The alarm woke Lucille up at eight in the morning. When she opened her eyes, he was gone.

They needed to keep their relationship a secret from their parents, so they had made a promise long ago. River would sneak into her room at midnight every night and leave by five in the morning. They had slept like that for five whole years now.

Soon, though, they would be nothing more than siblings. He would not have to sneak around anymore.

Lucille got changed and headed downstairs. There was a woman she did not recognize sitting on the couch.

Victoria waved at her daughter excitedly and introduced her. “Come here, Lucy. This is your brother’s girlfriend. Bring her a glass of water, would you?”

Sophia Song stood up on cue, offering her a handshake and a smile. “You must be River’s little sister! It’s nice to meet you. Although I’ve never seen you before, your brother has told me a lot about you.”

Lucille paused and glanced at River, but she did not ask anything. She simply turned and went to the kitchen to get Sophia a glass of water.

After she filled the glass, she was about to bring it to the living room when River came into the kitchen. He hugged her waist and leaned in to kiss her.

Lucille hurriedly tilted her head away to evade him. “What are you doing? Your girlfriend's outside.”

River raised a brow and pecked her lips. “Are you angry?

“I forgot to tell you, she's just my childhood friend. She left the country ages ago and just came back a few days back. My old man's rushing me to get married, so I asked her to play along with me lest he gets any funny ideas.

“You know better than anyone who my real girlfriend is, right?”

Lucille just listened to him without a word or expression. Finally, she nodded nonchalantly.

River was surprised to see her so calm. He thought he would have to spend ages reassuring her.

After all, the last time a girl gave him a love letter, she stumbled across it and cried until her eyes swelled up.

She would not even tell him why when he found out she had been crying. He had to trick her into telling the truth.

As it turned out, she believed that their relationship was taboo, and she would never be able to stand by his side as his official girlfriend. That was why she never dared to confront him or throw a tantrum. All she could do was hide under the covers and take her anger out on a pillow.

The same scenario was unfolding again, but this time she was unusually calm. River could not help but be suspicious.

He wanted to ask her why, but Lucille did not give him the chance. She simply picked up the glass and left the kitchen.

Once breakfast was ready, everyone took their seats around the dining table. Sophia was invited to sit next to River.

The two of them happily chatted about their childhood, acting completely in love.

Sophia had picked up some habits overseas and now liked her egg yolks runny. When River heard that, he gave her his fried egg.

She immediately blushed and gave him her half-eaten yolk.

River instinctively glanced at Lucille. Her head was buried in her cereal, as though she had not noticed a thing.

When she lifted her head to grab a napkin, he bit into the egg Sophia had given him. Lucille happened to see him, then she put her spoon down and left the table without a word.

She seemed to be heading toward the door, so Sophia hurriedly called out to her. “Are you heading out, Lucy? River and I are going on a date, too. Could you wait a while, then we can go out together?”

Lucille was about to say no when her stepfather interrupted. “It's raining outside, so why don't you let River drop you off? Otherwise, your mother and I will worry.”

Lucille could not say no to Dan, so she had no choice but to wait in the garage.

She was heading to the embassy to handle her student visa. At this rate, River would find out about her plan to leave.

No matter how she pored over it, she could not think of a way to delay the inevitable. Whatever, then. Let him find out. Either way, she had already bought her tickets, so there was nothing he could do to stop her.

After a while, Sophia and River finally joined her in the car. They took their own sweet time.

Strangely, Sophia jumped into the backseat and even tried to start a conversation with Lucille. However, Lucille was not in the mood to talk, so she just hummed and hawed in response.

The rain started to abate as the car drove on. Sophia leaned in and whispered into Lucille's ear.

“I know you don't like me, and I know you and River are more than just siblings. Still, there's no way the two of you can get married, and River isn't completely opposed to being with me.

“I bet I can steal him from you whenever I want. Wanna wager on it?”

Lucille jolted slightly and turned to glance sideways at Sophia. Sophia smirked at her and then set an alarm on her phone.

A minute later, the alarm rang on the dot. Sophia pretended to pick up a call and then forced out a few tears, looking at the driver’s seat tearfully. “River, the butler said my puppy fell sick. I’m so worried! Could you send me home first?”

River stopped by the roadside and frowned at the rain pouring outside. When he turned around and saw Sophia’s teary face, however, he hesitated for a few seconds before finally addressing Lucille.

“I’ll send Lucille home first. Her house is in the other direction, so why don’t you get down and take a cab to your destination?”

Sophia did not give her time to say no, hurriedly offering her an umbrella.

Lucille looked at River and then Sophia. Finally, she got out of the car without a word.

There were some holes in the umbrella. The rain leaked through and drenched her immediately.

The bad weather meant there were no cabs on the streets, either. She had no choice but to run with her bag over her head. She ran in the rain for half an hour before she finally reached the embassy.

There were still no cabs after she got her visa. Lucille walked an hour home, the rain beating on her the entire time.

She knew she had a fever once she got home. Her body hurt all over, and she practically passed out on her bed.

She had a few strange nightmares as she broke out in a cold sweat. It felt like a monster was chasing her the entire time.

When she desperately opened her eyes, she saw that River was the monster.

He held her in his arms, feeding her the medicine sip by sip. His tone was gentle and pained. “Drink the medicine, okay? You’ll get better in an instant.”

Lucille could not tell if this was a dream or reality. She instinctively swallowed the medicine and drifted back to sleep.

When she next woke up, her fever had broken. She looked next to her, but there was no one there except for a phone vibrating on her bedside table.

She unlocked the phone and saw it was River’s friends spamming their group chat.

[You should win Best Actor, bro. I heard you turned down a project worth millions just to go home and take care of your little sister.]

[I feel like River’s fallen for real! He ran twenty red lights to rush home when he heard she had a fever. Has he actually fallen in love with her?]

[Agreed, I don’t think that anxiety was an act.]

River replied, [Me, fall in love with her? Over my dead body. I’m just doing this to make her even more devoted to me. That way, won’t her heart be shattered once she finds out the truth.]

Every word shook Lucille’s heart. She thought, ‘Over my dead body? Is that what you say to me after five years of dating? River, you’re heartless.’

All the strength drained from her body. Her hand fell limp by her side.

The next second, her bedroom door opened. Walking in with a basin of warm water, River stiffened and then quickly grabbed his phone back.

His usually lazy drawl was a touch nervous. “What did you see?”

Lucille lowered her head to hide her reddened eyes. Her voice was hoarse. “Why? Is there something I’m not supposed to see?”

She did not understand. He knew she was already irresistibly in love with her. Why did he continue the charade? Was there any need to prolong this act?

He was still on edge, worried she would discover the truth. Wasn’t he tired after pretending all this time?

Enough! He had achieved his goal! Her heart was already broken!

River did not know what she was thinking. He just assumed she was in a bad mood because she was sick, so he hugged her soothingly. “Of course not. I’m just preparing a surprise for you. Since you’re upset, I’ll tell you what it is right now!

“I found out a place that we can get married without any hindrance. Lucy, why don’t we move there and get married? I’m already making the arrangements.”

They had been discussing a future like this for countless nights. Hearing him say it now, however, Lucille no longer felt any trace of emotion. Her heart was dead and still.

She knew that they would no longer have a future.

Ten days from now, she would be gone from his life… and he from hers.

The first thing Lucille did once she got better was calculate how much the Dortmans had spent on her over the years.

She sat at her table, adding up all the expenses she had incurred since she joined this household. Everything from her living costs to tuition fees added up to three million dollars.

Her late father’s inheritance and old property were worth two million dollars, and she had saved a few dozen thousand from her part-time work. It seemed she had to find more work before she left to make up the difference.

Lucille’s expertise was photography. With that in mind, she found some freelance jobs online. Before long, she had eight offers for everything from wedding photos to graduation shoots.

She accepted every job and worked from day to night. She was too tired to even stand up straight, yet she did not breathe a word of complaint.

It was because her mother told her Dan had been divorced even before they met. He just never made it in public.

In other words, they had dated and married as consenting single adults. She was never his mistress.

Neither she nor her mother had ever wanted the Dortmans’ fortune. Lucille was planning to leave now, but she did not want River to keep misunderstanding her mother, not when Victoria was staying put.

That was why she had decided to pay back everything she owed her stepfather.

She worked her butt off for a week and managed to scrape together three thousand dollars. Just when she was about to slow down her hustle, she suddenly received a huge order.

Someone wanted her to take some photos at a birthday party. They offered her two thousand dollars for it.

Of course, the high commission came with a price. Apparently, the photos had to impress the birthday girl, and they would only pay up once she was a hundred percent satisfied with them.

Lucille took the offer without hesitation. She needed to gather the money ASAP.

On the day of the birthday party, she arrived at the location with her camera only to see a bunch of familiar faces.

The one in the princess dress and crown was none other than Sophia. River stood next to her in a black suit, and Lucille’s heart jolted when she saw them together.

River frowned when he saw how exhausted she looked. “Why are you accepting jobs like this? Isn’t it your dream to become an award-winning photographer? Our parents give you an allowance, don’t they?”

“I’m an adult, and I like this kind of work. That’s why I accepted the job.”

River’s expression turned colder. He was about to tell her off when Sophia hastily interrupted. “Lucy, River’s just worried about you. Don’t pick a fight with your brother.”

Sophia even hugged her arm and pulled her into the party hall, saying she wanted to see what Lucille’s photography skills were like.

Despite her polite praises, she worked Lucille to the bone. Lucille could not stop for even a second all night, pressing the shutter until her finger went numb.

She took almost five thousand photos, but Sophia still was not satisfied. She insisted on Lucille taking a bird’s eye view shot even though the latter was exhausted.

Lucille carried her heavy equipment to the third floor, put up her tripod, and then aimed her camera at the center stage.

Looking through her camera, she watched River step onto the stage. He personally put the necklace that was allegedly a family heirloom around Sophia’s neck.

Sophia smirked in the direction of the third floor and then jumped into his arms. Lucille knew she was doing this to show off to her.

The entire night, Sophia had done everything to publicly display her affection with River. She brought her glass of champagne to his lips, dragged him to the dance floor amidst cheers from the crowd, and complained that her calves were sore so he would give her a massage…

Lucille had thousands of photos of them like this, close as lovers. She was already numb.

She quickly took a photo of them hugging. Before she could click the shutter again, Sophia stood on her tiptoes and kissed River.

Lucille’s hand paused. Her hollow eyes briefly cleared up, and she focused her lens.

In the HD footage, River froze up too. After three short seconds, however, he pulled Sophia into his arms.

He put his hand on the back of her head and pressed her close, deepening the kiss!