Chapter 1

My father was Tristan Scott's driver. Ten years ago, he was stabbed to death when saving Tristan during an abduction attempt.

Tristan held me tightly and promised, "On behalf of your father, I will take care of you for the rest of your life."

Later on, my mother fell ill from worry, and her cancer relapsed. She hoped to see Tristan and me getting married before she passed away, but on the day of our wedding, Tristan left me at the altar.

I tearfully pleaded with him to try and stop him from leaving, but he declared with a sneer, "By now, you should be satisfied with the amount of wealth and glory you've gotten in exchange for your father's life! How dare you even think about getting married to me? In your dreams!"

In the end, Mom died before she could see Tristan put the wedding ring on me as she had hoped.

That night, Tristan's assistant, Sally Cunningham, updated her social media account. She uploaded a photo of her and Tristan with their faces pressed together. Her hand was raised before the camera, revealing the ring on her finger.

The caption read, "My answer is yes."

By the time I saw Sally's post, Mom's body had already been taken to the morgue. I'd called Tristan 30 times, but he didn't answer a single one of my calls.

However, he did leave a comment on Sally's post.

"I'll fulfill all my promises to you."

In the photo, Tristan and Sally were in a tight embrace, and I even saw underwears behind them. It was obvious what they'd just been doing.

I felt as if all the energy had been sucked out of me. My heart ached so much that I almost couldn't breathe.

With just a single call from Sally, Tristan left me at the altar. Mom got so furious and agitated that she fainted on the spot. Even when she was lying on the hospital bed taking her last few breaths, she was preoccupied with her sorrow over not getting to see me start my own family.

However, Tristan had placed the ring that was supposed to be my wedding ring on Sally's finger instead.

While they were busy with their bout of passion, Mom passed away and was delivered into the cold, dreary morgue.

I figured Tristan had forgotten the promise he made ten years ago.

He was born the son of a wealthy family, while I was just the daughter of the Scott family's driver.

When Tristan was 14, one of the Scott family's enemies abducted him to blackmail the family. Dad boldly rushed in to save him, but in the process, his throat was slit. He died on the spot.

Feeling indebted to us, the Scotts took care of us from then onward.

The biggest change of all was Tristan's attitude toward me. Previously, he had always been rather unfriendly, but after that incident, he personally visited us to thank us.

He even took me by the hand and made a promise, saying, "Claudia, now that Mr. Granger isn't around anymore, I'll look after you for the rest of your life, okay?"

Being a teenage girl, I was easily taken over by such an ardent confession. I was even foolish enough to believe that he made it out of genuine affection for me.

The year we graduated from college, Tristan made a grand proposal to me in front of the media. Yet, the next day, he took Sally to the famous Love Bridge in Eiran and placed a lock there with her.

From then onward, he disappeared from my life and spent all his time with Sally instead. He dined with her and went traveling with her. He would even rush to her side in the middle of the night just to hug her when she said she had a nightmare.

When I saw the hickeys on his neck and smelled someone else's perfume on him, I asked him about it, but all I got in return was a tirade from him.

"Claudia, do you actually think you're my fiancée just because we treat you a little bit nicer? You got everything you have now by sacrificing your dad's pathetic life. Isn't that enough to satisfy you?"

He smacked my face and eyed me in scorn before continuing, "Don't be too greedy, Claudia!"

I couldn't understand why Tristan had suddenly changed into an entirely different person. Nevertheless, due to the Scott family's involvement, our wedding was held as scheduled.

That day, Tristan wasn't even willing to get changed into his suit. He kept checking his phone, seemingly worried and impatient.

When it was time for us to exchange our wedding rings, Sally finally called him, and he abandoned me without hesitation.

Later on, Mom was taken to the emergency room after she fainted. I couldn't get Tristan on the phone, so I had no choice but to run over to Sally's house and get on my knees to beg him, "Mom wants to see us get married before she passes away. Please come with me…"

Tristan looked down at me. With a cold, arrogant expression, he said, "You would even resort to such a heinous excuse just to trick me into getting married to you, Claudia. I pity your mom."

Just then, Sally cleared her throat and called out coquettishly, "Tristan, you wore me out. I'm going to take a nap."

Tristan tapped her nose affectionately before turning back to me, saying, "I'm going to nap with Sally. I don't have time to play along with your little act. Get lost, Claudia!"

"I'm not acting!"

Fervently shaking my head, I tearfully explained, "My mom really is on her deathbed, Tristan…"

However, he simply scoffed and replied, "She deserves it for disturbing Sally's rest! She should hurry up and die!"

Then, without sparing me another glance, he slammed the door shut.

Mom didn't get to die in peace, and I lost my only family.