Chapter 1
“My mother’s still in the hospital. Seraphina and I have plans tonight, so you go take care of her.”
Julian said, pulling on the clothes I painstakingly ironed and laid out for him every day. He didn’t offer a single word of comfort, just grabbed Seraphina and walked straight out the door.
He left the breakfast table a total disaster, and even though he knew I hadn’t eaten, he dumped the extra portion straight into the trash.
The house was terrifyingly quiet, leaving me alone in a mess.
“Oh, you poor thing, Amelia. You really slave away for us day in and day out.”
“Now there’s just Seraphina, too, but I’m sure you can handle it. My brother trusts you, that’s why he gave you the task of looking after the whole family.”
Julian’s sister, Chloe, muttered a sarcastic remark as she passed me.
I knew she’d always disliked me. I mean, who asked me to ‘steal’ her dear Seraphina’s husband, right?
Even though I was Julian’s legal wife, Julian and the entire Thorne family’s favoritism toward Seraphina was plain for all to see.
I was already exhausted from work every day, yet he ordered me to spend ten hours at the hospital taking care of his mother, who was paralyzed from the waist down. Julian and I had a huge fight about it.
Everyone in the Thorne family saw my distress. Even when I yelled and screamed like a banshee, not one of them would say a word in my defense.
Even though I’d tirelessly played the part of the perfect daughter-in-law and wife for five long years.
This was my last argument. I was exhausted from constantly fighting to stay afloat in this toxic family dynamic.
I listed out all the care instructions for Mrs. Thorne in a neat table and sent it to Seraphina. Isn’t she so eager to climb the ladder? Might as well give her a head start on what it means to be a Thorne daughter-in-law.
She stomped her foot in anger.
“What’s this supposed to mean, Amelia? You’re complaining about taking care of Aunt Thorne?”
“Besides, Brother Julian, you know I’m frail and sickly…”
So Julian had the absolute audacity to tell me to quit my job and become Seraphina’s full-time caretaker.
I stood before them, watching them flirt and intertwine. They both seemed to be waiting for me to get angry, to rage.
But none of that happened. I simply said, flatly,
“Okay.”
And so, today’s scene unfolded. He seemed determined to humiliate me, all just to win a smile from his ex.
Julian believed that leaving me utterly devastated was proof of his love for Seraphina.
I should have recognized the truth long ago: Julian never loved me.
Julian and Seraphina’s love story was the kind people dreamed of, a real fairytale, the kind you read about: childhood sweethearts, perfectly innocent and inseparable.
But when the Thornes went to propose, they were utterly shut down.
Apparently, the Cross family looked down on the Thornes’ social standing, thinking Julian was just a toad trying to snatch a swan, and married Seraphina off to a wealthy foreign businessman instead.
Julian wanted to elope with Seraphina, but she refused, tears in her eyes.
She claimed it was for her family’s benefit, but in truth, she had just snagged someone richer than Julian.
And so, they parted ways. Seraphina went to live overseas with her husband, and Julian vowed never to marry.
But Julian’s parents wouldn’t have it. That’s when they found me.
Julian and I met on a rainy day, a scene straight out of a romance movie.
I was being harassed by some thugs, and he stood up for me. Then I held my umbrella over him as he stood drenched in the rain.
From that moment, love took root in my heart. It had been ten years since then.
At first, he strongly resisted, but then, after meeting me, he compromised.
It was only then that I realized the truth: it was because my face was an uncanny eight-tenths match for Seraphina’s.
Now Seraphina was back, and it was time for me to go.