After five years of marriage, Nora had been cherished and pampered by Finnegan like a princess—until he was tragically taken from her in a plane crash. Devastated beyond measure, Nora felt as though her life had ended, and she even contemplated following him in death. However, she soon discovered that she was pregnant, and so she chose to remain a widow, raising their daughter alone for the next five years. Resigned to a quiet, lonely existence, she assumed that this would be the remainder of her life. Then, on the fifth anniversary of Finnegan’s supposed death, a hidden camera in their home captured a shocking truth: Finnegan had never actually died. In fact, for the past five years, he had been disguising himself as his deceased brother, deliberately placing Nora in an agonizing predicament—all under the pretext of taking care of his sister-in-law. Even their own daughter stood by his side, treating Nora as though she were merely a nanny and openly hoping that someone else would become her mother. At that moment, ten years of unwavering devotion crumbled into nothing. Completely heartbroken, Nora gave up all hope. She reached for a long-untouched phone number and dialed it, saying quietly, “I agree to marry you.” When Nora returned to the laboratory, she shone once again with brilliance and purpose. And when Xander—the most sought-after man in the city—slipped a ring onto her finger, Finnegan, who had been “dead” for five years, suddenly reappeared, chasing after her in desperation. “Nora, I was wrong. Can you forgive me, just this once?” he pleaded. Their daughter, too, clung to Nora’s leg, sobbing uncontrollably, “Mommy, I’m so sorry!” This time, however, Nora did not even bother to glance at them. Behind her, Xander wrapped his arm possessively around her waist and said gently, “Darling, it’s time to feed our baby.”

Chapter 1Today marked the fifth anniversary of her husband Finnegan Fletcher's death.After visiting the cemetery, Nora Newman had wanted to stay with him a little longer, but she couldn't stop worrying about her daughter, Cassie, who was home alone.Once in the car, Nora took off her coat and opened the hidden camera feed on her phone. The very next second, she froze completely.On the screen, Frederick Fletcher—the man who was supposed to be at the hospital keeping his fiancée Seraphina Shaw company during her surgery—had suddenly appeared in the house.What shocked her more was that her daughter, Cassie, threw herself into his arms and called him Daddy. Nora's breathing slowed to a halt.Frederick and Finnegan were twins, bearing a striking resemblance to each other. Five years ago, the brothers had gone abroad for charity work and were in a tragic plane crash. Finnegan had perished in the disaster, and it was Frederick who brought the body back—a body that wasn't even intact.Nora had been pregnant at the time and nearly suffered a miscarriage from crying so hard. It wasn't that she hadn't doubted whether the deceased was truly Finnegan, but when she saw the body lacked the red mole on his arm, her heart completely died.But she was carrying Finnegan's posthumous child, and for the sake of the baby, she forced herself to pull it together.Staring at the face on the monitor that looked nearly identical to her husband's, Nora felt a dizzying sense of disorientation.She comforted herself with the fact that Frederick and Finnegan were twins; it was normal for a daughter to mistake them.But the very next second, Frederick scooped Cassie up, affectionately pressed his cheek against hers, and asked in a deep, sexy voice laced with amusement, "Let Daddy see, has my Cassie been a good girl at home?"That demeanor and tone were unmistakably Finnegan!As soon as he finished speaking, another person walked in from behind. It was Finnegan's good friend, Gideon Grant, playfully teasing him from the background."Come on, Finn. We need to go. Seraphina is about to go into surgery, yet you insisted on coming back to look for Nora's good luck charm. Since when did you become so superstitious?"The name "Finn" hit Nora like a sledgehammer, leaving her completely dazed.What did Gideon just call him? Finn?Didn't Finnegan die in that plane crash five years ago? What was going on?A suffocating wave of absurdity and a deep chill crawled up her spine. In that instant, her heartbeat accelerated violently.Before she could untangle her thoughts, Gideon's laughter rang out again."True. Who cares about Nora? If Seraphina hadn't fallen for Frederick back then, why would you have married Nora in a fit of rage anyway? With her spoiled princess temper, who could possibly stand her?You've been faking it for five years, you've really got nerves of steel. Watching Seraphina and your brother be so in love, aren't you jealous?"Through the monitor, Finnegan told the nanny to change Cassie's clothes while he waited in the living room.The man lit a cigarette. The smoke curled upward into the air, obscuring his sharp, sculpted features in the dim light, leaving only the glowing red tip of the cherry illuminating the shadows.He flicked the ash, a chillingly indifferent smirk tugging at the corners of his lips as he slowly exhaled a single word."Insanely."That was why every time he slept with Nora, he would ruthlessly torment her. Watching her curl up beneath him, completely lost in passion while clinging to him, made him hallucinate for a brief moment that she was Seraphina.Gideon chuckled. "No wonder you can't keep up the act anymore."Finnegan leaned against the doorframe, his voice slightly raspy and carrying a playful smirk. "Sleeping with the same person for five years, wouldn't you get bored? No matter how beautiful the clothes are, eventually you have to change them.""Aren't you afraid Nora will find out you've been lying to her? That she'll take Cassie and remarry?"Finnegan scoffed, crushing out his cigarette. His sharp profile flickered in the dim light. "She won't. In this world, besides me and The Fletcher Family, who else would want her? Where could she go? As long as I don't expose this, she'll willingly remain a widow for me for the rest of her life."He knew Nora well. Even though he had urged her countless times over the past five years to remarry, she had always just brushed it off with a smile.She was like a bird with broken wings, so spoiled by him that she had long lost her sense of self. Asking her to leave was practically asking for her life.Gideon gave him a thumbs up. "Ruthless!"Just then, Cassie ran out in her fresh clothes, hugging his waist. "Daddy, let's go! Mom's going to be back soon, and I don't want to be around her!"Finnegan smiled and scooped her up. Cassie giggled, kicking her little legs. "Let's go! Off to the hospital to see Mommy Seraphina!"The surveillance feed cut off, and the phone screen went black, reflecting Nora's haggard and utterly shell-shocked face."Pull over!" Nora yelled.Before the car even came to a complete stop, Nora stumbled out and rushed to the curb, vomiting violently. Even when her stomach was completely empty, she continued to dry heave, her face flushed and her entire body trembling. Tears mixed with the falling snow, blurring her vision.Her phone screen lit up, displaying the name 'Frederick.' Nora froze entirely as a wave of immense humiliation spread from the very depths of her heart.The call disconnected automatically, leaving Finnegan's smiling face on her wallpaper.With a surge of fierce anger, Nora slammed her phone onto the ground. She gasped for air, her brain short-circuiting, and it took her a long time to finally catch her breath.A sharp pain pierced her heart. She couldn't believe it. For the past five years, the man who had been constantly by Seraphina's side was actually her husband, Finnegan. Even Cassie knew and had been helping them lie to her?Nora couldn't wrap her head around it. Had everything he ever showed her been an act? Was all that love fake?Ten years ago, the Newman Estate in the capital had suffered a tragedy. Mrs. Newman and the young master died in a car crash.The privileged young woman, who had been pampered for over twenty years, lost her beloved mother and brother overnight.The head of the Newman family tried to force her into an arranged marriage. When Nora refused, he made a bet with her: if Finnegan ever had a change of heart, she was to drop all sentimental attachments and return to fulfill her duties as a daughter of the Newman Estate.Nora had stubbornly declared that Finnegan would never change his heart, and that she would never return.After being kicked out, Finnegan had descended like a god, taking her back to the Fletcher residence and fighting against all odds to marry her.For the next five years of their marriage, he continued to treat her like a princess. Then the tragic plane crash happened, and Finnegan supposedly passed away. Without his protection in the Fletcher household, Nora became the target of endless torment.The once-proud daughter of the Newman family started running herself ragged just to ensure her daughter could grow up safely, her spoiled edges completely smoothed away by life.To protect Finnegan's assets in The Fletcher Family from being swallowed up by Frederick, she went around begging for help. Ending up in the hospital in the middle of the night with stomach ulcers from drinking with clients had become a common occurrence.Only now did she realize that Frederick was never trying to swallow Finnegan's assets; Finnegan was merely using it as an excuse to take back his own businesses, leaving Nora with absolutely no way out, his heart entirely occupied by Seraphina.At the thought of this, a deep sorrow flashed through Nora's eyes, and her rims grew red.Since the woman he truly loved was Seraphina, and he was willing to deceive her so cruelly for it, she would gladly grant them their wish.She tilted her head back, ruthlessly forcing the churning emotions back down into the depths of her heart.She walked to the curb, hailed another cab, and dialed a number she hadn't called in ten years.After a long pause, a deep, weathered voice answered, "Nora."A lump formed in Nora's throat, and her grip on the phone slowly tightened. "I agree to the arranged marriage."Silence lingered on the other end for a moment, followed by a predictably cold response. "When are you coming back?"A lump formed in Nora's throat. Her mind drifted to the kindergarten's annual talent show next month, which she had promised Cassie she would attend.After a long pause, she parted her lips. "In a month.""Clean up everything over there. The Newman Estate has no use for a daughter with lingering attachments."Nora silently agreed, hung up the phone, and dug her nails deeply into her palms.Over the past five years, she had given up the life that rightfully belonged to her for Finnegan, only to be rewarded with an elaborate scam. Her life felt like something out of The Truman Show.Nora held a dual-degree medical doctorate from Capital University Medical School. She had absolutely no interest in the deceit of the business world. Right after graduation, she joined her mentor's lab. Thanks to her exceptional abilities, she became a full-time researcher in just a month, and within a year, she led her team to make a groundbreaking discovery in anti-cancer drug development.At the time, her professor had warned her that the path of scientific research required total dedication. He told her that the waters in The Fletcher Family were too deep, and if she went in, she might never make it back out.But she had been so blindly in love that she resolutely quit the lab.If she hadn't quit back then, she would undoubtedly have secured her place in the research institute by now and could have continued pursuing the career she loved.At the thought of this, a wave of bitterness washed over her. Her heart felt as though it had been punctured by tiny needles, letting the freezing wind howl through the cracks.Nora offered a bitter smile. What was the point of thinking about this now? Things had ended so badly with her mentor back then; even if she wanted to go back, she probably wouldn't be forgiven."Nora?"A gentle voice pulled her from her memories. Nora then realized the taxi had somehow already stopped outside the laboratory building. She pushed the door open, and a man in a trench coat walked toward her with long strides, a look of pleasant surprise flashing in his eyes.It was Felix Ford.Professor Xavier Vance only had the two of them as his final apprentices.Nora lowered her gaze, instinctively avoiding eye contact. "Felix."As he drew closer, Felix finally saw that Nora's face was deathly pale, her eyes were bloodshot, and she had lost a considerable amount of weight. He looked at her with an aching heart."Why have you lost so much weight? You look terrible. Did you hear the news about the professor being hospitalized?""What?"Nora's head snapped up, her brows furrowing deeply. "Professor Vance is hospitalized? What's wrong with him? When did this happen?"Felix paused. "You didn't know? The professor had heart stent surgery a few days ago. He's stable now and resting at Capital General Hospital. I thought you came here specifically to see him."The moment he finished speaking, Nora rushed to the curb to hail a cab. Felix quickly gave her the room number, and Nora hurried toward the hospital.In the taxi, Nora's phone started ringing. She glanced down and saw her daughter's name flashing on the screen, and it felt as though an invisible hand was squeezing her heart.Her daughter's deception echoed in her mind. She closed her eyes, feeling a suffocating weight in her chest.Answering the call, her daughter's little voice came through, dripping with entitlement. "Mom, where are you? Aunt Seraphina wants some pastries. Go buy some from that fancy bakery and bring them over."Nora's heart gave a slight twinge. Pushing down the stinging pain, she instinctively tried to soften her voice. "Cassie, are you at the hospital? Mom has something important to do right now. I'll come over later, okay? I'll buy you your favorite teddy bear."Cassie cut her off. "Mom, you're so annoying. Every time I ask you to do something, you make excuses. I already promised Aunt Seraphina. You're making me look really bad."Nora's breath caught, but she patiently explained, "Mom really has something important to take care of."Cassie scoffed. "You don't even have a job. How important could your stuff possibly be?"Chapter 2Today marked the fifth anniversary of her husband Finnegan Fletcher's death.After visiting the cemetery, Nora Newman had wanted to stay with him a little longer, but she couldn't stop worrying about her daughter, Cassie, who was home alone.Once in the car, Nora took off her coat and opened the hidden camera feed on her phone. The very next second, she froze completely.On the screen, Frederick Fletcher—the man who was supposed to be at the hospital keeping his fiancée Seraphina Shaw company during her surgery—had suddenly appeared in the house.What shocked her more was that her daughter, Cassie, threw herself into his arms and called him Daddy. Nora's breathing slowed to a halt.Frederick and Finnegan were twins, bearing a striking resemblance to each other. Five years ago, the brothers had gone abroad for charity work and were in a tragic plane crash. Finnegan had perished in the disaster, and it was Frederick who brought the body back—a body that wasn't even intact.Nora had been pregnant at the time and nearly suffered a miscarriage from crying so hard. It wasn't that she hadn't doubted whether the deceased was truly Finnegan, but when she saw the body lacked the red mole on his arm, her heart completely died.But she was carrying Finnegan's posthumous child, and for the sake of the baby, she forced herself to pull it together.Staring at the face on the monitor that looked nearly identical to her husband's, Nora felt a dizzying sense of disorientation.She comforted herself with the fact that Frederick and Finnegan were twins; it was normal for a daughter to mistake them.But the very next second, Frederick scooped Cassie up, affectionately pressed his cheek against hers, and asked in a deep, sexy voice laced with amusement, "Let Daddy see, has my Cassie been a good girl at home?"That demeanor and tone were unmistakably Finnegan!As soon as he finished speaking, another person walked in from behind. It was Finnegan's good friend, Gideon Grant, playfully teasing him from the background."Come on, Finn. We need to go. Seraphina is about to go into surgery, yet you insisted on coming back to look for Nora's good luck charm. Since when did you become so superstitious?"The name "Finn" hit Nora like a sledgehammer, leaving her completely dazed.What did Gideon just call him? Finn?Didn't Finnegan die in that plane crash five years ago? What was going on?A suffocating wave of absurdity and a deep chill crawled up her spine. In that instant, her heartbeat accelerated violently.Before she could untangle her thoughts, Gideon's laughter rang out again."True. Who cares about Nora? If Seraphina hadn't fallen for Frederick back then, why would you have married Nora in a fit of rage anyway? With her spoiled princess temper, who could possibly stand her?You've been faking it for five years, you've really got nerves of steel. Watching Seraphina and your brother be so in love, aren't you jealous?"Through the monitor, Finnegan told the nanny to change Cassie's clothes while he waited in the living room.The man lit a cigarette. The smoke curled upward into the air, obscuring his sharp, sculpted features in the dim light, leaving only the glowing red tip of the cherry illuminating the shadows.He flicked the ash, a chillingly indifferent smirk tugging at the corners of his lips as he slowly exhaled a single word."Insanely."That was why every time he slept with Nora, he would ruthlessly torment her. Watching her curl up beneath him, completely lost in passion while clinging to him, made him hallucinate for a brief moment that she was Seraphina.Gideon chuckled. "No wonder you can't keep up the act anymore."Finnegan leaned against the doorframe, his voice slightly raspy and carrying a playful smirk. "Sleeping with the same person for five years, wouldn't you get bored? No matter how beautiful the clothes are, eventually you have to change them.""Aren't you afraid Nora will find out you've been lying to her? That she'll take Cassie and remarry?"Finnegan scoffed, crushing out his cigarette. His sharp profile flickered in the dim light. "She won't. In this world, besides me and The Fletcher Family, who else would want her? Where could she go? As long as I don't expose this, she'll willingly remain a widow for me for the rest of her life."He knew Nora well. Even though he had urged her countless times over the past five years to remarry, she had always just brushed it off with a smile.She was like a bird with broken wings, so spoiled by him that she had long lost her sense of self. Asking her to leave was practically asking for her life.Gideon gave him a thumbs up. "Ruthless!"Just then, Cassie ran out in her fresh clothes, hugging his waist. "Daddy, let's go! Mom's going to be back soon, and I don't want to be around her!"Finnegan smiled and scooped her up. Cassie giggled, kicking her little legs. "Let's go! Off to the hospital to see Mommy Seraphina!"The surveillance feed cut off, and the phone screen went black, reflecting Nora's haggard and utterly shell-shocked face."Pull over!" Nora yelled.Before the car even came to a complete stop, Nora stumbled out and rushed to the curb, vomiting violently. Even when her stomach was completely empty, she continued to dry heave, her face flushed and her entire body trembling. Tears mixed with the falling snow, blurring her vision.Her phone screen lit up, displaying the name 'Frederick.' Nora froze entirely as a wave of immense humiliation spread from the very depths of her heart.The call disconnected automatically, leaving Finnegan's smiling face on her wallpaper.With a surge of fierce anger, Nora slammed her phone onto the ground. She gasped for air, her brain short-circuiting, and it took her a long time to finally catch her breath.A sharp pain pierced her heart. She couldn't believe it. For the past five years, the man who had been constantly by Seraphina's side was actually her husband, Finnegan. Even Cassie knew and had been helping them lie to her?Nora couldn't wrap her head around it. Had everything he ever showed her been an act? Was all that love fake?Ten years ago, the Newman Estate in the capital had suffered a tragedy. Mrs. Newman and the young master died in a car crash.The privileged young woman, who had been pampered for over twenty years, lost her beloved mother and brother overnight.The head of the Newman family tried to force her into an arranged marriage. When Nora refused, he made a bet with her: if Finnegan ever had a change of heart, she was to drop all sentimental attachments and return to fulfill her duties as a daughter of the Newman Estate.Nora had stubbornly declared that Finnegan would never change his heart, and that she would never return.After being kicked out, Finnegan had descended like a god, taking her back to the Fletcher residence and fighting against all odds to marry her.For the next five years of their marriage, he continued to treat her like a princess. Then the tragic plane crash happened, and Finnegan supposedly passed away. Without his protection in the Fletcher household, Nora became the target of endless torment.The once-proud daughter of the Newman family started running herself ragged just to ensure her daughter could grow up safely, her spoiled edges completely smoothed away by life.To protect Finnegan's assets in The Fletcher Family from being swallowed up by Frederick, she went around begging for help. Ending up in the hospital in the middle of the night with stomach ulcers from drinking with clients had become a common occurrence.Only now did she realize that Frederick was never trying to swallow Finnegan's assets; Finnegan was merely using it as an excuse to take back his own businesses, leaving Nora with absolutely no way out, his heart entirely occupied by Seraphina.At the thought of this, a deep sorrow flashed through Nora's eyes, and her rims grew red.Since the woman he truly loved was Seraphina, and he was willing to deceive her so cruelly for it, she would gladly grant them their wish.She tilted her head back, ruthlessly forcing the churning emotions back down into the depths of her heart.She walked to the curb, hailed another cab, and dialed a number she hadn't called in ten years.After a long pause, a deep, weathered voice answered, "Nora."A lump formed in Nora's throat, and her grip on the phone slowly tightened. "I agree to the arranged marriage."Silence lingered on the other end for a moment, followed by a predictably cold response. "When are you coming back?"A lump formed in Nora's throat. Her mind drifted to the kindergarten's annual talent show next month, which she had promised Cassie she would attend.After a long pause, she parted her lips. "In a month.""Clean up everything over there. The Newman Estate has no use for a daughter with lingering attachments."Nora silently agreed, hung up the phone, and dug her nails deeply into her palms.Over the past five years, she had given up the life that rightfully belonged to her for Finnegan, only to be rewarded with an elaborate scam. Her life felt like something out of The Truman Show.Nora held a dual-degree medical doctorate from Capital University Medical School. She had absolutely no interest in the deceit of the business world. Right after graduation, she joined her mentor's lab. Thanks to her exceptional abilities, she became a full-time researcher in just a month, and within a year, she led her team to make a groundbreaking discovery in anti-cancer drug development.At the time, her professor had warned her that the path of scientific research required total dedication. He told her that the waters in The Fletcher Family were too deep, and if she went in, she might never make it back out.But she had been so blindly in love that she resolutely quit the lab.If she hadn't quit back then, she would undoubtedly have secured her place in the research institute by now and could have continued pursuing the career she loved.At the thought of this, a wave of bitterness washed over her. Her heart felt as though it had been punctured by tiny needles, letting the freezing wind howl through the cracks.Nora offered a bitter smile. What was the point of thinking about this now? Things had ended so badly with her mentor back then; even if she wanted to go back, she probably wouldn't be forgiven."Nora?"A gentle voice pulled her from her memories. Nora then realized the taxi had somehow already stopped outside the laboratory building. She pushed the door open, and a man in a trench coat walked toward her with long strides, a look of pleasant surprise flashing in his eyes.It was Felix Ford.Professor Xavier Vance only had the two of them as his final apprentices.Nora lowered her gaze, instinctively avoiding eye contact. "Felix."As he drew closer, Felix finally saw that Nora's face was deathly pale, her eyes were bloodshot, and she had lost a considerable amount of weight. He looked at her with an aching heart."Why have you lost so much weight? You look terrible. Did you hear the news about the professor being hospitalized?""What?"Nora's head snapped up, her brows furrowing deeply. "Professor Vance is hospitalized? What's wrong with him? When did this happen?"Felix paused. "You didn't know? The professor had heart stent surgery a few days ago. He's stable now and resting at Capital General Hospital. I thought you came here specifically to see him."The moment he finished speaking, Nora rushed to the curb to hail a cab. Felix quickly gave her the room number, and Nora hurried toward the hospital.In the taxi, Nora's phone started ringing. She glanced down and saw her daughter's name flashing on the screen, and it felt as though an invisible hand was squeezing her heart.Her daughter's deception echoed in her mind. She closed her eyes, feeling a suffocating weight in her chest.Answering the call, her daughter's little voice came through, dripping with entitlement. "Mom, where are you? Aunt Seraphina wants some pastries. Go buy some from that fancy bakery and bring them over."Nora's heart gave a slight twinge. Pushing down the stinging pain, she instinctively tried to soften her voice. "Cassie, are you at the hospital? Mom has something important to do right now. I'll come over later, okay? I'll buy you your favorite teddy bear."Cassie cut her off. "Mom, you're so annoying. Every time I ask you to do something, you make excuses. I already promised Aunt Seraphina. You're making me look really bad."Nora's breath caught, but she patiently explained, "Mom really has something important to take care of."Cassie scoffed. "You don't even have a job. How important could your stuff possibly be?"Chapter 3Today marked the fifth anniversary of her husband Finnegan Fletcher's death.After visiting the cemetery, Nora Newman had wanted to stay with him a little longer, but she couldn't stop worrying about her daughter, Cassie, who was home alone.Once in the car, Nora took off her coat and opened the hidden camera feed on her phone. The very next second, she froze completely.On the screen, Frederick Fletcher—the man who was supposed to be at the hospital keeping his fiancée Seraphina Shaw company during her surgery—had suddenly appeared in the house.What shocked her more was that her daughter, Cassie, threw herself into his arms and called him Daddy. Nora's breathing slowed to a halt.Frederick and Finnegan were twins, bearing a striking resemblance to each other. Five years ago, the brothers had gone abroad for charity work and were in a tragic plane crash. Finnegan had perished in the disaster, and it was Frederick who brought the body back—a body that wasn't even intact.Nora had been pregnant at the time and nearly suffered a miscarriage from crying so hard. It wasn't that she hadn't doubted whether the deceased was truly Finnegan, but when she saw the body lacked the red mole on his arm, her heart completely died.But she was carrying Finnegan's posthumous child, and for the sake of the baby, she forced herself to pull it together.Staring at the face on the monitor that looked nearly identical to her husband's, Nora felt a dizzying sense of disorientation.She comforted herself with the fact that Frederick and Finnegan were twins; it was normal for a daughter to mistake them.But the very next second, Frederick scooped Cassie up, affectionately pressed his cheek against hers, and asked in a deep, sexy voice laced with amusement, "Let Daddy see, has my Cassie been a good girl at home?"That demeanor and tone were unmistakably Finnegan!As soon as he finished speaking, another person walked in from behind. It was Finnegan's good friend, Gideon Grant, playfully teasing him from the background."Come on, Finn. We need to go. Seraphina is about to go into surgery, yet you insisted on coming back to look for Nora's good luck charm. Since when did you become so superstitious?"The name "Finn" hit Nora like a sledgehammer, leaving her completely dazed.What did Gideon just call him? Finn?Didn't Finnegan die in that plane crash five years ago? What was going on?A suffocating wave of absurdity and a deep chill crawled up her spine. In that instant, her heartbeat accelerated violently.Before she could untangle her thoughts, Gideon's laughter rang out again."True. Who cares about Nora? If Seraphina hadn't fallen for Frederick back then, why would you have married Nora in a fit of rage anyway? With her spoiled princess temper, who could possibly stand her?You've been faking it for five years, you've really got nerves of steel. Watching Seraphina and your brother be so in love, aren't you jealous?"Through the monitor, Finnegan told the nanny to change Cassie's clothes while he waited in the living room.The man lit a cigarette. The smoke curled upward into the air, obscuring his sharp, sculpted features in the dim light, leaving only the glowing red tip of the cherry illuminating the shadows.He flicked the ash, a chillingly indifferent smirk tugging at the corners of his lips as he slowly exhaled a single word."Insanely."That was why every time he slept with Nora, he would ruthlessly torment her. Watching her curl up beneath him, completely lost in passion while clinging to him, made him hallucinate for a brief moment that she was Seraphina.Gideon chuckled. "No wonder you can't keep up the act anymore."Finnegan leaned against the doorframe, his voice slightly raspy and carrying a playful smirk. "Sleeping with the same person for five years, wouldn't you get bored? No matter how beautiful the clothes are, eventually you have to change them.""Aren't you afraid Nora will find out you've been lying to her? That she'll take Cassie and remarry?"Finnegan scoffed, crushing out his cigarette. His sharp profile flickered in the dim light. "She won't. In this world, besides me and The Fletcher Family, who else would want her? Where could she go? As long as I don't expose this, she'll willingly remain a widow for me for the rest of her life."He knew Nora well. Even though he had urged her countless times over the past five years to remarry, she had always just brushed it off with a smile.She was like a bird with broken wings, so spoiled by him that she had long lost her sense of self. Asking her to leave was practically asking for her life.Gideon gave him a thumbs up. "Ruthless!"Just then, Cassie ran out in her fresh clothes, hugging his waist. "Daddy, let's go! Mom's going to be back soon, and I don't want to be around her!"Finnegan smiled and scooped her up. Cassie giggled, kicking her little legs. "Let's go! Off to the hospital to see Mommy Seraphina!"The surveillance feed cut off, and the phone screen went black, reflecting Nora's haggard and utterly shell-shocked face."Pull over!" Nora yelled.Before the car even came to a complete stop, Nora stumbled out and rushed to the curb, vomiting violently. Even when her stomach was completely empty, she continued to dry heave, her face flushed and her entire body trembling. Tears mixed with the falling snow, blurring her vision.Her phone screen lit up, displaying the name 'Frederick.' Nora froze entirely as a wave of immense humiliation spread from the very depths of her heart.The call disconnected automatically, leaving Finnegan's smiling face on her wallpaper.With a surge of fierce anger, Nora slammed her phone onto the ground. She gasped for air, her brain short-circuiting, and it took her a long time to finally catch her breath.A sharp pain pierced her heart. She couldn't believe it. For the past five years, the man who had been constantly by Seraphina's side was actually her husband, Finnegan. Even Cassie knew and had been helping them lie to her?Nora couldn't wrap her head around it. Had everything he ever showed her been an act? Was all that love fake?Ten years ago, the Newman Estate in the capital had suffered a tragedy. Mrs. Newman and the young master died in a car crash.The privileged young woman, who had been pampered for over twenty years, lost her beloved mother and brother overnight.The head of the Newman family tried to force her into an arranged marriage. When Nora refused, he made a bet with her: if Finnegan ever had a change of heart, she was to drop all sentimental attachments and return to fulfill her duties as a daughter of the Newman Estate.Nora had stubbornly declared that Finnegan would never change his heart, and that she would never return.After being kicked out, Finnegan had descended like a god, taking her back to the Fletcher residence and fighting against all odds to marry her.For the next five years of their marriage, he continued to treat her like a princess. Then the tragic plane crash happened, and Finnegan supposedly passed away. Without his protection in the Fletcher household, Nora became the target of endless torment.The once-proud daughter of the Newman family started running herself ragged just to ensure her daughter could grow up safely, her spoiled edges completely smoothed away by life.To protect Finnegan's assets in The Fletcher Family from being swallowed up by Frederick, she went around begging for help. Ending up in the hospital in the middle of the night with stomach ulcers from drinking with clients had become a common occurrence.Only now did she realize that Frederick was never trying to swallow Finnegan's assets; Finnegan was merely using it as an excuse to take back his own businesses, leaving Nora with absolutely no way out, his heart entirely occupied by Seraphina.At the thought of this, a deep sorrow flashed through Nora's eyes, and her rims grew red.Since the woman he truly loved was Seraphina, and he was willing to deceive her so cruelly for it, she would gladly grant them their wish.She tilted her head back, ruthlessly forcing the churning emotions back down into the depths of her heart.She walked to the curb, hailed another cab, and dialed a number she hadn't called in ten years.After a long pause, a deep, weathered voice answered, "Nora."A lump formed in Nora's throat, and her grip on the phone slowly tightened. "I agree to the arranged marriage."Silence lingered on the other end for a moment, followed by a predictably cold response. "When are you coming back?"A lump formed in Nora's throat. Her mind drifted to the kindergarten's annual talent show next month, which she had promised Cassie she would attend.After a long pause, she parted her lips. "In a month.""Clean up everything over there. The Newman Estate has no use for a daughter with lingering attachments."Nora silently agreed, hung up the phone, and dug her nails deeply into her palms.Over the past five years, she had given up the life that rightfully belonged to her for Finnegan, only to be rewarded with an elaborate scam. Her life felt like something out of The Truman Show.Nora held a dual-degree medical doctorate from Capital University Medical School. She had absolutely no interest in the deceit of the business world. Right after graduation, she joined her mentor's lab. Thanks to her exceptional abilities, she became a full-time researcher in just a month, and within a year, she led her team to make a groundbreaking discovery in anti-cancer drug development.At the time, her professor had warned her that the path of scientific research required total dedication. He told her that the waters in The Fletcher Family were too deep, and if she went in, she might never make it back out.But she had been so blindly in love that she resolutely quit the lab.If she hadn't quit back then, she would undoubtedly have secured her place in the research institute by now and could have continued pursuing the career she loved.At the thought of this, a wave of bitterness washed over her. Her heart felt as though it had been punctured by tiny needles, letting the freezing wind howl through the cracks.Nora offered a bitter smile. What was the point of thinking about this now? Things had ended so badly with her mentor back then; even if she wanted to go back, she probably wouldn't be forgiven."Nora?"A gentle voice pulled her from her memories. Nora then realized the taxi had somehow already stopped outside the laboratory building. She pushed the door open, and a man in a trench coat walked toward her with long strides, a look of pleasant surprise flashing in his eyes.It was Felix Ford.Professor Xavier Vance only had the two of them as his final apprentices.Nora lowered her gaze, instinctively avoiding eye contact. "Felix."As he drew closer, Felix finally saw that Nora's face was deathly pale, her eyes were bloodshot, and she had lost a considerable amount of weight. He looked at her with an aching heart."Why have you lost so much weight? You look terrible. Did you hear the news about the professor being hospitalized?""What?"Nora's head snapped up, her brows furrowing deeply. "Professor Vance is hospitalized? What's wrong with him? When did this happen?"Felix paused. "You didn't know? The professor had heart stent surgery a few days ago. He's stable now and resting at Capital General Hospital. I thought you came here specifically to see him."The moment he finished speaking, Nora rushed to the curb to hail a cab. Felix quickly gave her the room number, and Nora hurried toward the hospital.In the taxi, Nora's phone started ringing. She glanced down and saw her daughter's name flashing on the screen, and it felt as though an invisible hand was squeezing her heart.Her daughter's deception echoed in her mind. She closed her eyes, feeling a suffocating weight in her chest.Answering the call, her daughter's little voice came through, dripping with entitlement. "Mom, where are you? Aunt Seraphina wants some pastries. Go buy some from that fancy bakery and bring them over."Nora's heart gave a slight twinge. Pushing down the stinging pain, she instinctively tried to soften her voice. "Cassie, are you at the hospital? Mom has something important to do right now. I'll come over later, okay? I'll buy you your favorite teddy bear."Cassie cut her off. "Mom, you're so annoying. Every time I ask you to do something, you make excuses. I already promised Aunt Seraphina. You're making me look really bad."Nora's breath caught, but she patiently explained, "Mom really has something important to take care of."Cassie scoffed. "You don't even have a job. How important could your stuff possibly be?"