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.

Stella no longer stayed in the guest room.

She naturally moved into Adrian’s bedroom, but the very first day she entered, her face went pale.

Inside hung a large framed photograph—

a picture of me and Adrian kissing.

He used to love it, insisting on placing it in the most prominent spot in the bedroom as if to declare his claim.

But now—

when Adrian saw it, his own face turned white. He hurriedly hid the photo away.

“This isn’t real. Even if it was, it’s all in the past,” he said, rushing to soothe the pale-faced girl in his arms.

“Stella, I don’t even remember Lila Lane.”

Stella sobbed pitifully into his chest, murmuring, “I believe you.”

But when she lifted her head, her eyes toward me carried unmistakable resentment.

In the following days, Stella often stroked her pregnant belly and found subtle ways to provoke me.

For instance, she would clasp my hand warmly:

“Sister, the first time I met you, I knew you were kind. I’ve always thought of you as my real sister.”

“In five months, your little niece will be born. Why don’t you sew her a pair of baby shoes?”

I pulled my hand away coolly.

“My hands are made for killing, not for sewing.”

Stella withdrew, sulking.

A few days later, she dragged Adrian before me to discuss baby names.

“I said Lily sounds lovely, it means purity. But Adrian insists on calling her Grace…”

I went quiet for a moment.

“Sorry. Pick another name.”

They both stared at me in confusion.

I said flatly,

“That was the name Adrian once planned for our child. If you use it now—it will only bring bad luck.”

The room froze. Both of their faces turned ashen.

I ignored them and walked away.

Later, the new maid Mary rushed to me excitedly.

“Miss, I don’t think Adrian really forgot you. He still loves you.”

“Oh? And why do you think that?”

Mary chattered eagerly:

“The other day I passed by his study. I saw him staring at your photo, lost in thought. He must still be thinking of the past.”

I gave a bitter smile and shook my head.

“Don’t ever say that again. He’s about to be a father.”

And I was about to be married.

As the wedding drew near, the Lane Estate buzzed with preparations.

Stella stared in disbelief at the luxurious wedding gifts before her—rows of jewelry boxes, stacks of property deeds.

“These… these are all for me?” she gasped, covering her mouth.

Adrian, too, was surprised, his eyes filled with gratitude as he looked toward my father.

“Master, thank you for your generosity.”

He thought all this was dowry Mr. Lane prepared for his marriage.

He had no idea—

once the ceremony ended, he would be formally cut off from the Lane family.

From then on, his life would have nothing to do with us.

On the wedding day, I sat stone-faced as they exchanged rings and kissed.

Stella blushed shyly, rising on tiptoe to kiss him—

but Adrian turned his head away.

Instead, his gaze drifted slowly toward me, heavy with something complicated.

I lowered my eyes, sipped my tea, and ignored him.

Just then, my sixth foster brother burst into the hall:

“Master, Lucas Vaughn, heir of the Vaughn family, has arrived.”

Adrian’s head snapped up, his eyes clouded with confusion.

“Lucas Vaughn? Wasn’t he our sworn enemy from five years ago?”

I toyed with a walnut in my hand, smiling coldly.

So Adrian could remember Lucas, his old enemy—

yet somehow forgot me.

How amusing.

But the world is nothing if not fickle.

The man who once vowed to give me his life forgot me.

And the man who was once my enemy was about to become my husband.

“I’ll go greet him,” I said briskly, standing.

Adrian’s face darkened, and he moved to follow—

but Stella clutched her belly suddenly.

“Adrian, my stomach… it hurts.”

He looked up to see me already walking away, and let out a silent sigh.

“I’ll take you to rest.”

When Lucas entered, my father did something rare—he smiled and welcomed him to sit.

The Lane family and the Vaughns had been bitter rivals for years.

Whenever my father saw old Mr. Vaughn, his face would harden.

But now, everything had changed.

Since the Vaughns agreed to this marriage, my father seemed to like Lucas more with each glance.

“Lila, your wedding is near. Since Lucas has agreed to marry into our family and help you manage our estate, it’s time you showed him around.”

I led Lucas through the house, his gaze never leaving me.

When we reached a quiet corner, I nearly stumbled, but he caught me instantly.

The next moment, he pinned me against the wall.

“Lila, I’ve chased you for six years. Now, at last, you’ll be mine.”

He leaned in to kiss me—

But from nearby came a woman’s plaintive cry.

“Adrian, I’m so upset! Today was supposed to be our wedding, but she just had to steal the spotlight.”

“I’m pregnant with your child, and she brought up something unlucky about baby names, just to hurt me.”

Stella wept in Adrian’s arms.

Adrian sighed helplessly.

“Lila is the Lane heiress. She’s bound to be the center of attention—it’s only natural.”

But Stella grew even more agitated.

“She doesn’t want you to marry me!”

“I heard the whispers—everyone in the Lane estate looks at me like I’m a mistress. But we were married properly, I’m your wife. Clearly, she spread those rumors just to drive me out!”

“You’re overthinking,” Adrian replied. “Lila isn’t like that. If she wanted to marry me, she never would have agreed to this. Even if I don’t remember her, I can’t help but feel… she must be kind.”

His voice sounded distant, like through a fog.

The man beside me, however, heard every word.

With a mischievous grin, Lucas bent and kissed me roughly, then pulled back and nipped at my lip.

Mocking, he mimicked Adrian’s words:

“I feel… she must be kind.”

I punched him. “Bite me again and see what happens.”

“Once you move into the Lane family, I’ll make sure you pay for that.”

Lucas only laughed harder.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Meanwhile, Stella stamped her foot furiously.

“How can you say she’s kind? You’ve forgotten her, haven’t you?”

“Adrian, ever since you came back to the Lane estate, you’ve been different. You used to swear you only loved me. Your eyes only ever followed me. But why do they always drift back to Lila?”

“Maybe you forgot her once—but who’s to say you haven’t fallen for her all over again?”