The mentally impaired Prince of Harlette was set to marry the eldest daughter of the Princeton Family.
Upon hearing the news, my parents panicked and decided to kidnap me to take her place.
I refused, claiming that I had already been removed from the family registry and fled the country by climbing over the wall and boarding an international flight in the middle of the night.
I had no idea that, less than six months after her wedding, Kendall Princeton had become restless and lonely. She was caught having an affair with another man at Mrs. Halton's birthday banquet.
Humiliated, she committed suicide.
The Princeton Family was also implicated, their stock prices plummeted and my parents' lifelong efforts went down the drain.
I pleaded with my childhood sweetheart and fiancé to save the Princeton Family, but all I heard was his seething hatred.
"I invested twenty billion to short the stock and bring down the Princeton Family. How could I possibly save you?"
"If you hadn't stood by and let her marry that fool, how could she have taken her own life at such a young age? You are Kendall’s murderer. I will make sure you go to hell!"
"Want money? Use your own life to pay for it!"
He personally bound me and took me to an underground money lender, watching helplessly as I was tortured to death.
Only then did I realize that it wasn’t just my parents and older brother—even my fiancé had only eyes for Kendall!
After being reborn, I severed all blood ties, abandoned my youthful affection and voluntarily married into the Harlette family.
But when I stood atop the clouds, crowned and looked down on everyone, they regretted it so much that they went mad.
——
The Prince of Harlette narrowly escaped death after an attack, but remained mentally unstable for five years.
Yet, when Mrs. Halton selected a bride for him, she clutched tightly to the note bearing the name of the Princeton Family’s eldest daughter.
The old lady issued an order, “Marry the Princeton Family's eldest daughter into the family.”
The news spread like wildfire throughout the city and the daughters of wealthy families were all waiting to see Kendall's humiliation.
After all, everyone knew that the Princeton Family had only one daughter, Kendall Princeton.
My parents were so distraught they went gray overnight, unwilling to let their beloved daughter marry a fool, even if he was the esteemed Prince of Harlette.
I looked at my reflection in the mirror, my face still young with a straight fringe, silently counting down.
“Three, two, one…”
The door burst open and my older brother, Larry Princeton, rushed in first.
"Lilian, you know if you’re the real heiress of the Princeton Family, right? This marriage should have been yours. Why should Kendall marry that fool?"
"Whether you like it or not, in a week, the Halton family will come to claim her. You must marry in her place!"
My parents followed closely behind.
Seeing their worried expressions, they must have just come from Kendall's room.
An hour earlier, the house had been in chaos. Katnis had secretly inquired and reported that Kendall was refusing to marry, staging a hunger strike in her room.
My parents were terrified and had pleaded with her for a long time before finally convincing her to eat half a bowl of porridge.
They couldn't bear to part with Kendall, so they came to force me.
But clearly, I was their only biological daughter!
I calmly met Larry's hate-filled gaze and questioned, "Brother, have you lost your mind?”
“Ten years ago, it was my mother who personally erased my name from the family registry. She said she only recognizes Kendall as her daughter and the Princeton Family has only one heiress!"
"The Halton Family specifically requested to marry the Princeton Family's daughter. I, an outsider with no connection to Pirnceton Family, am being forced to marry into their family. Don't you fear provoking the Halton Family's wrath, which would bring disaster upon the entire Princeton's?"
Kendall was not my mother's biological daughter, yet she had taken all of my mother's affection.
Ten years ago, my mother was robbed and the maid took a knife for her, dying on the spot, leaving behind a young daughter.
My mother, out of gratitude, raised the little girl by her side, personally educating her. Not only changing her surname and adding her to the family registry but also gradually distancing herself from me.
Kendall had a lively and carefree personality and with my mother's spoiling, her status in the family has surpassed mine, the legitimate heiress.
