Chapter 1

To save my fiancée Angela from a raging fire, seventy percent of my skin was burned.

Angela spared no expense, hiring Europe's top plastic surgery specialists to treat me.

She flew to Europe countless times each month to stay with me.

Until I recovered and returned to America, wanting to surprise her, I overheard a man outside her office saying:

"You've done more than enough. You don't owe him anything anymore."

Angela said nothing. The next moment, a little girl pushed past me and rushed into the office:

"Mom, are you going to leave me and Dad? Who is this homewrecker trying to steal you away?"

My heart jolted. When did Angela have a child?

That brief moment felt like an entire century.

Just then, someone came to report to Angela. They gave me a strange look before pushing open the office door.

The instant our eyes met, I caught a flash of panic in Angela's gaze.

"Fernandez, you're back." Angela quickly composed herself and came forward to take my hand.

She gripped too hard. A burning pain shot through the back of my hand, and bright red blood stained her pale fingers.

Before I could react, something struck my shin.

Then came a tearing pain.

"You bad person, stay away from my mom!" The little girl's shrill voice rang in my ears.

Before she finished speaking, the man beside her immediately scooped her up.

The girl's features looked remarkably like Angela's.

When I looked at the man's face, I froze.

He looked seventy to eighty percent similar to me.

The excruciating pain in my body made it impossible to think. I could only stare dumbly at everything before me.

Who were these two people?

A massive unease engulfed me.

I slowly withdrew my hand from Angela's grip and looked at her helplessly, hoping she would explain.

But she had no time for me. Her brow furrowed tightly, her voice tinged with anger: "Bridges George, take Ellis away."

What a coincidence—he shared my surname too?

Bridges looked aggrieved. The little girl called Ellis was startled into silence, looking completely dazed.

But I knew very clearly that Angela felt guilty. The fiercer her words, the more panicked her heart.

Bridges pressed his lips together, his eyes full of stubbornness. He held out for a while before finally carrying Ellis away.

But he wasn't watching where he was going, and the father and daughter crashed hard into the wall.

The pain from her forehead made Ellis burst into tears, releasing all her pent-up grievances.

Angela hesitated at first, but when she saw Bridges's reddened forehead, she immediately stepped past me.

She tenderly rubbed Bridges's forehead, no longer sparing even half a thought for me.

I stood there stupidly. When I looked up, I saw Bridges watching me with mockery.

The corner of his mouth curved slightly in a provocative and contemptuous smile.

Looking at that face so similar to mine, my heart felt heavy, as if something inside had died completely.

I left the office in a daze and returned home alone, only to be locked out.

Hearing the "incorrect password" message, my heart felt sour and swollen, an indescribable feeling.

With a click, my father opened the door from inside. A flash of panic and guilt crossed his eyes, as if I'd come at the wrong time.

The house was brightly lit.

The table was laden with sumptuous dishes. Six chairs were arranged around the dining table, with a baby high chair placed beside one of them.

Three elderly people were chatting and laughing, bustling about inside.

They were my mother and Angela's parents.

When they saw me with my suitcase, the smiles on their faces instantly froze.

After an awkward silence, my mother was the first to speak: "Fernandez is back? You should have told us you were coming."

Her voice carried both complaint and reproach, but no warmth.

Looking at her, I suddenly remembered these past five years, enduring pain alone in a European hospital.

And my parents seemed to have rarely cared about me.

So much so that they hadn't even noticed the doctor had already informed them of my discharge.

I stared hard at the six chairs around the dining table, my heart dark and confused.

"Fernandez?" Angela's voice came from behind me.

I turned to see the intimate figures of their family of three.

Bridges held Ellis with one hand while his other arm wrapped intimately around Angela's waist.

The instant I turned around, Angela hastily broke free from Bridges's embrace.