All Audrey felt was irony.

So the sudden change in his attitude toward her had only been so he could marry Lillian without trouble.

"Marry whoever you want. It has nothing to do with me," Audrey said flatly, without the slightest ripple in her heart.

Julian grew anxious. "How can you say that? You're my fiancée. I'm about to marry someone else, and you don't care at all?"

Audrey let out a cold laugh. "Then what exactly do you want from me? Wasn't it you who said I shouldn't make things hard for Lillian anymore? Now I'm doing exactly what you asked, I'm agreeing to your marriage, and suddenly you're not satisfied?"

Julian was left speechless.

He did want Audrey to stop causing trouble, but hearing her say it so plainly still left him uneasy.

So he convinced himself she was just being stubborn.

"Audrey, don't worry. This wedding is just for show. We've been engaged since childhood. You're still the only fiancée I have."

Audrey only gave a faint, empty smile, her gaze drifting to the falling leaves outside the window.

There was no need. She would be gone soon anyway.

Who Julian married, whether it was real or fake, no longer had anything to do with her.

In the days that followed, preparations for Julian and Lillian's wedding began in full swing.

The house was adorned with twinkling fairy lights and delicate white floral arrangements.

Beatrice took Lillian out every day to shop for wedding items, trying on countless dresses.

Edward handled the banquet arrangements, calling venues and inviting friends and relatives to attend.

Julian even put aside all his work to focus entirely on the wedding preparations.

If this was what they called fake, then what could possibly be real?

Audrey watched it all without a word, quietly waiting for the day she would leave.

That was until one day, her parents knocked on her door.

"Audrey, Lillian is getting married soon. She's all alone with no one to rely on... We were thinking... maybe she could move back here for a while, so that we could spend some time with her."

Beatrice spoke cautiously, afraid Audrey might refuse.

But Audrey didn't even blink. "Whatever you decide," she said calmly.

Seeing that Audrey didn't seem upset, Beatrice grew bolder. "A wedding is a big deal. She needs proper rest..."

She hesitated before adding cautiously, "Your room is the largest and most comfortable. Could she stay there for now, and you move to the guest room for a couple of days?"

Audrey let out a soft laugh.

This was the room she had grown up in. Even during the ten years she had been missing, her parents had kept it exactly the same.

So when she had returned, seeing it untouched had moved her to tears.

Every drawing, every trophy inside carried pieces of her past.

And now, they wanted Lillian to move into it.

Audrey took a deep breath. After a long pause, she said quietly, "Fine. I'll move."

Noticing something off in her expression, Beatrice hurried to reassure her. "Lillian is only staying temporarily. Once the wedding is over, I promise the room will be yours again."

Audrey said nothing more.

There was no need.

Anything that was once hers, she no longer wanted.

That very afternoon, Lillian arrived with bags and suitcases in tow.

Seeing Audrey still packing, Lillian said deliberately, "Audrey, let me help you..."

As she spoke, she reached out as if to take Audrey's things.

Audrey shoved her away instinctively. "Don't touch me!"

Audrey hadn't used any force at all, yet Lillian stumbled as if she'd been violently pushed and slammed into the bookshelf.

A deafening crash rang out as the cabinet toppled to the floor.

The handmade sculptures Audrey had created as a child, the trophies she had won from countless competitions... all of them shattered into pieces.

The moment Julian and Beatrice heard the noise, they rushed over.

"Lillian! Are you hurt?"

Lillian looked utterly aggrieved. "I was only trying to help Audrey... It's all my fault for being so clumsy..."

"What does this have to do with you?" Julian lifted his eyes coldly and looked at Audrey. "If anyone's to blame, it's her. She's the one who pushed you."

Audrey's fingertips turned cold. "I barely touched her!"

"You're still trying to argue?" Julian's gaze darkened. "I thought you'd finally learned to control your temper. I didn't expect you to still be this impossible!"

Beatrice chimed in from the side, "I actually thought you were being considerate for once, agreeing to let Lillian move in. So this was what you were planning all along?"

As she spoke, she glanced at the mess all over the floor without even blinking. "Since you seem so eager to clean up, then clean to your heart's content. Someone come here. Watch Audrey clean this room up herself. No one is to help her!"

Two maids stepped forward at once and stopped in front of Audrey. "Miss Winslow, go ahead."

Audrey stared at the shards scattered across the floor, her fists clenched tight. In the end, she slowly crouched down and began picking them up piece by piece, dropping them into the trash.

The sharp glass sliced into her fingers. Blood dripped from her fingertips until both hands were covered in it.

She suddenly remembered the first time she had brought home a trophy. It had only been for a sculpture competition, yet her parents had been happier than anyone.

They had personally hosted a banquet, proudly telling everyone how talented their daughter was, and had even invited a renowned sculptor to attend and congratulate her.

Julian had even persuaded his parents to help arrange a small sculpture exhibition for Audrey, showing her off everywhere and boasting about how remarkable she was.

But now, the sculptures and trophies had all been reduced to fragments.

And they didn't spare them even a glance.

Outside the door, Julian was tending to Lillian's injury.

A shard of glass had nicked her calf. It hadn't even drawn blood, yet Julian was still anxiously disinfecting it and wrapping it in bandages.

His voice was gentle. "The wedding's only a couple of days away. We can't have even the smallest scar left behind."

Beatrice smiled and stroked Lillian's hair. "That's right, Lillian. A bride has to look absolutely beautiful."

Audrey tugged at the corner of her mouth in a faint smile, but her hands never stopped moving.

Maybe it was better this way. Let the past break apart and scatter with the wind.

By the time Audrey finally finished cleaning the room and came out, the living room was already full of wedding planners and staff.

Lillian stood in the center wearing a wedding gown, while smiles lit up every face around her.

The moment she saw Audrey, Lillian waved her over at once. "Audrey, come here. Try on this bridesmaid dress and see if it fits."

"Bridesmaid?" Audrey's expression changed. "When did I ever say I'd be your bridesmaid?"

Julian immediately stepped in to defend Lillian. "It's just for show. What's the problem? Besides, you nearly left a scar on Lillian just now. Shouldn't you make it up to her?"

"You really want me to be her bridesmaid?" Audrey looked at Julian and asked coldly.

For a moment, a strange unease rose in Julian's chest. He wanted to deny it, but his pride wouldn't let him take back his words.

So he nodded and answered in a low voice, "Yes."

"Fine. I'll do it."

With that, Audrey turned and went to change.

When she came back out, everyone staring at her froze.

Audrey was breathtaking. In fact, she outshone the bride herself.

Even Julian's eyes lit up.

A flash of resentment flickered through Lillian's eyes, but she immediately slipped into a sweet voice. "Julian, I'm so nervous. Why don't we do a little rehearsal here at home first?"

"But..."

Julian had just started to refuse when Beatrice chimed in, "Exactly. Tomorrow is a big day. Nothing can be allowed to go wrong."

The staff joined in from the side, chanting, "Propose! Propose! Propose!"

Julian shook his head with an indulgent smile. "You guys are impossible..."

With that, he dropped to one knee, pulled out a huge diamond ring, and said tenderly, "Lillian... From the moment I met you, I knew you would become the most important person in my life. No matter whether we face wealth or poverty, life or death, I'll stay by your side and never leave you... I love you. Will you marry me?"

"I will..."

Lillian's eyes filled with tears of emotion, and even Edward and Beatrice wiped at the corners of their eyes.

Julian slowly slid the ring onto Lillian's ring finger. Someone nearby started egging them on. "Kiss her! Kiss her!"

Julian glanced at Audrey as if he were about to refuse, but Lillian suddenly threw her arms around him and kissed him first.

His whole body stiffened for a second, then he immediately cupped the back of her head and deepened the kiss.

Audrey watched everything in front of her and tugged faintly at the corner of her mouth, as if none of it had anything to do with her.

After everyone finally left, Audrey went back to her room early to rest.

Tomorrow was the day Julian and Lillian would get married. It was also the day she would leave.

But when she opened her eyes the next day, she found herself tied back-to-back with Lillian inside an abandoned warehouse.

Both of them had bombs strapped to their bodies, each one already counting down.

"What is this?"

Panic rose in Audrey as she began struggling desperately.

Lillian only let out a soft laugh. "Don't waste your energy. You're not getting out."

Audrey understood at once. This had all been staged by Lillian.

"Lillian! Isn't today your wedding day? What the hell are you trying to do?"

"You've got some nerve bringing up the wedding!" Lillian snapped. "Who told you to outshine me just by putting on a bridesmaid dress? Who told you to be the real daughter of the Winslow family? My mother should have killed you back then. That way you never would've come back to take my place!"

"Lillian, you've lost your mind! If you do this, you'll die too!" Audrey said urgently.

But Lillian suddenly laughed, looking smug and triumphant.

"Die? How could I possibly die? Mom, Dad, and Julian love me most. There's no way they'd let me die. The one who should die is you."

Seeing how completely unhinged Lillian was, Audrey stopped wasting words on her and struggled with all her strength. But the harder she fought, the tighter the ropes cinched, nearly crushing the air out of her.

Then a rush of footsteps sounded outside. Her parents and Julian came hurrying in.

Every one of them looked disheveled, breathing hard.

"What the hell is going on here?" Julian roared.

Lillian immediately cut in. "Mom, Dad, Julian, don't blame Audrey. She was just too upset. She didn't want me marrying Julian, so she staged all of this herself..."

"That's not true!" Audrey shouted anxiously. "If I really wanted to ruin the wedding, I could've just kidnapped Lillian. Why would I drag myself into this too? She planned all of this on purpose!"

"Enough!" Julian wouldn't listen to a word of it. "Audrey, I told you already, this is just a fake wedding. Did you really have to go this far?"

Beatrice said impatiently, "That's enough. If we don't get moving, we're going to be late for the wedding."

Edward nodded in agreement.

The three of them stepped forward, untied Lillian, and turned to leave.

Before leaving, they still remembered to tell Audrey, "We're heading to the wedding venue first. You can come by yourself later."

"No! Don't go, the bombs are real! They're going to explode! Untie me!" Audrey screamed until her voice turned ragged, but it was useless.

Not a single one of them looked back at her.

The countdown on the bombs sounded like the tolling of death. In Audrey's mind flashed the memory of her parents singing around her on her seventh birthday.

But in the end, all that remained was the image of them walking away with Lillian in their arms.

The countdown sped closer and closer to zero, and Audrey's despair deepened with every second.

With only ten seconds left before the bomb exploded, a figure suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Audrey!"

Dorian sprinted toward her, tore the ropes loose, and swept her into his arms before running for the door.

The explosion roared through the air, and the shockwave threw both of them hard to the ground.

Before she lost consciousness, Audrey heard only one last sentence. "Audrey, I'm taking you home."