After my mother passed away, my father's lover brought her daughter, Winona Sweeney, into our family. From then on, I became the most hated person in the entire family.

To protect myself, I became arrogant, withdrawn, and grew into a thorny rose — beautiful, but no one was allowed to approach me.

I no longer believed in love.

When I was once again subjected to cold violence and isolation at the banquet, Cameron Payne openly declared his love for me to everyone and said that he would break the necks of anyone who slandered me!

He pursued me openly, gave me a grand wedding, and announced his love for me to the whole world. Everyone envied me.

Then, when a fire broke out during my father's birthday party, I almost died inside. No one from my family tried to save me; it was Cameron who saved me.

When I woke up in the hospital, I heard a horrifying truth.

"I know I mistook Hazel for my savior. It's my mistake and I will make it up to Winona. But that doesn't mean you can hurt Hazel!" Cameron was furious.

"But Winona's leukemia can't wait; she needs a transplant immediately..." My father chose to sacrifice me for his illegitimate daughter.

"That doesn't mean you can hurt Hazel! The baby is only seven months old; a premature birth can be fatal!"

Those things I thought were signs of love turned out not to be for me from the very beginning.

In that case, I would help him fulfill his debt to Winona.

To outsiders, I had always been difficult to get along with. I was frigid, arrogant, mean, and unreasonable.

They said I was like a thorny rose—beautiful but no one dared to approach me.

They were not wrong because I had never allowed anyone to get close to me for a long time.

The year my mother passed away, I was three years old. My father took his lover, Gloria Stone, and her daughter, Winona Sweeney, back home.

At first, I tried to please them. I learned to control my temper, to give in, and to bow to them.

However, I soon realized that the more I did this, the more my so-called obedient sister and perfect step-mother would slander and blame me.

My father, who had been protective of me, gradually grew to dislike me.

Thus, I stopped pleasing them. Since they disliked me, I would make them even more uncomfortable. I started becoming sharp and mean. They said I was uncultured, so I overturned the table at family gatherings.

They said I did not understand the rules of the upper class, so I was carefree and caused trouble everywhere.

If I were destined not to receive love, at least I wanted to protect myself. This went on until I met Cameron Payne.

Cameron was the Don of the Payne family. He controlled an underground trading network spanning several countries, with ruthless tactics and never showing mercy. No one dared to provoke him or get close to him.

When Winona led people to bully me, the same man declared his love for me to everyone at a banquet. "Anyone who bullies Hazel Sweeney again, I'll break their neck!"

Everyone was stunned.

I only felt irony; it was just another farce of someone betting with others to win me over. When he gave me priceless jewelry, I did not even bother opening the box; I simply donated it, saying I had plenty of such things.

The next day, he sent even rarer, more expensive pieces.

He took me to a Mafia family dinner, yet I showed up in a bikini. When someone mocked me for being unruly and dressed like a prostitute, he immediately canceled his partnerships with those companies and acquired them!

When he proposed, and I rejected him, everyone bet that Cameron would break my neck the next second. After all, no one dared refuse someone like him, let alone tolerate a woman ignoring him so much.

However, Cameron did not do so. He continued to spoil me and pursue me without any limits.

When I almost died of pneumonia at home, I pressed the emergency call button he had given me. No matter where I was, he would find me once I pressed it. He abandoned a multi-million dollar business deal to come back and take me to the hospital. The moment I opened my eyes, I fell in love with this man.

After we got married, he spoiled me rotten.

I never imagined that the love I was so proud of would turn out to be a farcical mix-up of mistaken identities.

On my birthday, Gloria and Winona ganged up on me, leaving me alone in a corner of the garden. Then a fire broke out, and thick smoke billowed. Everyone ran outside, but no one called me.

I was trapped in the fire, almost thinking I was going to die. Cameron rushed in and saved me.

When I woke up in the hospital, I was filled with gratitude for surviving the fire and him.

Just as I was about to find him, I overheard his conversation with someone else as I turned the corner of the stairs.

I turned around, got someone to print out the divorce papers, and went to Winona's hospital ward.

Winona was on the phone. She lowered her voice, but could not hide her arrogance. "So what if I claimed the credit for saving him? She's lost her memory and doesn't remember what happened back then. So what if my leukemia is fake? Cameron believes it."

I stopped.

"It's a pity that the fire didn't kill her. That old geezer relented after all. If we had locked her in there from the start, she wouldn't have been able to get out."

I pushed the door open.

Winona turned around and saw me. Her phone almost dropped to the ground.

"Are you not afraid that I'll tell Cameron?" The moment I opened the door, Winona visibly froze.

"You heard everything? That's fine." She quickly regained her composure and smiled smugly. "How are you going to tell Cameron? You don't remember anything. Do you remember the details? What clothes was he wearing that day? Which month and day was it? Where did the accident happen?"

I clenched my hands silently.

"I'm not afraid of you knowing more either! Do you know how I became a designer?" Winona slowly approached me, her voice soft yet vicious.

"Cameron gave me those design drafts. Those works you're so proud of actually bear my name."

These betrayals broke my heart, making it hard to breathe. I felt a faint throbbing in my belly, my baby reminding me not to be upset.

"The baby you're carrying..." Winona's gaze fell on my swollen belly, her tone smug. "You think it's the fruit of your love? It's just to donate bone marrow to me..."

I interrupted sharply, "Enough! You don't need to deliberately provoke me. You're just saying all these things to make me leave."

I stared at her with a sneer. "I can leave. Give me ten million dollars and the villa my mother left behind. Have Cameron sign this divorce agreement and I'll leave after that."

Winona froze, and wild joy immediately filled her face, which she quickly suppressed. "What are you playing at?"

I crossed my arms and looked at her. "Ten million dollars in the bank, the villa transferred to my name, and I'll disappear immediately."

"Are you serious?" Winona was in disbelief.

I took out the divorce agreement I had prepared beforehand from my bag.

Winona took it and excitedly flipped through it.

"The money first," I added.

A few minutes later, my phone rang. It was a bank transfer notification: ten million dollars.

The next second, hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor.

Before I could react, Winona slammed into the table. "Hazel, ah..."

Cameron rushed in and pulled her into his arms. "I kept calling you, but no one answered. I thought something had happened. I rushed over, and the first thing you did when you woke up was bully Winona! She didn't cause the fire on purpose! Why are you taking it out on her?"

Cameron's accusations sent chills down my spine.

I suddenly realized that a year ago, Cameron was the one who said, "Don't be afraid. I'll always love you. I'll deal with that bully, Winona!"

Now, he had complete trust in her.

"I didn't push her. She framed me on purpose!" I trembled with anger.

I had told Cameron that Winona often framed me when we were little, and my father would punish me. Cameron had held me tenderly and said he would trust me unconditionally from then on.

However, things had unexpectedly turned out like this.

"Yes, I accidentally fell. It's not Hazel..." Winona seemed to be defending me, but her red, tear-filled eyes told me she was just putting on an innocent act; anyone would believe her, but not me!

"She has leukemia; one wound could kill her!" Cameron was furious as he pointed to the wound on her hand. "You should really reflect on yourself!"

Then he carried her to the emergency room.

I wiped away my tears and went home, thinking, 'Cameron, will you regret your attitude toward me today when you find out Winona wasn't your savior?'

When I got home, I threw away everything he had given me.

Lying in bed, tears streamed down my face. A relationship that spanned years was over just like that.

I was woken up by a splash of cold water in the morning.

My father was holding an empty glass. "You wretched girl! You almost killed Winona! You knew she was sick, yet you still bullied her!"

My stepmother pretended to say tearfully, "I know you don't like your sister, but you can't do this to her! This a human life we’re talking about!"

"Shut up! She's not my sister! My mother only gave birth to me!"

"How dare you talk to your mother like that!" My father slapped me.

Everything went black, and I fainted. When I woke up, I was lying in bed.

Cameron looked haggard. "You were unconscious for a day and a night. Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?"

Looking at his concerned expression, I only found his words fake.

"You really went too far this time. Did you know the doctor said Winona's injury was very serious? She almost..."

"I didn't push her!" I forced back my tears! Why did he not believe me?

Cameron became furious when he heard my denial.

"It's alright, Hazel, I forgive you. I know you're angry that I stole our father's love, which is why you did something dangerous. It's okay." Winona appeared in the doorway, her face pale.

"Cameron said you fainted. Are you alright? I brought your favorite apple pie! Cameron, could you get a glass of orange juice? Apple pie and orange juice are Hazel's favorite combination."

Cameron glanced at me and turned around to leave. As soon as the door closed, Winona's expression changed. She pulled out an agreement from her bag. "The divorce papers are signed. When are you leaving?"

I took the agreement from her, confirmed the signature, and put it in my bag. Winona did not move, her expression full of mockery. "I thought you really loved him. Who knew you could leave him without hesitation for money?"

I looked up at her. "If you say another word, I'll tear up the divorce agreement."

Her smile froze.

"You!" She was indignant.

I answered calmly, "Why won't you ask him to divorce me? What? You're not confident he'll marry you?"

Winona clenched her fists. "What nonsense are you spouting? He said that I'm the one he wanted to marry from the beginning!"

I retorted, "He wanted to marry the person who saved him! And that's not you."

"And if you're so confident..." I looked her straight in the eye. "Why didn't you just tell him you wanted to be Donna? Why didn't you just say you wanted to replace me? Why didn't you use the debt he owed for saving his life to blackmail him into marrying you?"

Winona paled. She glared at me resentfully and soon knocked over the kettle. "Ah... Hazel, I'm sorry. I'll never appear in front of you again."

Hot water spilled onto her hand, instantly turning it red.

Cameron rushed in and held her in his arms, his face full of disappointment. "Hazel, when did you become so vicious? I know you don't like Winona, but how could you hurt her? You've let me down!"

Cameron did not glance at me again and left with her in his arms.

"I didn't!" My tears fell involuntarily.

I thought, 'Cameron, there are security cameras! Look at the security footage! Forget it, I don't want to explain myself anymore.'

I grabbed the divorce agreement, packed my bags, and left without looking back.

'Cameron, will you regret what you did to me when you find out the truth?' I wondered.