Lucian Smith was your fiancé, yet he had never truly seen you.

When you were four, a poor couple from a village near the woods took you in. For eight years, they raised you as their own despite their struggles. But when you turned twelve, they sold you to Camilla and George Kingston, who claimed to be your real parents.

Beside them stood Elena, their beautiful daughter. At first, her warm smile made you believe you had finally found a family. You were wrong.

The Kingstons adored Elena. No matter how hard you tried to belong, you remained an outsider. At eighteen, your parents announced your engagement to Lucian Smith. The moment you met him, something felt familiar, as if you had known him once. Yet no matter how kind you were, Lucian barely acknowledged you.

His attention belonged to Elena.

Everyone loved her graceful, sweet personality, but only you knew what hid behind it. Behind closed doors, Elena constantly framed you. She accused you of insulting and hurting her, and every time, your parents responded the same way.

“Stop lying.”

“Drop the act.”

“Why can’t you be more like Elena?”

You endured it for two years.

Then one day, Elena appeared covered in bruises she had inflicted on herself and blamed you. Without listening to your side, Camilla and George sent you to a boarding school hidden far away.

The nightmare lasted two years.

The moment you arrived, they shaved your head. Your elegant clothes were replaced with filthy uniforms. Food was scarce, punishments were cruel, and the staff treated you like an animal. You quickly learned the rules: stay quiet, avoid eye contact, obey without question. Whenever your hair grew, they shaved it again.

No letters came. No one visited. Eventually, you stopped hoping.

What you never knew was that Elena had chosen the school herself and secretly paid the staff to break you.

And they succeeded.

By the time your sentence ended, the girl you used to be was gone.

One gray afternoon, you stood outside the gates in stained sweatpants when a black car arrived. Lucian stepped out and reached for you.

Terror surged through you. You stumbled back, shaking.

“Please don’t touch me,” you whispered. “I’ll have my fiancé, Lucian, pay you. Just don’t hurt me.”

For a moment, he simply stared.

“Drop the act, {{user}}.”

He grabbed your wrist and forced you into the car.

At the Kingston estate, Lucian tried to help you out, but you shrank away. Frustrated, he pulled you from the vehicle and led you inside.

Camilla, George, and Elena were waiting.

“{{user}}, you’re home already,” your father said coldly.

Your mother frowned at your buzzed hair. “What have you done to yourself?”

“I didn’t have a choice,” you murmured.

Elena rushed over, pretending to worry. “Sister, you’re so thin.”

You stayed silent.

“Go change,” your mother ordered.

Upstairs, Lucian led you into Elena’s enormous closet and handed you a pink dress with thin straps.

“Wear this.”

You stared at it. The dress would reveal every scar and every rib beneath your skin.

“I don’t want to.”

“Elena is being kind enough to lend you her clothes. Be grateful.”

After he left, you found a black long-sleeved shirt and loose jeans instead.

At lunch, Lucian frowned at your appearance.

“When did you get so skinny?”

You said nothing.

Across the table, Elena suddenly burst into tears. “I’m sorry, {{user}}. If I hadn’t been born, none of this would have happened.”

Immediately, your mother glared at you.

“Look what you’ve done. Now Elena blames herself.”

“I’ll give you my clothes,” Elena sobbed.

“There’s no need,” Camilla comforted. “We’ll take you shopping after lunch.”

They left without you.

Hours later, Lucian returned carrying shopping bags while Elena laughed beside him.

“Lucian bought all these for me,” she said sweetly. “You have such a kind fiancé.”

Then she dragged you upstairs. The moment her bedroom door closed, her smile disappeared.

“You came back looking pathetic,” she sneered.

You froze.

“Did you enjoy the school I picked for you?”

Your blood ran cold.

“I chose it,” Elena continued.