Ariadnie Elizabeth was the number one beauty in the capital—bold, dazzling, a red rose in full bloom. She had men falling at her feet, and the line of suitors chasing after her could stretch from Houston all the way to France.
But after she met Rasper Stallone, she settled down.
They had been dating for three years. When she accidentally found out she was pregnant, she couldn’t wait to share the surprise with him.
She had just reached the door of the private room when she heard someone ask, “Bro, Ariadnie’s birthday is next week. Is the big surprise ready?”
“Yep,” Rasper said, his voice low and slightly drunk. “The gift I prepared for her will be something she’ll never forget for the rest of her life.”
A happy smile curved at Ariadnie’s lips as she caressed her belly.
For three years, no matter how many women threw themselves at him like moths to a flame, his eyes had only ever held her.
She believed—he must be planning to propose.
Suddenly, the room erupted in laughter.
“Bro, Ariadnie isn’t just gorgeous. She’s got a killer body, too. You think she’d puke blood if she found out that the one who actually slept with her for the past three years was your twin brother—and that you’ve recorded tons of videos to release on her birthday?”
“That’s nothing. If she found out that the dance competition that drove her sister to a mental breakdown and into a coma was something you personally rigged—just so Reagan could win—she’d lose it even harder, wouldn’t she?”
Ariadnie’s mind went blank. A roaring noise filled her ears.
Every word stabbed into her heart like a sharp blade—swift, precise, brutal.
“Bro, since you’re the one trying to screw her over, you’re the one who asked me to come back and pretend to be you. For three years! My back is about to snap. How are you planning to compensate me?”
“Redmond, don’t act like a martyr. If I didn’t look different from Rasper, you think it’d ever be your turn?”
She staggered back a few steps. Through the window, she saw a man beside Rasper—someone who looked exactly like him, identical except for a tiny tear-shaped mole at the corner of his eye.
Their voices kept repeating in her mind, tearing her apart from the inside.
“Redmond, tell the truth. After sleeping with her for three years, you didn’t fall for her even once?”
“Fall for her?” Redmond let out a cold laugh. “A woman with that kind of reputation? I don’t care how pretty she is; she disgusts me. If it weren’t for Reagan, my brother’s first love, I would’ve never touched her.”
“Dang! You’re the man, bro!”
Laughter broke out again.
Someone couldn’t help but ask, “Rasper, you’ve had a crush on Reagan for years. Why not just confess already?”
Rasper’s expression instantly turned cold. “Reagan is an illegitimate child. She’s been bullied by Ariadnie her entire life. I’m settling this score for her first. Once everything’s done, I’ll confess.”
“Damn. The golden boy of Houston is actually a hopeless romantic. You stared at the eldest Ariadnie’s face for three years and didn’t catch feelings at all?”
Rasper seemed to smile, his tone indifferent. “In my eyes, she’s not even worth a single strand of Reagan’s hair.”
Ariadnie’s fingers trembled. She could barely stay on her feet.
Her heart felt like it was being sliced apart piece by piece; she couldn’t even breathe from the pain.
Reagan… She was the illegitimate daughter her father brought home after Ariadnie’s mother died giving birth.
So even before the marriage, he already had another woman.
From that day on, everything she thought was a happy life collapsed.
Her father and stepmother favored Reagan in every way, suffocating her and Amina, her older sister.
Amina was quiet and gentle, always backing down. Ariadnie fought back instead.
But outside, everyone called her naturally vicious, accusing her of bullying her “younger sister.”
Depression consumed her. She drowned herself in nightlife—drinking, partying, trying to numb herself.
It was Rasper who stepped into her life and pulled her out of the mire.
That year, she was drunk at a bar when someone drugged her. Reagan’s friends surrounded her, tearing her clothes and hair.
“With garbage like you, how dare you compete with Reagan? Just die already!”
Rasper appeared like a hero, covering her with his coat. His voice was sharp and threatening. “Who gave you the guts to humiliate her like this?”
He stomped on the ringleader’s fingers. “Do it again next time, and I won’t let you off.”
He was the first person who had ever treated her that well—the first person she ever loved.
Looking back now… she realized that even that rescue was probably something he planned from the start.
Everything had been a setup.
For Reagan, the man Ariadnie loved pushed her sister into hell—and for Reagan again, he delivered her to another man’s bed.
The conversation inside continued.
“I played with her for three years. Now, I’m finally free…”
“You and Rasper still look a little different if you look closely—especially that mole. She never noticed?”
Redmond snorted. “She obeys everything I say. I always turned the lights down, and sometimes we’d play with blindfolds. She acts like a proper lady in public. But in bed, she’s as tame as a kitten. I even took videos of her on my phone, and she never noticed.”
Ariadnie’s heart clenched. Her nails dug deep into her palm.
“Hey, after you dump her, can you let me have a turn?”
Rasper exhaled smoke and didn’t answer.
“What, you reluctant?”
“Why would I be?” Rasper sneered. “If you can catch her, she’s all yours.”
“And you, Redmond?”
Redmond chuckled. “I’m bored already. If you don’t mind the filth, be my guest.”
The room broke out in laughter again.
Ariadnie grabbed a bottle of strong liquor, shoved her hair tie inside, and lit it. The moment the flame caught, she hurled it into the private room.
Soon, panicked screams erupted from inside.
She didn’t even look back.
Stepping out into the heavy rain, she dialed her stepmother’s number.
Her red lips curled into a mocking smile, her eyes cold and resolute.
“I’ve decided. That useless playboy from the Paytons… I’ll marry him.”
