I've accidentally worn a dress belonging to my deceased older sister, Gwendolyn Stokes, to a family banquet.

Because of that, my husband, Thomas Torres, goes quiet with fury. He then sentences me to a punishment of kneeling in the snow for three long hours.

The blizzard chills me to the bone. My son, Robin Torres, makes fun of me while hurling snowballs at me.

"No matter how much you dress up, you'll always be a phony! Don't think you can go around replacing my mommy just because you've changed into her dress!"

As I stare at Robin's face, which bears some resemblance with mine, I feel my heart breaking.

He has no idea that I'm his actual mother.

On the year Gwendolyn passed away, Thomas, who drank himself into a stupor, mistook me for her. That night, he kept moaning Gwendolyn's name and whispering sweet nothings to me. That was how I got pregnant with Robin.

Thomas has forbidden me from telling anyone the truth. On the other hand, I can't bear to leave my own child alone. So, I beg Thomas repeatedly to let me stay in the Torres residence.

During my stay here, Thomas gives me the cold shoulder all the time. Only when he needs to vent his desire does he seek me out.

What I didn't expect is that Robin hates my guts as well. Not only does he keep pulling pranks on me from time to time, but he also curses at me.

"Shameless women like you have no right to stay in my home! Once I grow up, I'll definitely kick you out!"

Now, I can finally respond to him.

"Oh, I don't have to wait for you to grow up at all."

Tomorrow, I'll pack my things and leave. I no longer want to remain as someone else's replacement and continue living a life of humiliation.

This time, I'm going to pursue a life of my own.

Winnie's Point-of-View

During a family banquet, my dress was slashed by my husband's mistress, Erica Glover.

She acted surprised, and though she apologized, the mockery in her eyes was unmistakable. "I'm so sorry, Winnie. It was an accident. Maybe you should change into something else."

Biting my lip, I rushed back to my room and threw on the first dress on the top shelf of the wardrobe.

It never crossed my mind that the dress belonged to my deceased sister, Gwendolyn Stokes, since I had never seen it.

My husband, the usually composed, stone-faced CEO of Torres Group, Thomas Torres, completely lost it the moment he saw that dress.

I was forced to change out of Gwendolyn's dress before being made to kneel in the snow for three hours straight, in nothing but my torn, ruined dress.

The heavy snow was bone-chilling, making it hard to even breathe.

After what felt like an eternity, a child's soft voice reached my ears. "Who said you could wear my mom's dress? You deserve to freeze to death!"

I opened my eyes with effort and saw my son, Robin Torres, right in front of me.

Suddenly, a huge snowball slammed into my body. The sharp pain knocked me off balance, and I collapsed straight into the snow.

"No matter what you wear, a fake will always be a fake! Don't think you can replace my mom just because of what you're wearing!" Robin shouted while pelting me with more snowballs.

Looking at the face that was so similar to mine made my heart ache as if it were being stabbed.

Robin didn't know that I was his real, biological mother. He had always believed that his birth mother was Gwendolyn.

In his eyes, I was just a vicious woman trying to take his real mother's place.

"A shameless woman like you doesn't deserve to stay in our family!" he yelled. "When I grow up, I'll kick you out!"

A burning pain rose in my throat. I struggled to pull myself up, brushing the snow off my body.

Five years ago, I had been on my knees outside this villa for three whole days, begging Thomas to let me in just so I could stay by Robin's side and see him a little more.

But as I stared at the look of disgust on Robin's face right then, everything I had endured felt utterly meaningless.

"You don't need to wait until you grow up."

I gave a faint smile, deciding to pack up my things and leave on my own tomorrow. I was done being a substitute, done living a lowly, humiliating life.

This time, I was going to live a life that was mine alone.

After kneeling in the snow for so long, I blacked out after only taking a few steps.

When I came to, the white ceiling and Thomas' face came into view.

He'd returned to his usual, stern composure. With a cold expression, he set a steaming bowl of tomato soup on the bedside table. "Have you learned your lesson?"

I stayed silent and kept my head down, refusing to meet his eyes.

My knees still ached, and after three whole hours of being out in the cold, my throat hurt so badly I could hardly speak.

Thomas remained unbothered as he stirred the hot soup idly.

"In the Torres household, mistakes come with consequences. That's the rules, and there are no exceptions."

Rules. That was the word he said most to me ever since I arrived at this place.

Thomas had always been a stickler for rules. Whether at the company or at home, everything had to be perfect. And the thing he feared and hated most was accidents.

Gwendolyn's death had been exactly that. After the car accident, Thomas fell into depression for a long time. Even now, he still hadn't completely moved past it. And to him, what happened between us was an accident as well.

He had refused to acknowledge our relationship publicly after what happened that night. It was only after I begged him that he let me stay in the villa as his wife.

But that title existed in name only. We never registered our marriage, let alone had a wedding. I was more of a helper around the house than a spouse.

At home, he was always cold and distant toward me.

Only in the dead of night, when he needed to satisfy his desires, would he come into my room and hold me forcibly.

Though he would kiss me over and over again and whisper how much he loved me repeatedly, I knew the person he loved was never me.

He was merely seeing my sister in me, the woman I resembled.

When he noticed my silence, his breathing grew heavier. His Adam's apple bobbed as he reluctantly spoke.

"I made this soup myself. Consider it an apology. I was a bit impulsive earlier today."

After a pause, he added, "You know I never go into the kitchen."

Staring at the soup on the bedside table, I suddenly felt like laughing.

Was this his idea of an apology?

He didn't even say sorry. All he did was make a bowl of soup, and yet he was acting like he had done me the greatest favor.

Just as I was about to make a sarcastic remark, a gentle voice came from outside. "Honey, could you come here for a sec?"

When Thomas heard that, he stood up immediately and walked out. As he was leaving, he added, "Make sure you drink it while it's hot. It won't taste as good once it's cold."

The door clicked shut, and I was left by myself.

Picking up the bowl of tomato soup, I gently stirred it with the spoon, only to notice large and tiny chunks of onion floating inside.

Some pieces were cut all jagged, and some still had bits of skin left on. It was obvious the person who made this soup had never handled food ingredients before.

Yet, even after five years of living together, Thomas still couldn't remember that I hated onions.

When I stepped out of my room, I just happened to witness Erica stumbling into Thomas' arms, wearing nothing but a bathrobe.

It only took one look for me to realize that the bathrobe she was wearing had belonged to Gwendolyn. My heart lurched almost instinctively.

But for some reason, Thomas didn't get mad or fly into a rage. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her.

It was just yesterday that I was made to kneel in the snow for a full three hours, all because I'd accidentally worn Gwendolyn's dress.

But now, not only did he not mind Erica wearing Gwendolyn's bathrobe, he even kissed her.

I couldn't help but find all those rules he kept going on about completely absurd all of a sudden.

After Gwendolyn died, Thomas had cycled through one substitute after another. All the women resembled her.

The latest one was Erica, and she was the most similar to Gwendolyn so far. She even resembled Gwendolyn more than I did, especially in personality.

Because of that, Thomas practically spoiled her rotten. He indulged her every request and never once said no.

Now she was Robin's tutor, which naturally meant she stayed in the villa.

But it was also after she came to the villa that Robin and I started drifting apart, and he even seemed to hate me more with each passing day.

He grew more attached to Erica, insisting that only she read him bedtime stories. By this point, both Thomas and Robin were completely taken with her.

No longer wanting to look at them, I turned and went back to my room to pack my things.

In the five years I'd lived here, Thomas had rarely given me gifts, and we practically shared no fond memories.

The only thing that stood out was the necklace he gave me on my birthday last year.

When he gave it to me, he explained that he had only bought it for Robin, but because it was sold as a family set and he didn't know what to do with the extra one, it went to me.

The other necklaces were worn by him and Robin.

The set was designed to symbolize protection and was said to bring peace and ensure safety. He told me he got it in the hope that Robin would grow up happy and healthy, free from illness or harm, under its protection.

However, I secretly looked it up afterward. It turned out that the necklaces didn't have to be bought as a family set at all. Each piece could be bought separately.

I never understood why he would lie about something like that.

Whenever I saw them wearing the necklaces, I would fall into a daze, foolishly believing that I was part of the family as well.

Looking back now, I realized that it was simply an illusion I had fooled myself into believing.

I took off the necklace and left it on the bedside table.

I hoped Thomas could find a wife who was right for him, and I hoped Robin would be blessed with a mother who genuinely cared for him. After all, I had only ever been an outsider they despised.

As I slipped out the back door with my suitcase, I found myself at a loss. I had no idea where I could go.

From the day I entered the Torres residence, I had completely cut off contact with my family. At that moment, I felt like a lone boat lost in a blizzard, with no harbor in sight.

Just then, footsteps came from the backyard. It was Erica. Seeing the suitcase in my hand, she immediately walked over. "Where are you off to, Winnie?"

"That's none of your business."

I didn't want to get tangled up with her, so I picked up my suitcase to leave, only for her to grab my arm.

"I didn't expect you to be this sensible. It would've been better if you had left sooner and saved yourself all that suffering, though. But… since you're leaving anyway, why don't you do me one last favor?"

I hadn't even processed her words when she let out a scream and plunged into the man-made lake in the backyard.