Chapter 1 Heartbroken

In a luxurious villa, under the soft glow of the light, a handsome man was holding an enchanting woman in his arms.

"I've missed you so much!"

The woman's soft body was draped over the strapping young man. He was clearly basking in the woman's flattery. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling, while his large hands slowly wandered on her body.

"I've missed you too, Tia!"

he said, kissing her passionately and hugging her tighter.

"Jerry, when can we tell my sister? I can wait, but the baby in my belly can't wait for too long."

"Crash!"

The sound of glass smashing on the ground appeared to come from the door. Irene An stared incredulously at the two people, who were wrapped in each other's arms. Her big eyes brimmed with tears and she couldn't keep her voice from trembling.

"Wha... What are you doing? Tia, he is my fiance...your brother-in-law!"

Tia An, who was leaning against Jerry Zuo's chest, sobbed loudly. She looked at Jerry Zuo dolefully with tears streaking her beautiful face. Yet, she didn't appear to be guilty or embarrassed about being caught. On the contrary, she looked like she was the victim.

"What fiance? I have never agreed to this engagement! Our mothers made a promise to each other when we were not even born. Don't expect me to honor that promise. We are in the 21st century now. I have never even liked you, let alone marry you!"

Irene An felt like her heart had been stabbed by a knife when she saw the disgust in Jerry Zuo's eyes. She clutched her chest tightly and walked into the room on shaky feet.

"No, don't say that. Our relationship is fine all this while, isn't it? And we, we have already..."

"What? Slept with each other? You came to me. I had no reason to refuse it. So it's your fault," he snapped.

Irene An's face turned pale. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Could this cold, cruel man be the same gentle, considerate man she had fallen in love with?

"I never loved you. I only love Tia," he declared, looking at Irene An as if she was his enemy.

Then he turned to comfort Tia An by stroking her arm. He felt sorry for her and the love in his eyes was undisguised, which only made Irene An feel worse.

"Oh, Jerry!"

Tia An was so thrilled by his gesture that she clung to him desperately and shot a look of triumph at Irene An.

"Irene, I'm sorry. I'm pregnant, so I..."

Tia apologized. Her delicate body trembled as though she was frightened.

"Why did you tell her? Let's go. I don't want her ill-feelings to affect our baby."

Jerry held Tia's arm carefully to help her stand up. His eyes were full of love and adoration.

Watching them leave hand-in-hand, Irene's world came crashing down. She crumbled on to the ground helplessly, struggling to accept the reality in front of her.

"So, Irene! Does it hurt?"

Tia asked in a snarky tone. Irene turned around and saw her evil expression.

"What?"

"I just wanted to tell you the truth. I have been with Jerry for a long time. Our first time together was on his 16th birthday."

Something exploded in Irene's head.

Wasn't that the same year that she had gone to live with the Zuo family? 'Oh my god! I am so stupid! I believed I was the only woman in Jerry's life as we were engaged.'

"And there's more! Do you know why we didn't tell you the truth all this time? You had the shares of the An family, and you also looked after him like a maid. Thanks to you, we could be carefree!"

Irene couldn't take in any more of the venom spewing out of Tia's vile mouth.

Tia's words kept echoing in her mind. A few days ago, on Jerry's birthday, she had done something that she never knew would be her undoing. She had transferred all her shares to him as a birthday gift.

Irene stumbled out of the villa, tears streaming down her face. Her chest felt like a hollow shell. She felt numb.

"Ah!"

The sound of screeching brakes rang in her ears. She had been knocked over and felt a sharp pain. Something warm flowed out of her body. Everything in front of her was dark, and Irene fell into darkness.

"Irene, this is Mrs. Lydia. She will be your new mother from now on."

Irene, who was only five years old, looked up at her father, Tom An, innocently. He was standing in front of her with a woman who was twenty-eight years old.

"Hello, Irene. Look, this is your sister, Tia. She is half a year younger than you! We are all one family now. I think that Irene will be a good sister. Am I right, Irene?"

Lydia Xiao put on a great show of being the perfect wife and mother. She held Tia's hand and walked up to her, pretending to be a caring, loving mother. She reached out to pat her head, but Irene dodged it with a frown.

Her father was very angry with her reaction. From that day on, he gradually began distancing himself from her and instead, he started getting closer to Tia. He doted on her and showed more concern for his step-daughter than his real daughter.

The mother and daughter had schemed to take away everything from her-her father, her family, and, now, even her fiance step by step! The five years of hard work turned out to be a joke in the end.

'Lydia, Tia, Jerry, I will die before I let you be happy,' Irene promised herself.

Her head was throbbing and her entire body felt like it was being crushed by a huge stone. The pain was overwhelming. Even moving her fingers was painful at this moment.

"Ouch!"

"Irene, wake up!"

Came a choked voice through sobs. Irene opened her eyes in surprise.

She looked at the white ceiling and the white curtains, and the smell of disinfectant filled her nostrils. She was dumbfounded.

'What's going on? Shouldn't I be dead after being run over by that car? Could I have survived such a serious injury?'

"Irene, what's wrong with you? Answer me!"

Hearing the woman's hysterical voice, Irene turned her head and her gaze landed on the woman near her.

Irene almost fell off the bed.

The woman in front of her was none other than her mother, Jessica Lin!

Irene was baffled. She scratched her head, trying hard to recollect. 'If my memory serves me right, when I was 16 years old, I was sent away to Jerry's house as his fiance. Mommy had a big quarrel with me at the time because she objected to it. What's more, when I was living with the Zuo family, I had a car accident. Mommy had come to see me, and I had vented on her.' Her mother had been so heartbroken that it affected her health. She was taken back to America by Irene's grandmother and, since then, they had lost contact with each other.