At midnight, Marvin Cooper throws a confession form at my face. The sharp edge of the paper cuts the corner of my eye, and bright red blood begins to seep out.

He barks, "Alyssa hit someone with her car. You have a similar build to her. Go to the police station and take the blame."

His tone leaves no room for argument, as if he is casually asking me to make him a late-night snack.

His first love, Alyssa Evans, hides behind him and tugs pitifully at his sleeve. "But Marvin, if Ms. Huston goes to jail, who's going to make the nourishing soup for you?"

Marvin lets out a disdainful snort and looks at me with contempt. "She's just a piece of trash from an orphanage. She should be honored to take the blame for you. Without me, she wouldn't even be able to feed herself. Other than obeying me, what choice does she have?"

I wipe the blood from the corner of my eye and look at the man for whom I have spent three years as an unpaid housekeeper and a living blood bank.

To treat his stomach condition, I burn my hands countless times cooking for him. I become so anemic that I easily collapse because I've been donating my blood to Alyssa.

Marvin is certain that I love him with all my heart, and that I can only cling to him for the rest of my life.

I don't cry.

I simply take off the cheap apron I'm wearing and say, "You don't need to throw me out. I'll leave on my own."

Taking out my phone, I dial a number I have blocked for three years. "I've had my fun. Send a helicopter to pick me up tomorrow. It's time for me to go home and take over the family business."

"Who on earth are you calling?" Marvin Cooper snapped. "A helicopter? Seriously, Hannah Huston. Have you been reading too many trashy romance novels that they've fried your brain?"

Marvin stared at me coldly, his lips curling into a deeply mocking sneer. As he flicked his custom lighter open and shut, the sharp metallic click sounded harsh in the spacious living room.

Alyssa hid behind him and covered her mouth in a sweet, delicate giggle. "Don't talk about Hannah like that, Marvin. She's probably just scared. Taking the fall means spending years in prison, after all.

"She grew up in an orphanage and hasn't seen much of the world, so, understandably, she's fantasizing about a romance story with some billionaire CEO."

Though her voice was soft and gentle, her words were as poisonous and sharp as venom-coated needles.

Clutching the phone, now with a completely black screen, I shot a cold stare at the despicable pair standing before me.

"I'm not joking, Marvin. I'm not signing that confession, and I'm not taking the fall for a crime."

Marvin shot to his feet and came to me in a few big strides. He towered over me, staring down with eyes full of contempt and a sense of superiority.

"Enough with the pathetic act, Hannah. Do you honestly think pretending to be stubborn is going to make me go soft on you?

"I'm telling you, Alyssa's hands are meant for playing the piano and can't be stained by the slightest imperfection. Who do you think you are, compared to her?

"You literally owe your life to me! If I hadn't been giving you your monthly allowances, you would've starved to death on the streets years ago!"

He reached out to jab me violently in my shoulder. "Now is the time to pay your debt. Go to the police station and take the blame. I'll obviously get you out once the storm blows over."

I stumbled a step back from his harsh jabs, feeling a wave of nausea roll through my stomach.

For three years, I had burned my hands cooking and cleaning for him. For Alyssa, I had donated my blood over and over again, until I became severely anemic and fainted from exhaustion, all because of a single sentence he had told me, "Alyssa has a rare blood type, and yours is a match. Save her."

I had foolishly believed I could melt his frozen heart, only to realize I had been caring for a venomous snake instead.

"Are you delusional, Marvin? I met his gaze without the slightest fear and continued, "I already said I'm not signing it. Alyssa ran into someone with her car, so she's the one who should go to prison for it."

When Alyssa heard that, her eyes immediately turned red, and tears started rolling down her cheeks like pearls from a broken string.

"Look at her, Marvin… How could she curse me like that? I'm scared. Who's going to stay with you if I actually end up behind bars?"

She clung to Marvin's sleeve tightly and buried her face in his chest, while he wrapped his arms around her in distress.

When he turned to look at me, the look in his eyes instantly turned dark and menacing.

"Hannah, you really don't know what's good for you, do you?" Marvin sneered. "Do you honestly think you can survive out there after walking out that door?"

He let out a cold laugh, pulled his phone from his pocket, and dialed his assistant's number.

"Cancel all of Hannah's supplementary cards. And spread the word—anyone who dares give her a job is making an enemy out of me, Marvin Cooper!"

After hanging up, he looked at me like I was nothing more than trash.

"I'd like to see how long you can keep up this tough act. Without me, you're nothing but a loser who'll be digging through trash for scraps of food to survive."

I calmly watched him throw his tantrum.

"Go ahead and cancel whatever cards you want. It's not like I've ever spent much of your money anyway," I shot back.

Just as I turned toward the door and reached for the doorknob, Marvin roared, "Stop right there!

"My money paid for every piece of clothing you're wearing and that bag in your hand! If you're walking out, you're leaving with nothing."

I stopped in my tracks and looked down at my old trench coat. I had bought it from a street stall three years ago, yet he had the nerve to claim he paid for it.

Instead of wasting my breath arguing, I took off the coat and hurled it in his arrogant face.

"Anything that belongs to you disgusts me, Marvin."

Wearing nothing but a thin base layer, I stepped out into the pouring rain without looking back. The freezing downpour instantly soaked through my clothes, but my mind felt clearer than it had in years.

I walked out beyond the villa complex and sought shelter inside a phone booth.

Just then, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Marvin.

"I'm giving you three days, Hannah. In three days, you'll come crawling back to me like a dog, begging me to let you take the blame."

…

The rain poured in heavy sheets as I trudged through the downpour, step by unsteady step, back to the slums on the outskirts of Ashwood.

I'd rented a rundown apartment there three years ago. It was shabby, but at least it provided a roof over my head.

When I pushed open the rattling wooden door, I was immediately hit by a musty smell.

Without turning on the lights, I felt my way to the bed in the dark and collapsed onto it in exhaustion.

Memories from the last three years kept flashing through my mind—Marvin's face twisted in pain whenever his stomach ulcers flared up, Alyssa's whiny, entitled demands, and the countless times I had rolled up my sleeves to donate blood.

It was utterly laughable.

I, Hannah Huston, was the biological younger sister of the wealthiest man in Ashwood, Nathaniel Huston. Yet I had lowered myself and dragged my dignity through the mud for a man who didn't love me at all.

The next morning, I was jolted awake by violent pounding on the door.

"Open up, Hannah! Bitch! Get your pathetic ass out of here right now!"

Frowning, I got up to open the door and found Alyssa standing outside, dressed from head to toe in a custom Chanel suit and a pair of four-inch heels.

She covered her nose in disgust when she saw me, and two burly bodyguards in black suits stood behind her.

"Wow, you really are hiding in this dump," she remarked, eyeing me up and down with a disdainful and smug gaze. "Marvin was right. A low-class peasant like you belongs in a filthy gutter like this."

I shot her a cold look and demanded, "What are you doing here? You're not welcome. Get out."

She burst into laughter as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Get out? Do you even understand what situation you're in right now, Hannah?"

She reached into her limited-edition designer bag to pull out the crumpled confession forms and flung them in my face.

"Marvin sent me here with a final warning. Sign the papers right now and turn yourself in to the police, otherwise…"

"Otherwise what?" I countered, refusing to back down the slightest.

A vicious look flashed in Alyssa's eyes as she signaled to the bodyguards behind her. "Trash the place! Smash this dump into pieces! Let's see how long she can keep up this tough act then!"

The two bodyguards immediately charged into the room and started wrecking everything like mad. Tables were flipped, chairs were kicked until they splintered, while pots and pans shattered across the floor.

I lunged forward to stop them, but Alyssa grabbed a fistful of my hair.

"Ah!" I screamed in pain.

"Go ahead and scream! Keep screaming!" Alyssa shrieked. Her facial features were hideously twisted as she yanked my hair back and forced my head up to look at her.

"Who the hell do you think you are? What makes you think you can fight me for Marvin?" Alyssa snarled. "I'm telling you—Marvin has only ever loved me. You're nothing but a dog he keeps around, a walking blood bank he can discard whenever he wants!"

She slapped me hard across the face, and a burning pain exploded across my cheeks. I bit on my lip so hard I could even taste blood.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Alyssa," I said. "You caused that car crash, and though Marvin might have destroyed the security footage, no one can escape justice forever. You'll never get away with it."

Alyssa burst into hysterical laughter like I had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. "Justice? In Ashwood, Marvin is justice! He's erased every single piece of evidence, so right now, all the clues point to you."

She leaned close to my ear, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. "You only have two options right now, Hannah. Either you obediently take the blame, and Marvin might actually let you live, or I'll have that orphanage director, the only family you've ever had, locked away in a psychiatric hospital!"

My pupils shrank. "Don't you dare!"

"Try me!" Alyssa snapped.

She shoved me away with a violent burst of strength, and I crashed heavily onto the floor covered in broken glass. Shards sliced into my palm, and fresh blood immediately poured from the wound.

She stood over me, looking down at me as if I were a pathetic lowlife.

"I'm giving you half a day to think about it, Hannah. If I don't see your face at the police station by midnight tonight, get ready to collect that old hag's body!"

With that, she strutted away in her heels, followed by her bodyguards.

Sitting amid the wreckage, I looked at the mess around me and clenched my fists tightly.

Suddenly, the phone rang. It was from an unknown number, and when I picked up, I realized it was from Marvin.

"So, how do you like Alyssa's little gift? If you've come to your senses, hurry up and turn yourself in!"

After hanging up, I fought through the pain in my hand and dug a first-aid kit out of the wreckage to give my wounds a simple bandage.

Alyssa's threat hung over my head like a knife.

I was greatly indebted to the orphanage director, Charlotte Gallagher. There was no way I would allow her to get hurt. I had to confront Marvin face-to-face to keep him under control and buy Nathaniel enough time to act.

I hailed a cab to Nightshade, the elite private club Marvin frequented.

The second I reached the door of his private room, I could hear a wave of raucous laughter coming from the inside.

"Hey Marvin, hasn't Hannah cracked yet? She's got quite a backbone, doesn't she?"

"Backbone? She likely just wants more money. Now that Marvin cut off her cards, she's probably crying under some bridge right now."

I threw the door open to see a room heavy with a thick cloud and cigar smoke. Marvin sat in the center of the main couch like a king holding court, while Alyssa delicately nestled in his arms.

The room instantly fell silent when everyone saw me.

Marvin raised an eyebrow as a cruel, malicious smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Well, well, if it isn't Tough-Bone Ms. Huston. What happened? Couldn't you even last that long before coming to beg for my help?"

Ignoring the mocking, amused stares from the crowd, I walked up to Marvin and demanded, "Leave Charlotte out of this, Marvin. Let's talk about the crash."

He let out a cold, dismissive scoff before pushing Alyssa aside and getting up. After walking up to me, he grabbed my chin and forced me to lift my head.

"Talk to me? What leverage do you think you have to negotiate with me right now? Get this through your head, Hannah. You're the one begging me, not the other way around."

He swung his hand away and pointed at the rows of liquor bottles lined up across the table. "If you want me to spare that old hag, sure. Get down on your knees, bow to Alyssa three times, and down every single one of these bottles. Then maybe I'll think about it."

The private lounge erupted into uproarious laughter.

"That's a brilliant move, Marvin!"

"Exactly! She's just a free nanny, yet she thought she was somebody important."

Alyssa covered her mouth and giggled, her eyes shining with evil satisfaction.

"Don't be so mean, Marvin," she said. "Ms. Huston can't handle her liquor. What if she drinks herself to death right here?"