Chapter 3

Returning to my apartment felt like entering a sanctuary. The silence was a balm after the chaos at the gala. I had just changed out of my blood-stained dress when the sound of angry pounding on my door shattered the peace.

Before my security could stop them, David and Chloe burst in.

David threw a folded document onto the coffee table. It skidded across the glass surface and stopped near my hand.

"Are you behind this?" he demanded, his face a thunderous mask. "What did you tell my mother? Why did she make Chloe a mistress? She issued a formal decree!"

Chloe, ever the performer, rushed forward and put a restraining hand on his arm, her face a picture of teary-eyed distress.

"David, don' t blame Sarah," she whimpered. "It' s my humble status. Sarah' s maternal grandfather is a prime minister, and she' s the Queen' s adopted daughter. Of course, only Sarah is worthy of being a wife."

Her words were designed to sound humble, but they were laced with poison, a reminder of the status she craved and a subtle accusation that I was using my position against her. Their bickering was giving me a headache.

"Are you done crying?" I asked, my voice flat. "My aunt' s decree isn' t something I can influence. Why are you coming to me to complain?"

"Still pretending?" David shouted, stepping closer. He seemed to be releasing all the pent-up resentment from our past life, all the years he felt trapped. "My aunt dotes on you the most! She' d sacrifice my happiness for yours. What makes you so special?"

This time, his anger didn' t hurt me. It was just noise. I owed him nothing. I reached for the intercom on the wall.

"Security, please escort Mr. Chen and his guest out."

As I spoke, a flash of white fur darted out from my bedroom. It was Lucky. Not the dog from my tragic past, but a beautiful white cat, a gift from my aunt just two weeks ago. He trotted over to me and rubbed against my leg, purring loudly. My heart, which had felt like a block of ice, softened at his touch.

David, however, froze. His eyes widened, and he suddenly bent down and scooped Lucky into his arms. An ecstatic, almost manic grin spread across his face.

"Lucky!" he cried out. "Chloe, look! It' s the little cat we saved together."

My blood ran cold.

Chloe took a small, hesitant step back, a flicker of something unreadable in her eyes. But she quickly recovered, remembering her role. She moved closer, a gentle smile on her face.

"Yes," she said softly. "I can' t believe this is Sarah' s cat."

Lucky had always been my cat. The story of them "saving" him was a lie they had built between them, a shared memory that formed the foundation of his obsession. In my past life, at a palace banquet, they claimed to have found Lucky drowning in a pond. He saw it as a sign, their beautiful, secret beginning. Unable to have Chloe, he had kept my pet confined in his yard as a living monument to his tragic love, a pet he could mourn over. He never allowed me near the cat, hissing that I would never understand their connection. It never occurred to his self-absorbed mind that Lucky, a pampered housecat with dedicated caretakers, would never have been wandering near a pond by himself.

"How could it be hers?" David snarled at me now, his joy turning back to suspicion. "You want to steal the position of wife, and now you want to steal the cat? My aunt has truly spoiled you rotten."

His baseless accusations were so ludicrous I almost laughed.

"Lucky was a gift from my aunt half a month ago," I stated calmly, trying to reason with a man who was clearly beyond reason. "There are records. How am I stealing him?"

But he never listened to me. He ignored my words completely, turning and shoving the struggling cat into Chloe' s arms. He was so focused on his argument with me, so lost in his own narrative, that he didn' t see the fear in Chloe' s eyes or the way Lucky' s claws were digging into the expensive fabric of her dress as he tried to get away.

"I' m telling you, Sarah," David said, his voice low and threatening. "You can' t steal Lucky from us, and you can' t steal the position of wife from Chloe. You' ve lost."

He turned to leave, pulling Chloe with him, a triumphant smirk on his face.

He had won, he thought. He had the woman and the cat.