Chapter 1

　　Vivian's POV

　　"Vivian! Oh my god, you look like a ghost! Are you even alive?" Yuna's scream burst through the phone, making me wince.

　　"I just got out of surgery, Yuna," I whispered. My throat was raspy and raw due to the appendectomy I just had.

　　"I felt so terrible that I could not be there, but I am stuck at this ski resort for the weekend," Yuna said as she leaned closer to the camera, her expression shifting from relief to a look of pure excitement. "But I had to call you since I could not let you find out through the grapevine. My brother finally did it, Viv! He has a girlfriend now. A real one."

　　My heartbeat instantly sped up.

　　Caleb had finally gone public. For three years, our relationship had remained hidden, but today was my 25th birthday, and he had promised that everything would change. He had promised he would finally stand beside me openly.

　　Relief rushed through me as all my worries about him not calling disappeared.

　　"Yuna, I... I was actually going to tell you. I know it seems sudden, and I am so sorry we kept it from you for so long, but we just—"

　　"What are you talking about?" Yuna interrupted,"Why would you be sorry? I am just thrilled he finally stopped stalling and picked someone we actually like. Honestly, the resemblance is almost creepy. She looks so much like you that I had to rub my eyes when I saw them together."

　　I stiffened immediately. "What do you mean, she looks like me?" I asked as my fingers began to tremble.

　　"Ivy, obviously! Look, they are right there on the terrace."

　　Yuna turned the camera around, and the video feed stabilized on a scene that looked like a dream, but it was my living nightmare. My eyes settled on a figure who was none other than Caleb, my boyfriend. He was in his designer ski gear, and in his arms was a woman whom he was cradling so softly as if to shield her from the cold. The woman was Ivy Taylor, my stepsister. She was the girl who had spent the last three years studying in London while I was busy keeping Caleb's bed warm and his company running.

　　I watched in horror as Caleb leaned in and kissed her deeply with so much passion he had never shown me, without a care for cameras.

　　"Are they not sweet?" Yuna asked with an excited giggle, oblivious to the painful squeeze of my heart. "Caleb told me he has been flying out to see her every month while she was studying abroad, and he called himself her personal coach during her time away. Can you believe he kept that a secret for three years?"

　　My head was spinning.

　　I thought he was building our future, but his main prize was my manipulative stepsister, while pushing me to the side like a used rag.

　　I blinked rapidly as I tried to push back the hot tears that threatened to spill.

　　"I have to go, Yuna," I said, my voice trembling as I tried not to break down in front of her.

　　"Wait, check the group chat! Ivy just posted!"

　　I hung up before she could say another word and wiped away a tear with my fingers, trembling as I checked my social media. There they were. It was a photo of Ivy and Caleb in a romantic embrace.

　　'The best gift is having you by my side after so long,' Ivy wrote in the caption.

　　And then Caleb's verified account commented within minutes. 'I will always be your personal coach, Ivy. Welcome home.'

　　I felt a sob catch in my throat, but I refused to let it out as I gasped for air.

　　He kept his promise to go public today, but this time, he chose the very person who had taken everything away from me. My father had built the Starry hotel with his bare hands, but my mother, Nora, couldn't wait to strip him of his legacy immediately after his death, leaving me with nothing.

　　She had married Ivy's father and turned her back on her own daughter without a second glance. She favored a manipulative Ivy at every turn, and I had endured the pain and neglect because I thought I had Caleb.

　　I thought I was building my future with him, but I was wrong. I gave him my all, but I had been a fool and a pawn in his game. Angry at myself, I wiped another stray tear from my cheek and dared to open a different message thread, which was a contact I had ignored for weeks. Nora had been hounding me about an arranged marriage with a wealthy heir to solidify the Taylor family interests, but I had refused because I thought Caleb was coming to save me.

　　I had spent long nights imagining how to feel when he finally claimed me, but now, I knew I was never part of the plan.

　　Seeing my plans shattered, I knew that if I wanted my father's hotel back and if I wanted to reclaim the Rosewood Manor, then I needed to be the wife of someone powerful. I read her numerous texts and broke down in tears.

　　I cried for all the wrongs that had been done to me by the very people who were supposed to protect me. I cried for the false hope Caleb fed me for three years while I was nothing but a placeholder. Then I cried for the loveless marriage I was about to agree to because everyone turned their backs on me.

　　Wiping my tears, I began to type a message.

　　'I will do it. Send me the time and the place for the meeting. I am ready to marry him.'

　　I hit send and dropped the phone as my heart clenched painfully. They might have fooled me, but I was going to get everything back.