The Stand-In He Could Never Forget

Seventeen years ago, I was the girl he saved. Seventeen years later, he mistook someone else for me. I stayed by his side under a different name for four years, only to end up with a contract agreement, a body covered in scars, and a baby I couldn't save. On our wedding day, he abandoned me in front of everyone for another woman. I faked my death to escape, and returned three years later backed by massive capital, personally sending my enemies to prison and reclaiming my family's business. Everyone thought I would hate him to the bitter end, until that massive fire where he protected me with his life. Only then did I realize—the white moonlight he had been protecting for seventeen years had been me all along. But this time, it's my turn to leave first. "In our next life, let's never meet again." Rachel's POV The blanket was violently ripped away before I was even fully awake. Instinctively, I tried to cover myself, but the next second, Tristan Sterling's freezing voice crashed down on me. "Rachel Vance, you really have no shame!" I was completely naked, my waist covered in black and blue bruises. Tristan stood by the bed, already fully dressed, his eyes filled with undisguised disgust. "Impersonating Lily to climb into my bed—did you think this would get you into the Sterling family?" My head buzzed as the memories of last night rushed back. Yesterday was Tristan's birthday. I had spent the entire day preparing, cooking Beef Wellington. But I knew he wouldn't come back. On every important day of every year, he went to see Lily West. For four years, there had been no exceptions. I just thought, what if? What if he actually came back tonight? In the evening, I was just about to throw out the table of stone-cold Beef Wellington. Mrs. Sterling called, saying he was drunk, got caught in the rain at the Peninsula Hotel, had a fever, and was drifting in and out of consciousness. She told me to go pick him up right away. When I arrived, Tristan was burning hot, his clothes soaked through by the rain, and his tie hanging loosely around his neck. I knelt down to wipe his face, and my sleeve slid up, revealing the vine tattoo on the inside of my arm. I had gotten it seventeen years ago to cover a scar. Tristan opened his eyes groggily, and when he saw the tattoo, his pupils suddenly lit up. He grabbed my wrist, pulled me into his arms, and rasped out a name. "Lily..." I froze. He was drunk and mistook me for Lily West? I should have refused, but I craved his embrace. I couldn't bring myself to let go. So I thought, since I had already decided to leave anyway, I would treat this as a final farewell. I would slip away quietly before dawn so he would never know it was me last night. But Tristan held my waist tightly, as if terrified I would run away. He was delirious with fever, yet he was so wild it felt like he wanted to consume me whole. He called out Lily West's name over and over, taking me the entire night. In the end, I was so exhausted that I lost consciousness and failed to leave before he woke up. So now, I was cornered in bed. "Put this on." A man's shirt was thrown over my head, covering my face. Tristan's shirt. "I'll say this one more time. The contract agreement made it crystal clear what your place is. If you dare use such underhanded tricks again, I won't go easy on you!" I looked down at the clothes scattered across the floor. The dress I wore last night had been ripped to shreds and was unwearable. Enduring the aches all over my body, I sat up, swallowing my anger as I slipped the shirt on. My hands were shaking, but I didn't let myself cry. "You were the one who mistook me for someone else." I looked up at Tristan. "You were burning up with fever and mistook me for her. Now, somehow, I'm the calculating one who climbed into your bed?" Tristan's eyes turned cold. I didn't stop. "Lily, Lily—you talk about Lily every single day. If she actually cared about you, would I have needed to run to the hotel in the middle of the night to pick you up? Wasn't it your precious Lily who stood you up yesterday?" Tristan stepped forward, grabbing my chin with so much force that I could almost hear my bones creak. "Who do you think you are to even say her name?" To him, Lily West was the person enshrined in his heart. Even though she had kept her distance over the years, blowing hot and cold, he never complained and accepted it all gladly. My cheeks went pale from his grip, and my eyes burned. I grit my teeth, stubbornly refusing to look down. "Do you think I want to mention her? If you hadn't made me her stand-in four years ago, would I have ever signed that contract agreement?" "For four years, I covered for you two. I shielded you from your family's arranged marriages and played the role of your loving girlfriend in public." "Am I just naturally cheap? Did I deserve this?" By the end, my voice was hoarse. Tears welled in my eyes, but I forced them back. Tristan stared at my reddened eyes, and his chest suddenly felt a sharp sting. The sensation came so suddenly that he let go abruptly as if scorched, pushing me away. My back slammed hard against the headboard, the pain causing cold sweat to break out. Tristan turned his head, refusing to look at me. "You signed the contract agreement of your own free will. I gave you money, I gave you the medication, and you played along in public. It was a fair trade, mutually beneficial. Don't start acting like the victim now!" Hearing "fair trade," I suddenly laughed. For four years, I played the role of his girlfriend in name, dealt with his parents, and acted with absolute decorum everywhere so Lily West could live her carefree life out there. Yet with just one phone call from Lily West, he would park the car right on the highway and leave me to find my own cab home. I was sick of it. "Fine." I stood up, looking him straight in the eye. "Our agreement expires this month. You and I are done. I'm not playing this game anymore!" Tristan frowned, clearly caught off guard. A hint of panic flared in his chest, but he quickly suppressed it. To him, I was just a fallen socialite who had been kicked out by her stepmother and signed the contract agreement out of sheer desperation. I was used to being spoiled, unable to endure hardship or poverty. Hadn't my submissiveness over the past four years just been a bid to eventually become Mrs. Sterling? Saying I was leaving now was probably just a new trick to play hard to get. At this thought, the coldness in his eyes deepened. "A new strategy?" Since I was trying to play hard to get, he would just go along with it, letting me play with fire and burn myself. He'd wait to see me regret it and beg him through bitter tears. "Fine. Have it your way. The contract agreement ends. Nothing would please me more." "Just don't come crying back to beg me later." I couldn't listen to another word. My heart was breaking from the pain. For four long years, this was the kind of person he had thought of me as. I rushed out the door without looking back. But what I didn't know was that behind me, Tristan rubbed his temples in frustration, feeling a tightness in his chest. This woman was actually throwing tantrums now. He turned to pack his things, preparing to leave as well. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a few dried drops of virgin blood on the bedsheets—so glaringly bright that they were impossible to ignore.Rachel's POV I walked out of the hotel and got into my car, my body still shaking. I gripped the steering wheel, taking a long moment to steady myself before starting the engine. With the wind blowing in, my mind cleared up a bit. I was the eldest daughter of the former chairman of the Vance Group, groomed as the successor since childhood. Before I turned eighteen, I was already attending top business schools and family board meetings. The year I graduated from college, everyone assumed I would return to the Vance family to take over the business. But I didn't. I changed my name and entered Tristan's company, starting from the lowest administrative clerk position. It took me two years to work my way up to his executive assistant, all just to see him every day. Four years ago, disaster struck the Vance family. My father passed away, and my stepmother, Fiona Vance, kicked my younger sister, Nina Vance, and me out. Overnight, I went from a pampered heiress to a homeless orphan. When the news reached Tristan's ears, he finally realized that the little assistant who had worked for him for two years was actually the eldest daughter of the Vance family. The way he looked at me changed on the spot, as if he were looking at a calculating fraud. Everyone knew that Tristan only had eyes for Lily West; none of the high-society heiresses could ever catch his attention. So, Tristan concluded that I was just like them. He believed I must have figured out a direct approach would fail, so I had intentionally hidden my identity to take a different path to cling to him. He called it "coming prepared." And I had no way to defend myself. To make matters worse, Nina's autoimmune encephalitis flared up acutely right around that time. Meds from regular hospitals were completely useless. The only specialized medication that could control her condition was produced exclusively by a biopharmaceutical lab under the Sterling Group. Meanwhile, Tristan's mother, Victoria Sterling, disapproved of Tristan and Lily West's relationship, using threats and promises to force Lily to leave her son. Tristan approached me himself and proposed that I become his contract lover. My job was to pretend to be his girlfriend, pacify his parents, and serve as a shield for Lily West. In exchange, he would provide Nina's specialized medication. I spent the entire night thinking it over, and agreed the next day. But I requested that Tristan also pay me a separate monthly fee. The reason I gave was that playing along with his act took up a lot of my personal time. Tristan sneered when he heard this, looking like his suspicions had been confirmed. He became even more convinced that I was a vain, money-grubbing, materialistic woman, no different from any other. Naturally, he looked down on me even more. In reality, while I agreed to become his contract lover because of my desperate circumstances and my need for Tristan's specialized medication... ...the far more important reason was that I had loved him for many years. For four years, I lived in the villa he arranged for me, decorating every corner to his liking and preparing every meal according to his tastes. When he came home, I would serve him corn chowder. When he didn't, I would dump it down the drain. I had seen his profile soften when he received late-night calls from Lily West, and I had seen his eyes turn instantly cold the moment he hung up and looked at me. It wasn't that I didn't feel hurt. After all, he was the person I had loved for over a decade. And I had long realized that Lily West didn't love him at all. Lily West always kept Tristan at arm's length, blowing hot and cold. Every time he threw his heart at her feet, Lily would accept it with lukewarm indifference, never giving him a definite answer, yet never rejecting him completely. My heart ached for him. I thought that one day, I would melt this block of ice. But four years passed, and I got nothing in return. He did treat me slightly more politely than in the beginning, and he was never late with the money or the medication. At times, he would even help out with Nina's hospitalization. Yet the disdain deeply rooted in Tristan's bones never truly faded. A heart is made of flesh. Even the hottest water poured onto ice will eventually grow cold. My heart grew colder day by day, year after year. What finally made me make up my mind happened three months ago. Over these past four years, I had never given up searching for an alternative drug. Three months ago, I finally found an international pharmaceutical company with an alternative medication. They were willing to collaborate with me to set up a lab and import the drug. Nina's life would no longer be held in Tristan's hands. I could leave. Last night, I had intended to celebrate one last birthday with Tristan. Whether he showed up or not, I planned to leave when the contract agreement expired at the end of the month, ending things gracefully. I never expected a heavy rain and a drunken night would turn everything upside down. The look in his eyes just now had been brutal, and he hadn't held back his strength at all when grabbing my chin and shoving me against the headboard. My back was still numb. My body ached, but my heart ached even more. Taking a deep breath, I drove into the hospital's underground parking lot. Nina had suffered from rare autoimmune encephalitis since childhood, and had been in the intensive care ward of this hospital for four years. For a young girl just over ten years old, school wasn't what she was most familiar with—it was the smell of disinfectant and the doctors and nurses in white coats. I pushed open the glass door of the ward's floor. The nurse walking toward me glanced at my face before shifting her gaze to the men's shirt I was wearing. "You're here early today, Ms. Vance." I didn't think much of it, simply nodding and walking straight to the ward. Pushing the door open, I found Nina with bloodshot eyes and tear stains on her cheeks. My heart tightened. I rushed over and pulled her into my arms. "Nina, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Did someone bully you?" Nina looked up, wet tears still clinging to her eyelashes. "They said you're a mistress... that you're someone's side-chick..." The little girl's lips trembled, her voice trailing off at the end. A pre-teen girl might not fully understand the meaning of those words, but she could read the contempt on other people's faces. I froze. The contract lover arrangement was a secret; the number of people who knew about it could be counted on one hand. The public didn't know I had any connection to Tristan, and we never had any interaction in public. What was going on? A news notification popped up on my phone, with the headline screaming: [Sterling Group CEO Suspected of Cheating, Secret Late-Night Hotel Rendezvous with Mysterious Woman] I tapped on it immediately, and was instantly struck as if by lightning. It showed a side profile of me rushing into the hotel room last night, followed by a clear, front-facing shot of me walking out of the hotel lobby this morning wearing Tristan's shirt. The photos were incredibly clear. Instinctively, I looked down. The shirt was still on me. No wonder the nurse had been acting so snide. This was a disaster. Everyone knew that Tristan's girlfriend was Lily West. Now, I had been caught spending the night with Tristan at a hotel. My temples began to throb with pain. Once the contract agreement expired, I could have just taken Nina and left. But now, things had suddenly become incredibly complicated, and my relationship with Tristan would be hard to untangle. I had no choice but to comfort Nina. "The media is just writing nonsense. It's not true. Ignore them, don't believe a word." As I whispered this, my phone rang with a piercing trill. Tristan's name flashed on the screen. I picked it up, and his raging anger surged through the line. "Rachel Vance! Is this what you meant by ending things? How dare you! To think you'd resort to such dirty, underhanded tactics!"Rachel's POV I was about to explain, but he had already hung up. Staring at the black screen, my chest felt heavy and suffocated. What was there to explain? He never believed me anyway. And we were about to end things regardless. Let him hate me, then. He despised me anyway. Slipping my phone away, I turned to look at Nina on the hospital bed. The little girl had just had a crying fit, and her emotions were still unstable. She gripped my hand tightly, refusing to let go. Nina's condition was extremely sensitive to emotional swings. If she experienced any severe stress, she could have an episode at any moment. Consequently, I didn't dare go anywhere and spent two whole days keeping watch in the hospital. However, the way things unfolded completely exceeded my expectations. Tristan made no further moves after that phone call. Instead, it was Victoria Sterling who took action. The following afternoon, a financial media outlet published an exclusive interview with Victoria. In the interview, Victoria generously acknowledged me as the future young mistress of the Sterling family. She even released several family photos that included me. In the pictures, I stood among the Sterling family, smiling gently. When I saw the news, my hands turned ice-cold. Instead of severing ties with Tristan, I had leaped from a rumored secret hotel mistress to the officially recognized fiancée of the Sterling family. The irony was that this so-called official status didn't bring me a single shred of benefit. The entire internet knew that Tristan and Lily West were a couple. Over the past four years, the media had photographed them together countless times. Whenever they were photographed, Tristan looked incredibly gentle and attentive, and he never once denied the rumors. Four years ago, he had even publicly declared that he would marry no one but Lily West. Lily herself was a quite famous dancer with a massive fan base, known for her pure and elegant image. Now, I had become the homewrecking mistress who had forcibly pushed Lily West out to take her place. A tidal wave of abuse swept over me. Social media was flooded with attacks directed at me. Soon after, someone began leaking my personal information. My ID number, home address, and phone number were all exposed. I originally wanted to endure it for a few days, hoping the heat would blow over. But instead of dying down, the situation only escalated. On the morning of the third day, I went out to buy breakfast for Nina. When I returned, the hospital corridor was packed with people. My heart sank as I rushed over. Arriving at the door of the ward, the scene before me made my scalp tingle with dread. A large crowd surrounded the entrance, and there were even seven or eight reporters inside the ward. They had cornered Nina right by her bed, pointing their cameras directly at the frail, thin girl. "Did you know that Rachel Vance is the Sterling family's fiancée?" "Did Rachel Vance deliberately sabotage Tristan Sterling and Lily West's relationship to climb the social ladder?" "What are your thoughts on Rachel Vance being someone's mistress?" Nina Vance huddled under the blanket, her face pale, her lips trembling, and her fingers starting to twitch uncontrollably. I recognized it as the warning signs of a seizure. Throwing all caution to the wind, I rushed in and forcefully shoved aside the reporters and cameras in front of me. "Get out! All of you, get the hell out!" I pushed the crowd out with everything I had. Once the reporters were driven out, the doctor rushed in to administer emergency treatment. Nina's entire body convulsed, her eyes rolling back as her small body curled into a tight ball on the bed. I knelt by the bedside, grasping Nina's ice-cold hand, my own body trembling violently. I could do without Tristan's love, I could forfeit my reputation, and I could even forgo the money. But Nina was my only living relative in this world, the sole piece of hope my mother had entrusted to me before she passed away. This was my bottom line. If anyone touched Nina, I would fight them to the death. I couldn't endure it for another second. As soon as Nina's condition stabilized, I drove as fast as I could straight to Tristan's private villa. Outside the villa, the heavy gates were tightly shut. I banged on them frantically. "Tristan! Come out! Come out and clarify our relationship!" "That day, it was your mother who told me to pick you up from the hotel! You were the one who held onto me and wouldn't let go! Why is all of this being pinned on me now?!" "Make things clear to everyone! Tell them to stop harassing Nina!" "If you really love Lily West, why don't you make it public? Why don't you fight your parents for her sake? What kind of man are you?!" "Why is every single mess being dumped on me?! You even let people harass Nina! I despise you!" No matter how hard I banged on the gates, how much I explained, or how loudly I yelled, the iron gates remained completely still. I gasped for air, my face flushed red with sheer rage. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth to deliver my final ultimatum. "If you don't open this gate right now, I will expose everything about our contract agreement to the media! I'll let everyone see how you and Lily West use an innocent person to shield yourselves!" "I'll make sure everyone knows what kind of wretched scum you two are, and I will utterly ruin Lily West's reputation!" Sure enough, the moment the words left my mouth, the iron gate swung open. I was leaning heavily against the gate and stumbled forward, caught off guard. A hand suddenly yanked me by the collar, halting my fall. Tristan stood behind the gate, his face dark with fury. "Rachel, you got what you wanted and now you're playing the victim? Have you no shame at all?" With my collar gripped in his hand, I stared up at him defiantly. "I have no shame? And you do? Do you dare to dig up the truth? Do you dare to make our contract agreement public and tell everyone that it's over between us?!" Tristan's brow furrowed deeply. "Enough!" "Did they say anything wrong? Are you not calculating? Didn't you want to use Nina's illness and our contract agreement to marry into the Sterling family?" "If Nina dies because of this, wouldn't that give you the perfect excuse to demand compensation from the Sterling family and rightfully take your place as Mrs. Sterling?" *Slap!* My hand struck his face with full force. Tristan's head snapped to the side, his cheek rapidly turning a furious red. He nudged the inside of his cheek with his tongue and slowly turned his head back, his gaze even darker than before. "Heh. Did I hit a nerve? Flying into a rage because I've exposed you?" He leaned in close, towering over me. "Since that's the case, shouldn't you be thanking me for doing what you wanted to do but didn't dare to do?" I felt as though I had been struck by lightning, a sharp pang of agony piercing my heart. Within a mere two days, all of my personal information, and even the name of the hospital and Nina's room number, had been leaked online. Only a handful of people could have pulled this off. I had suspected Tristan before, since he hadn't taken any action publicly during those two days. But I hadn't wanted to admit it. Now, he had admitted it himself. It was him. "You were the one who brought the contract agreement to me! Your mother was the one who told me to pick you up from the hotel! The Sterling family was the one who went public with our relationship!" My tears finally spilled over. "You did all of this! It wasn't enough for you to trample me into the dirt—now you have to harm Nina too!" "Tristan, you're a monster!" I raised my hand to slap him again. This time, Tristan was prepared. He grabbed my wrist and threw me aside with a violent flick of his arm. Caught completely off guard, I lost my footing and tumbled down the steps behind me. I crashed onto the courtyard floor, blood instantly soaking through my clothes from my knees. Tristan felt a sharp pang in his chest. He instinctively took a step forward, wanting to help me up. "Tristan." A soft female voice drifted in from outside the courtyard.Rachel's POV I looked up to see Lily West standing on the garden path just outside the villa gates. With her white dress and long flowing hair, she looked pristine and untouched by the world, like a white camellia that had just stepped out of a painting. Meanwhile, I sat collapsed on the ground, covered in dust, with blood and dirt smeared all over my knees, looking utterly pathetic. The contrast between us was like heaven and earth. Tristan's attention instantly shifted to Lily, his expression softening visibly. He bypassed me and quickly walked down the steps to greet her. "The media is in a frenzy right now. Why are you running around instead of staying out of sight? What if someone sees you?" Lily walked past me, the pristine hem of her dress brushing against the back of my hand. She didn't spare me a glance, smiling brightly as she looked at Tristan. "I missed you, Tristan. I came to see you." Tristan reached out to support her shoulders, and they walked up the steps together. The iron gate slammed shut with a heavy thud. I was left sitting alone in the courtyard. Blood continued to seep from my knees, but the ache in my chest was far more painful than the physical wounds. Lily was the only person Tristan cared about. She was the white moonlight he held closest to his heart. She was the one he worried would be hurt by the media storm. She was the one he would eagerly rush to protect with such delicate care. And I, Rachel Vance, was nothing more than a shield to be summoned and dismissed at his whim, a pawn that could be discarded or abandoned at any moment. Someone who had been humbled to the very dust. I suddenly realized something. The reason Tristan had allowed Victoria Sterling to publicize my identity was likely not to preserve the Sterling family's reputation at all. He had done it on purpose. He wanted Lily to see it. He wanted to make Lily jealous. And sure enough, Lily had come to find him of her own accord. Company interests, personal reputation—he didn't care about any of it. He only cared about whether Lily would return to his side because of this. Now that he had achieved his goal, I was of no use to him anymore. I let out a bitter laugh, slowly pushing myself up while supporting my bleeding knees. I brushed the dust off my skirt and turned to leave. The gates behind me suddenly opened again. Lily walked out with graceful steps, offering me a slight, polite nod and smile. "Ms. Vance, I'm entrusting Tristan to you from now on." With that, she walked away with a light, airy step. She seemed entirely unburdened, as if she had just laid down some heavy weight. I stood frozen in place, utterly baffled, unable to comprehend the meaning behind her words. Entrusting him to me? Wasn't Lily supposed to have been provoked by Tristan into coming back to claim her territory? Why did it feel like she was bidding farewell instead? I was already about to make my exit, so what was Lily entrusting to me? I looked up toward the doorway. Tristan was standing on the steps, his expression even darker than before, a trace of melancholy lingering between his brows. I figured their conversation must have gone terribly. Lily had likely rejected him. As expected, his every joy and sorrow was forever tied to Lily. I suppressed the rising bitterness in my heart, forcing my expression to calm. "No matter how things went between you two, I will not be continuing this with you." Tristan withdrew his gaze from the distance and locked onto my face, his expression displeased. "Not continuing?" "Yes. I told you last time that our contract agreement will terminate next month, and I meant it." Tristan stared at me for a long time. His gaze sent a shiver down my spine, and I couldn't tell what was running through his mind. Suddenly, he smiled. "Rachel, do you honestly think you can just end it whenever you want?" My chest tightened. "What do you mean? Things have already escalated to this point, and there's no longer any need for me to act as Lily's shield. Shouldn't you want to get rid of me even more than before?" Tristan sneered. "You don't need to worry about what I want." He looked down at me from above. "You'd better worry about yourself instead. Do you really think that just because you found an alternative medication for Nina, you can rid yourself of me? If you truly care about whether Nina lives or dies, you'd better wait until you actually have that alternative drug in your hands." My heart skipped a beat. The partnership with that international pharmaceutical company indeed hadn't been finalized yet; the formal signing was scheduled for next week. Even though the negotiations were mostly complete, nothing was set in stone yet. I didn't argue. I simply asked, "Then what exactly do you want?" "Tomorrow morning, the Sterling Group will hold a press conference. You will attend it with me." "What press conference? What are you going to do?" "You don't need to know, nor do you have the right to negotiate." Tristan's tone was cold and unyielding, leaving no room for discussion. "If you don't show up, you won't get the final batch of medication for this month." He turned and began to walk back inside. "Take her back." The driver, who had been waiting nearby, stepped forward. "Ms. Vance, there are many reporters outside right now. Mr. Sterling was worried you'd be spotted on your way back, so he specifically asked me to drive you. Shall we?" My heart trembled slightly. I glanced at Tristan's retreating back. He had already walked into the villa without once looking back. I didn't refuse and got into the car with the driver. The next morning, inside the press conference hall at the Sterling Group headquarters. I sat beside Tristan, my back straight, showing no outward sign of distress on my face. The room below was packed with reporters, and camera flashes went off in a blinding, dense flurry. The moment the Q&A session began, questions started raining down in rapid succession. "Rumors have it that Ms. Vance signed a secret contract agreement with the Sterling family regarding your relationship. Is this true?" "Are the two of you a real couple?" "It's rumored that this marriage was arranged by the Sterling family elders and that Mr. Sterling himself was unwilling. Is that correct?" "Did Mr. Sterling's breakup with Ms. Lily West have anything to do with Ms. Vance?" Every single question was sharp, blunt, and utterly relentless. I clenched the fabric of my skirt. Instinctively, I wanted to deny my relationship with Tristan, to deny everything and take this opportunity to clear my name in front of all the media. But before I could even open my mouth, Tristan beat me to it, picking up the microphone. "Rachel Vance is currently my only girlfriend." His voice was calm and left no room for doubt. "Regardless of the past or the future, right now, she is my girlfriend." With that, he reached out, pulled me by the shoulder, and turned his head to look at me. His gaze was so tender it could have easily passed for genuine. Yet, I was so close to him—close enough to clearly see the deep-seated disgust hiding in the depths of his eyes. His affection and gentleness were all an act. My head buzzed. I couldn't understand why he was doing this. Lily had already rejected him, so why was he still taking the initiative to claim me? "I'm not his girlfriend at all right now, we've already—" Before I could finish, Tristan suddenly turned, his hand firmly cupping the back of my head, and leaned down to kiss me. The press room instantly erupted. The sound of camera shutters clicked frantically in unison. This was the first time Tristan had kissed me while fully sober. Domineering and passionate, it felt as though he wanted to crush me and swallow me whole, acting as if he truly, deeply loved me. It was entirely different from the kiss at the hotel that night. My mind went completely blank, and my body froze, forgetting to push him away. After what felt like an eternity, Tristan finally released me. He turned back to the reporters below, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "Rachel is right. We won't be boyfriend and girlfriend for much longer." Before I could even breathe a sigh of relief, I heard his next words. "She is my fiancée, and we are getting married soon." "When the time comes, everyone is welcome to attend our wedding."Rachel's POV Tristan held my hand as we walked out of the press hall. The moment we passed the last camera and turned into an empty hallway, I immediately flung his hand off. "What are you doing? What kind of act is this? What wedding? Who said they wanted to marry you?" Though my tone was fierce, the deepest recesses of my heart were trembling. How could I have never thought about marrying him? Over the past dozen or so years, I had dreamed of it countless times. I had imagined standing by his side in a wedding gown, and him bowing his head to slip a ring onto my finger. But later, I faced reality. This man did not belong to me, so I didn't dare to dream of it anymore. Tristan also instantly dropped his mask of gentleness from earlier, pulling his hand back in disgust. "You don't want to? Rachel, after all your scheming, isn't marrying into the Sterling family exactly what you wanted?" He sneered, "Do you dare to say you've never thought about it?" I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I truly had. Seeing my silence, Tristan seemed to take it as confirmation, and his face grew even colder. "You got what you wanted. I will arrange the wedding." With that, he turned to leave. I grabbed him. "Do you have any idea how many more reporters this will draw in? Nina is in no condition to be stressed!" Tristan paused. "I'll have a word with the media. They won't disturb her over our affairs." With that, he pulled his arm away and walked off without looking back. I was left standing there in a daze. My reason told me that Tristan didn't love me. The kiss just now was fake, the affection at the press conference was staged, and his disgust and coldness toward me were his only real feelings. But my heart refused to listen. That kiss had felt too real. If it was only to appease the media, he didn't need to go to such lengths. I couldn't stop myself from wondering: was there perhaps a one-in-a-million chance? And he had even said he would speak to the media for Nina's sake. Now that Lily had rejected him, was he finally willing to turn around and look at the person beside him? Had he noticed at least a fraction of everything I had done for him all these years? But was that even possible? Or was I just daydreaming? Would a man who had used me as a pawn for four years suddenly realize my worth? I spent the next few days trapped in this constant cycle of struggle and inner turmoil. I couldn't bring myself to completely give up, nor could I convince myself to reignite my hope. This morning, I went to the hospital to visit Nina. Before I even reached the ward door, I saw that the hallway was packed with people once again. It wasn't just reporters; Lily's fans were there too. The crowd stretched all the way from the corridor to the entrance of the ward. My head buzzed. The memory of the last time the reporters broke into the ward and triggered Nina's seizure was still fresh in my mind. The lunchbox in my hands clattered onto the floor. Tristan had explicitly promised that he would speak to the media and ensure Nina wouldn't be affected! And he had already broken his word in just a few days? Rage surged straight to my head, and without another thought, I lunged into the crowd. Squeezing my way to the very front, I spotted a familiar face. Fiona Vance, my stepmother, was standing right at the entrance of the ward. Surrounded by reporters, she was clutching her chest, wiping away tears in front of the cameras with a face full of simulated anguish. "Even when Rachel was living at home, she had a very chaotic private life. Her father simply couldn't control her, which is why he made her move out." "I only came today because my heart aches for Nina. That poor child has been dragged down like this because of Rachel." "Rachel used to bully her younger brother, Jack, all the time when she was at home. But at the end of the day, she's my stepdaughter, so it's not my place to say too much." The blood in my entire body rushed to my head. I rushed forward and slapped Fiona across the face. "Fiona Vance! You're twisting the facts! You brought these reporters here! You're trying to kill Nina!" Fiona clutched her cheek, but instead of backing away, she stepped closer to the cameras, weeping pitifully. "Please don't blame her, everyone. She was spoiled by her mother, Pearl Sinclair, from a young age, so she's always had this temper. Jack and I are used to it." I wished I could tear her mouth apart. But I had no time to deal with Fiona now; Nina was my priority. I turned and pushed through the crowd blocking the ward entrance, using all my strength to drive the reporters and fans away. "Get out! All of you, get the hell out of here! If you have a problem, take it out on me—don't bully Nina!" With a final surge of strength, I shoved everyone out of the room and slammed the door shut with a loud bang. When I turned around, I saw Nina curled up on the bed, trembling violently, her face completely drenched in tears. My heart ached so much I could barely breathe. I quickly went over and pulled her into my arms. "Nina, it's okay. Don't listen to what they're saying. It's all lies." Nina buried her face in my chest, sobbing uncontrollably. After a long while, Nina's trembling hand reached out, handing her phone over to me. "Sis, they aren't lying, are they?" I took the phone and glanced at the screen, instantly feeling as though I had been struck by a bolt of lightning.Rachel Vance's POV On the phone screen was a social media update posted by Lily West. [I have let go of the love that was given in vain. I'm just thankful that in my darkest hour, I found my light.] The comment section had already exploded. Fans were expressing their heartbreak over Lily being cheated on, vehemently cursing me as the home-wrecker and a mistress who managed to climb her way up. I stared at those words, and suddenly, all my confusion clicked together. No wonder Lily had smiled and said to me, "I'm leaving Tristan in your hands from now on," after she visited Tristan that day. No wonder Tristan had stood on the steps looking so utterly lost after seeing Lily off. It turned out Lily was in a relationship with someone else. She didn't want Tristan anymore. And Tristan, in order to let Lily start her new relationship with a clean slate, hadn't hesitated to take the blame for cheating. He disregarded the Sterling Group's interests, ignored his own reputation, and married the woman he despised most just to use her as a shield. He had even kissed me and announced our wedding in front of all the media at the press conference. Everyone would think Tristan was a cheating scumbag who abandoned Lily only to marry me instead. This way, Lily became the pitiful victim of betrayal. Her being with her new boyfriend would be seen as finding happiness again after having her heart shattered—completely open, honorable, and beyond reproach. Meanwhile, I became the absolute home-wrecker, the mistress who took advantage of a vulnerable moment to worm her way in. I was left to bear all the infamy and condemnation of the world on my own. I before this, I had secretly wondered if Tristan kissing me and announcing our marriage at the press conference meant he had finally seen my worth. I had even let a tiny spark of hope ignite in my heart because of that kiss. How utterly laughable! He had clearly pushed me into this bottomless abyss just to keep Lily completely blameless. Only those who are deeply loved dare to be so fearless. Lily knew all too well how much Tristan loved her. That was why she had never cherished it over the years, stepping all over his feelings without a care. She even had the audacity to ask Tristan to clean up her mess when she wanted to date someone else. She from beginning to end, she had Tristan wrapped around her finger, certain that he would sacrifice his own reputation, my reputation, and even the Sterling family's dignity and interests to pave the way for her. And what about Tristan? He actually went ahead and did it. He drank the poison willingly, without a single complaint. It wasn't that Tristan didn't know I would become a target of public condemnation. It wasn't that he didn't know the cyberbullying would spread to Nina Vance. He simply didn't care. Compared to Lily, Nina and I were nothing but disposable pawns. When Lily wanted to leave, he helped her make a graceful exit. When Lily wanted to remain clean, he splashed all the dirty water onto me and himself. This was Tristan's love. All his tenderness, consideration, sacrifice, and devotion were reserved for Lily alone. Yet, after loving him for over a decade and staying by his side for four years, I couldn't even get a shred of fair treatment in the end. My heart felt like it was being pierced by needles, one after another, deep and relentless. I closed my eyes tightly, forcing back the tears that welled up. I couldn't cry. I couldn't break down in front of Nina. Taking a deep breath, I was about to look down and soothe Nina, but then I saw her body begin to convulse violently. Her lips turned purple, and her limbs went rigid. She was having a seizure. "Doctor! Doctor!" Scared out of my wits, I rushed to the door and screamed desperately. "Someone help, quick! Nina is having a seizure!" Nina was the sole pillar of strength that had kept me going all these years. She was the only tie my mother had entrusted to me on her deathbed. If anything happened to Nina because of this farce, it would be my fault. I would never be able to forgive myself for the rest of my life. I pulled open the ward door, wanting to rush out and find a doctor. But the reporters outside hadn't dispersed at all. In fact, there were even more of them than before. Even though Fiona Vance had left, the words she left behind had become a new explosive scoop, drawing in even more media outlets and Lily's fans who rushed over upon hearing the news. The moment I showed my face, cameras and microphones were shoved directly in front of me, blocking my path entirely. "Ms. Vance! Ms. Lily West just announced her new relationship. What are your thoughts on this?" "Rumor has it that you came between Lily West and Tristan Sterling, causing their breakup. How do you respond to that?" "Did you decide to marry Mr. Sterling because of his family's wealth and status?" "Your stepmother, Ms. Fiona Vance, just said that you lead a promiscuous private life. Is that true?" Anxiety consumed me, and my mind was entirely focused on Nina convulsing on the hospital bed. I was in no mood to deal with these people. I pushed outward frantically, but the reporters refused to budge. Cameras and microphones formed a solid wall right in front of me. "Get out of the way! My sister is having a medical emergency! She could die! I need to find a doctor!" No one paid any attention to me. Microphones kept being thrust toward my mouth, and camera shutters continued to click. No one cared about the little girl seizing inside the room; they only cared about whether the expression on my face was pathetic enough to drive traffic. My tears finally broke free, spilling down in large drops. "Please, let me through! She really might die! I'm begging you!" Still, no one moved aside. I looked back into the room. Nina's convulsions were growing more violent, foam was starting to escape the corners of her mouth, and her small body was jerking uncontrollably on the bed. Was Nina really going to die here today because of this absurd farce? Just as I was on the verge of a complete breakdown, a powerful hand forced its way through the dense crowd, grabbing my wrist with precision. A steady yet anxious male voice pierced through the noisy crowd. "Where is the patient? Take me to her, quick! I've got this!" It felt like I had grabbed onto my only lifeline. I gripped that hand, pulling the man through the crowd with all my strength, opened the ward door, and brought him inside. [Premium Chapter Cut]