Chapter 1
On the eve of my wedding to a crippled man, I stumbled upon a chilling conversation between Alaric and my brother, Wesley.
"You're ruthless," Alaric said. "To let your own sister marry a cripple just so I can be with Larissa."
Wesley replied calmly, "I can't bear to see Larissa suffer. My sister doesn't matter—so long as you and Larissa are happy."
After a long silence, Alaric admitted, "I once thought I loved your sister. But ever since Larissa came along, she's the only one I see."
Larissa, the orphan my family adopted, while I—Raeyon—am the true daughter of the Aviir family.
I stood frozen in the corridor, thunderstruck. Before they could come out, I fled back to my room, my heart shattering.
The two people I trusted most had set a cruel trap, all for the sake of an outsider.
*****
When Wesley and Byron once again hinted at how they couldn't bear to let Larissa take my place in the marriage, I felt nothing inside.
Wesley saw me lower my head without saying a word. After a long while, he forced out a smile that looked even worse than crying.
He said, "Raeyon, Alaric may be paralyzed after that accident, but who knows? Maybe one day he'll walk again. And when that day comes, the woman who marries him will be the happiest woman in all of Willowdale."
Inside, I let out a cold laugh. 'If marrying a paralyzed man is such a blessing, then why can't they bear to let Larissa go instead?'
I didn't answer. They thought I was still unwilling to agree, and their faces instantly turned sour.
But they were wrong. I had already made up my mind to marry Alaric.
The next day, out of courtesy, I went to visit the Flame family. When they heard the news, they were overjoyed.
Talia held my hand tightly, her eyes red and brimming with tears. "Everyone thinks that now that Alaric has ended up like this, your family would definitely call off the engagement.
"But I believed in my heart that your family values promises above all else."
After saying that, Talia took me into the inner room to see Alaric.
He was lying in bed, his face pale as paper, eyes shut tight, lifeless.
And yet, even in such a state, that natural air of nobility around him made me lose myself for a moment.
The engagement between Alaric and me had been arranged by the older generation.
Five years ago, Alaric was the dazzling young master of the Flame family. Then a car accident left him confined to bed.
Wesley and Byron felt sorry for me. They wanted to break off the engagement but feared the world would scorn the Aviir family as heartless.
So they adopted the orphan Larissa, planning to wait until she turned twenty and let her marry in my place.
But no one expected that after Larissa entered our family, their feelings for her would slowly change.
Because of the substitute marriage, they spoiled her out of guilt.
Every month, Larissa got a ridiculous amount of pocket money. They bought her endless clothes and bags, almost everything she ever asked for.
Even I had to give way again and again.
When Larissa said she wanted my limited-edition pen, I gave it to her without a word.
When she took a liking to the branded watch on my wrist, I could only give it up with aching reluctance.
When she said her blood didn't clot well and that only mine matched hers, I didn't hesitate to donate.
In just five years, Larissa had stolen away all the love that once belonged to me.
Wesley and Byron both fell for her and kept hinting that it was time for me to fulfill the marriage agreement.
But wasn't it them who had decided to adopt Larissa as my stand-in in the first place?
After coming back from the Flame family, I looked at the calendar in the living room and marked the date.
I was quietly counting the days when, all of a sudden, Wesley and Byron rushed in one after the other, panic written all over their faces.
Before I could react, they went straight to the bookshelf I had treasured for years and started tearing my beloved collection apart with frantic hands.