Chapter 1

I was born without a uterus. It was a secret I kept from everyone, even my parents.

On my eighteenth birthday, my parents found their biological daughter.

At her welcome-home gala, the real heiress, Melody, held her champagne glass and clinked it against mine.

The moment our glasses touched, a cold, mechanical voice rang clearly in my head:

[Ding! Target detected: Seraphina Vance. Level: Top-tier beauty. Initiate plunder?]

Melody screamed in her mind:

[Yes! Plunder it all! Why does she get to enjoy my life so effortlessly?! I want it all back! Her face, her grace, everything!]

[Command confirmed. Plunder initiated. Irreversible.]

A moment later, a strange warmth bloomed deep in my lower abdomen.

And Melody suddenly looked radiant, her skin glowing under the chandelier.

She looked at me, a sweet, triumphant smile playing on her lips.

"Sera, I hope we get along."

I met her eyes and curled my lips into a gentle smile.

"Welcome home, Melody."

It was as if she had been digitally enhanced.

Her features softened, her skin turned translucent, and standing under the light, she was breathtakingly beautiful.

The guests began to whisper.

"Was the real Vance daughter always this gorgeous?"

"The Vance genetics are insane."

"Sera used to be the star, but tonight she looks... a bit faded, doesn't she?"

I heard it all.

I looked at myself in the full-length mirror.

My features were the same, but the sharp, captivating allure was gone.

I looked like a porcelain vase that had lost its glaze.

Still clean, but no longer priceless.

Richard Vance quickly recovered, pulling Melody to the center of the room to introduce her to the crowd.

"This is Melody. Our biological daughter. The true heiress of the Vance empire."

Melody stood in the center of the crowd, soaking in the admiration.

Occasionally, she glanced at me, the smugness in her eyes barely concealed.

I ignored her, set my glass down, and walked out onto the balcony.

The night breeze brushed against me, but the warmth in my lower abdomen hadn't faded.

It felt completely foreign.

When I was fifteen, I realized I was different from other girls.

While they complained about period cramps and whispered about tampons, I had nothing.

I secretly went to the hospital.

The diagnosis was cold and absolute:

Congenital absence of uterus and vaginal aplasia. MRKH Syndrome.

From that day on, I locked that secret away.

The Vance family arranged annual physicals for me, but I always paid a private clinic to falsified my gynecological records to avoid deep exams.

I knew my family too well.

If they found out I was sterile, my engagement to Julian Sterling would be instantly terminated.

I would go from being the Vance family's most exquisite ornament to their most embarrassing piece of trash.

Halfway through the party, I went to the restroom to touch up my makeup.

Just as I reached the corner, I heard Melody's muffled, ecstatic laughter.

She was hiding behind the terrace door, tracing her face with trembling fingers.

"System, did it work?"

The robotic voice rang again.

[Top-tier beauty plunder complete.]

[Transfer progress: 100%.]

[Target Seraphina's aesthetic aura has been significantly weakened.]

Melody's voice shook with excitement.

"It's irreversible, right? She can never take it back?"

[Once the command is executed, it cannot be undone.]

"Perfect."

She let out a low laugh.

"Sera actually has a day like this. She occupied my spot for eighteen years. Why did everyone love her? Now, her face is mine. Next, I want her fiancé, her poise, and that high-and-mighty attitude she always has in a crowd."

I stood silently behind the wall, listening to every word.

So, she was that happy.

When a prey willingly bites the hook, the last thing you want to do is startle it.

I gently placed my hand over my lower abdomen.

A trace of that warm sensation still lingered there.

It felt like a crack was being pried open in a place that had been frozen for eighteen years.

Melody thought she was stealing my face.

But she didn't know.

Once you start taking things that don't belong to you, you can't stop.

And what I wanted was never just that face.