Everyone said Adrian Cole was destined to become the prized son-in-law of the Lane family.

Suitors crowded our gates, but Adrian took on the most dangerous mission just to marry me.

“Lila, Master Lane promised me—if I complete this mission, he’ll allow me to take you as my wife.”

Before leaving, Adrian pressed a kiss to my forehead.

I turned down all my pursuers and waited five whole years.

But when he finally returned, mission completed—

he walked in holding another woman, kneeling before my father.

“Master, the only woman I want to marry in this life is Stella.”

“And she’s pregnant.”

My father immediately pulled out a gun, pointing it at Adrian’s forehead, then glanced at me.

“Lila, tell me—should I kill him?”

The room fell into dead silence, everyone expecting bloodshed.

But I merely smiled, pushed aside my father’s gun, and said calmly to the girl:

“Congratulations, sister-in-law.”

Adrian stared at me warily, but I didn’t spare him a single glance.

Later, I picked a marriage alliance at random and agreed to marry.

On my wedding day, Adrian suddenly regained his memory. His eyes turned blood-red as he aimed a gun at Lucas Vaughn’s forehead, begging me in desperation:

“Lila, I remember everything now—don’t marry him.”

…

My father had taken in seven apprentices in his lifetime. Adrian was his last and most accomplished protégé—

and also the most handsome.

He was the one I’d secretly loved since childhood.

My father always said the man who married me had to prove his strength. That mission was his test.

As long as he returned alive,

the entire Lane estate would be given to me as dowry.

Five years later, I finally received word of Adrian’s return.

So thrilled I didn’t even put on shoes, I ran barefoot to greet him.

“Master, I’m not mistaken—the only one I want to marry is Stella. She cared for me when I was gravely injured. We love each other. She deserves to be my wife…”

I rushed into the hall, only to hear those words.

It felt as if my feet had rooted to the floor, unable to move.

The teacup slipped from my hand and shattered into pieces.

All eyes turned toward me, but mine were fixed only on Adrian.

Slowly, he turned to meet my gaze.

Once, his eyes would light up at the sight of me—

filled with warmth, like a gentle sea of stars.

Now, they were empty, shadowed with wariness.

“Lila Lane?”

I gave a bitter smile. “You clearly know me. How could you forget?”

“Showing up and making this kind of joke…”

I reached to flick his forehead, but he seized my hand, stiff and guarded.

For a moment, both of us froze.

That distance in his eyes—it wasn’t Adrian anymore.

Awkwardly, I pulled my hand back.

“They all say you’re my fiancée, but I’m sorry—”

Adrian’s lips tightened, his face paling.

“I don’t remember you.”

He pulled Stella protectively behind him.

“When I was injured, Stella was the one who nursed me back. We’ve been husband and wife in all but name. Master, even if you kill me today, the only woman I’ll marry is her.”

Adrian knelt heavily, banging his head three times against the floor to prove his resolve.

The hall froze in silence.

The other six apprentices shook their heads, some even gritting their teeth to plead with him.

“Adrian Cole, you fool, don’t lose your mind!”

“Have you forgotten how desperately you pursued Lila five years ago?”

“So many suitors came to propose, and you chased them all away!”

“If not for marrying her, why risk your life taking on the hardest mission, nearly dying for it?”

“Lila waited five long years for you—how can you forget her?”

But by now, I understood.

Adrian truly had lost his memory.

He had forgotten his promise to marry me, and instead had fallen for someone else.

The room was tense with silence.

Everyone watched me closely, fearful of my reaction—

after all, the last person who crossed me now lay beneath a mound of weeds on his grave.

Adrian, oblivious to the danger in the air, pressed his forehead to the cold floor.

“Please, Master, grant us your blessing.”

My father gave a chilling laugh. “Blessing?”

“Then who will bless my daughter, who waited five years?”

Before anyone could respond, I had already cocked the gun and pressed it to Adrian’s forehead.

His eyes softened with pain as he looked at me.

“Lila, should I kill him for you?” my father asked.

“If Adrian dies, your five wasted years won’t become a laughingstock in others’ mouths.”

Gasps echoed through the hall.

Everyone knew my father wasn’t joking.

For his treasured daughter, the jewel of his eye,

he would truly kill Adrian without hesitation.

But I only smiled, pushing my father’s hand away.

“Forget it.”

That single word swallowed every expectation and bitterness of my five years of waiting.

I turned to the girl behind him.

Since the moment my father drew his gun, she had gone pale as a frightened rabbit.

I smiled faintly at her.

“Congratulations, sister-in-law.”

My gaze dropped to her rounded belly.

“The last time I saw you, you were ready to give up on life. And now—already carrying a child.”

Shock rippled through the room.

Even my father’s six apprentices looked stunned.

“Junior sister, you know this woman?”

Yes. I knew her.

Stella Ray.

Even her name—I was the one who gave it to her.

Years ago, after losing her parents, she nearly fell victim to a gang of thugs.

I brought my men and saved her.

Later, she picked up half a bottle of pills from the street, ready to end her miserable life.

I told her it was better to live, however hard, than to die.

I told her:

“Never believe the world is all darkness. There will always be something, someone worth cherishing.”

But now, she gazed at me with tear-filled eyes, clutching her belly, and collapsed to her knees.

“Sister, I’ve wronged you. I never knew my boyfriend was your fiancé. But it was you who told me—this world still holds people worth cherishing. I found him. He’s my life now. Please forgive me—I can’t give him back.”

Adrian looked at her in shock, something flickering in his eyes.

“Stella, she’s the one who saved you?”

Stella nodded frantically, clinging to him.

“But I’ve betrayed my sister…”

I had no interest in their pitiful display.

Turning, I walked away.

My father quickly followed.

“Lila, what are you thinking?”

“If you still love Adrian, memory loss or not, even if he were crippled, I’d make him obey you.”

Behind him, the six apprentices wore the same worried expressions.

They had all watched me grow up, more like brothers than anything else.

I smiled, turned, and pulled a man’s business card from my pocket.

“You all say he always wanted to marry me? Then I’ll marry him.”

The sixth brother’s face changed. “No! Lila, you heard what we said to Master today… Even if we’re useless, we can’t let you degrade yourself in a marriage alliance with the Vaughn family.”

My father had been silent the whole time.

The eldest brother glanced at him, then added,

“That’s right. We don’t need this marriage tie. Lila, you’re our treasure, the Lane family’s jewel. You deserve to marry for love.”

I lowered my gaze, my eyes resting on Lucas Vaughn’s business card.

“Love?”

“Brother, if I were such a love-addled fool, how could I inherit Father’s mantle?”

My eyes hardened.

“Lucas Vaughn. I’ll marry him.”

That evening, I sat in the garden gazebo reading.

Adrian arrived with six of my brothers. Stella trailed close behind.

I’d heard that on the very night of his return, Adrian moved out of the room beside mine—

claiming Stella needed peace to carry her child, and he would care for her.

“Take it out on me, but don’t trouble Stella,” he said.

After learning I was Stella’s savior, Adrian’s expression softened, though his eyes still carried suspicion.

I smiled faintly, studying him in silence.

These five years had been cruel to him.

I heard he was ambushed during his mission, tumbling off a cliff.

By rights, he should have died.

But fate spared him—Stella had found him at the bottom.

A bodyguard handed me file after file, detailing Adrian’s years away.

He and Stella had built a cabin in the woods and lived there for two years.

They held a simple ceremony under the sky, vowing themselves as husband and wife.

When sick with fever, they clung to each other for warmth.

They…

“Enough.”

I cut the bodyguard off, narrowing my eyes at Adrian.

“Why is it you forgot my father, remembered my six brothers—but somehow forgot me?”

Adrian stiffened, then lifted his head sharply.

“It’s my fault. I always felt someone was waiting for me, and I swore I’d fight my way back alive. But when I saw Stella, it was love at first sight. No one else mattered.”

“Lila Lane, I hear you’re my junior sister. For the sake of our childhood bond, forget me. Let me and Stella be.”

Without hesitation, Adrian knelt before me.

Stella quickly followed, tears brimming, her voice trembling.

“Sister, I don’t want anything—only Adrian. Please, I beg you…”

I laughed, rose to my feet, and tore the stack of files to shreds.

“Stella Ray, since you call me sister, why don’t I host your wedding?”

Both Adrian and Stella jerked their heads up, eyes wide with disbelief.

I plucked a rose from nearby and tucked it into Stella’s hair.

“This wedding—I’ll officiate.”

With my word, preparations began immediately.

Stella’s eyes shone with gratitude.

Even Adrian, long wary of me, finally allowed himself a sigh of relief.