Chapter 2

"Tonight, you meet with Mr. Johnson. Adeline and I have other plans," Finn said, tossing the prepared meeting notes back to me as he left the meeting room with Adeline.

This left me with a half-finished presentation on the screen and unfinished words.

The room was so quiet I could hear the click of the lock.

"Oh, poor Lydia has to work overtime again tonight."

"We really aren't familiar with the project; it's best if Lydia handles it."

"Finn trusts you, that's why he gave you this task."

Adeline's team members packed their things and offered me empty words of comfort as they passed.

I knew they were just flaunting their favor with Finn in front of me.

Finn's favoritism towards Adeline is obvious to everyone, even though I am his legal wife.

For a whole month, I've been putting in extra hours on the project with Mr. Johnson.

When I handed it to Finn, he barely glanced at the proposal before telling me to pass it to Adeline's team.

I argued for my team's hard work and had a huge fight with Finn in the office.

Everyone outside could hear my hysteria, but no one spoke up for me, even though we've shared hardships for five years.

That was the last time I argued with him. It wasn't for me or because of Adeline, but for my team's dedication.

In the end, I paid out of my own pocket to take the team out for dinner to soothe their frustration, then stayed late to reorganize the project details for Adeline.

She tugged Finn's sleeve and pouted, "Taking over the sister’s project, she won't get mad, will she? Besides, I don't even know this project yet."

So, Finn waved his hand and told me to organize a meeting to hand over the project details.

Standing in front of the two of them, the air was tense. They seemed to be waiting for me to get angry or break down.

But I calmly gathered my documents and agreed coolly.

Today’s scene repeated itself; Finn seemed determined to use humiliating me as his way to win over Adeline.

It seemed the crueler he was to me, the more sincere his feelings for his first love, Adeline, appeared.

I should have realized sooner that I could never replace Adeline, even though I am his wife.

Finn and Adeline's story is clichéd, like a Prince and his Cinderella.

Adeline is an only child from a regular family, not poor but not a match for Finn's high-status parents.

Finn was set on Adeline, declaring he'd marry no one else, and fought with his family over it.

His parents resorted to the oldest drama trick—a half a million dollars to leave their son.

Actually, they arranged for her to study at her dream school abroad, covering all expenses. Adeline agreed, somehow convincing Finn to accept it too.

While Adeline was abroad, Finn's parents approached me.

They promised that if I agreed to marry Finn, they would revive my family's fortunes. It was a windfall for me.

Finn and I knew each other from childhood, attending the same schools since elementary.

My feelings for him grew wildly during my teenage years; I secretly loved him for seven years.

I asked why me, and they said I looked like Adeline, and they knew me better since they'd watched me grow up.

"Besides, we can revive your family, or crush it like an ant if we wish," Finn’s mother said with a smile that had the sharpness of a sugar-coated blade.

Despite knowing the dangers, I accepted it naively, dreaming that love would grow over time, like kids playing house.

Until one day, I accidentally saw his chat history with Adeline on his smartphone during a meeting and confronted him.

Finn turned it on me, telling me to know my place, and brought Adeline into the company, raising her to my level. He wanted revenge, so he publicly favored Adeline, leaving me embarrassed.

He took Adeline to social events, and even at company dinners, held her hand and doted on her publicly.

I got angry, but he didn't care, turning it into my one-sided cold war.

If I apologized, he would lecture me in front of everyone, calling me a stand-in who couldn’t compare to a hair on Adeline's head.

Luckily, I woke up from this five-year dream long ago. This unhappy marriage should have ended sooner.

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