Chapter 1
I was the fake heiress.
I'd been betrothed to the Vance family since childhood. After my family went bankrupt, I was sent to Sterling Vance's side as soon as I turned 18.
By day, I accompanied him to all sorts of events. By night, I endured his s****l brutality. In return, he gave me a monthly allowance of one million dollars.
Then the real heiress, Willa Winthrop, was found.
When she learned that the Winthrop family had a marriage alliance with the Vances, she threw a tantrum in front of our parents.
"She's a fake who's been living in the wrong nest all these years. Isn't it time to return what doesn't belong to her?
"That includes the engagement that was supposed to be mine!"
The next day, she went to Mrs. Vance Sr. and said, "Grandma Vance, I'm the real heiress to the Winthrop family. I'm the one truly betrothed to Sterling.
"I want to stay by Sterling's side. I promise I'll do much better than Zara."
Then she came to me, barely hiding the triumph in her eyes.
"Grandma Vance has already agreed. She said you're just a fake, that you don't match Sterling's status. In a couple of days, she'll send you away, and I'll move into the Vance mansion."
She thought I'd be furious. Instead, my eyes welled up with tears of relief.
Finally… I was about to be free.
Sterling had a volatile, unpredictable temper. One morning, he might be in a good mood and gift me an expensive diamond bracelet. That afternoon, one wrong word from me, he'd drag me back to the bedroom and subject me to his brutality.
Countless women wanted to crawl into his bed. But none of them knew just how savage he got in the sheets.
While he was at the office, I went back to the Winthrop estate.
As soon as I walked in, I saw a pretty girl sitting between my parents, gently holding my mother's arm and acting coquettish. This must be the daughter they had just found, their real daughter.
Perhaps my gaze was too intense—they all turned to look at me. When that girl saw me, she smiled and walked over.
"You must be Zara, right?"
I stepped inside and gave a faint smile.
She came over immediately and took my hand warmly. "I'm Willa, Dad and Mom's real daughter. They just found me."
I noticed the way she stressed the word "real".
I didn't respond.
Willa's gaze fell on the Cartier bracelet around my wrist, and a flicker of greed passed through her eyes. "That bracelet is gorgeous—it must have cost a fortune, right?"
Before I could answer, my mother smiled and said, "Of course! It's over a million dollars."
Willa's eyes went wide. "Over a million? That much?"
My mother chuckled. "Zara has to accompany Sterling to all kinds of high-end galas and banquets. She represents the Vance family's image. She can't wear anything cheap.
"The Vance family isn't just any wealthy family—they're top-tier."
Willa's look toward me changed. I could see the barely contained jealousy burning behind her eyes. She stared at my wrist, her eyes reddening, as if that bracelet should have been on hers.
'Oh, right. It should have been hers.'
"Mom, Dad," she said, "she's a fake who's been living in the wrong nest all these years. Isn't it time to return what doesn't belong to her?
"That includes the engagement that was supposed to be mine!
"Once I become Mrs. Vance, I'll persuade Sterling to invest in our family business and help us rebuild."
My parents' eyes lit up. They completely forgot about the humiliation Sterling had put me through.
"Willa does have a point," my father said.
"Zara, you should know better," my mother added. "You know our family went bankrupt five years ago. Now that you're with Sterling, you should ask him to help our family more."
Their tone carried a note of resentment, as if I were an ungrateful wretch. As if I'd been living the good life all these years.
I suddenly found it laughable.
