Chapter 1

My family arranged a marriage for me with the man known as the Dairy King of America.

In reality, I was a high-level undercover operative from the Federal Department of Agriculture.

I was sent to this region to investigate the systemic struggles of local cattle farmers.

Work came first, so I headed to the countryside, where I stumbled upon a struggling farmer whose cow was in the middle of a life-threatening labor complication.

Both the mother and the calf were about to die.

I had just finished disinfecting my hands and was preparing to assist the birth when a sharp, shrill female voice pierced the air.

"Where did this filthy hillbilly come from? You're disgusting!"

"Stop what you're doing right now!"

A woman in a tailored designer suit appeared, her face twisted in pure revulsion.

Several burly bodyguards in black suits stood behind her.

I frowned, my focus still on the dying animal.

"A life is on the line here. Who are you?"

She swept a contemptuous gaze over me.

"I am Mr. Galt's executive secretary."

"In our Galt Group pastures, we believe in the survival of the fittest."

"If it can't give birth, it's because its genes are inferior. It deserves to be culled!"

I trembled with rage at her cold-blooded logic.

"This cow is this farmer's entire livelihood! What happens to them if it dies?"

The secretary let out a mocking laugh as if I had told the funniest joke in the world.

"Listen here, peasant. In this county, the Galt family is the law."

"If you dare break Mr. Galt's rules, don't expect to walk out of here alive!"

I froze for a moment, then pulled out my phone and dialed the number of the fiancé I had never met.

"Mr. Galt, do you have any idea? Your ridiculous rules are going to kill someone!"

1.

On the other end of the line, Garrett Galt's voice was cold and detached.

"Who is this? How did you get my private number?"

I stared at the arrogant secretary in front of me and spoke into the phone.

"Sienna Huxley."

"Your secretary is about to drive a farmer and his livestock to their deaths in your territory."

There was a two-second silence. Then, I heard him speaking to someone next to him.

"Is that troublemaker outside the one my mother mentioned? Sienna Huxley?"

His voice returned to the receiver, dripping with impatience and warning.

"Miss Huxley, I don't care who you are or what your status is."

"Take your pathetic sense of justice and shove it. Lydia represents my will."

"Don't cause me trouble. Otherwise, don't even dream about this marriage happening."

With that, he hung up.

The dial tone buzzed in my ear like a swarm of angry hornets.

Lydia, the secretary, had heard every word.

A flicker of jealousy crossed her face, quickly replaced by even deeper malice.

"Oh… so you're that Miss Huxley who's trying to climb the social ladder?"

She took a step toward me, her stiletto heels sinking into the mud.

"It seems Mr. Galt doesn't think much of his supposed fiancée."

My heart sank.

My identity hadn't become a shield; instead, it had become a reason for her to double her efforts to humiliate me.

Old Silas Jenkins, the farmer, dropped to his knees in the muck.

Cloudy tears streamed down his weathered face as he reached out his calloused hands toward Lydia's legs.

"Please, Ms. West, I beg you! This cow is everything to my family!"

"If she dies, my grandchildren won't have a cent to their names!"

Lydia acted as if she had seen something parasitic. She violently kicked Silas's hand away.

"Get away! Don't touch my ten-thousand-dollar skirt with your filthy hands!"

I couldn't take it anymore. I lunged at the two bodyguards blocking my path.

"You people are monsters! This is criminal!"

One of the guards pushed me back with brutal force.

I went flying and landed hard in the slippery, wet manure of the cattle pen.

The stinging stench and cold filth instantly soaked into my field jacket.

I was a complete mess, covered in mud and cow dung.

"Hahaha!"

Lydia and the guards erupted into a chorus of harsh, mocking laughter.

Lydia pulled out her phone and aimed the camera right at me.

"Quick, we have to document this! Get a good look at the future Mrs. Galt!"

She snapped photos while sneering at me.

"I'm sending these to Mr. Galt so he can see the crazy bitch he almost married."

"You think you're getting into the Galt family looking like that? Keep dreaming, you peasant!"

The flashes blinded me as I struggled to get up.

My hands kept slipping in the filth.

Amidst the humiliation and the laughter, Old Silas's heart couldn't take it.

Watching me be shamed and hearing his cow's dying moans, he gasped and collapsed.

He fell straight onto the dirt, unconscious.

The cow's cries gradually faded into a heavy silence.

The only sound left was Lydia's triumphant laughter and the smell of death.