Prologue

Jessica Wazer, had always known pain.

Born into a middle-class family, she was her father's most beloved child until tragedy struck. Her mother died when she was still a toddler, leaving a void that could never be filled. When her father, Mr. Wazer, remarried, Jessica was hopeful, believing she had gained a mother. But hope was an illusion.

Lovelyn, her stepmother, showered her with love in the beginning. She dressed Annabel in the finest dresses, braided her hair, and called her "her little angel."

But that love was fleeting. The moment Lovelyn bore her own children, twins, a boy and a girl, Jessica became nothing more than an inconvenience.

Then, Mr. Wazer died.

His death left the family in ruins, or so Jessica was told. The inheritance, she was told, was barely enough to survive. The house was falling apart. The bank accounts were nearly empty. And so, Annabel, barely a teenager, was forced into labor, working endlessly to provide for her stepmother and siblings.

But the truth was far darker than she could imagine.

Her father had left behind a fortune, a fortune that Lovelyn secretly embezzled. With the help of a corrupt lawyer, she buried the real documents, forging new ones to ensure her twins would inherit everything. She let Annabel believe they were poor, forcing her into suffering while living in secret luxury.

And the world outside? It was no kinder.

Jessica grew up being scorned by the people around her, mocked for her simple clothes and exhausted face. She had dreams - unimaginable dreams, but they were nothing more than distant fantasies in a world that had already decided her fate.

But fate, as cruel as it was, had other plans.

One night, as she walked home from a late shift, she stumbled upon a bloodied man lying in the shadows of the street. His body was covered in deep wounds, his breath shallow, his face half-hidden by darkness.

Jessica froze.

Her mind screamed at her to walk away, to pretend she saw nothing. The city was filled with dangerous men, and she had no business getting involved. But something inside her refused to let him die alone.

She stepped forward.

And in that moment, her life changed forever.