A surge of panic rose in her chest, and Alina quickly protested. "Stop. I'm not your bride."

With a cold sneer, Kellan responded, and his tone carried both disdain and menace, "The Hayes family has already taken plenty from us, and now you think you can walk away from this?"

Alina spoke again and rushed to explain. "You have the wrong person. I am not Jessica Hayes. My name is Alina Riley. We happened to get married on the same day, so our cars must have been switched, and I ended up here by mistake."

Even while she spoke, confusion flooded her thoughts as she tried to piece everything together.

She clearly remembered stepping into the car that Alan had arranged for her. None of it made sense, and the situation only grew more unsettling the more she thought about it.

Hearing her explanation, Kellan went still for a moment, and his eyes swept over her with a slow and calculating intensity. "The Hayes family will answer for this. As for you, whether you're truly Jessica or not makes no difference to me."

Without giving her time to react, Kellan leaned down once more, attempting to claim her lips again.

Alarmed by his sudden move, Alina raised her hand to stop him, and her palm pressed against his face. The instant she touched him, heat radiated from his skin, and she realized something was wrong. He was burning up, and it became clear to her that he had been drugged.

Keeping her voice firm despite the tension, Alina tried to reason with him. "Mr. Gilbert, I already have a fiancé, so I cannot let this mistake continue. However, I can help you deal with the effects of whatever you were given."

Fixing his gaze on her, Kellan searched her face as if weighing her words. Acting without hesitation, she reached for the silver needles she always carried and skillfully pressed them into the necessary points on his body.

In a matter of moments, the unbearable heat coursing through him began to ease.

As he turned his attention back to Alina, something unreadable surfaced in his expression.

Surprise flickered in his mind. She possessed such precise and uncommon skill?

Taking advantage of his distraction, Alina quickly rose to her feet and reached for the switch to turn on the lights.

Once the room was illuminated, her gaze landed on Kellan's face, and she froze in place.

Covering part of his features, a mask hid half of Kellan's face, while the visible side appeared marred by overlapping scars.

However, with her careful observation, Alina noticed something unusual, and it became clear that the scars were not real. Beneath that disguise, his true appearance must have been remarkably handsome.

Since there were no genuine injuries, she couldn't understand why he chose to conceal himself in such a way.

Trying to steady herself, Alina spoke again with urgency. "Mr. Gilbert, as I explained earlier, there must have been a mix-up with the cars. My fiancé is still waiting for me, so I need to leave right now."

A trace of mockery crept into Kellan's gaze as he responded, "So you expect me to believe that on your wedding day, with so many people around, both you and Jessica somehow got into the wrong cars, and yet no one has tried to reach you this entire time?"

Even though she recognized the mockery in his tone, Alina could not deny how strange everything had become.

By now, the wedding ceremony should already be underway, and her absence should have caused concern.

Under normal circumstances, Alan would have come looking for her the moment she failed to show up.

Instead, her phone remained silent, and not a single message or call came through.

A quiet pain settled in her chest, and it lingered there heavily.

With a cold expression, Kellan spoke again. "If you refuse to believe it, then go and see the truth for yourself."

Taking his words as permission, Alina hurried out of the room and moved quickly through the lavish hallway toward the exit. Waiting outside was a Rolls-Royce, and she stepped inside without pausing.

Without giving any instructions, she stayed silent, while the driver seemed to already know where to take her. Soon after, the car brought her straight to the hotel where the ceremony was being held.

When the elevator doors opened, Alina caught sight of Alan in his formal suit as he slipped into the bridal suite.

Without hesitation, Alina followed after him and quickened her pace.

As she reached the door, sounds from inside made her stop in her tracks.

"Alan, we can finally be together now, even if we had to give up the ceremony."

"It's fine, Jessica. I'll find a way to make things right for you."

Moans escaped from Jessica. In a teasing tone, she spoke again. "Alan, have you really given up on Alina?"

"Alina? She's dull and lifeless. She could never stand beside you. If today was not part of the plan, I would have ended things with her long ago." Alan's voice grew rough, driven by desire.

Through the narrow gap of the door, Alina caught sight of them locked in an intimate embrace on the sofa. Doubt crashed over her as she struggled to believe the man before her was the same gentle, refined, and upright Alan she was supposed to marry.

Shock hit her hard, and she stumbled backward as if her strength had been stripped away.

After a moment, Jessica spoke again. "I heard Alina contributed a lot to your company. Are you certain you can just walk away from her like that?"

"She's only clinging to me because she craves affection. Give her a little attention, and she will gladly give everything in return. As for the work she handled, it meant nothing. Those were minor tasks at best. Someone like her is only suited to stay at home. You are nothing like that, Jessica. You are intelligent, you are stunning, and you have a career at Oqruron Research Institute. She cannot even be compared to you!" While he was speaking, Alan's hands moved over Jessica, and the atmosphere in the room turned increasingly inappropriate.

Forcing her emotions down, Alina pulled out her phone and captured everything she saw.

Once she returned to the Rolls-Royce, Alina leaned back and slowly shut her eyes.

Deep inside, she made a quiet vow never to allow Alan to hurt her like this again.

When her eyes opened once more, the sadness was gone, and resolve had taken its place.

Thinking it through, she realized Jessica had gone to such lengths to win Alan over only because she believed Kellan was scarred and powerless. If the truth ever came to light, Jessica would carry that regret for the rest of her life.

After all, Jessica had always taken pride in herself and looked down on others with arrogance.

Without wasting another moment, Alina headed back to the Gilbert family's residence and went straight to Kellan's room.

Inside, she found him seated at a table with a glass in hand. Although the scars on his face appeared unsettling, the way he carried himself remained refined and composed, and an air of quiet nobility surrounded him.

A faint trace of amusement flickered in Kellan's eyes. "So, you came back after all?"

Alina stepped closer, bent toward him, and placed a brief kiss on his lips.

Since he was caught off guard, Kellan's body went still for a moment, and the light scent of cherry blossoms from her lingered in the air. That fleeting contact made him aware of how gentle her lips felt, and the sensation stayed with him longer than expected.

Before Kellan could respond, Alina had already pulled away and put distance between them again.

At such close range, she became even more convinced that the scars on Kellan's face were not real.

With a low and captivating tone, Kellan spoke again. "What's the meaning of this?" Did stepping out make you change your mind, and are you now willing to share a bed with me?"

Kellan fixed Alina with a look full of open contempt.

Alina said, "Mr. Gilbert, I'm fully aware that this marriage isn't something you wanted. Even so, you still agreed to it, which tells me you have your own reasons. So, why don't we work together?"

Instead of dismissing her at once, Kellan studied the composed expression on her face. Interest quietly surfaced in him because no woman had ever approached him with that kind of nerve and proposed an alliance so directly.

His expression turned cold as Kellan asked, "What exactly makes you believe you have anything worth offering me?"

"You have two older brothers, and you've been pretending that your injuries from the accident are worse than they are, even inside your own home. That tells me the danger isn't outside your family but within it. If that is the case, then I can stay in that house, watch what happens, and report anything suspicious to you," Alina said evenly.

Something shifted in Kellan's expression as he listened. His stare became far sharper than before. The woman in front of him was becoming far more interesting. She had uncovered his deception almost immediately.

With his eyes pinned on Alina, he asked, "So who are you really?"

A small smile appeared on Alina's face as she replied, "No mystery there. I'm Alina Riley. My mother serves the Hayes household."

Not once did she look away from Kellan, and fear never showed on her face.

By now, she was certain he had already investigated everything he could about her past. Even if suspicion lingered in his mind, she remained unbothered because the truth about who she really was could never be uncovered by someone with ordinary reach.

After a brief silence, Kellan finally spoke, his voice carrying a sharp chill. "Then tell me, what do you want in return?"

Without hesitation, Alina replied, "What I am asking for is straightforward. This marriage only needs to exist on paper. Nothing more."

Bitterness quietly rose in her chest.

At that moment, the reason behind Kristy's strange lack of anger or disappointment over Jessica being chosen to marry Kellan became painfully obvious.

Kristy had known about the switch from the very start and had kept silent because it served her interests.

Had she refused this marriage, Kristy would have found another opportunity to trade her off to someone else if it meant personal gain. Compared to that fate, remaining in this arrangement with Kellan felt like the better option because Kristy would lose her ability to control her.

More than once, she had questioned whether Kristy was truly the woman who gave birth to her.

Instead of answering immediately, Kellan made an unexpected move and yanked her into his embrace. A startled cry escaped her before she could stop it.

Without giving her room to react, he pressed his face against the curve of her neck.

The moment Alina tried to speak, Kellan silenced her. "I thought you said you wanted to be useful to me. Then make it sound convincing. Moan."

A faint rustle came from the doorway, and Alina immediately realized someone was listening outside. She had no doubt it was one of the Gilbert family.

Heat rushed to Alina's face at once. "I wouldn't even know what to do," she replied in a barely audible voice.

Kellan narrowed his eyes at her. "You expect me to believe that? You've been with Alan for years, and nothing ever happened between you?" Suspicion was clear in his voice.

Embarrassment burned even hotter across Alina's face.

Without warning, Kellan lowered his head and pressed a kiss against her neck. A tremor passed through her body, and a soft sound slipped from her lips before she could stop it.

Several minutes passed, and Alina's entire face and body felt overheated, while whoever had been lurking outside had apparently given up and left.

"You can have the bed tonight. I'll take the sofa," Kellan said evenly.

After taking a moment to settle herself, Alina cleaned up and slipped beneath the covers of the oversized bed. She had been certain Kellan's presence on the sofa would keep her awake for hours, yet exhaustion took over faster than expected, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Morning arrived, and when Alina opened her eyes, Kellan was nowhere to be seen.

Making her way downstairs, Alina found several people gathered in the lavish living room. The first to notice her was an elderly woman, who immediately smiled and called out, "Jessica, come here, dear!"

Before Alina could respond, a younger woman let out a mocking laugh and said, "Grandma, you've mistaken her for someone else. That isn't Jessica. That's Alina, a servant's daughter."

Pamela Gilbert, Kellan's mother, gave Alina a long, careful look. "How could that be?" she asked in clear disbelief. "She's the very image of Lynda!"

Alina blinked in surprise.

Since childhood, people had often said she bore a resemblance to Jessica's mother, and she had believed it herself.

Only later did she discover that Kristy was related to Lynda Hayes, which made the resemblance far less surprising.

With a sneer, Kenzie Gilbert spoke again, her voice dripping with contempt. "Compare her to Lynda? Don't make me laugh."

Turning her attention to Alina, she spoke in a mocking tone. "Alina, you shameless woman. Stealing Jessica's belongings wasn't enough for you? Now you're going after her marriage, too. You're disgusting."

Before anyone could react, a sharp slap echoed through the room.

Kenzie sat there, stunned, taking a few seconds to process what had just happened. When it sank in, she glared at Alina in disbelief. "Alina, you worthless thing, how dare you hit me?"

As one of Jessica's close friends, Kenzie frequently visited the Hayes family's residence.

Because Jessica often spoke poorly of Alina, Kenzie had long held a deep dislike for her.

Now that she had been struck by someone she looked down on, anger surged through her. She raised her hand, ready to retaliate.

Alina's voice cut through sharply. "Kenzie, I'm your uncle's wife now."

Kenzie froze mid-motion. That was undeniable. Kellan was her uncle.

Watching her daughter falter, Kenzie's mother looked at Alina with open disdain and spoke coldly. "Alina, you're nothing more than a servant's daughter. Even if you forced your way into marrying Kellan, he'll never truly accept you."

As she snapped out of it, Kenzie's temper flared again. "Exactly! Don't think your status can suppress me, you shameless woman. I'll make you pay!"

With that, she lifted her hand once more.

Before it could land, her wrist was seized firmly.

Looking up, Kenzie met a pair of icy eyes and immediately stiffened. Her voice softened. "Uncle Kellan."

A thought struck her, and excitement returned. "Uncle Kellan, you came at the right time! This woman is nothing but a servant's daughter from the Hayes family. She even dares to dream of marrying you. She's completely shameless. You can't let her stay!"

After saying that, Kenzie shot Alina a smug look. In her mind, Kellan's cold nature meant Alina was finished.

Kellan looked at Alina's calm face, then abruptly flung Kenzie's hand aside.

His voice turned low as he addressed Alina. "You've got quite the courage to strike a Gilbert."

Alina met his gaze with a smile. "Wasn't it you who gave me that confidence, Mr. Gilbert?"

A laugh left Kellan.

Rubbing her aching wrist, Kenzie stared at Alina with resentment, waiting for her downfall.

Instead, Kellan placed a hand on Alina's shoulder, a faint smile playing on his lips. "You're right. As my wife, you have every right to discipline my niece."

The smiles on Kenzie's and her mother's faces stiffened instantly. Was Kellan really planning to marry Alina, a mere servant's daughter? Had he lost his mind?

Pamela, however, reacted without hesitation. Turning to Alina with a warm smile, she spoke. "You're Alina, right? My dear, from today on, you're part of this family. Here, take this as a welcome gift."

As she spoke, Pamela removed the diamond bracelet from her wrist, a treasured family heirloom she had worn for years, and gently slipped it onto Alina's hand.

Across the room, Kenzie's mother clenched her fist so tightly her nails dug into her skin.

She had been married into the Gilbert family for years and had always held her position as the lady of the house, yet Pamela had never offered her that bracelet. Now, the moment Alina appeared, it was handed over without hesitation. The favoritism couldn't have been more obvious.

Alina was caught off guard and instinctively wanted to decline. After all, her marriage with Kellan was nothing more than an arrangement. The diamonds glittered under the light, clearly worth a fortune, far beyond something she felt comfortable accepting.

Before she could speak, Kellan's calm voice cut in, "Since my mother gave it to you, accept it."

Alina realized she had no reason left to say no, so she took it. "Thank you, Pamela."

Pamela's smile deepened as she looked at Alina, growing more pleased with each passing second.

Kenzie felt as if anger might burst out of her at any second.

A servant's daughter had actually married her uncle, and to her, that was the worst disgrace imaginable. She could already picture her friends laughing behind her back.

Taking Alina's hand, Pamela began introducing her to the rest of the Gilbert family.

Although their expressions hinted at disdain for Alina's background, they still offered her gifts out of courtesy.

Kenzie's mother hid a calculating gleam behind her smile as she spoke. "Since it's the first day Alina joins our family, the kitchen has prepared a grand meal. Shall we head in and enjoy it?"

At those words, Kenzie's eyes brightened once more. The dinner tonight featured exquisite dishes that demanded perfect etiquette, making it the ideal chance to test someone's refinement. A servant's daughter like Alina would surely embarrass herself. Once that happened, would Kellan and Pamela still favor her?

With that thought in mind, Kenzie walked toward the dining room, unable to hide her excitement.

The table was already filled with luxurious dishes, and Kenzie wasted no time picking up a lobster, placing it onto Alina's plate.

At that moment, every gaze in the room turned toward her.