At ten o'clock at night, the moon shone brightly in the dark sky. Room 101 of Sanctum Hotel was pitch-black, echoing with noises of lovemaking.Claire Weiss opened her eyes, her vision blurry and her body feeling as though it was on fire. Vaguely sensing that someone was on top of her, she struggled to push him away. However, the person didn't budge. Claire's mind was a mess, and she couldn't process the situation. All she could recall was that she had welcomed her fiance back from abroad, and out of pure excitement, overdrank. Her stepsister, Chantelle, had then sent her back to her room to rest. Who would have ever thought that she would be in this state as soon as she woke up?"Who are you…?" Claire didn't even have the strength to nudge the man. "Let go of me…"Never had she felt so powerless and yet addicted to someone. The man ignited her desires, and she couldn't help but respond to his touch.The man, on the other hand, was grimacing. He didn't seem to be in his right m

Five years later, at the airport in Ecraria, Claire was holding two flight tickets to her home country and staring blankly at them. Her thoughts drifted for a long time. She had been living in Ecraria for five years straight, and not once had she contacted her family.Liam treated her like she never existed, not caring whether she was dead or alive. If it weren't for Chantelle and Armand's engagement this time, he probably wouldn't have remembered Claire.Claire didn't reminisce about the land she had been away from for so many years, and any last shred of feelings she held toward it was gone once and for all on the night she was exiled.While she was unwilling to return and meet those who had hurt her, she couldn't win against her father's threatening phone call. If she were to disobey him, he would inflict harm on her grandmother.Claire's grandmother was the closest family member she had in the world. At first, Claire wanted to bring her grandmother along to Ecraria so that th

Claire's expression became sullen upon hearing Armand call Ollie a bastard. She shot daggers at him and warned, "Who are you calling a bastard?"Armand guffawed. He pointed at Ollie and said with a raised voice, "I'm talking about him, duh. Are you deaf?"The next second, Claire slapped him across the face. She couldn't believe this man was the same person she was once deeply in love with five years ago. After their time apart, she came to learn that their fleeting relationship meant nothing at all. The fact that he could treat a child so ruthlessly reflected how he'd taken her for granted.Claire's slap landed on Armand's cheek loudly, leaving him slightly dazed. While he touched his cheek in a trance, Chantelle was already yelling fiercely, "Claire, how could you hit him?" Armand was her fiancé; thus, she felt equally humiliated. However, no matter how angered she was, Claire wasn't fazed. Instead, she looked at Chantelle with an icy glare and said, "One more word from your mouth

Liam was wheezing, obviously infuriated. Standing beside him was Chantelle, who tried to mediate between them insincerely and soothe him. “Calm down, Dad. Don’t get worked up because of her. Now that she’s back, we can’t very well drive her away. Besides, the child is innocent. You have to remember that he’s your grandson.”She deliberately stressed the word “grandson” to fuel her father’s rage.Armand stood by the side as he watched the chaos that the Weiss family was in. As he focused on the large-eyed boy hiding behind Claire, he was suddenly reminded of the man who showed up beside her yesterday.His fists clenched as a gush of resentment rose up within him. Waves of emotion roiled in his eyes.He had, after all, been with Claire for several years. Though they had eventually broken up due to the incident, he still held a place for her in his heart.Claire stared at the family before her emotionlessly as she struggled to push back the bitterness that threatened to take over her. Sh

Liam turned to introduce Claire to the man beside him pleasantly, “Mr. Combe, this is my daughter, Claire Weiss.”Following Liam’s gestures toward her, Seamus Combe eyed Claire up, beaming so brightly that wrinkles formed around his eyes. “How lucky you are, Liam! I envy you for having two such beautiful daughters!”“You’re too kind, Mr. Combe.” Chantelle came over with Armand when she heard what he said. “I’m nowhere as lovely as my sister. In fact, she’s so much prettier than I am!”Claire felt a fearful apprehension creeping up on her when she saw how cheerful her father looked.“I only have two daughters.” Liam cleared his throat before he continued, “Now that my younger daughter has found her happiness, it’s time for me to think about my elder daughter’s future.”He then turned to Claire and prompted, “Claire, why don’t you talk to Mr. Combe?”Claire felt sick at the sight of him trying to play the part of a loving father.It finally dawned on her that this was the reason why he c