Chapter 1 The Night of Betrayal

Hot, so hot... Elena Vance restlessly unbuttoned her collar and opened her eyes. Immediately, the overwhelming presence of a strange man assaulted her senses as he kissed her! In the darkness, Elena panicked. How could there be a man in her bed? Was her cousin, Daphne Vance, really planning to ruin her?

​The man's strength was immense. Lately, Elena had been forced to give blood every three days to treat her sister's illness. Already weakened, she was no match for him.

​"Let me go... who are you? Let go!" Elena struggled desperately. The man pinned her arms down, stopping her from pushing him away. They were so close she could feel his heavy breath and racing heartbeat. His kisses trailed from her lips down to her collarbone. Weak and helpless, her voice cracked with tears. "Please... don't touch me..."

​His breath was domineering, and his hoarse voice commanded, "Kiss me."

​"You jerk, let me go!" Elena cried out, but the man took her into the depths of despair.

​The Morning After

​When she woke, it was almost dawn. Elena looked at the man beside her his back turned and cried her heart out. Her cousin, Daphne Vance, was truly heartless! To please her own sister, Daphne had forbidden Elena from seeing her sweetheart, Jackson Reed, and arranged for a stranger to ruin her purity. Now, Elena felt she could never face Jackson again.

​However, this was an opportunity to escape. She refused to be a permanent prisoner, supplying bone marrow and blood to her sister. Elena scrambled into her clothes, intending to sneak away. In her haste, she didn't notice a jade pendant bracelet slip from her wrist onto the carpet. Before vanishing, she caught one glimpse of the man in the dim light: a prominent lion tattoo across his broad back.

​The Swap

​In a nearby alley, Elena was intercepted by Daphne Vance. "Trying to run? Not so easy!" Several burly men grabbed Elena, muzzling her and dragging her toward a van.

​Daphne then hurried back to the hotel room to retrieve the hidden camera footage, intending to use the video of the "sleazy old man" to destroy Elena's reputation. But when she watched the screen, she gasped. The man in the video wasn't the drunk she had hired.

​"It's... it's Cillian Thorne! His legs..." Daphne smashed the device in a jealous rage. She couldn't believe Elena's luck. But then, a vicious plan formed. She called the driver in the van: "Release Elena. Let her run!"

​"What?" the driver stammered.

"I said let her go! Did you not hear me?" Daphne's voice was icy. Only if Elena disappeared could Daphne step into her place.

​The Emperor's Search

​In the suite, Cillian Thorne woke with murderous intent. The woman from last night was gone. He called his assistant, Philip Woods. "Investigate the woman from last night. Find her and kill her without mercy."

​Cillian had been set up and drugged, stumbling into this room in desperation. He assumed the girl was part of the trap. But as he stood up to shower, he stepped on something: the jade charm bracelet.

​His heart stopped. This was the token he had given a little girl who saved his life years ago. Could it be her? He pulled back the sheet, seeing the maiden's mark left behind. His cold heart softened.

​He immediately called Philip back.

"Change of plans. Find the woman. Check if she has a ghost orchid birthmark on her shoulder. If she does, bring her to me... and prepare the wedding. I'm going to marry her."

​One Month Later

​Elena Vance emerged from a small clinic, clutching a positive pregnancy test. She was overwhelmed by despair. She was pregnant, and the doctor warned that her weakened state made an abortion life-threatening.

​She had been hiding in the slums of North City, scavenging to survive, away from the Vance family's reach. But as she stood on the sidewalk, a black limousine pulled up.

​"Are you Elena Vance?" a man in a suit asked.

"No... you have the wrong person," she whispered, backing away.

​The man ignored her, reporting to the figure in the car: "Young Master Seven, she has been found."

The window rolled down, revealing Cillian Thorne's stern profile. "Take her away."

​Elena was forced into the car, blindfolded. In the struggle, her pregnancy test fell to the pavement. Philip Woods picked it up, his brow furrowing as he read the result.

​When the blindfold was finally removed, Elena found herself in a room decorated in wedding crimson. Before her sat Cillian Thorne in his wheelchair, radiating an intense, suffocating pressure.

​His first words struck her like lightning:

"Surgery or a medical abortion which do you prefer?"