Chloe Lennox had died once before. In her previous life, she was the most spoiled, arrogant young lady in their circle—the kind who looked down on everyone. Everyone said Julian Fairfax would eventually tire of her. After all, this crown prince of theirs was cold, aloof, and ruthless, and he had a universally admired first love by his side. In the end, it was Julian himself who brought the Lennox family's real daughter back and placed her right in front of Chloe. Overnight, Chloe fell from grace, left the Lennox family alone, and died miserably in the wilderness. Reborn, Chloe finally understood. Julian? She didn't want him anymore. So she tore up the engagement: "Julian, we're done." But Julian didn't believe it. In his eyes, Miss Lennox had never loved him. She only came around when she was in the mood to stir up trouble, yet she always had a "brother" by her side who was closer to her than he was. And yet she kissed him without restraint, got engaged to him, and laid claim to him as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She was willful and possessive—so when she said she didn't want him, Julian simply assumed she was acting out again. Until that day, Chloe fell from a height. Julian knelt in the pool of blood, holding her cold body, and the sealed memories of a past life came crashing back. Later, everyone said the crown prince who had always stood above it all had completely lost his mind. He was jealous, unhinged, relentless. In the end, his eyes red, he would grab her hand and drop to his knees before her again and again. All he begged for was one more glance from her.

Chapter 1"Miss Lennox, it looks like your family doesn't want you anymore."By the time those words fell, Chloe Lennox had been locked up for an entire night.The abandoned warehouse reeked of rust and dampness.Her hands were bound behind her back, the skin around her right wrist chafed raw. Coagulated blood clung to her skin, and the slightest movement sent a searing jolt through her nerves.Yet Chloe acted as if she felt nothing; she hadn't stopped moving since she woke up.There were five people in the warehouse in total.Two outside, three inside.They swapped shifts every two hours.The main entrance was guarded, the left side was piled high with scrap metal, leaving only the shattered high window at the very back as a potential way out.She memorized their routines while discreetly grinding her bindings against a jagged piece of scrap iron behind her.She had to get out.Eleanor Lennox was still in the hospital. The doctors had warned that her condition was deteriorating, and Chloe didn't even know if she would make it back in time to see her mother one last time.She couldn't die here. She had to survive, no matter the cost.Not far away, the scarred man suddenly cranked up the volume on his phone. The exaggerated voice of a gossip vlogger echoed through the cavernous space."Massive scandal hits the elite! Lennox Group Chairman, Richard Lennox, personally confirms that the beloved heiress, Chloe Lennox, is not their biological daughter!""Twenty-three years ago, the real Lennox daughter tragically went missing. Fearing his beloved wife Eleanor couldn't handle the devastation, Richard brought home another infant girl to take her place..."A two-second silence descended upon the warehouse."Shit."Someone cursed first."We kidnapped a fake?"The scarred man's expression darkened to an ugly extreme. He tossed the phone onto the table."Richard's real daughter has been found. They just brought her back to the Lennox estate yesterday."Chloe closed her eyes.Over the past few days, she had heard enough.A fake.An imposter.A cuckoo in the nest.Just days ago, she was the untouchable Miss Lennox, the sole heir to the Lennox Group, Eleanor's fiercely cherished only daughter, and the long-ordained future daughter-in-law of the Fairfax family.She had stood at the pinnacle for so long that she never truly considered the possibility that everything she believed rightfully hers could vanish overnight.It all unfolded with absurd speed.Eleanor had fallen gravely ill and required extensive testing and a transplant match. A DNA report unearthed a twenty-three-year-old secret: Chloe wasn't a Lennox. The real heiress was a girl named Grace Gale.The most ridiculous part was that the man who brought Grace back was Julian Fairfax—her own supposed fiancé.That afternoon, when Chloe rushed back to the Lennox estate, Julian's car had just pulled into the driveway. Grace stepped out of the backseat. The girl wore a simple white dress; she was slender, quiet, and noticeably tense standing beside Julian.Richard practically sprinted over to greet them. For the first time, not a single member of the household staff paid Chloe any mind.She stood by the door, watching Julian hold the car door for Grace. They locked eyes from a distance, and Julian seemed to want to approach her, but Richard spoke first."Chloe." It was the first time her father had ever looked at her with such complicated emotion. "There's something I need to tell you."She couldn't quite remember what happened next, only a blur of people and overlapping voices.Grace's background, the remote town of Brookside where her biological parents lived.And one crushing sentence: "You were never a Lennox."That very night, Julian flew out of the country without leaving her a single word.Chloe had called him once.His phone was off.She stared at the screen for a few seconds before tossing it aside. She never called again.She wasn't so pathetic that she needed to chase after a man just to ask: Julian, are you abandoning me too?So, the next day, she drove to Brookside herself. She needed to know exactly what had happened twenty-three years ago. But before she even reached her destination, she was run off the road.When she regained consciousness, she was here."Damn it!" A kidnapper furiously kicked over a nearby chair.The loud crash snapped her back to the present."We figured kidnapping Richard's only daughter was a goldmine. With his wife that sick, he'd pay whatever we asked. Now that the real one's back, what is this fake bitch even worth?"Another man, who had been smoking quietly, suddenly turned his head to look at Chloe in the corner.His gaze slowly dragged down her face, abruptly turning predatory. "It wasn't a total waste of time."Chloe's heart plummeted.The man was already walking toward her. He crouched down and roughly grabbed her chin."With a face like this, she's definitely got other uses."Sinister chuckles immediately erupted around them."She used to be the untouchable Miss Lennox, but things are different now.""The Lennox family has the real deal now. No one gives a damn about the fake. We can have our fun before we dispose of her."A wave of malicious laughter echoed through the warehouse.Chloe's stomach churned. She knew exactly what they meant. Fear slithered up her spine like an icy snake, and her fingers trembled uncontrollably.The rope was almost severed. Just a little more."Take your filthy hands off me."The man froze, as if he couldn't believe his ears. "Oh, you really still think you're the high and mighty Miss Lennox?"Chloe met his gaze. Even bound in this hellhole, with her hair in disarray and her face pale, she looked down on him like he was nothing but trash."Whether I'm a Lennox or not, a piece of garbage like you isn't worthy of touching me."The man's expression turned lethal."Smack—"A vicious slap struck her across the face.Her head snapped to the side, her ears ringing, and the metallic tang of blood immediately flooded her mouth.He grabbed her by the hair, forcing her to look up. "Still acting tough?"Chloe stayed silent for two seconds. She slowly turned her head back, running her tongue over her split lip, and suddenly smiled. "Is that all you've got?"The man was completely enraged."You've got a death wish!"He aggressively grabbed her collar, but the moment he leaned in, Chloe forcefully drove her knee upward, slamming it directly into his groin."Argh!"The man let out an agonizing scream, doubling over as he collapsed to the floor.At that exact second, the rope she had been grinding away at all night finally snapped. Chloe tore her hands free. Ignoring her shredded wrists, she snatched a jagged piece of a broken glass bottle from the floor and slashed fiercely at the second man rushing toward her.Blood sprayed instantly."Fuck!""Grab her!"Chloe turned and ran.She had rehearsed this in her head countless times: the main door was blocked, the left side was a dead end. Her only shot was the shattered high window at the back. She scrambled up a stack of abandoned wooden crates.Sharp glass instantly sliced her palms, blood streaming down her wrists, but Chloe didn't hesitate for a second.Faster. She just had to be faster.She could see the outside. As long as she could vault over—A hand brutally yanked her hair from behind!Excruciating pain ripped through her scalp.Chloe was violently dragged off the crates, plummeting through the air.Thud!Her back hit the concrete floor with bone-shattering force.Her vision blacked out. Before she could even attempt to crawl up, a heavy boot stomped mercilessly onto her shoulder.The scarred man panted heavily. "Run. Why aren't you running?"Chloe ignored him, her eyes locked onto a shard of glass just a few feet away.Just a couple of feet. Her hand inched forward. She was almost there.The next second, a piercing cold plunged into her abdomen.Chloe completely froze. She slowly looked down. The blade was already buried to the hilt.The pain was delayed for a fraction of a second before it crashed over her like a suffocating tidal wave.The scarred man viciously ripped the knife out, blood pouring freely. Chloe collapsed heavily onto the floor.The warehouse lights flickered above her as her consciousness began to fade.For twenty-three years, she always thought she was blessed. She had parents who adored her, a prominent family background, and a life surrounded by stars. Even her future marriage was to the Fairfax family, the most envied union in the city.She never imagined that one day, she would lose it all at once.Was her mom okay?Did her dad really not want her anymore?When Christian realized she was missing, would he come looking for her?And... Julian.What a joke.She had genuinely believed he would be her husband, the man to walk by her side for the rest of her life. Instead, he was the one who brought Grace back and personally shoved her off her pedestal into the dirt.She refused to accept this.She absolutely refused to accept it.After twenty-three years of living proudly as Chloe Lennox, she was going to die here like a stray dog?She had never believed in fate, but at this moment, she hated it with every fiber of her being.Why?Why did her life have to end like this?Chloe Lennox did not deserve to die this way!If she could do it all over again, she wouldn't let a single person who wronged her get away with it.Next time, no one else would ever dictate her life.Hot.When Chloe regained consciousness, the first thing she registered was a crushing weight pressing down on her.A man's searing body heat radiated through their tangled clothes. His heavy, scorching breath fanned against her ear. Her dress was hiked up her thighs, the straps slipping off her shoulders.A strong, long-fingered hand gripped her waist tightly.The warehouse, the blade, the kidnappers' sickening laughter—the memories violently crashed into her mind. The color drained from her face."Get off me!" She shoved fiercely at the man on top of her, throwing a blind slap with the back of her hand.Julian reacted with lightning speed, catching her wrist in an iron grip. Before Chloe could struggle, she sank back into the plush mattress. He pinned her thrashing legs with one knee, towering over her with overwhelming dominance."Chloe Lennox." His voice was dangerously rough, clearly pushed to the absolute edge of his restraint. "Are you out of your mind?"Chloe completely froze. That voice...She snapped her head up, their eyes locking.It was Julian Fairfax.His dark hair was slightly tousled, his sharp brow ridge shadowing a pair of pitch-black eyes. His thin lips were flushed where she had apparently bitten them. He was breathtakingly handsome. Even disheveled, he radiated an indescribable aristocratic elegance, though the raw, unfiltered aggression rolling off him made him incredibly dangerous.Chloe stared at him, forgetting how to breathe.Julian frowned under her intense scrutiny."A second ago, you were grabbing me, begging me not to go," he said, leaning in until the distance between them practically vanished. "And now you're playing the amnesiac?"The scent of cedarwood and red wine washed over her. Chloe instinctively turned her face away, but her gaze immediately locked onto something else.Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows lay the glittering skyline of the city. Dim wall sconces, seductive music, the subtle hint of expensive aromatherapy in the air, and an open bottle of wine resting on the table.The Hillcrest Hotel. The Presidential Suite.An absurd realization slammed into her mind. She swiftly grabbed her phone from the nightstand.August 13, 2026. Exactly one year ago.She had actually been reborn.And of all the days, it was the night of her engagement to Julian—the night they almost ended up sleeping together.In her past life, this was the exact night their relationship descended into a chaotic mess.The Fairfax and Lennox families were perfectly matched. Julian was the undisputed heir to the Fairfax empire, and she was the envied Miss Lennox, the sole successor of the Lennox Group. By all metrics, the marriage made total sense.The only glaring issue was Serena Winslet.Everyone in their circle knew Julian kept a certain woman dangerously close.Sweet, vibrant, and the entertainment industry's top rising star—everyone whispered that she was the only woman the Fairfax heir truly cared about.Chloe naturally disliked the situation, but she never considered it a dealbreaker. In their world, love was the cheapest commodity imaginable.Julian had the wealth, the power, and the looks. His ruthlessness and competence were undeniable. In his twenties, he had already secured absolute control over the Fairfax Group. He was the man half the city would kill for a chance to impress.She had seen enough true love in high society turn into bitter infidelity post-marriage anyway. Since the end result was mostly the same, why wouldn't she choose the most valuable partner? Even if love never blossomed, the sheer power and leverage this union offered were more than enough to satisfy her.So, when the Fairfax family proposed, she agreed without hesitation.After their engagement banquet, Julian had been leaning at the end of the hallway, smoking. When he saw her approach, he crushed the cigarette and gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.Chapter 2"Miss Lennox, it looks like your family doesn't want you anymore."By the time those words fell, Chloe Lennox had been locked up for an entire night.The abandoned warehouse reeked of rust and dampness.Her hands were bound behind her back, the skin around her right wrist chafed raw. Coagulated blood clung to her skin, and the slightest movement sent a searing jolt through her nerves.Yet Chloe acted as if she felt nothing; she hadn't stopped moving since she woke up.There were five people in the warehouse in total.Two outside, three inside.They swapped shifts every two hours.The main entrance was guarded, the left side was piled high with scrap metal, leaving only the shattered high window at the very back as a potential way out.She memorized their routines while discreetly grinding her bindings against a jagged piece of scrap iron behind her.She had to get out.Eleanor Lennox was still in the hospital. The doctors had warned that her condition was deteriorating, and Chloe didn't even know if she would make it back in time to see her mother one last time.She couldn't die here. She had to survive, no matter the cost.Not far away, the scarred man suddenly cranked up the volume on his phone. The exaggerated voice of a gossip vlogger echoed through the cavernous space."Massive scandal hits the elite! Lennox Group Chairman, Richard Lennox, personally confirms that the beloved heiress, Chloe Lennox, is not their biological daughter!""Twenty-three years ago, the real Lennox daughter tragically went missing. Fearing his beloved wife Eleanor couldn't handle the devastation, Richard brought home another infant girl to take her place..."A two-second silence descended upon the warehouse."Shit."Someone cursed first."We kidnapped a fake?"The scarred man's expression darkened to an ugly extreme. He tossed the phone onto the table."Richard's real daughter has been found. They just brought her back to the Lennox estate yesterday."Chloe closed her eyes.Over the past few days, she had heard enough.A fake.An imposter.A cuckoo in the nest.Just days ago, she was the untouchable Miss Lennox, the sole heir to the Lennox Group, Eleanor's fiercely cherished only daughter, and the long-ordained future daughter-in-law of the Fairfax family.She had stood at the pinnacle for so long that she never truly considered the possibility that everything she believed rightfully hers could vanish overnight.It all unfolded with absurd speed.Eleanor had fallen gravely ill and required extensive testing and a transplant match. A DNA report unearthed a twenty-three-year-old secret: Chloe wasn't a Lennox. The real heiress was a girl named Grace Gale.The most ridiculous part was that the man who brought Grace back was Julian Fairfax—her own supposed fiancé.That afternoon, when Chloe rushed back to the Lennox estate, Julian's car had just pulled into the driveway. Grace stepped out of the backseat. The girl wore a simple white dress; she was slender, quiet, and noticeably tense standing beside Julian.Richard practically sprinted over to greet them. For the first time, not a single member of the household staff paid Chloe any mind.She stood by the door, watching Julian hold the car door for Grace. They locked eyes from a distance, and Julian seemed to want to approach her, but Richard spoke first."Chloe." It was the first time her father had ever looked at her with such complicated emotion. "There's something I need to tell you."She couldn't quite remember what happened next, only a blur of people and overlapping voices.Grace's background, the remote town of Brookside where her biological parents lived.And one crushing sentence: "You were never a Lennox."That very night, Julian flew out of the country without leaving her a single word.Chloe had called him once.His phone was off.She stared at the screen for a few seconds before tossing it aside. She never called again.She wasn't so pathetic that she needed to chase after a man just to ask: Julian, are you abandoning me too?So, the next day, she drove to Brookside herself. She needed to know exactly what had happened twenty-three years ago. But before she even reached her destination, she was run off the road.When she regained consciousness, she was here."Damn it!" A kidnapper furiously kicked over a nearby chair.The loud crash snapped her back to the present."We figured kidnapping Richard's only daughter was a goldmine. With his wife that sick, he'd pay whatever we asked. Now that the real one's back, what is this fake bitch even worth?"Another man, who had been smoking quietly, suddenly turned his head to look at Chloe in the corner.His gaze slowly dragged down her face, abruptly turning predatory. "It wasn't a total waste of time."Chloe's heart plummeted.The man was already walking toward her. He crouched down and roughly grabbed her chin."With a face like this, she's definitely got other uses."Sinister chuckles immediately erupted around them."She used to be the untouchable Miss Lennox, but things are different now.""The Lennox family has the real deal now. No one gives a damn about the fake. We can have our fun before we dispose of her."A wave of malicious laughter echoed through the warehouse.Chloe's stomach churned. She knew exactly what they meant. Fear slithered up her spine like an icy snake, and her fingers trembled uncontrollably.The rope was almost severed. Just a little more."Take your filthy hands off me."The man froze, as if he couldn't believe his ears. "Oh, you really still think you're the high and mighty Miss Lennox?"Chloe met his gaze. Even bound in this hellhole, with her hair in disarray and her face pale, she looked down on him like he was nothing but trash."Whether I'm a Lennox or not, a piece of garbage like you isn't worthy of touching me."The man's expression turned lethal."Smack—"A vicious slap struck her across the face.Her head snapped to the side, her ears ringing, and the metallic tang of blood immediately flooded her mouth.He grabbed her by the hair, forcing her to look up. "Still acting tough?"Chloe stayed silent for two seconds. She slowly turned her head back, running her tongue over her split lip, and suddenly smiled. "Is that all you've got?"The man was completely enraged."You've got a death wish!"He aggressively grabbed her collar, but the moment he leaned in, Chloe forcefully drove her knee upward, slamming it directly into his groin."Argh!"The man let out an agonizing scream, doubling over as he collapsed to the floor.At that exact second, the rope she had been grinding away at all night finally snapped. Chloe tore her hands free. Ignoring her shredded wrists, she snatched a jagged piece of a broken glass bottle from the floor and slashed fiercely at the second man rushing toward her.Blood sprayed instantly."Fuck!""Grab her!"Chloe turned and ran.She had rehearsed this in her head countless times: the main door was blocked, the left side was a dead end. Her only shot was the shattered high window at the back. She scrambled up a stack of abandoned wooden crates.Sharp glass instantly sliced her palms, blood streaming down her wrists, but Chloe didn't hesitate for a second.Faster. She just had to be faster.She could see the outside. As long as she could vault over—A hand brutally yanked her hair from behind!Excruciating pain ripped through her scalp.Chloe was violently dragged off the crates, plummeting through the air.Thud!Her back hit the concrete floor with bone-shattering force.Her vision blacked out. Before she could even attempt to crawl up, a heavy boot stomped mercilessly onto her shoulder.The scarred man panted heavily. "Run. Why aren't you running?"Chloe ignored him, her eyes locked onto a shard of glass just a few feet away.Just a couple of feet. Her hand inched forward. She was almost there.The next second, a piercing cold plunged into her abdomen.Chloe completely froze. She slowly looked down. The blade was already buried to the hilt.The pain was delayed for a fraction of a second before it crashed over her like a suffocating tidal wave.The scarred man viciously ripped the knife out, blood pouring freely. Chloe collapsed heavily onto the floor.The warehouse lights flickered above her as her consciousness began to fade.For twenty-three years, she always thought she was blessed. She had parents who adored her, a prominent family background, and a life surrounded by stars. Even her future marriage was to the Fairfax family, the most envied union in the city.She never imagined that one day, she would lose it all at once.Was her mom okay?Did her dad really not want her anymore?When Christian realized she was missing, would he come looking for her?And... Julian.What a joke.She had genuinely believed he would be her husband, the man to walk by her side for the rest of her life. Instead, he was the one who brought Grace back and personally shoved her off her pedestal into the dirt.She refused to accept this.She absolutely refused to accept it.After twenty-three years of living proudly as Chloe Lennox, she was going to die here like a stray dog?She had never believed in fate, but at this moment, she hated it with every fiber of her being.Why?Why did her life have to end like this?Chloe Lennox did not deserve to die this way!If she could do it all over again, she wouldn't let a single person who wronged her get away with it.Next time, no one else would ever dictate her life.Hot.When Chloe regained consciousness, the first thing she registered was a crushing weight pressing down on her.A man's searing body heat radiated through their tangled clothes. His heavy, scorching breath fanned against her ear. Her dress was hiked up her thighs, the straps slipping off her shoulders.A strong, long-fingered hand gripped her waist tightly.The warehouse, the blade, the kidnappers' sickening laughter—the memories violently crashed into her mind. The color drained from her face."Get off me!" She shoved fiercely at the man on top of her, throwing a blind slap with the back of her hand.Julian reacted with lightning speed, catching her wrist in an iron grip. Before Chloe could struggle, she sank back into the plush mattress. He pinned her thrashing legs with one knee, towering over her with overwhelming dominance."Chloe Lennox." His voice was dangerously rough, clearly pushed to the absolute edge of his restraint. "Are you out of your mind?"Chloe completely froze. That voice...She snapped her head up, their eyes locking.It was Julian Fairfax.His dark hair was slightly tousled, his sharp brow ridge shadowing a pair of pitch-black eyes. His thin lips were flushed where she had apparently bitten them. He was breathtakingly handsome. Even disheveled, he radiated an indescribable aristocratic elegance, though the raw, unfiltered aggression rolling off him made him incredibly dangerous.Chloe stared at him, forgetting how to breathe.Julian frowned under her intense scrutiny."A second ago, you were grabbing me, begging me not to go," he said, leaning in until the distance between them practically vanished. "And now you're playing the amnesiac?"The scent of cedarwood and red wine washed over her. Chloe instinctively turned her face away, but her gaze immediately locked onto something else.Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows lay the glittering skyline of the city. Dim wall sconces, seductive music, the subtle hint of expensive aromatherapy in the air, and an open bottle of wine resting on the table.The Hillcrest Hotel. The Presidential Suite.An absurd realization slammed into her mind. She swiftly grabbed her phone from the nightstand.August 13, 2026. Exactly one year ago.She had actually been reborn.And of all the days, it was the night of her engagement to Julian—the night they almost ended up sleeping together.In her past life, this was the exact night their relationship descended into a chaotic mess.The Fairfax and Lennox families were perfectly matched. Julian was the undisputed heir to the Fairfax empire, and she was the envied Miss Lennox, the sole successor of the Lennox Group. By all metrics, the marriage made total sense.The only glaring issue was Serena Winslet.Everyone in their circle knew Julian kept a certain woman dangerously close.Sweet, vibrant, and the entertainment industry's top rising star—everyone whispered that she was the only woman the Fairfax heir truly cared about.Chloe naturally disliked the situation, but she never considered it a dealbreaker. In their world, love was the cheapest commodity imaginable.Julian had the wealth, the power, and the looks. His ruthlessness and competence were undeniable. In his twenties, he had already secured absolute control over the Fairfax Group. He was the man half the city would kill for a chance to impress.She had seen enough true love in high society turn into bitter infidelity post-marriage anyway. Since the end result was mostly the same, why wouldn't she choose the most valuable partner? Even if love never blossomed, the sheer power and leverage this union offered were more than enough to satisfy her.So, when the Fairfax family proposed, she agreed without hesitation.After their engagement banquet, Julian had been leaning at the end of the hallway, smoking. When he saw her approach, he crushed the cigarette and gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.Chapter 3"Miss Lennox, it looks like your family doesn't want you anymore."By the time those words fell, Chloe Lennox had been locked up for an entire night.The abandoned warehouse reeked of rust and dampness.Her hands were bound behind her back, the skin around her right wrist chafed raw. Coagulated blood clung to her skin, and the slightest movement sent a searing jolt through her nerves.Yet Chloe acted as if she felt nothing; she hadn't stopped moving since she woke up.There were five people in the warehouse in total.Two outside, three inside.They swapped shifts every two hours.The main entrance was guarded, the left side was piled high with scrap metal, leaving only the shattered high window at the very back as a potential way out.She memorized their routines while discreetly grinding her bindings against a jagged piece of scrap iron behind her.She had to get out.Eleanor Lennox was still in the hospital. The doctors had warned that her condition was deteriorating, and Chloe didn't even know if she would make it back in time to see her mother one last time.She couldn't die here. She had to survive, no matter the cost.Not far away, the scarred man suddenly cranked up the volume on his phone. The exaggerated voice of a gossip vlogger echoed through the cavernous space."Massive scandal hits the elite! Lennox Group Chairman, Richard Lennox, personally confirms that the beloved heiress, Chloe Lennox, is not their biological daughter!""Twenty-three years ago, the real Lennox daughter tragically went missing. Fearing his beloved wife Eleanor couldn't handle the devastation, Richard brought home another infant girl to take her place..."A two-second silence descended upon the warehouse."Shit."Someone cursed first."We kidnapped a fake?"The scarred man's expression darkened to an ugly extreme. He tossed the phone onto the table."Richard's real daughter has been found. They just brought her back to the Lennox estate yesterday."Chloe closed her eyes.Over the past few days, she had heard enough.A fake.An imposter.A cuckoo in the nest.Just days ago, she was the untouchable Miss Lennox, the sole heir to the Lennox Group, Eleanor's fiercely cherished only daughter, and the long-ordained future daughter-in-law of the Fairfax family.She had stood at the pinnacle for so long that she never truly considered the possibility that everything she believed rightfully hers could vanish overnight.It all unfolded with absurd speed.Eleanor had fallen gravely ill and required extensive testing and a transplant match. A DNA report unearthed a twenty-three-year-old secret: Chloe wasn't a Lennox. The real heiress was a girl named Grace Gale.The most ridiculous part was that the man who brought Grace back was Julian Fairfax—her own supposed fiancé.That afternoon, when Chloe rushed back to the Lennox estate, Julian's car had just pulled into the driveway. Grace stepped out of the backseat. The girl wore a simple white dress; she was slender, quiet, and noticeably tense standing beside Julian.Richard practically sprinted over to greet them. For the first time, not a single member of the household staff paid Chloe any mind.She stood by the door, watching Julian hold the car door for Grace. They locked eyes from a distance, and Julian seemed to want to approach her, but Richard spoke first."Chloe." It was the first time her father had ever looked at her with such complicated emotion. "There's something I need to tell you."She couldn't quite remember what happened next, only a blur of people and overlapping voices.Grace's background, the remote town of Brookside where her biological parents lived.And one crushing sentence: "You were never a Lennox."That very night, Julian flew out of the country without leaving her a single word.Chloe had called him once.His phone was off.She stared at the screen for a few seconds before tossing it aside. She never called again.She wasn't so pathetic that she needed to chase after a man just to ask: Julian, are you abandoning me too?So, the next day, she drove to Brookside herself. She needed to know exactly what had happened twenty-three years ago. But before she even reached her destination, she was run off the road.When she regained consciousness, she was here."Damn it!" A kidnapper furiously kicked over a nearby chair.The loud crash snapped her back to the present."We figured kidnapping Richard's only daughter was a goldmine. With his wife that sick, he'd pay whatever we asked. Now that the real one's back, what is this fake bitch even worth?"Another man, who had been smoking quietly, suddenly turned his head to look at Chloe in the corner.His gaze slowly dragged down her face, abruptly turning predatory. "It wasn't a total waste of time."Chloe's heart plummeted.The man was already walking toward her. He crouched down and roughly grabbed her chin."With a face like this, she's definitely got other uses."Sinister chuckles immediately erupted around them."She used to be the untouchable Miss Lennox, but things are different now.""The Lennox family has the real deal now. No one gives a damn about the fake. We can have our fun before we dispose of her."A wave of malicious laughter echoed through the warehouse.Chloe's stomach churned. She knew exactly what they meant. Fear slithered up her spine like an icy snake, and her fingers trembled uncontrollably.The rope was almost severed. Just a little more."Take your filthy hands off me."The man froze, as if he couldn't believe his ears. "Oh, you really still think you're the high and mighty Miss Lennox?"Chloe met his gaze. Even bound in this hellhole, with her hair in disarray and her face pale, she looked down on him like he was nothing but trash."Whether I'm a Lennox or not, a piece of garbage like you isn't worthy of touching me."The man's expression turned lethal."Smack—"A vicious slap struck her across the face.Her head snapped to the side, her ears ringing, and the metallic tang of blood immediately flooded her mouth.He grabbed her by the hair, forcing her to look up. "Still acting tough?"Chloe stayed silent for two seconds. She slowly turned her head back, running her tongue over her split lip, and suddenly smiled. "Is that all you've got?"The man was completely enraged."You've got a death wish!"He aggressively grabbed her collar, but the moment he leaned in, Chloe forcefully drove her knee upward, slamming it directly into his groin."Argh!"The man let out an agonizing scream, doubling over as he collapsed to the floor.At that exact second, the rope she had been grinding away at all night finally snapped. Chloe tore her hands free. Ignoring her shredded wrists, she snatched a jagged piece of a broken glass bottle from the floor and slashed fiercely at the second man rushing toward her.Blood sprayed instantly."Fuck!""Grab her!"Chloe turned and ran.She had rehearsed this in her head countless times: the main door was blocked, the left side was a dead end. Her only shot was the shattered high window at the back. She scrambled up a stack of abandoned wooden crates.Sharp glass instantly sliced her palms, blood streaming down her wrists, but Chloe didn't hesitate for a second.Faster. She just had to be faster.She could see the outside. As long as she could vault over—A hand brutally yanked her hair from behind!Excruciating pain ripped through her scalp.Chloe was violently dragged off the crates, plummeting through the air.Thud!Her back hit the concrete floor with bone-shattering force.Her vision blacked out. Before she could even attempt to crawl up, a heavy boot stomped mercilessly onto her shoulder.The scarred man panted heavily. "Run. Why aren't you running?"Chloe ignored him, her eyes locked onto a shard of glass just a few feet away.Just a couple of feet. Her hand inched forward. She was almost there.The next second, a piercing cold plunged into her abdomen.Chloe completely froze. She slowly looked down. The blade was already buried to the hilt.The pain was delayed for a fraction of a second before it crashed over her like a suffocating tidal wave.The scarred man viciously ripped the knife out, blood pouring freely. Chloe collapsed heavily onto the floor.The warehouse lights flickered above her as her consciousness began to fade.For twenty-three years, she always thought she was blessed. She had parents who adored her, a prominent family background, and a life surrounded by stars. Even her future marriage was to the Fairfax family, the most envied union in the city.She never imagined that one day, she would lose it all at once.Was her mom okay?Did her dad really not want her anymore?When Christian realized she was missing, would he come looking for her?And... Julian.What a joke.She had genuinely believed he would be her husband, the man to walk by her side for the rest of her life. Instead, he was the one who brought Grace back and personally shoved her off her pedestal into the dirt.She refused to accept this.She absolutely refused to accept it.After twenty-three years of living proudly as Chloe Lennox, she was going to die here like a stray dog?She had never believed in fate, but at this moment, she hated it with every fiber of her being.Why?Why did her life have to end like this?Chloe Lennox did not deserve to die this way!If she could do it all over again, she wouldn't let a single person who wronged her get away with it.Next time, no one else would ever dictate her life.Hot.When Chloe regained consciousness, the first thing she registered was a crushing weight pressing down on her.A man's searing body heat radiated through their tangled clothes. His heavy, scorching breath fanned against her ear. Her dress was hiked up her thighs, the straps slipping off her shoulders.A strong, long-fingered hand gripped her waist tightly.The warehouse, the blade, the kidnappers' sickening laughter—the memories violently crashed into her mind. The color drained from her face."Get off me!" She shoved fiercely at the man on top of her, throwing a blind slap with the back of her hand.Julian reacted with lightning speed, catching her wrist in an iron grip. Before Chloe could struggle, she sank back into the plush mattress. He pinned her thrashing legs with one knee, towering over her with overwhelming dominance."Chloe Lennox." His voice was dangerously rough, clearly pushed to the absolute edge of his restraint. "Are you out of your mind?"Chloe completely froze. That voice...She snapped her head up, their eyes locking.It was Julian Fairfax.His dark hair was slightly tousled, his sharp brow ridge shadowing a pair of pitch-black eyes. His thin lips were flushed where she had apparently bitten them. He was breathtakingly handsome. Even disheveled, he radiated an indescribable aristocratic elegance, though the raw, unfiltered aggression rolling off him made him incredibly dangerous.Chloe stared at him, forgetting how to breathe.Julian frowned under her intense scrutiny."A second ago, you were grabbing me, begging me not to go," he said, leaning in until the distance between them practically vanished. "And now you're playing the amnesiac?"The scent of cedarwood and red wine washed over her. Chloe instinctively turned her face away, but her gaze immediately locked onto something else.Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows lay the glittering skyline of the city. Dim wall sconces, seductive music, the subtle hint of expensive aromatherapy in the air, and an open bottle of wine resting on the table.The Hillcrest Hotel. The Presidential Suite.An absurd realization slammed into her mind. She swiftly grabbed her phone from the nightstand.August 13, 2026. Exactly one year ago.She had actually been reborn.And of all the days, it was the night of her engagement to Julian—the night they almost ended up sleeping together.In her past life, this was the exact night their relationship descended into a chaotic mess.The Fairfax and Lennox families were perfectly matched. Julian was the undisputed heir to the Fairfax empire, and she was the envied Miss Lennox, the sole successor of the Lennox Group. By all metrics, the marriage made total sense.The only glaring issue was Serena Winslet.Everyone in their circle knew Julian kept a certain woman dangerously close.Sweet, vibrant, and the entertainment industry's top rising star—everyone whispered that she was the only woman the Fairfax heir truly cared about.Chloe naturally disliked the situation, but she never considered it a dealbreaker. In their world, love was the cheapest commodity imaginable.Julian had the wealth, the power, and the looks. His ruthlessness and competence were undeniable. In his twenties, he had already secured absolute control over the Fairfax Group. He was the man half the city would kill for a chance to impress.She had seen enough true love in high society turn into bitter infidelity post-marriage anyway. Since the end result was mostly the same, why wouldn't she choose the most valuable partner? Even if love never blossomed, the sheer power and leverage this union offered were more than enough to satisfy her.So, when the Fairfax family proposed, she agreed without hesitation.After their engagement banquet, Julian had been leaning at the end of the hallway, smoking. When he saw her approach, he crushed the cigarette and gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.