Chapter 1

Only on the eve of their wedding did Lydia discover that her husband, Julian, was the sole heir to a powerful empire.

That very night, her future mother-in-law kidnapped her, handing her a check and demanding she leave—or else her parents' graves would be desecrated.

And so, Lydia vanished with a massive settlement, leaving Julian to become a completely different man.

He didn't succumb to an arranged marriage; instead, he turned himself into a cold, relentless work machine.

Three years later, after successfully dismantling the business of his intended fiancée’s family, he became the undisputed head of the household.

With no obstacles left, he placed a multi-million dollar bounty on her head and brought Lydia back.

Reclaiming his lost love turned Julian into a paranoid madman, a man who would literally carve out his heart if it meant keeping her by his side.

A grand wedding that broke world records, jewels that could rival the wealth of nations, a blood covenant sought on bloodied knees...

Whether it was through logic, faith, or superstition, he risked his life for every ritual, all to ensure she would never leave him again.

In the third year of their marriage, Lydia became pregnant, but the child died in the womb at just two months.

Consumed by grief, she didn't even dare to open her eyes and face Julian upon waking.

That was until she overheard him arguing with a doctor friend. She threw back the covers to intervene, only to freeze at the edge of the bed the moment the words became clear.

"Julian, you really can't give her this medication anymore. If you keep this up, it won't just be a miscarriage next time—she’ll struggle to ever conceive again, and it’s destroying her health."

Julian leaned against the wall, sighing heavily through a haze of cigarette smoke.

"But I promised Sienna and Xavier that Xavier would be my only child. I owe this to Sienna."

His friend’s expression shifted into one of sheer disbelief.

"Julian, you acted like a lunatic the three years Lydia was gone. Now that she's back, why are you still entangled with that substitute? You're actually giving your wife sterilization drugs for her? A woman with a past like that—you haven't actually fallen in love with her, have you?"

Julian’s gaze darkened. "I love Lydia, but I can't let go of Sienna either. Lydia is too dull; occasionally, I need a change of pace. I have the money, anyway. I can afford to keep them both."

"And your wife? If she finds out, she'll divorce you in a heartbeat!"

The word 'divorce' caused Julian’s face to pale with fury. "I won't let her find out. And I will never let her leave me."

As the friend continued to argue, Lydia’s face had already turned ashen.

Sienna! The woman who had approached Julian by mimicking her, only to be supposedly loathed and driven out of the capital by him!

Hadn't she left three years ago?

And Julian had explicitly told her that Xavier was his uncle’s son. How had he suddenly become their child?

Lydia’s eyelashes trembled uncontrollably, her brow furrowed in shock and helplessness.

So, he had been lying to her this whole time?

Lydia’s hand instinctively moved to her stomach as a self-mocking laugh began to escape her. What about her child?

She heard her own distorted wail, and a voice in the depths of her soul answered with cruel clarity: Her child had been murdered by its own father.

The pain of her loss seemed to take root and sprout within her, causing her organs to seize up.

Lydia bent over, retching, as tears fell like broken strings of pearls onto the floor.

She clutched her chest, but nothing could stop the bone-shaving agony.

The man outside heard her and rushed in, pushing the door open to pull her into a tight embrace.

"It’s alright, Lydia. If the baby is gone, we can have another. Don’t scare me like this."

The tears dripping onto her neck burned through her skin and scorched her heart, but she pushed him away with all her might.

"Stay away from me." She felt physically sick.

Julian stared at his empty arms, stunned, while Lydia closed her eyes, refusing to look at him again.

This face she had loved for ten years now felt utterly foreign.

He had once suffered from depression because of her departure, and now suffered from separation anxiety because of her return.

He was so anxious that even when they were in the same room, he had to constantly confirm she wasn't a dream.

Lydia would never forget the night they reunited. She had been jolted awake by a noise, only to find Julian covered in blood.

She had wept in terror, but he had held her tight.

"Lydia, don't cry. I was just afraid this was a dream. Thank God... I cut myself so many times and you didn't disappear. Thank God..."

Yet, this man who loved her like his own life did not love only her.

Since Julian couldn't let go of Sienna, she would step aside for them.

That night, while Julian was away, Lydia immediately found a lawyer to draft a divorce settlement.

Then, she made another call.

"Mrs. Jiang, I agree to divorce Julian. I don't want the money. I just need you to do me a favor."

On the other end of the line, Julian’s mother gave a disdainful laugh. "So, the gold-digger finally has a day where she doesn't want money? Fine, what is it?"

"If you don't want your son to go mad or try to kill himself looking for me after I'm gone, then help me fake my death. Sever his hope once and for all."

Mrs. Jiang fell silent for a few seconds. "Fine. You better actually leave. If you're playing hard to get, I won't let you off easily."

She wasn't playing hard to get. This time, she truly didn't want to love Julian anymore.

Chapter 2

Perhaps sensing Lydia's low spirits, Julian cleared his schedule over the following days to stay by her side.

On the day she was discharged, he booked an entire restaurant she loved, decorating the room with a wall of carefully arranged roses.

But halfway there, his phone began to ring incessantly.

The moment he saw the caller ID, Julian slammed on the brakes.

The second the call connected, a voice on the other end began to sob. "Julian, help me! Mr. Reynolds is drunk and trying to take me away, I—ah!"

As the call cut off abruptly, Julian's face twisted with anxiety.

Without a second thought, he reached over to unbuckle Lydia’s seatbelt and pushed her door open.

"Lydia, something came up at the office. Get out and grab a cab. Wait for me at the restaurant, okay? I’ll be there as soon as I’m done."

Lydia didn't move. She simply stared at Julian in silence for a long time.

But from start to finish, Julian’s eyes held only confusion and even a hint of impatience. A wave of bitterness washed over Lydia; she looked away, any remaining shred of hope finally dying.

"Julian, it’s raining outside," she said, her voice devoid of emotion.

Julian paused, a flash of regret crossing his eyes as he hurriedly pulled off his suit jacket.

"Take my jacket. The board of directors is pressing me. Be a good girl, okay?"

With that, he ruffled her hair and shoved her out of the car.

The violent motion of his hands stood in stark contrast to his gentle words.

Before Lydia could even find her footing, Julian floored the accelerator and sped away, failing to notice her falling to the ground.

In that second, Lydia’s forehead hit the pavement hard, and the dirty rainwater instantly seeped into her mouth.

The suit jacket was soaked through, and Lydia's heart turned to ice.

She waited a moment before silently crawling up, leaving the jacket on the ground.

Her gaze toward the garment was as flat and still as her heart.

Cabs were hard to find in the rain. Lydia spent an hour drenched before she finally reached the restaurant.

But the place was empty. Julian, unsurprisingly, had broken his word.

Lydia sat in her soaked clothes and waited. She waited as the rain stopped and started again, but the man who promised he’d come never appeared.

As the sound of rain returned once more, Lydia called over a server.

"Serve the food."

The server hesitated. "Mr. Julian hasn't arrived yet. The food won't taste the same if it’s reheated."

Lydia’s downcast lashes trembled, her smile bitter. "He’s not coming."

It was her favorite restaurant, yet the food tasted incredibly salty today. She decided she would never come back here again.

Having just suffered a miscarriage and being caught in the rain, Lydia was burning with a fever by the time she got home.

In her delirium, she felt a large hand press against her forehead.

The vulnerability of being sick made her forget the betrayal. She instinctively gripped the hand, murmuring Julian’s name with a voice full of grievance.