Chapter 1
My daughter Nellie was critically ill and urgently needed a bone marrow transplant.
My husband of five years, Ulrich Lucier, embraced his lover while mocking me cruelly, “Want to save your daughter? Beg and grovel at my feet first, and then leave without taking anything!”
To save my daughter, I had no choice but to beg and grovel in front of this man.
In the depths of my despair, a convoy of black luxury cars cruised to a halt at the hospital entrance.
A man with an imposing demeanor marched right into the lobby and suddenly punched Ulrich.
He then bent down to help me up. His eyes were ablaze with fury as he roared, "Who dares lay a finger on our Fulcher family's princess?"
What a shocker! It turned out that the meek and submissive daughter-in-law of the Lucier family was actually the Fulcher family's precious biological daughter, one they would stop at nothing to bring back into their fold…
*****
"Want to save your daughter? Sure. Grovel at my feet," Ulrich looked down at me with the utmost derision.
Every word from Ulrich stabbed my heart like a shard of ice.
Right now, he was holding the woman who was his university crush in his arms. Her name was Cherika Souchet.
Cherika was leaning and nuzzling against him suggestively while casting me taunting glances.
"Ulrich, don't be mean. Winona doesn’t know what's good for her," she purred with pretentious sympathy.
"Winona, just listen to Ulrich. Nellie can't afford to wait any longer," she added, with a sinister undertone.
Nellie was lying in the ICU now. Her daily hospital bill was astronomical, but I could not even afford a single day's bill despite selling off everything I owned.
I stared at Ulrich in despair. This was the man I had loved for five years, given up my dreams for, and built a home around.
There was no trace of pity in his eyes except extreme contempt and disgust.
"Winona, I'm losing my patience. Grovel at my feet, sign the divorce papers, and leave empty-handed. Only then will I pay for Nellie's treatment," Ulrich repeated his ultimatum.
My knees buckled at this point. Between dignity and my daughter's life, I would always choose my daughter.
I shut my eyes tightly as tears of humiliation streamed down my face. I crawled unsteadily on my knees toward Ulrich and the documents next to him.
Each time my knee dragged across the sterile lobby floor felt like it was tearing off whatever remaining shreds of dignity I had left.
It also completely destroyed the last figment of hope I still held out for that thing called "love."
Once I reached the divorce papers, he broke into a cruel grin.
"Good. Sign it," he said as he shoved the divorce papers in my face.
Just as I reached out with shaking hands to take the divorce papers…
Bang! The hospital lobby doors were flung wide open from the outside.
A squad of black-clad bodyguards streamed in swiftly and surrounded us in a wide flank.
Next, a man dressed impeccably in a bespoke suit marched in. His dignified bearing was so overbearing that it was almost suffocating.
His piercing gaze swept across the room before finally locking onto me.
When he saw me on my knees, an overflowing rage burst forth from his unfathomable eyes.
Without hesitation, he strode forward and punched Ulrich in the face without warning.
Caught by surprise, Ulrich fell backward and hit the wall hard with a loud grunt.
Cherika gave a horrified scream as she steadied herself on her feet.
The man in the smart suit didn't even give them a second glance. He immediately crouched down and carefully helped me to my feet with a pair of immaculately manicured masculine hands.
His actions were so gentle that it was as if he were holding the most precious thing in the world.
I stared at him in shock as myriad thoughts popped into my mind. 'Who is this stranger? Why is he…'
Before I could recover myself, that man bellowed furiously, "Who dares lay a finger on our Fulcher family's princess?"
He was so angry that red veins could be seen on his bulging eyeballs, and his chest was heaving vehemently.
"Who... who are you? How dare you hit me?" Ulrich demanded.
Clutching his cheek, he staggered to his feet with an incredulous look.
The ashen-faced Cherika immediately cowered behind Ulrich and stared fearfully at the angry man before them.
The man stepped in front of me to shield me with his body. He squared up to Ulrich with a look of murderous contempt as he growled, "Chevel Fulcher."
A deathly silence hung over the lobby after the man announced his name.
Ulrich froze for a second. Then, as realization dawned on him, his face became ghostly pale.
"The... the Fulcher family? You mean the Fulcher family from the capital city?" he stammered in a trembling voice.
Chevel didn't answer. Instead, he took out a silk handkerchief and gently wiped away the tear stains on my face.
"My dear baby sister, I'm sorry for not coming sooner. You have suffered so much…" He kept talking, but my mind was no longer digesting his words.
'Baby sister? This fellow is my brother?' I blinked in bewilderment.
I was abandoned as an infant and grew up in an orphanage. How could I possibly have an older brother?
Chevel noticed my puzzled reaction, so he explained in a gentle voice, "Twenty-five years ago, you were taken away by someone from the hospital due to a mix-up. We've been searching for you ever since.
"Your biological father is Zayden Fulcher, and your mother is Wenda Lange.
"And I'm your older brother, Chevel," he proclaimed with obvious pride.
I gaped at him foolishly as my brain was unable to digest so much shocking news in one go.
Even Ulrich and Cherika were left speechless by the bombshell.
Gradually, the reality sank in. Winona Guignard was the long-lost daughter of the influential Fulcher family…