Chapter 2

Aiden tensed his face, repeating "very good" three times in succession.

The call was suddenly cut off, and the next second, a video popped up on my phone.

With trembling fingers, I opened it. The once pristine and elegant wedding gown was now being devoured inch by inch by flames.

Aiden's words were ice-cold and cutting.

"It seems you thought good fortune was coming your way, believing you were about to become Mrs. Pierce, so you forgot your place, Lily. You're nothing but an abandoned child adopted by my family. What right or guts do you have to speak so boldly? If it weren't for my mother and the family elders joining forces to drive Rachel away, do you think you could have been the future Mrs. Pierce?"

"You only had to wait ten more months to become the rightful Mrs. Pierce, but you just had to push my limits."

"Consider this wedding dress a warning. When you can truly accept Rachel with all your heart, we'll talk about rescheduling the wedding."

Closing the video, I curled up powerlessly on the couch, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The cold wind dried the tears on my cheeks. In a daze, I seemed to return to that frigid bridge underpass.

Aiden was right. I was an abandoned child adopted by Mrs. Victoria.

To be precise, I was rescued from the river by Mrs. Victoria.The year I turned ten, I fled the orphanage after the director was caught sexually abusing young girls. I ended up on the streets, unable to feed myself or go to school. I faced constant harassment and insults from passersby, ultimately driving me to despair and contemplating ending my life.

That's when Lady Victoria took me in, providing me with shelter and food. She freed me from the fear of hunger and cold.

For the first few years, I was practically invisible in the Pierce household. Any family member could order me around or even humiliate me at will. Only Aiden would show me a friendly smile.

When I was punished with food deprivation, he'd sneak me out for lobster and steak. When I couldn't afford school supplies, he'd share half his allowance and give me brand new stationery.

On my fifteenth birthday, he skipped his tutoring session to take me to a pottery studio. He spent an entire year's allowance to create a beautiful ceramic sculpture for me that would never fade or lose its shape.

"If only our Lily could grow up and marry me, wearing a beautiful wedding dress like the one on this sculpture," he said.

I still remember how my heart raced at that moment. "I... I'd like that too," I whispered.

My voice was so soft that Aiden probably didn't hear me.

A few months later, Lady Victoria suddenly flew into a rage. Aiden was forced to take a month off school and was confined to the family estate's private chapel for daily reflection.During this time, I went to visit Aiden, only to learn that it was because he had brought Rachel home.

He really liked Rachel, saying she was the only sunshine in his monotonous life. He asked me, "Did my mom say when she'd let me out? I miss Rachel so much. It's my fault, I acted too impulsively."

When I heard these words, I felt a moment of dizziness, with a slight sting in my heart.

That tiny spark of joy in my heart instantly vanished. I knelt on the cushion beside him, lowered my head, and suddenly didn't dare to tell him that Victoria and the family elders had already decided to groom me as his future wife.

"He's only seventeen, yet he's willing to oppose the family for a girl. I must teach him a lesson!"

In Aiden's eyes, Victoria was domineering and autocratic, while the family elders were old-fashioned and rigid. He had always longed to break free from the constraints and escape the control of the Pierce family.

And I, as it happened, became that tool - the future heir of the Pierce family and the wife of the heir. They needed to control at least one of us, so they could be assured that when Aiden took full control, he wouldn't completely separate from them.

Soon after, Rachel was sent abroad to study by Victoria, and Aiden was then released.

Six months later, he found out about the family's plan to choose me as his wife. That day, he came to me and slapped me hard across the face.From that moment on, he began to despise me.

Sleep eluded me all night.

The next day, a phone call jolted me awake. The voice on the other end uttered only a brief sentence.

"Come to the estate."

I understood. Lady Victoria must have learned about Rachel's pregnancy.