My fiancé and my best friend were both captivated by the same woman, Violet Parrish.

On our wedding day, my fiancé, Antonio Kaufman, left me behind mercilessly. "Her depression is acting up, so I have to go to her."

I called my best friend Jeffery Norton, who had pursued me for ten years. "Didn't you say you wanted to marry me? I'm willing to marry you now."

Unexpectedly, Jeffery laughed at me, "I was just joking! Did you really believe it?"

Then I heard Violet crying over the phone, "Jeffery, don't leave me, please!"

In the end, I could only awkwardly deal with the guests by myself until Antonio and Jeffery showed up again.

However, Antonio slapped me in front of everyone.

"Violet is suffering so much, and all you care about is your wedding. Do you have any humanity?"

I was slapped to fall on the wedding cake, looking like a clown.

Jeffery put his hands in his pockets, a glint of disgust in his eyes.

Even my biological parents came to scold me, "The wedding can be rescheduled, but Violet's depression is serious. We must take care of her first!"

I was completely disappointed, feeling a tearing pain in my heart.

At this point, leaving this group of people who despised and bullied me was the best choice.

Antonio, filled with anger, slapped me across the face, knocking me onto the ten-layer wedding cake.

The sticky cream and jam stained my high-end wedding dress. I unconsciously looked over at Jeffery.

His eyes were filled with deep disgust and loathing as he looked at me intensely and said coldly, "Grace Parrish, you've really gone too far. Violet's depression is a matter of life and death, and you had to make a scene at this time. Do you have any humanity?"

A sharp pain spread across my face, and a drop of blood fell onto my snow-white wedding dress.

I touched my nose and felt a warm wetness.

"Antonio, are you crazy?"

As soon as I finished speaking, Antonio sneered and said viciously, "If it weren't for Violet's kindness and threat of death, do you think I would have come and finished the wedding with you?"

He violently grabbed a glass from the bottom layer, causing the whole champagne tower to collapse.

He then picked up a bottle of wine and filled the glass over my head, drenching me.

When the bottle was empty, I was completely soaked.

Then, he smashed the bottle on the ground and squatted down in front of me.

"Aren't we getting married? Here's a toast."

With a fierce gaze, he splashed a full glass of wine on my face.

Then, drop by drop, it slid off my face.

I already couldn't tell if it was wine or blood trickling down my face to my wedding dress.

Antonio stood up and looked down at me condescendingly.

"Are you satisfied, my legal wife?"

Meanwhile, Jeffery was watching indifferently on the side with his hands still in his pockets, as if watching a show.

The scene got chaotic, and Dad and Mom walked over.

I thought they were coming to support me, but Mom didn't even glance at me.

She was anxious, her voice panicked, "Where is Violet? You know she's unstable, so how could you just leave her alone? Tell me where she is! If anything happens to her, I won't forgive you!"

Dad took the microphone and announced to everyone, "Sorry, guys. We have a situation here, and we have to cancel the wedding for now. I'm really sorry. Thank you all for coming."

After he finished speaking, Dad looked sternly at Antonio and said, "Take me to Violet."

Dad didn't even look at me. He forced a calm tone, yet his voice trembling with anxiety.

Just then, a cry came from outside the door, "Dad, Mom..."

The door was pushed open, and Violet, in a white dress and with her tear-streaked face, staggered in.

The sound of her high heels clicking on the floor was crisp and clear.

She had been pampered like a princess by the Parrish family for over twenty years, and each of her moves was much more elegant than mine.

Even in such a state of panic, she still looked pitiable and beautiful.

"Mom, Dad, please don't abandon me..."

All eyes were drawn to her.

Mom was the first to react, tears falling as she rushed over to Violet.

"Violet, don't be afraid, Mom's here."

Dad's steps were heavy. The usually stern man was now red-eyed.

Mom couldn't wait to hold Violet, and Dad also reached out to embrace them tightly.

Antonio finally let out a sigh of relief and looked at Violet affectionately.

Jeffery glanced back at me and shook his head slowly.

I ignored him and just shambled to stand up.

My ankle throbbed in pain, probably from when I was knocked down earlier.

I limped in the opposite direction. However, after just a few steps, I was forcefully pulled back.

I stumbled and looked back, straight into Jeffery's face.

He said, "Grace, I'm really disappointed in you tonight.

"I thought you were a strong and resilient girl, but I never expected you to resort to such petty tricks.

"Violet has given you everything she had, yet you still won't let her go. You even provoked her at a critical moment like this.

"Grace, how would you become like this?"

The blood and wine had already dried and stuck on my face, like the marks of humiliation branded on me.

My specially customized wedding dress was now a tattered mess, stained and dirty. Suddenly, a wave of unbearable sadness washed over me.

This wedding dress was the most expensive piece I had ever worn.

Before the wedding, I stroked and checked it over and over again, preciously and carefully. To me, it was the most perfect and dazzling dress.

I had been looking forward to this day so much, to marry Antonio in this beautiful wedding dress.

I had loved him secretly for many years.

Half a year ago, Violet was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. Dad and Mom wanted a blood transfusion but found they were no match.

After an urgent investigation, they were led to Shirley Lester, my adoptive mother and the loyal nanny of the Parrish family for many years.

She was somehow possessed by a fit of madness back then and secretly switched me with Violet.

After that, she couldn't bear to part with her real daughter, so she chose to continue working for the Parrish family.

As the incident was exposed, she chose to end her life, leaving only a letter.

I had read that letter.

It was two pages long, but my name wasn't mentioned at all.

Upon knowing the truth, Violet couldn't handle the blow and suffered from depression.

In a pinch, Dad decisively replaced Violet with me to fulfill the engagement with the Kaufman family.

The reason given was that I was physically and mentally strong, thus more suitable for being in the public eye.

While Violet was too delicate, better suited to being a pampered lady at home.

I didn't hesitate to agree.

After all, Antonio was the one I had a crush on since childhood.

When I was a kid, I once went to the Parrish's place to help Shirley with chores. I got hungry but could only eagerly watch Violet eat snacks. Just then, Antonio arrived and invited me to eat with them.

I was cautious and hesitant. Violet looked down on me, even saying I was dirty. Antonio, however, said softly to me, "Everyone in this world is equal, so you don't have to feel inferior."

From that day on, he became the haunting crush hidden in my heart.

Every time I saw him, he would smile at me gently, like the fragrant and soft honey cake just out of the oven.

However, as an ordinary girl from a poor family, I could only watch him from afar, from twelve to twenty-two.

On the day of our engagement banquet, he kept silent as our parents were toasting. After a long time, he asked, "Is Violet better now?"

Mentioning Violet, everyone smiled more sincerely, and the conversation became lively.

I shrank into the corner, not saying a word. Antonio coldly looked at me and said, "What an ugly duckling."

I heard it and remembered it, then made great efforts to learn the etiquette of being a proper lady.

I wanted to be a good wife to him to please him.

However, I found out late that this marriage was just a trade-off.

Antonio was the only son for three generations, so the Kaufman family needed a woman who could bear a son.

Dad and Mom didn't bear to let Violet, who had anemia, take the risk.

And, it happened that I appeared, so there was suddenly a perfect solution.

But the truth was, I became someone who broke Antonio and Violet up.

Even Jeffery, who grew up with me, quickly sided with Violet after knowing what had happened.

Clearly, he and I were both children of the maids of the Parrish family. And, both of us had been bullied by Violet since we were kids.

I still remembered that when we were kids, he held my hand and told me he would study hard to become richer and more powerful than the Parrish family so that Violet would never dare to bully me again.

I really didn't know when he had changed.

I stumbled towards the door, but the more I wanted to escape, the more impossible it seemed to get away.

The dirt on my body smeared on the floor. The more I tried to clean myself, the dirtier I became.

Tears fell slowly, and I suddenly regretted having put up with all this for so long.

I fled the hotel and unconsciously returned to the rental house where Shirley and I used to live.

This place held more than twenty years of my unpleasant memories, but I really didn't know where else to go.

The wrong password prompt sounded, and I tried again.

Suddenly, the door was opened, and there was a bald man with a beer belly.

He glanced at me, spat, and cursed, "Fuck, who the hell are you?"

The door was slammed shut, and I could only leave in frustration.

This was no longer my home.

However, there was also no place for me in that glorious Parrish family.

Even the stray dogs barked at me.

I clutched my wedding dress and staggered to find a dark corner to sit down.

I was always in the dark.

When I was little, I picked up a mug that Violet discarded. She was very angry and took it back, saying that I didn't deserve her leftovers.

Antonio, with a stern expression, scolded her harshly for being too willful. Then he politely said to me, "Sorry, she didn't mean it."

Jeffery saved up his allowance for two months and bought me a pretty mug. He said to me, "Grace, you deserve the best."

In fact, before the wedding, I saw Antonio holding Violet and comforting her gently, "No matter what happens, I'll be by your side."

I once asked him why he would still love Violet even though knowing how mean she was.

Antonio answered me very seriously, "She's willful, selfish, and sometimes weird. I know that better than anyone. Therefore, I'm worried that without me, there will be no one to clean up her mess."

Back then, I really wanted to ask him what the kindness he had shown me all these years meant.

However, now I realized it was just his habit of cleaning up Violet's mess while comforting me was just by the way.

Ironically, I thought it was special treatment from him.

I had also secretly read Jeffery's diary.

His handwriting was neat and forceful.

He wrote, "I will strive to rise, and one day, I'll look down on Violet condescendingly. I'll make her beg for mercy and fall in love with me wholeheartedly."

I had also overheard Mom crying in her bedroom, whining in a soft voice, "Why isn't Violet my biological daughter?"

She disliked my dark skin and the way I always kept my head down while eating. She hated my meek look and rude behaviors, especially when compared to Violet.

Dad also often looked at me and sighed, "It is what it is."

It seemed like my existence had become their biggest problem.

Back then, I still held onto a sliver of foolish hope.

I stood in front of the mirror and kept adjusting my smile into a perfect curve, trying my best to train myself into a proper lady.

I smiled at Antonio's cold eyes and fought for Jeffery's opportunities.

However, in the end, no one even bothered to glance at me.

Drifting aimlessly, I really didn't know where to go.

The night was deep, and I felt like falling into the bottomless darkness, with no chance to struggle.

Before I could calm down, Dad called me.

I returned to the Parrish family for half a year and he had hardly ever reached out to me.

No matter what I thought, I still answered the call.

Then I heard Dad say in a heavy tone, "How could you leave as soon as Violet arrived? Were you deliberately embarrassing her? Have you ever thought about how others would see her?

"Get back now. If it wasn't for you calling Antonio, Violet wouldn't be so upset! She's unstable now and has been mumbling about you. Get back to explain and apologize to her.

"I'll give you five minutes, and don't let me down."

I was stunned for a moment, yet my numb mind suddenly got a bit clearer.

"I won't go back again."

I just wanted to stay far away from the Parrish family and the Kaufman family.

As soon as I finished, Dad shouted angrily, "Can you stop making a scene? All our lives have been messed up because of you. Do you really want to push Violet to her death?"

After he finished speaking, the phone seemed to be taken away by someone else.

Then Antonio's voice sounded, "Grace, I'm warning you, if anything happens to Violet tonight, I'll never let you off the hook."

Sorrow and despair slowly washed over me. I felt a dull pain spreading, and for a moment, the world fell silent.

The world was spinning before my eyes. On the other end of the phone, Antonio's impatient voice was still ringing, but I could no longer hear it clearly.

In fact, I was glad that I fainted, as I really wanted to escape from all this.

"Grace, I swear I'll keep my word. I won't let anyone hurt Violet. Even if you're the real daughter of the Parrish family, I still won't spare you."

To be honest, I didn't care at all.

My head hit the ground hard, but I felt no pain.

Instead, I felt a strange sense of relief, as there was finally some rare peace.

"Grace is sick? I don't believe it."

Antonio's voice was cold, with a hint of mockery.

"Hearing that Violet is sick, she immediately said she's sick too. Does she even know what breast cancer is? Uneducated liar!"

Before I opened my eyes, I already heard his voice.

Then came Dad's voice, "Maybe they made a mistake. Let her take another diagnosis and see what's really going on. No need to jump to conclusions yet."

"That's it. Violet can't be left alone, and I should head back now," Mom said anxiously.

Finally, Jeffery's indifferent voice sounded, "Stop pretending, I know you're awake."

I was stunned for a moment.

"Grace, we've known each other for over twenty years, so you can't fool me. They're already gone, so you can just stop acting."

I slowly opened my eyes and met his complicated gaze.

He continued, "Why can't you let Violet go? You have no idea what she's going through.

"Parents who've been together for over twenty years aren't blood-related, and she suddenly became an orphan. As an always-pampered girl, how could she accept it?

"Grace, don't you think you've gone too far?"