Chapter 1

“Ms. Hayes, we have the results of your investigation.”

“And the results are?”

My grip tightened on my phone, knuckles turning white from the pressure.

“Your fiancé, Liam Blackwood, and Cole Blackwood of the Blackwood Corporation are not acquainted and share no blood relation. They are two different individuals.”

Outside, the rain poured, streams of water sliding down the windowpane like countless eerie hands squeezing my heart.

After hanging up, my finger instinctively tapped back to the video.

On screen, Cole Blackwood, heir to the Blackwood Corporation, stood impeccably dressed in a custom suit, gently placing an engagement ring on Seraphina Thorne’s finger. They stood under the spotlight, a picture-perfect couple.

But my eyes were drawn, against my will, to the ring on Cole’s ring finger.

It was identical to the one I’d personally slipped onto my fiancé Liam’s finger just this morning.

What chilled me even more was that the man in the video looked *exactly* like my fiancé, Liam Blackwood.

Yet, the investigator’s voice still echoed in my ears, plunging me into a spiral of self-doubt.

In that moment, an invisible hand seemed to drag my thoughts into a vortex, and past memories flashed before my eyes.

Five years ago, on a rainy night, in front of my foster mother’s gravestone, I was startled by a faint whisper of, “Help me.”

I carried the blood-soaked Liam back to my cramped apartment.

Liam told me he was an orphan, and an instant kinship bloomed between us.

Liam was incredibly optimistic, full of youthful energy.

Despite his injuries, he flashed a brilliant smile, his charming eyes crinkling into happy crescents.

“My name is Liam, as in L-I-A-M. And you, sis?”

A blush crept up my cheeks as I softly replied, “Lily Hayes…”

For the next few days, we clung to each other in that tiny rental.

Liam would make me breakfast every morning, and at night, he’d hold me tight. Those sweet moments made me fall deeper and deeper in love.

We quickly tumbled into a passionate romance, promising to be together forever and always.

But for the past six months, I’d been feeling that something was off with Liam.

Until one day, I saw Cole Blackwood, the heir to the Blackwood Corporation, make a public appearance online.

I was stunned.

Because it was undeniably Liam.

Their body types were identical, and their faces were almost exactly the same.

On a whim, I started investigating, even hiring a private detective.

Just moments ago, I’d received a definitive answer.

But could two people in the world really look so astonishingly alike?

Especially that ring…

“Lily, are you watching a live stream?”

Suddenly, a man’s voice sounded behind me.

I turned to see him standing in the dim light, his silhouette identical to Cole’s.

As he walked towards me, he revealed a face that was the spitting image of Cole Blackwood, the heir from the live stream.

He glanced at my phone screen and chuckled helplessly.

“Suspecting me again? I wish I were the great Mr. Blackwood, but no such luck!”

I didn’t say anything, just lowered my eyes.

It was true, their personalities and temperaments were completely different.

If Liam was the cheerful boy next door, Cole was a decisive leader in the business world.

One an orphan, the other an heir to a billion-dollar conglomerate—how could they be the same person?

Liam walked closer, his arm naturally wrapping around my waist.

“No… This engagement ceremony is just so grand, it’s really something to envy,” I said with a forced smile.

“Lily, you need to stop overthinking things. Dinner’s ready. Let’s eat and then get some rest,” Liam sighed, a hint of resignation in his voice.

“Okay, thanks for all your hard work, Liam.”

I nodded with a smile, my gaze subtly falling on the ring on Liam’s right hand.