Chapter 1

After my twin sister, Veronica Nunez, accidentally killed someone on stage, my uncle, Jaxton Nunez, didn't blink before pushing me out to take the fall.

My fiancé, Kolson Sawyer, went online and posted, swearing up and down that I was the one on stage.

For four years, I was blacklisted, bullied by newcomers, and my throat was destroyed by boiling water.

Day and night, the torment never stopped until I found out I had a terminal illness.

With little time left, I finally managed to survive until my contract expired.

"Edith, after you're out, keep your head down and stay out of the spotlight," they warned me.

After my contract ended, I didn't go home. Instead, I started over under a new name on Mistral Isle, thousands of miles away, taking whatever work I could find in a dusty old record shop.

I bought myself a burial plot.

I thought I'd never cross paths again with the three people who ruined everything for me.

But then, one day, a figure holding a black umbrella stopped in front of my tombstone. "Excuse me, does anyone ever come to visit this grave?"

My hand, wiping the tombstone, froze.

Hearing that familiar voice again, I felt unreal, like a ghost from my past had suddenly appeared.

The cold rain tapped against the umbrella.

I didn't look up, my voice emotionless. "No one comes. The owner has no family."

Jaxton paused for a second and then, recognizing me, let out a low chuckle. "Do you have any idea how long I've been searching for you? Edith, do you have a heart?"

I looked up. It had been so many years since I last saw him. He was rocking a perfectly tailored suit, his watch gleaming, his presence almost overwhelming. Meanwhile, illness had left me gaunt.

Seeing the anger flicker in his eyes, I couldn't help but think how ironic it all was. "Did Veronica get herself into trouble again? And now you want me to take the blame for her?"

A flicker of guilt flashed across Jaxton's eyes, gone almost before I could catch it. "Veronica's voice is too valuable for her to suffer. So, you took the fall and got blacklisted for four years. Why are you still bitter about that?"

His tone was as cutting as ever, like when he personally sent me to the basement four years ago.

"Veronica is too fragile for any real suffering. Isn't it your job as her sister to take the hit for a few years?" he'd said at that time.

Snapping back to reality, I forced a smile, my words slow and deliberate. "I can't let it go."

Jaxton froze. "Stop being stubborn. Come home with me."

He reached out, grabbed my wrist, and pulled me up with barely any effort.

"Let go of me." I struggled with all my strength, my emotions surging so much that my throat tightened, making it hard to breathe.

Jaxton stopped and finally looked at me properly. "What's wrong with you?"

Seeing that fake panic in Jaxton's eyes, I found it absurd. "If you really cared about me, then give me the justice I deserve."

I jerked my hand free, fighting back a cough. "Tell everyone what really happened."

Jaxton shot back, "Do you want to ruin Veronica's future?"

As the CEO who practically ran half the entertainment industry and could make any scandal disappear, he still wouldn't say a single word to clear his niece's name.

If he knew I could barely speak now, he'd probably be pleased.

After all, Veronica was the company's star singer. Whenever I won the Best Song Award, she'd always cry.

My heart, frozen numb for so long, still felt a stab of pain, like a needle piercing through the ice.

"Then why are you here?" I couldn't make sense of it, my voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Edith, even though you took the fall for Veronica and got blacklisted for four years, it's not that big a deal," Jaxton said, frowning and sighing. "I can support you for your whole life.

"That's still way better than you wasting away in the middle of nowhere, working in some dusty old record shop. Don't act like you don't know what's good for you."

He practically forced me into the black luxury car. "Where are you living now?"

I didn't have the strength to argue anymore, so I gave him my address, emotionally numb.

The car pulled up at the mouth of a rundown alley.

This place was so out of the way that two cars couldn't squeeze past each other.

Jaxton trailed behind me. His pace slowed to a crawl compared to earlier.