Chapter 1

After secretly loving Eric Flynn, the heir to Newton City's most powerful family, for years, I finally had the chance to save him from a blazing fire.

He told me then—once the scars on my face faded—he would propose.

Driven by that promise, I endured skin grafts despite severe rejection, pushing through fevers that spiked to 103°F, begging doctors to increase the medication until the scars faded nearly out of sight.

The day they did, I put on careful makeup and slipped into his office, hoping to surprise him.

Before I could reach his door, though, voices from the break room froze me in place.

"Mr. Flynn is totally whipped by Vivian Todd. He even started that fire just to keep her—the fake heiress—in the Todd family, and Allison Wayne got her face wrecked for it."

"The real heiress can't even show her face in public. If it weren't for the fake one holding down the fort, the whole family would be a joke. Honestly, it's brilliant."

"You guys should've seen Allison when she heard she might actually marry Mr. Flynn—her scars nearly split open from grinning so hard. What a clown."

"Seriously, even if she airbrushed her face until it was see-through, she still wouldn't be fit to touch Vivian's pinky!"

I froze in place, just about to confront Eric and demand the truth, when I saw him walk in, his face thunderous with anger as he barked, "What nonsense are you spouting?"

For a moment, my heart softened—I thought maybe I'd misunderstood him.

But then he said coolly, "Allison isn't even worthy to be compared to Vivian. Next time, don't let me hear you mention them together. It's filthy."

*****

The office went quiet for a moment, but then the snarky chatter picked right back up.

"Vivian is the Todd family's pampered princess, while Allison's just an ugly duckling."

"She actually thinks she can marry Mr. Flynn? That's like hilarious."

"Seriously, Allison was missing for years, and now she pops up out of nowhere wanting to be part of the family. She's obviously just here for the money."

Through the glass door, I saw Eric wearing a satisfied smirk.

He looked like he was genuinely pleased with how they were mocking me.

My breath caught, and tears streamed down my face before I could stop them.

For him, I wasn't afraid of pain—I would have risked my life without a second thought.

But in his eyes, I was just dirty.

Panic welled up inside me for no reason, and I spun around and ran, desperate to escape.

Once, I was the heiress everyone in Newton City envied.

The day I won the top prize in a jewelry design competition, I was finally acknowledged by the powerful Todd family.

But then came the fire. To save the man I loved, I was left disfigured.

The agony of my burns and the terror of my ruined face tormented me day after day.

I became timid and self-conscious.

I hid away in my dark room, shutting everyone out.

But Eric kept finding his way into my guarded heart, whispering in my ear, "Allison, no matter what you look like, you'll always be the brightest star in my heart."

He tied a red ribbon around my wrist and promised, "Allison, once your scars fade, let's get married."

Once, I thought he was my knight in shining armor, the one who would save me.

But in the end, he was the dragon who pulled me down into the darkness.

I wanted to rip off that red ribbon and throw it away, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Maybe he had his own reasons.

Maybe I should at least hear him out.

Hope flickered back to life inside me.

My cheeks burned with an unnatural flush from the rush of excitement.

I spun around and strode quickly toward him.

But before I could take two steps, my vision went black.

When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I saw was Eric's face, etched with worry.

"Allison, why are you running around when you're running a fever? What if something happened to you? Do you have any idea what I'd do?" he said, his voice tight with concern.

His anxious tone was so genuine that it made me question if I'd really heard those things.

But those vicious words clung to my mind like a curse, tightening around my nerves and refusing to let go.

I locked my gaze on his eyes, desperate to catch even the faintest flicker of dishonesty.

"Why aren't you saying anything? Are you hungry?" Eric asked, his voice soft and gentle.

He reached out and brushed his fingers over the barely visible scar on my face.

"Be good and just lie here and wait for me, okay? I'll go get you something to eat," he said, his tone warm and caring.

Before I could say a word, he gently ruffled my hair and walked out of the hospital room.

Maybe I just heard it wrong. I tried to convince myself. Eric cared about me so much—there was no way he'd ever say something like that, right?