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Chapter 1
The story began in a hospital. Veronica Murphy, a young woman of slight build, rushed to the emergency registration desk, struggling to support a bloodied man on her back. She spoke quickly, “This man needs emergency care! He passed out in a car accident.”
Today was truly not her day. She had been riding her motorcycle, delivering food, when a Ferrari had been knocked off the road by a truck running a red light. The Ferrari was badly wrecked, windows shattered, and its trunk was already on fire. The car could explode at any second, and the driver was unconscious, covered in blood. Without thinking, Veronica had rushed to the car, pulling the man from his seat and dragging him several meters away just before the car exploded with a deafening boom.
She had barely escaped with her life. If she had been any slower, she would have been caught in the blast. Still shaking from the shock, she felt the man’s grip tighten around her wrist. “Help me… take me to the hospital… I’ll pay you 100 million…” he mumbled, barely conscious.
Veronica froze. 100 million? Had she just saved the world’s richest man by accident?
At the hospital’s payment counter, the cashier asked, “What’s your name?”
As Veronica opened her mouth to answer, the cashier looked up at her and immediately changed her tone. “Oh, if it isn’t Tiffany Larson, the director’s daughter! Please, wait here, Miss Larson. A doctor will be right with you…”
Veronica couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Tiffany Larson was her biological sister. The two of them looked identical, but their lives were as different as night and day. Abducted as an infant, Veronica had been passed around from one family to another before being sold to her adoptive parents. A month ago, they were in a car accident, leaving them both in critical condition and saddled with enormous medical bills.
Then, her biological parents showed up. They agreed to cover the medical costs for her adoptive parents—on the condition that Veronica donate her bone marrow to the youngest son of the Larson family, who was suffering from leukemia. To make matters worse, Veronica had to stay out of sight so as not to ruin Tiffany’s perfect image. Her biological mother, Rachel Zimmerman, had said, “Tiffany is flawless in everything—beauty, grace, intelligence. You, on the other hand, are nothing but a country bumpkin. You must stay hidden to protect her reputation.”
Though humiliated, Veronica agreed, all for the sake of her adoptive parents. Usually, she disguised herself as an unattractive woman when in public, but she hadn’t bothered that night—she was just delivering food. To her surprise, she had accidentally entered her biological father’s hospital and was recognized as Tiffany. Unable to deny it, she reluctantly used her sister’s name and paid 5,000 for the man’s surgery.
Exhausted, Veronica returned to her rented apartment, showered, and did laundry. That was when she noticed something strange in her pocket: a black diamond ring. She must have dropped it when the man grabbed her shirt earlier. Without thinking, she placed it on the table and went to bed.
But before she could sleep, there was a knock at the door.
“Trying to act like a b*tch, Veronica?” Tiffany’s voice rang out as she barged in, slapping Veronica across the face before she could react. “I told you to stop using my face! Do you want your adoptive parents to die?”
Veronica, stung by the slap, struck Tiffany back. “I’m not your servant, Tiffany. Don’t think I’ll let you boss me around!”
Tiffany screamed in pain, her cheek swelling from the force of Veronica’s blow. “How dare you hit me?” she demanded, clutching her face.
Veronica, frowning in slight discomfort, responded coldly, “I’m not your mother, and I won’t take your crap.”
“You took a man to my dad’s hospital in the middle of the night for treatment!” Tiffany raged. “Do you have any idea what this means? If word gets out, I’ll be a laughingstock! If someone hadn’t told my father, I might still be in the dark about this scandal. Who knows what else you’ve done in my name?”
Veronica laughed bitterly, eyes full of frustration. “My face is a curse, isn’t it? Born to look like you, but forever hidden in the shadows.”
Tiffany’s phone rang. She answered, her voice suddenly sweet, “What’s up, Mom?”
Rachel’s voice on the other end was frantic, “Darling, when did you save Young Master Matthew? Why didn’t you tell me? Someone from the Kings Family wants to meet you next week!”
“Matthew Kings?” Tiffany’s eyes fell on the black diamond ring on the table. She recognized it immediately. It was an heirloom passed down by the Kings Family. The man Veronica had saved the night before was none other than Matthew Kings, the heir of one of Bloomstead’s most prestigious families.
Tiffany’s heart raced. I accidentally saved Matthew Kings’ life? She was almost giddy with excitement. “Mom, I’ve got something to deal with. Let’s talk later.”
Without hesitation, Tiffany slipped the ring into her pocket while Veronica wasn’t looking, then stormed out, threatening, “If you pull something like this again, don’t even think about seeing your adoptive parents alive!”
Veronica, too tired to argue, went to bed but overslept. When she finally woke, she headed to the hospital to track down the man. 100 million was on the line! But when she arrived, the nurse told her that the man had left as soon as he regained consciousness. Not only that, but he had left no contact information.
“What a liar!” Veronica cursed. “That 5,000 was supposed to cover my living expenses for the next two months!”
And if that wasn’t bad enough, the food delivery platform deducted over 100 bucks from her pay for failing to deliver an order on time.
“Men are all the same—liars!” Veronica muttered as she worked even harder over the next few days. Her adoptive father was in a coma, her adoptive mother was at the hospital every day, and Veronica was doing everything she could to keep up with the bills.
One night, while sitting in the security room at Twilight Bar, she complained to her colleague, Cody Bowman, “How the hell am I supposed to survive on two meals a day after saving that ungrateful bastard?”
“Who was he, by the way? Do you know his name?” Cody asked.
Veronica paused, staring at the surveillance video. “That’s him! That’s the guy!” she shouted, standing up suddenly. “I’ve found you at last, you bastard!”
Cody grabbed her wrist. “Are you sure? That’s Matthew Kings, the heir of the Kings Family. He’s not the kind of man you want to mess with.”
Veronica’s heart skipped a beat. Matthew Kings? She’d heard of him, but it wasn’t until Cody’s warning that she realized just how dangerous he was. She wasn’t going to back down, though. The next chance she got, she would confront him.
Later that night, after seeing Matthew exit a private room and enter the elevator, she followed him, determined to get answers. The elevator doors opened on the 38th floor, and when she followed him out, Matthew suddenly stopped, causing Veronica to bump into him.
“Ouch! You—” she began, but before she could finish, Matthew seized her by the throat. “Who are you? What do you want?”
Veronica gasped, struggling for breath. “Let go… I can’t breathe…”
Matthew, noticing something was off, released her and knocked off the security cap she was wearing. “You’re a woman?” he asked, his voice cold and skeptical.
Veronica, unable to speak due to the choking, nodded weakly.
“What’s your game?” he demanded, his hand tightening around her wrist. “You want to be my woman?”
Veronica was in a panic, her thoughts racing. What is this guy’s problem?
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