Chapter 2

Just then, the phone rang.

The voice on the other end was languid. "Handle it cleanly. Don't keep me waiting too long, good girl."

On the day of the wedding, the Graymane family spared no expense, and everyone in our circle knew Gareth was marrying his adopted daughter.

I entered the chapel right on time.

On the altar, Gareth was placing a moonstone ring on Doris’s finger.

"Is that Sylvia?"

"She’s actually prettier than the adopted sister. Why did he choose Doris?"

"Exactly. Mr. Gareth must be blind. If it were me, I'd choose Sylvia."

"The grapevine says Doris interfered and stole him away..."

The murmur of the guests' chatter spread through the room.

Gareth looked up and saw me, his eyes instantly turning ice-cold.

Doris’s fingers trembled, and she instinctively shrank behind Gareth, looking like a frightened rabbit.

"What are you doing here? Didn't I warn you not to ruin Doris’s wedding?"

Shawn quickly pulled me aside, hissing in a low, furious voice.

"Sylvia, you’re doing this on purpose! Do you have a death wish?"

His grip was so tight it sent a sharp pain through my wrist.

I shoved him off and shot him a cold smile. He seemed to think I was the same pushover from my last life, someone he could manipulate at will.

"Shh, Shawn. You're hurting my ears."

"Making a scene like this, you'd think you were afraid people wouldn't find out Doris is an imposter."

I raised an eyebrow and spoke softly.

Shawn's face turned thunderous. With a cold smirk, he thrust a check in front of me.

"Name your price."

I stared at the check, dazed for a moment.

Even though I was his sister, related by blood, he had never spent a single dollar on me. My entire life, I’d had to pay my own way through school.

And yet, Doris held a supplementary card to his bank account.

I took it with a smile.

Shawn wore a knowing expression, then looked at me with disgust.

"You're nothing but a money-grubbing scumbag! Don't you ever call yourself my sister again..."

Before he could finish, I tore the check to pieces right in front of him and scattered them viciously on the floor.

"Did you think that by giving me money, I would just bury the secret that our adopted sister is an imposter?"

"I'm worried about Mr. Gareth..."

"He's about to turn twenty-five, after all. I don't want him to die, I want to save him."

I pouted aggrievedly, my face flushed from arguing with Shawn.With a tumultuous roar, the entire hall erupted into chaos.

"Sylvia!"

Gareth stormed down from the stage, his towering figure radiating an intense, oppressive aura.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"You're so desperate to marry me you'll stop at nothing. I'm not going to die! And I certainly don't need you to worry about me!"

"The only woman I, Gareth, will ever marry—in this life, my past life, or the next—is Doris."

"This has nothing to do with you, understand?"

His icy fury was almost palpable.

Gareth's parents were the first to react.

Their expressions grave, they hurried to stand between Gareth and me, asking in a low voice, "What is going on?"

With them here, I wasn't afraid of what Gareth might do to me.

I slowly pulled a pheromone detector from my purse.

"I apologize for the interruption, everyone, but I must tell you all the truth."

"The bride on that stage, the one claiming she can cure Mr. Gareth, is a complete and total fraud."

A colorful mosaic of expressions painted the faces of the guests.

Gazes of disdain, astonishment, and morbid curiosity intertwined.

Gareth reached out to snatch the detector from my hand, but his father stopped him.