in crimson.
"Stop it!" a familiar voice rang out.
Helen burst in with security, and the thugs scattered in a flash.
"Ellie, my dear!" Helen shouted, frantically stripping off her coat and wrapping it around me.
Everything started to blur before my eyes.
The sirens of the ambulance were getting closer, echoing in my ears.
"Mom..." I tried to speak, but all that came out was a breath.
"Don't be afraid. I'm right here," Helen said.
I was carried onto a stretcher and loaded into the ambulance.
The pain left me barely conscious.
The hospital corridor lights flickered overhead.
"Her vocal cords are badly burned. She might never speak again. Third-degree burns cover thirty percent of her body. We need to operate immediately." I could hear the doctors talking, but my eyelids felt too heavy to lift.
The doors to the operating room slammed shut, and then swung open again. I was wheeled straight into the ICU.
*****
It was late at night. The hospital room was dead silent.
I heard Helen and Lucas talking.
"I had the thugs shipped overseas. No one will ever trace them back to you," Helen said, her voice icy.
"If you wanted to stop Ellie from reuniting with her real mother, you could've just told me. I would've convinced her to disappear into a small town. Why ruin her life like this?" Lucas sighed.
Helen said helplessly, "She insisted on working at her birth mother's company, trying to be some career powerhouse. To keep her identity a secret, I had no choice but to take drastic measures.
"She's my real daughter, after all. I couldn't let her lose her place as the heiress. So I had to make this sacrifice."
"She gave me her first time, and I promised I'd cherish her forever." Lucas paused. "She may have lost her voice and her career, but I gave her a villa of her own.
"She can be my wife, a CEO's wife. That should be enough for her."
A tear slid down my cheek.
So that was the truth. I wasn't some unlucky girl who got swapped at birth. I was a carefully crafted sacrifice in their scheme.