Chapter 1:
The icy rain, the burning body, the feeling of ice and fire was unbearable. O
Tears flowed continuously down my cheeks, mixing with the rain and blurring my vision.
“I saved your life back then, now it’s time for you to repay me.”
From beginning to end, not one person asked me what exactly happened in all this.
Ethan Grant, someone whom others dare not provoke, nor desire to provoke.
“This time, I’m afraid it won’t be up to you, Father.”
Where do you think you placed my old face?”
Just as I was finally unable to hold on, ready to collapse to the ground, a pair of warm
hands suddenly wrapped around my waist, pulling me into a warm embrace.
To be precise, I saved Ethan Grant’s life.
“They say you married there for two years, yet there’s no sign, making you a woman who
doesn’t know how to bear.”
Ultimately, Ivy Warren did not succeed in marrying Ethan Grant.
It seems this was indeed the reason behind their intricate opposition.
When he woke up, he learned all the facts and handed me a business card; it was only after he’d left that I realized he was the head of the Grant Family, Ethan Grant.
The moment I received the divorce papers, I wasn’t actually surprised.
“He is scheming, and if you’re not careful, we might all be ruined without knowing how it happened!”
He hates women like me, strong and unfeeling.
Years ago, when my mother was exiled to the suburbs, I inadvertently saved Ethan Grant, who had collapsed in a pool of blood after a car accident.
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Simply because Ethan Grant quickly learned about the Warren Family’s plan to have Ivy replace me to marry him.
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Along with this sentence came a divorce agreement I hadn’t consented to.
He seemed to look down at me very seriously, rain falling outside the umbrella, and in his embrace, I felt an inexplicable sense of peace.
Though the Warren Family held some status in the business world, it paled in comparison
to the Pierce Family.
To survive, I stopped Ethan Grant’s car passing by my house.
The white pants were faintly stained with blood.
In a state of dazed consciousness, I dreamed of my biological mother.
I knelt there for three days and nights.
My whole body even more powerless.
Tears soaked the wedding dress on my cheeks.
There also came the endless darkness of my life.
Because I knew, this day would come sooner or later, I just didn’t expect what would
follow.
I knew becoming a young mistress of the Pierce Family was not simple, many eyed this position covetously, a slight oversight would push me to the forefront of controversy.
You must understand, in a wealthy family, there is never such a thing as affection.
Yet he also knew that with Ethan Grant around, I was no longer the Hazel Warren he
could dispose of at will.
Years ago, I saved your life, and you told me that if there ever came a time when I needed your help, I should speak up.
I swallowed the bitterness in my mouth and looked up at my father.
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Perhaps he didn’t expect me to refute him this time; he looked at me sharply.
As the big gate of the old house closed, the surrounding crowd quickly gathered around
The car door opened from outside, and a pair of polished leather shoes appeared in my
view.
She calculated it perfectly.
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I just found it amusing.
Only the sound of a car gradually approaching from not far away, the blinding headlights confused me about whether all of this was reality or a dream.
I didn’t even have the chance to open my mouth to defend myself.
Shortly after the Pierce Family agreed to this marriage, I married Lucas Reid as wished.
The doorman saw my face flushed and my whole body trembling; he had already gone
inside to report to my father that I had a fever.
Because he said.
My stepmother stood at the gate of the old house, her eyes showing no trace of sympathy or pity for me, replaced by her extremely detached tone.
The moment consciousness slipped into darkness, I seemed to hear his casual reply.
And the Warren Family’s endless disappointment in me.
It quickly pulled me out of the dream.
Cold.
If that happened, perhaps Lucas Reid would feel guilty about me and retract his decision to divorce me.
“What a disgrace…”
On the wedding day, Lucas Reid coldly stood before me, denying all my efforts during this
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time.
My head felt even heavier.
So bitter, so painful.
“I went to great efforts to marry you into the Pierce Family as the young mistress, but got divorced by Lucas Reid, making us the laughingstock.”
you
When I woke again, I was summoned by my father to the old mansion’s hall; inside, it was
filled with wedding gifts from Ethan Grant, including priceless jewels and antiques.
And of course, I don’t like you.”
“Ethan Grant… save me…”
Ruthless, cold-blooded, those are his synonyms.
And the reason I was being treated this way was simply because my nominal husband,
Lucas Reid, divorced me.
As the eldest daughter of the Warren Family, I was born to bear the fate of an arranged
marriage.
Only interest can make your position more secure.”
“Miss Warren, I don’t like arranged marriages.
“I don’t care whether or not there’s any affection between you and Ethan Grant, this
marriage is something I will not agree to!”
The Pierce Family, a merchant family, monopolized more than half of Emshire’s industries.
At that moment, I knew my efforts hadn’t been in vain.
Awkwardness wandered through the hall as my stepmother finally spoke up.
Upon hearing this, I furrowed my brows slightly.
One that never fades.
This pain, how could I easily forget.
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Father, ashamed of me, upon learning of this, immediately made me kneel on the concrete at the gate of the old house.
“Besides, your sister hasn’t been married before, she’s still a maiden; I’m sure Ethan Grant would find her more satisfactory.”
That year, I was eighteen, my father confined her to an outlying house, disdaining her for getting old and unattractive, refusing to see her again.
Lucas Reid, even if it means losing assets, he is determined to divorce me.
“Do you know what they say about you behind your back?”
“Hazel, remember, you can only rely on yourself; before marriage, you must let your feathers become lush, this way, the Warren Family knows you have value, and they don’t
dare to lay a finger on you.”
And the young master of the Pierce Family, Lucas Reid, was elegant and talented, becoming the Prince Charming in the hearts of the young ladies in the business circle.
After divorcing Lucas Reid, I became the laughingstock of the Warren Family.
But despite this, my father didn’t feel a shred of pity for me.
Even though for the past ten years, I helped my father manage the family business, being his most capable right-hand.
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“Exactly, a pair of worn shoes, who would want her then?”
Father punished me by making me kneel at the doorstep for three days and nights, hoping this would make the Pierce Family retract their decision.
My mother knew for the rest of her life things would be this way, so on the day she chose to end her life, she told me I must hold tightly to the position of young mistress of the Pierce Family.
Until that familiar license plate number suddenly entered my sight unexpectedly.
As night fell and the rainy season set in, the people on the streets quickly dispersed.
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I’ve truly given my heart to this family, but in their eyes, I’ve always been just a bargaining
chip.
At that moment, I vaguely realized one thing: my father probably wished I would just
faint.
On the third night, I knelt at the old house’s gate, the raindrops falling on me gradually grew larger, mercilessly whipping my body over and over again.
Letting Ivy Warren substitute for me to marry Ethan Grant, to enjoy the wealth and supreme status of becoming Young Mrs. Grant.
But Lucas Reid regretted it.
It is also said that ever since Ethan Grant took over the Grant Family, there wasn’t anyone
unafraid to offend him.
Nor did they know that after marrying Lucas Reid, he never touched me at all.
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I leaned against his chest, quietly listening to the strong heartbeat.
But Mother, you do not know.
“Hazel Warren! Do you know who Ethan Grant is?! How dare you decide to marry Ethan Grant barely a week after divorcing from the Pierce Family!”
“Hazel, on your wedding day, you mustn’t cry, crying is inauspicious.”
“I prefer to marry a woman for love, and the reason you marry me isn’t pure enough.”
Yet no one noticed.
Just as I was about to speak, out of the corner of my eye, I saw my father pick up a teacup
and hurl it at me.
But no matter how hard I tried, it was no match for Lucas Reid’s one statement.
“Reflect on yourself while you kneel at the gate.”
Father didn’t even send someone to convey a message for me to enter the old house.
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But I never thought.
Later, I became the Mrs. Grant whom everyone in the city looked up to.
At the gate of the old Warren house, I knelt on the ground, my knees already bloody and
raw.
“Hazel, listen to your father; if Ethan Grant comes over, have your sister marry him
instead. After all, as they’re both members of the Warren Family, it shouldn’t matter
much.”
But aside from kneeling, I had no other choice.
Piercing.
And he promised he would save my life.
When I came to my senses, I was already blocking the car, my knees smashed and bloody,
my legs trembling continuously; only by biting my lip did I keep from fainting.
Hence, I could only work harder than others.
Raindrops fell slowly from the sky, landing on me.
“Hazel, I don’t like you.”
So, the next day, he personally came to visit, bringing a “heavy” gift for Father.
Before I could even gather myself, my father’s insults were directed at me.
I remembered what my mother said to me before I left the house.
Before I saw him turn and walk out the door.
But now, it’s been almost half an hour, yet the gate of the old house still hasn’t opened.
After saying this, my father turned and left.
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“It’s precisely because of this that Lucas Reid chose to divorce you!
Yet he owed me a debt of gratitude.
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“It’s really shameful, even got divorced by the Pierce Family.”
Looking at her face, how could I forget how years ago she put words into my father’s ear, sending my mother to the suburbs, ultimately leading her to take her own life.
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“What’s the use of being so pretty, no sign of pregnancy after two years of marriage, no
wonder he divorced her.”
During which, no food or water passed my lips.
At that time, I did not know that for a long period afterward, he would become the only
ray of light in my life.
From the time I was sensible, I knew that my life and my marriage would not be under my
control.
The teacup hit my knee precisely, and I instinctively wobbled; if I hadn’t been holding onto
the table, I might have fallen to the floor.
“Hazel, this is your future husband, the young master of the Pierce Family, Lucas Reid.”
Then, Ethan Grant’s lips curled slightly, almost imperceptibly, as he walked towards me,
looking at my utterly disheveled appearance.
Ethan Grant’s assistant had already left, and my father sat in the main seat, looking grave
and apparently unhappy.
Turns out, in his heart, I was a woman who willingly gave up love for career.
Soon, the name Hazel Warren spread in the business circle.
Father did not object to my stepmother’s suggestion.
I watched them coldly, unfazed.
In this way, the Warren Family’s business would not be affected.
Studied an MBA double degree, and after entering the Warren Group, aced every project
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proposal.
I tried hard to fulfill the duties of a good wife.
Who would have thought, her words came true.
Clearly thinking of punishing me again.
Even pointing fingers at me in front of many people.
“Alright.”
“Our Warren Family is truly going to be ruined by you!”
