Four years ago, Cecelia had been a medical student and the undisputed beauty of the campus. She rarely smiled, seldom attended social events, and dressed simply. Nearly all of her time was devoted to studying.

Yet admirers seemed to appear everywhere. Upperclassmen. Underclassmen. Classmates. There was never any shortage of people pursuing her.

Claire Clark had always been jealous of that. What made her even more jealous was what happened later.

To help cover their living expenses, the four girls in their dorm took part-time jobs at DL, a newly opened luxury nightclub. While working there, Cecelia accidentally crossed paths with Damien Vaughn and saved his life.

Of course, Cecelia had no idea who Damien Vaughn was back then. She was the type of person who kept her head down, worked hard, and minded her own business. Outside of classes and part-time work, she paid little attention to anything else.

Claire, on the other hand, had learned the identities and backgrounds of Veridia’s most eligible heirs within days of starting work at DL.

After the incident, Damien stayed in one of the club’s private penthouse suites while recovering from his injuries. To keep matters discreet, very few people knew he was there. But someone still needed to deliver his meals and medication every day.

Determined to get close to him, Claire pulled every string she could with management and finally secured the job.

On her very first day, she secretly slipped something into Damien’s food.

Her plan was simple.

Once it took effect, she would get involved with Damien and secure a place by his side.

Unfortunately for her, things didn’t go according to plan.

Just before it was time to deliver the meal, she was struck by severe stomach cramps and had to rush to the restroom. The delay lasted barely two minutes. Two minutes was all it took for the manager to hand the tray to Cecelia instead.

Claire waited anxiously outside the suite.

More than two hours later, Cecelia finally emerged. Her clothes were rumpled. Her expression was dazed.

Seeing that, Claire immediately jumped to conclusions. Something must have happened between them.

Jealousy consumed her.

Unwilling to let her carefully planned future slip away, she ran to the building’s electrical control room and deliberately started a fire, knocking out power to the entire club. Then, amid the chaos, she slipped into Damien’s suite herself.

In the end, she got exactly what she wanted.

When Damien woke up and saw her there, he didn’t question anything. He simply asked for her contact information.

Afterward, Cecelia remained unusually quiet about what had happened that night. Claire watched her carefully and noticed that she never mentioned the incident to anyone.

At first, Claire believed she had successfully secured her position as Damien’s future girlfriend. Then she discovered that Cecelia was pregnant. Trying to save money, Cecelia had apparently purchased birth control from a small clinic.

It hadn’t worked.

Claire immediately began pretending to care. She comforted Cecelia, gained her trust, and even volunteered to accompany her to the hospital for an abortion.

But after an examination, the doctor delivered unexpected news.

Cecelia had been born with an unusually thin uterine wall. If she underwent the procedure, there was a significant chance she would never be able to have children again.

At the time, Cecelia’s mother had been dead for less than six months. Faced with losing both her mother and her unborn child, her heart softened. And she decided to keep the baby.

Claire panicked.

If Cecelia gave birth, what would happen to her own future?

After agonizing over it for days, she reached a conclusion.

If she couldn’t secure her future, she would destroy Cecelia’s instead.

Rumors soon began circulating around campus. Claire claimed that Cecelia had become the mistress of a wealthy businessman and was carrying his child. To make matters worse, she secretly planted her most expensive necklace inside Cecelia’s locker and framed her for theft.

The scandal exploded.

Cecelia was expelled from school and forced to return to her hometown in disgrace. Only then did Claire finally breathe a sigh of relief.

From that moment on, her own life changed completely.

Whenever she tearfully complained to Damien about her family’s struggles, he quietly took care of everything. Her parents moved into a luxury apartment. Her brother was given a respectable job.

As for Claire herself, she had hoped to become Damien’s girlfriend. Unfortunately, once he was fully sober and thinking clearly, he showed absolutely no romantic interest in her.

Instead, he arranged for her to attend one of the world’s top medical schools overseas. There, she spent the next four years.

She had only recently returned.

By coincidence, Damien happened to have a rare window of free time. After relentlessly pestering him, she finally convinced him to accompany her on a shopping trip.

She had planned to use the opportunity to spend time with him and strengthen their relationship.

The last thing she expected was to run into Cecelia.

Afraid Damien might somehow connect the dots, Claire immediately launched her attack.

"Cecelia, don’t you recognize me?" She smiled mockingly. "I’m Claire Clark. Why aren’t you answering my questions?" Her gaze swept over the stall. "Why are you selling clothes on the street? Did the baby’s father dump you? Or did he go bankrupt? Where is he? And where’s your child?"

She laughed. "You’re not actually supporting yourself with this little stall, are you?" Then she shook her head dramatically. "Honestly, look at you. You threw away a promising future to have a baby for some man, and in the end—"

SLAM!

Cecelia slammed her textbook onto the plastic stool. She’d had enough.

"Claire Clark, right?" Her voice was ice-cold. "It’s been years since we last met." She looked Claire up and down. "You’ve definitely upgraded the packaging." A faint smile appeared. "But underneath, you’re still just as vicious and disgusting as ever."

Claire’s expression froze.

"What a waste of such an expensive outfit." Cecelia crossed her arms. "Out of everyone here, you’re the one who knows exactly what happened back then." She took a step forward. "And you know exactly how I ended up where I am today."

Her gaze sharpened.

"Just because you’ve got a man standing next to you doesn’t mean you can pretend we don’t have a history." She tilted her head. "Doesn’t that act get exhausting?"

Claire was momentarily speechless. Then Cecelia glanced at Damien before turning back to Claire. "So?" She pointed at the clothing rack. "Are you buying something or not? If you are, pay for it. If not, move aside and stop blocking my customers."

Once again, Claire found herself unable to respond. It seemed Cecelia’s temper had become much sharper over the years. And now she was humiliating her in front of Damien.

Fine. If that was how Cecelia wanted to play it, Claire would return the favor.

A sneer appeared on her lips. She casually reached out and began flipping through the clothes on display. Then she turned to Damien, her voice instantly softening.

"Damien." She smiled sweetly. "You heard her. She’s an old classmate. Since we’re already here, and she’s clearly struggling, I’ll let everything she just said slide and help her out." She looked back at the stall. "Just give me a minute."

Claire’s manicured fingers glittered with rhinestones and crystals. Like a socialite inspecting bargain-bin merchandise, she picked up a lace dress and examined it critically.

"Cecelia." She wrinkled her nose. "Where did you even get these clothes? I understand you’re trying to make money, but honestly, the quality is terrible."

She held the dress at arm’s length. "I was considering buying a few pieces for my housekeepers." Then she laughed. "But with quality like this, I’m afraid even they wouldn’t want them."

Even her housekeepers wouldn’t want them? Did Claire really think a designer dress and a luxury handbag had turned her into royalty overnight?

The performance was so ridiculous it bordered on comedy. Unable to help herself, Cecelia looked at Damien.

"Sir." Her tone dripped with sarcasm. "You must be very successful." She smiled faintly. "You’ve spoiled your girlfriend into being unbelievably arrogant. I owe you an apology. I clearly underestimated you." Then she added, "You wouldn’t happen to be the richest man in Veridia, would you?"

Damien hadn’t expected to run into Cecelia here either. Nor had he expected to accidentally learn the truth about how she ended up having Candy.

So that was what had happened. That was why the little girl had grown up without a father.

But another question bothered him.

Didn’t Cecelia already have a job? What was she doing here, selling clothes at a night market? Was she really that short on money? Even if she sold every item tonight, how much could she possibly make? And if she needed money that badly, why had she repeatedly refused the money he’d offered?

More importantly, Damien didn’t like the way she was looking at him tonight.

He was about to speak when—

"Oh!" Claire suddenly cried out. "What kind of cheap garbage is this?" She held up the dress dramatically. "You’re actually selling clothes with loose threads?" She turned toward Damien. "That’s so irresponsible." Then she gasped, "Damien, help!"

She yanked backward. A loud ripping sound followed. A long snag now ran straight through the fabric.

The dress was ruined. But Claire didn’t seem remotely concerned about the dress. Instead, she lifted her hand dramatically.

"Look!" She pouted. "My new manicure. The crystal fell off." She thrust her hand toward Damien. "It hurts so much." Then she batted her eyelashes. "Blow on it for me, please?"