From Stand-In to Queen

Everyone said I was lucky. After the Don, Lucas Vaughn, brought me back to his estate, I became the woman he treasured most.

He would halt billion-dollar deals just to be home on time to put me to sleep. He even learned sign language in secret, just so he could communicate with me after my vocal cords were damaged.

At first, I didn’t dare give him my heart.

Whenever he looked at me, his focus would drift. He showered me with gifts, yet always disappeared on the days that mattered most.

As the child in my womb grew, and as Lucas’s devotion intensified day by day, I let my guard down. I devoted myself completely to the role of wife and Donna.

Until the night I gave birth.

I hemorrhaged during a difficult labor, but Lucas never showed up.

After surviving by sheer luck, I finally saw the trending news. Lucas attended a Thames-side gala arm-in-arm with rising movie star, Serena Vale.

That was when I understood. To him, I had only ever been a substitute.

He broke his rules for her again and again. He indulged her humiliations toward me and even shoved me toward armed attackers at the brink of life and death.

Filled with hatred, I closed my eyes and sank into the deep sea, just as he wished.

Later, he knelt, clutching the hem of my dress, begging, "Zoe, please give me one more chance. I’ll repay you with my life."

His life was worth too little now. I no longer wanted it.

The hospital room was cold and silent, a single-occupancy ward stripped down to the bare minimum.

When the door was kicked open, I was forcing myself to endure the tearing pain in my abdomen while rocking my newborn daughter, Luna Vaughn, to sleep.

"How is your recovery, Miss Lang?" Her tone was deliberately restrained, yet nothing could conceal the innate elegance she carried.

The moment I saw her face clearly, I froze.

So this was Serena Vale, the national darling who had recently been appearing everywhere at Lucas Vaughn's side.

My fingers trembled as I instinctively pulled the blanket tighter around myself.

Before I could think further, she bent down toward the swaddled baby, handling her casually. Her sharp, manicured nails scraped across my daughter's cheek, leaving a red mark behind.

"So it's a girl?" she said lightly. "Lucas needs an heir who can inherit the family. Your womb is really disappointing."

Her mockery hit me like a blade.

I shook my head frantically.

That was not true!

When he had leaned down to feel the baby's movements, his eyes had been full of anticipation. I had seen it clearly.

"Don't get worked up." Serena chuckled softly, her voice dripping with disdain. "She doesn't look like Lucas at all. She looks like you. Hopefully, she won't end up like you—crippled."

I raised my hands urgently, signing with shaking fingers: [Please don't curse my daughter. She is healthy.]

"Tsk. Communicating like this is such