Chapter 1

By family arrangement, I married Warren Dawson in place of my twin sister, Nadia Hatfield.

For six years, I lived with him, a man confined to a wheelchair, violent, paranoid, and cruel.

I was worn down to the edge of depression, yet I stayed. I cared for him patiently, believing that one day he would finally let me into his heart.

Then, on my birthday, Warren disappeared.

Terrified, I searched everywhere, reaching out to everyone I could think of until I finally found him on the shore by nightfall.

The man who had spent years in a wheelchair was standing.

He had his arm around Nadia, the two of them leaning close, watching fireworks explode across the sky.

"Surprise." Warren smiled at her. "Happy birthday."

It really was one heck of a surprise.

I was standing not far behind them.

I froze when I saw Nadia by Warren's side, looking exactly like me.

Nadia? When did she come back?

A loud crack echoed through the sky as the brilliant fireworks blossomed, gradually revealing a few large characters.

It read: [Nadia, happy birthday.]

Oh, it was for Nadia.

They noticed me standing behind them. Warren took Nadia's hand and came over to me.

Nadia said, "Anne, thanks for sticking it out these past six years. I was supposed to be engaged to Warren, and now I'm back. You're free now. You can go after your own happiness."

Nadia finished speaking, looking a little apologetic.

Staring at her face, which looked very much like mine, I suddenly found her so unfamiliar.

Six years ago, Nadia refused to marry Warren, the crippled man, and she insisted on going abroad to marry her foreign boyfriend at the time.

She said, "I'm not marrying that lame guy. I never liked him. I'm leaving for Logeria with Jack."

Nadia threw a huge tantrum at home, threatening to end her life, and my parents turned to me with pleading eyes.

I nodded. "Go, Nadia. You deserve to be happy."

In a family like ours, we didn't get to choose who we married. Marriages were about power and benefits.

I told myself that as long as one of us could find happiness, that was enough.

I just didn't want to see Nadia live a miserable life.

Nadia flew off to Logeria that very night, and I got ready to take her place and marry Warren the next day.

Warren looked at me, his gaze still icy, showing not a trace of warmth.

I couldn't help but glance at his legs and managed a smile. "Looks like your legs are healed. You can walk again. That's really good."

I'd spent six whole years helping Warren recover, just so he could stand on his own feet again.

His legs were physically sound, yet he couldn't stand. Doctors suspected a critical nerve was compressed.

Since I studied medicine, I refused to believe he'd have to spend his whole life in a wheelchair.

After we got married, I explored every possible method, both modern and traditional medicine, along with experimental treatments still under study.

At first, Warren really fought me on it.

He said, "Every doctor says it's hopeless. Are you just trying to make fun of me? I can't feel anything in my legs. They're useless."

He smashed the bottle used for keeping the pills. Glass was everywhere, and he pushed me down so hard that my hands were cut and bleeding.

I didn't get angry. Instead, I tried to comfort him. "It's okay. We'll get through this."

I could see how Warren ended up this way.

He had once been a golden boy, a dominant figure in business, decisive and ruthless, someone nobody in his circle dared to cross.

And yet this proud man, once untouchable, was now crippled, unable to stand.

That accident nearly killed him. He spent a whole month in the ICU before they managed to bring him back.

After that, Warren changed completely. He turned aggressive and harsh.

Since I married in place of my sister, and had annoyed him from the start, I became the one he took his anger out on.

Warren said coldly, "Don't imagine that because you look exactly like Nadia, I'm going to love you. It's never going to happen."

His indifference didn't stop me from caring deeply.

I always felt that one day I could reach him, that he would accept me.

Later, I patiently treated him myself. I prepared his medicine and performed acupuncture and rehabilitation exercises. I tried every method I could.

Maybe it was working, because Warren gradually stopped resisting my help.

Right now, he looked at me and said, "Nadia is back. You're free to go."

After saying this, Warren didn't even glance at me and walked away with Nadia.

That single sentence dismissed all six years of my hard work.

I spent the six best years of my youth on Warren, all for Nadia.

The fireworks kept exploding across the sky, dazzling and colorful, making my head spin.

I took a cab home alone, and the driver just muttered in awe along the way.

He said, "Man, those fireworks are insane. No wonder they cost 3 million dollars. I heard it was Mr. Dawson from the Dawson Group, putting on the whole thing for his wife's birthday. He treats her like a queen."

I sat in the back seat, smiling wryly to myself.