Chapter 1

Five years ago, my family went bankrupt. It was Julian Thorne who cleared our massive, crushing debts.

I asked him how I could ever repay him.

He looked at my face, a deep, lonely longing flickering in his eyes.

"You don't have to do anything," he murmured. "Just stay by my side."

From that day on, I became a strange presence in his life.

I wasn't his maid, yet I managed every detail of his life. I memorized all his allergies and dietary restrictions, and I tied his silk ties every single morning.

I wasn't his girlfriend, yet we lived together, and we shared a bed.

But whenever we had sex, he would blindfold me with a black silk ribbon.

He also never allowed me to make a single sound.

It wasn't until the night Serena Croft returned to the country that I finally understood everything. Looking at her face, a face that was an eighty percent match to mine, the truth hit me like a slap.

I was nothing but a cheap stand-in he kept on a leash.

Gently, my hand trembled as I touched my flat stomach, where a tiny life was now growing.

Since that was the case, it was time for me to disappear.