Chapter 1

I had been away from home for five years. My father, who had abandoned me in London and ignored my existence, finally sent someone to bring me back.

I foolishly thought my family was finally ready to accept me, the illegitimate daughter.

Instead, I was met with a nightmare. My lover, Zachary Thorne, had been kidnapped.

My father used videos of Zachary being tortured every day to blackmail me. He forced me to agree to marry the blind heir of the Sterling family, Caleb Sterling.

I watched the videos of Zachary―his hands bound, his body covered in blood―and I finally bowed my head. I had no choice.

But on the night Zachary was finally released, I rushed to find him. I wanted him to take me away, to run far from this place.

That was when I heard my sister Amber's voice coming from his room.

"Zach, thank you… She stole my father's attention, and her mother literally drove my mom to her grave. If Layla hadn't moved away, my dad might have chosen her over me."

"She loves you so much, doesn't she? If she knew you only stayed by her side as a bodyguard for five years to help me get revenge, she'd go insane, right?"

Those five years of companionship, that bond I thought was life or death―it was all just a trophy he was handing over to Amber.

1.

After being locked in the family chapel for fifteen days, I finally gave in. "Tell my father I agree to his terms."

Almost immediately, my father's ecstatic voice came through the phone.

"Layla, you've finally come to your senses! Don't worry, even though you can't officially take the Montgomery name, I still see you as my daughter. I'll make sure your wedding into the Sterling family is the event of the year…"

"Daughter?" I let out a dry laugh, trying to stop my fingers from shaking. "My mother wasn't your wife. Do I even count as your daughter?"

Ignoring his sudden silence, I mocked myself. "Mr. Montgomery, do illegitimate children even count as daughters?"

"Layla Montgomery!"

My father's voice turned cold and dangerous. "Don't forget, that man is still in my hands. If you want him to live, you'll stay obedient until the wedding day!"

My breath hitched at the mention of Zachary.

"Where is he? What did you do to him! I said I'd marry Caleb Sterling, so let him go!"

The call disconnected.

A second later, a video message popped up.

In the ninety-second clip, a man in a white shirt was covered in blood. The prayer beads I had painstakingly gotten for him were scattered across the floor.

Zachary's hands were tied behind his back. Blood and tears streamed from his eyes, and his cracked lips moved silently.

He was calling my name.

"Layla… save me…"

I hadn't flinched when I was told to marry a blind man or when I was locked away. But in this moment, I screamed until my throat was raw.

I shoved the servants aside and collapsed on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. "You promised me! You said if I married that man, you'd let him go!"

My father's assistant stepped forward and handed me a slip of paper. "Miss Layla, as long as you go through with the wedding, Mr. Montgomery won't hurt Mr. Thorne again. You can go see him now."

Fifteen days ago, the man who shared my blood―the father who had ignored me for five years―sent for me.

I had been so happy then. I told Zachary that I was finally going home.

I never imagined that home would be a cage, or that Zachary would be used as the bars.

Years ago, my father had worked tirelessly to secure an engagement between Amber and the eldest Sterling son.

But Caleb Sterling lost his sight in a horrific car accident. He was immediately forced out of the race to lead the Sterling empire.

Now that the Sterlings were demanding the marriage, my father suddenly remembered he had another daughter.

Zachary was the bodyguard my father sent to London to watch me. He was my only companion, my only support for five years.

He was my only weakness. To me, he was more important than my own life.

I grabbed the slip of paper and ran out the door without looking back.

I hadn't eaten in days. I could barely grip the steering wheel, and I nearly crashed several times.

When I reached the address, I clutched my aching stomach. I took a deep breath and applied some lipstick with trembling hands before walking inside.

I was about to push the door open when I heard a deep voice from within.

Zachary's beautiful voice, mingled with a woman's sweet giggles, pierced my eardrums.

Through the gaps in the blinds, I saw the man who had been covered in blood in the video. He was now kneeling, his pupils reflecting Amber's pretty face.

The cold, stoic Zachary I had known for five years was calling Amber's name. He looked like he was drowning in a sea of desire.

Just looking at Amber's face on the screen seemed to make him lose control.

"Amber…" he rasped. "Help me. I miss you so much…"

Amber's voice came through the video call, sounding like honey. "Zach, you're the only one who treats me right."

"She stole my father, and her mom killed mine… If Layla had stayed, maybe Dad would have picked her over me."

"She's so obsessed with you. If she knew you only acted as her bodyguard for five years to help me get even…"

"Zach, do you think the pain will drive her crazy?"

Separated by only a door, I gripped my wrist. The bite marks I had left on myself while locked in the chapel began to throb with pain.

I had bitten myself because I missed him so much it hurt physically.

I stood there frozen for a long time. Hot tears streamed down my face.

Inside, Zachary finished his release. Following Amber's command, he used the handmade charm I had embroidered for him to wipe away the mess.

He tossed the charm toward the door carelessly. "Whatever happens to her doesn't matter to me. Amber, you know how hard it was to endure those five years."

Amber laughed. "She's so stupid. She can't even tell the difference between real and fake blood. She saw you 'hurt' and lost her damn mind."

Their voices became a blur.

Numbly, I knelt down and picked up the charm I had spent weeks sewing stitch by stitch.

A wave of intense nausea hit my stomach.

I couldn't hold it back anymore. I leaned against the wall and vomited until I saw bile and blood.

My chest felt so tight I couldn't breathe. It felt like my internal organs were being twisted together.

I met Zachary on my eighteenth birthday. It was the same day I first returned to the Montgomery estate.

I had collapsed at the front gate, clutching my mother's ashes, begging my father for a burial plot.

I was the illegitimate daughter who lived in the shadows. But my mother was just a woman who had been tricked by love.

She died on the operating table while trying to give my father a second child.

My only wish for my eighteenth birthday was to bury the woman who had been my entire world.

I stayed in the rain all night, nearly dying on the street. It was Zachary who finally carried me into the house.

He told me my father agreed to pay, but the price was that I could never return to the country again.

I had sobbed until I went into spasms. "Why? I'm his daughter too… How can he do this to me!"

My hot tears fell onto Zachary. I felt his breath hitch.

He pulled me into a silent embrace. "I'll stay with you."

I thought he was lying. But the next day, he became my personal bodyguard and boarded a plane to a foreign land with me.

For five years, Zachary did everything. He cooked, he cleaned, and he even helped me change my shoes. He spoiled me like a child.

He was kind, but he never crossed the line.

I fell for his tenderness. But no matter how much I tried to seduce him or throw myself at him, he never budged.

Even when I lay in his bed with nothing on, his hand never stopped moving his prayer beads.

"Layla," he would sigh, wrapping me in a blanket and carrying me out. "You know I have my faith."

But when the door closed, I could clearly hear him groaning my name under his breath.

I thought he was just struggling with his own moral code. I thought I could wait for him.

So, I climbed three thousand stone steps on my bare feet to get him blessed beads.

I pricked my fingers and used my own blood to embroider charms for him.

I made countless scrolls and offerings, praying to any god who would listen to forgive our love.

Today, I finally realized that his 'faith' was never a god.

The name he groaned in the dark wasn't "Layla." It was "Amber."

Five years of life and death together were just a performance for his real queen.

I sat by the door like a broken doll until the noise inside stopped. Then, I reached for the handle with a shaking hand.