Cassius—who had never once cooked and loathed the smell of grease—was now at the stove, clumsily yet carefully preparing soup for Linnea.
Gideon and Ellis were seated beside her, eagerly inquiring about her wedding preferences and honeymoon destinations.
I froze, feeling as if a heavy hammer had struck my chest—this was the scene I had envisioned countless times.
Linnea and I had been swapped at birth.
The family who took me in looked down on me for being a girl, neglecting me through my childhood.
Only at fifteen did I learn the truth—I was the daughter of the esteemed Bellamy Family.
Devoid of parental love, I clung desperately to the hopes I placed in my blood relatives.
But I learned that my biological parents were gone, leaving only my eldest and second brothers remaining in the Bellamy lineage.
To keep Linnea with them, they paid a fortune to the family that raised her, forcibly adopting her.
From that moment, I became merely a shadow.
While I battled pneumonia at home, my brothers were busy taking Linnea to concerts.
When she locked me away in a dark room filled with spiders, I cried and begged for help, only to be reprimanded for lying and starved for three prolonged days.
In high school, upon discovering my diary where I expressed my affection for Cassius, Linnea instantly claimed to harbor the same feelings.
That same night, my eldest brother arranged their engagement, disregarding my emotions entirely.
Linnea had grown up cherished—the princess adored for years—while I was an ugly duckling that had stumbled into a castle that was never mine.
I thought my life would remain static, until three years ago when Linnea ran off in rebellion from her engagement.
As Cassius led me to register our marriage, I resolved to seize this opportunity to gain acceptance from my brothers and capture Cassius’s heart.
And I indeed became someone seen in their eyes.
Throughout those three years, upon his return from trips, Gideon never failed to bring back treasures of gowns and jewelry.
My brother Ellis had a globally limited edition piano made just for me, presented at my birthday celebration.
Cassius would bid exorbitant amounts at jewelry auctions to secure a pink diamond ring that I merely admired for a second.