In public, she was the noble daughter of the Muller family and the enviable young mistress of the Carrell family. But behind the scenes, she was a poor maid who had to wear a mask all day long and struggled for her livelihood.

Due to a conspiracy, she was forced to marry Ralph Carrell, son of the most powerful family in Northfield, in the name of Rayna Muller.

After the wedding, Ralph doted on her.

When Rayna showed up and claimed the place, she shed all her glory and left. She thought she would never see Ralph again, but Ralph took her into his arms and said, "Mrs. Carrell, you are not running away from me."

The Odd Luna Series

"I love you. I have loved you since we were fifteen. It's another thing that I should've told you a long time ago, but I did it for you." He let himself fall back onto the bed and ran a hand through his hair again. "It started with a crush. I looked at you as a friend, only to realize I love you. You said you weren't looking for a relationship and I respected that. I tried not to love you, but it quickly backfired because my love only grew more."

"You don't know how much it hurt me yesterday when you said you saw me as a brother," his voice cracked. His unshed tears started rushing from his eyes and down the sides of his head. "I should've lowered my expectations."

I didn't notice that I had a hand covering my mouth until I felt a tear fall onto it. All the time, he would make jokes about wanting to be in a relationship with me and I thought they were what they seemed to be; jokes. I never gave it a second thought as to what they were.

Chapter 23