Chapter 1

Lucien Adler was convinced I was meant to be his wife, and he chased me relentlessly for seven years.

But on the night before our engagement, I accidentally overheard him talking to his friend.

"Lucien, you're really going to get engaged to Serena? What about that little dancer you've been keeping on the side?" his friend asked.

Lucien paused for a moment. "Serena's way too proud, like some cold, emotionless statue. Lina's different. She'd fall apart without me.

"Even after I get married, I'll still keep Lina around. Serena's so sensible, she won't make a fuss about it."

The next day, the girl Lucien kept on the side blew up our engagement party.

At the landing, she lost it and yanked me down the stairs with her. My ankle screamed in pain, but Lucien didn't hesitate, he threw himself over her to shield her.

She bolted to the terrace, leaning dangerously over the railing, and shrieked, "If you get engaged to her today, I'll die right in front of you!"

Lucien was frantic. He shoved me aside, ignoring my pain, and snapped, "Get out of the way! Your foot can be fixed, but Lina only has one life! If she jumps, I'll drag you down with her!"

In that moment, I felt utterly dead inside.

That night, I suffered through the pain of getting my ankle reset at the hospital, all alone. I never shed a single tear.

"Serena, it's just a surgery, can't you sign the papers yourself? Did you really have to blow up my phone and drag me back here for something so minor?" Lucien snapped.

"Lina just lost it and yanked you, do you really have to keep harping on it? I'm already worn out dealing with her. Can't you be a little more understanding and stop giving me a hard time?"

As soon as the call connected, Lucien's angry, annoyed voice hit me, full of frustration and blame.

It had been a whole night since Lina wrecked our engagement party, and Lucien disappeared with her, leaving me all alone.

This was the twentieth call I'd made.

And it was the only one he actually picked up.

Hearing the disgust in his voice, my fingertips went pale from gripping the phone so tightly. I held back my feelings and forced myself to state the facts. "She pulled me down the stairs on purpose."

"The doctor said my ligament is badly torn, and I need an immediate family member or partner to sign the consent form before they can operate. Can't you even take a moment to come sign for me?"

But Lucien hung up hard, the call ending with a sharp click.

I sighed and turned to the nurse. "Just bring me the waiver and consent forms. I'll sign them myself."

The surgeon looked uneasy and tried to persuade me. "Ms. Whitmore, maybe you should try reaching out to Mr. Adler again? He might really be busy and didn't catch how serious your condition is.

"When Ms. Moretti showed up last night, Mr. Adler had the hospital's top psychiatrist rush over in the middle of the night, afraid she'd have a breakdown.

"Even when you just twisted your ankle during ballet practice, Mr. Adler would practically tear down the orthopedic department, staying up for nights on end to ice your foot himself.

"This time, your injury is so bad you might have to say goodbye to the stage. If Mr. Adler finds out Ms. Moretti was behind it, there's no way he'd let her get away with it. After all, you're the one he truly treasures."

I gave a bitter, self-mocking smirk as I listened to the doctor.

Yeah, even strangers believed he loved me to his core.

Too bad, it was all just a facade.

After repeatedly asking, the hospital finally agreed to let me sign the consent form myself.

Right up until the moment I was about to be taken into surgery, deep down, I was still hoping Lucien would walk in and at least glance at my battered ankle.

But instead of Lucien showing up, I ended up stumbling across Lina's latest update.

It was an eye-catching GIF that felt like a slap in the face.

In the GIF, Lucien, whose hands had never touched housework, was patiently peeling an apple, slicing it into tiny pieces, and feeding them to Lina, his eyes full of affection.

The caption underneath said: "Seven years of admiration, and finally, I get your exclusive affection."

Lina was smiling triumphantly in the photo, flaunting her happiness.

Who would've thought that just a few months ago, this second-rate stand-in dancer was causing a scene, acting crazy right in front of me.

"I stuck by Lucien for seven whole years, without a name or a place! I was willing to do anything for him, but he just told me, cold as ice, that you, Serena, are the only one he ever sees as Mrs. Adler. Why do you get to have his heart?" she screamed.

"I busted my ass trying to learn ballet like you, just to please him, but he slapped me across the face! He called me a cheap imitation, said I'd never have your class or lightness!"

Lina was totally losing it, her face twisted with hate as she cursed me. "He said I was just a way to kill time, that he'd toss me aside the second you came back. Serena, why couldn't you have just died in Ville Lumière? Why did you have to come back and wreck my life?"

That whole fiasco ended with Lucien landing a vicious slap right across her face.

Right in front of me, he booted Lina out without mercy, his gaze cold as ice. "Don't ever disgust me again by showing up in front of me. You dare curse Serena in my presence? If you want to die, I won't stop you!"

Then he turned, wrapped me in his arms, and swore to the heavens, "Serena, you're the only one I'll ever love in this life. No one else is even fit to carry your shoes."

His promises still rang in my ears, but at the engagement party, he tossed me aside without a second thought and went straight for the woman he once claimed wasn't even worthy to carry my shoes.

He was so panicked, almost out of his mind, as if Lina was his untouchable weakness, the one thing nobody could ever mess with.

Not long after my ligament repair surgery, as the anesthesia started to fade, the door to my hospital room was slammed open.

Lucien burst in, looking frantic. For a moment, I thought he was finally here because he cared about me.

But he didn't even glance at my right leg in its heavy cast. He went straight for my handbag, grabbed it, and dumped everything out across the bed.