Chapter 1

Micah Lane was holding a knife to my throat, forcing me to call Timothy Lane for help. He promised to spare my life if Timothy showed up to save me.

I opened his pinned chat on WhatsApp and pressed the call icon. Micah glanced at my phone screen and sneered, his face covered in bruises.

"Have you always been this pathetic, Adeline Jones? You still have that true heir Timothy’s chat pinned? He abandoned you, yet you still call him your husband."

The blade pressed closer to my neck, sending me a wave of sharp pain. Timothy's impatient voice came through on the other end of the line, "Adeline, what nonsense is it now? There's nothing left for us to discuss. You'd better hurry up and sign the divorce papers, or else—"

I interrupted him with a trembling voice, "Tim, Micah's kidnapped me. Can you please come to save me? He said he'll only let me go if you come."

I heard a sarcastic laugh from the phone. "Micah kidnapped you? You two are really something. Of course the fake heiress and fake heir go together. No wonder you make such a perfect pair of actors."

Timothy was not wrong. I had been living Nancy Jones' life for 26 years. Meanwhile, Micah had taken Timothy's right as the Lanes' heir for 27 years.

Micah's grip tightened on the knife as he drove it deeper into my skin. The smell of blood grew stronger, and the pain in my neck intensified. I knew Micah was serious this time.

Suppressing my panic, I choked out, "I swear I'm not lying. You know what kind of person Micah is. He's really holding a knife to my throat. Please! I just want to live, even if it's only for the sake of—"

Suddenly, a woman's voice on the other end of the call cut me off. "Tim, do you think I should wear this white bunny outfit or this black leopard one later? Which one do you like more?"

That was Nancy, the real Jones heiress and Micah's ex-girlfriend. Hearing her voice pushed Micah over the edge. He took the knife from my neck and plunged it straight into my body.

"Ugh!

"Mmph…

My pained whimper and Nancy's gasp rang out at the same time. "Ugh... Tim, isn't it wrong for your wife to be hearing this?" she teased.

"So what if she hears? I want her to hear it so she'll finally give up and sign the papers. Otherwise, she'll just keep stalling with stunts like pretending Micah kidnapped her."

The wound was horrifyingly deep, and the knife at my throat pushed in even further. Instinctively, I screamed into the phone, "Timothy, please come save me! Micah's on drugs! He's out of his mind—"

Beep.

The line went dead.