Chapter 1

On the day Evan Carter was supposed to meet my adoptive parents, his phone was turned off all day.

As my future husband, he had confidently promised me the night before that he would win my parents over.

Yet even after the server had refilled our glasses for the sixth time, I still couldn’t reach him.

A few hours later, I came across a post from Evan’s assistant, Maya Collins.

In the photos, Evan was sitting on her family’s couch with bags of expensive gifts around him, keeping her parents company.

The caption read:

“My family has been pressuring me to get married nonstop. Thank you to my amazing boss for stepping in and pretending to be my boyfriend so I could get through this!”

Evan finally arrived at the restaurant that evening.

“Tessa, I’m sorry I’m late. Something urgent came up at work, so I had to deal with it.”

He took my cold hand and gently tried to reassure me.

“I was so nervous about meeting your parents today that I forgot to charge my phone last night. It died, and I couldn’t turn it back on all day.

“Could you arrange another time for me to meet your parents? Please?”

After seven years together, he still wasn’t willing to tell me a single honest word.

His so-called work emergency was actually nothing more than pretending to be his assistant’s boyfriend to help her deal with her parents’ pressure to get married.

Years of disappointment finally reached their breaking point.

I gently pulled my hand away and slipped off my engagement ring.

“We’re not getting married. Go ahead and play boyfriend for her for the rest of your life.”

Chapter 1

Evan Carter froze for a moment as he watched me take off my ring. His brows furrowed slightly.

“Tessa, what are you talking about? What do you mean, pretending for the rest of our lives? Didn’t I tell you something urgent came up at the company?”

He reached for my hand, trying to slip the ring back onto my finger.

“Stop it. I’ll apologize to your parents. I promise I’ll make a good impression next time.”

I pulled my hand away and stared at him.

“Something urgent came up at the company?

“What company emergency required you to show up at Maya’s house with bags full of gifts and pretend to be her boyfriend?”

Evan’s hand froze in midair.

I took out my phone, pulled up a screenshot of Maya Collins’ social media post, and pushed it toward him.

The cold glow of the screen washed over his face.

In the photo, he was sitting on Maya’s couch, his head bowed as he peeled an orange for her grandmother. His profile looked gentle and patient.

I had spent an entire month convincing my foster parents to meet Evan.

The Morgan family had always been strict. They thought Evan came from an ordinary family and wasn’t mature or dependable enough.

I had fought against their objections and repeatedly assured them that Evan treated me well and was someone I could trust with my future.

Only then had they reluctantly cleared their schedules for today.

We had waited in the private dining room for three hours.

When the server came in for the sixth time to refill our glasses, my foster father, Richard Morgan, set his glass down heavily and walked out without saying a word.

Meanwhile, my fiancé was busy peeling oranges for another woman’s grandmother.

The moment Evan saw the screenshot, his expression changed. But he quickly composed himself.

“Tessa, listen to me. Let me explain. Maya’s grandmother isn’t in good health.

“She suddenly insisted that Maya should bring her boyfriend home today. She said she wouldn’t take her medicine unless she saw that her granddaughter had someone to rely on.

“I was only helping her out as her boss. I was just pretending for the occasion.”

His voice softened.

“We only had dinner together. Nothing happened.

“You’re usually such a kind person. You couldn’t just stand by and let an elderly woman get sick, could you?”

I stared into his utterly self-righteous eyes, unable to find the situation funny in the slightest.

“So you helped her out by ruining my meeting with my parents?”

Evan fell silent.

“I didn’t do it on purpose. I was going to text you and let you know, but I forgot to charge my phone last night, so it died…”

Before he could finish, his phone screen suddenly lit up.

A crisp notification chimed through the room.

A new message from Maya appeared on the screen.

[Mr. Carter, thank you for today. Grandma slept very peacefully.]

The private dining room fell deathly silent.

I stared at the glowing screen, finding the whole thing absurd beyond words.

Evan hesitated for a second, guilt flashing across his face.

He quickly turned his phone face down on the table.

“Tessa, I…”

That one second was enough.

I stood up and pushed open the door.

As soon as I stepped outside the restaurant, I spotted the black Maybach parked by the curb.

The window rolled down.

My foster mother, Anna Morgan, sat in the back seat, her expression unreadable.

“Get in. We’re going home.”

Uneasily, I opened the door and climbed inside, clasping my hands tightly in my lap.

I had been adopted by the Morgan family when I was twelve.

The Morgan family’s biological daughter, Claire Morgan, had died in an accident that same year. Anna had suffered a mental breakdown, and Richard had chosen me from an orphanage because my features bore a slight resemblance to Claire.

For all these years, they had provided me with everything I needed and given me the best education money could buy. Yet they had always treated me with a certain politeness and distance.

They never asked about the friends I made or cared about my grades.

I had always assumed it was because I was an outsider and didn’t deserve their genuine discipline or expectations.

But now, I had embarrassed them.

When we returned to the Morgan estate, I stood in front of the coffee table with my head lowered, bracing myself for my father’s questions and disappointment.

After all, they had turned down a business meeting worth hundreds of millions of dollars just for me, only to sit around waiting at the restaurant for three hours.

But nothing happened.

My father rubbed his temples, then got up and headed toward his study.

My mother removed the wrap from her shoulders and sighed.

“Get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

No one scolded me.

No one even asked why Evan hadn’t come.

I stood alone in the empty living room, cold from head to toe.

They weren’t even willing to yell at me.

Chapter 2

The next morning, my phone buzzed.

Evan had sent me a message.

[Tessa, have you calmed down after sleeping on it? Are you still angry?]

[Maya feels terrible about what happened yesterday, too. Her grandmother really wasn’t doing well, and I couldn’t get away.]

[Let me take you to your favorite restaurant tonight to make it up to you. How does that sound?]

I stared at the messages without replying.

He thought this was nothing more than a minor mistake. A meal and a few soothing words would be enough to make me forget about it.

I took a half-day off work, grabbed my spare key, and took a cab to Evan’s apartment.

Half of my belongings were still there.

I planned to collect the clothes and personal items I’d left behind and take everything with me.

The lock clicked softly.

I pushed open the door, then stopped in the entryway.

Beside the shoe cabinet sat a neatly arranged pair of silver women’s high heels.

They weren’t my size.

A moment later, the guest bedroom door opened.

Maya stepped out, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

She was wearing an oversized men’s shirt that fell just below her thighs, leaving her bare legs exposed.

It was the shirt I’d carefully picked out as Evan’s birthday present last month.

I’d told him then to wear it to important occasions.

Now Maya was wearing it as pajamas.

The moment she saw me, she froze. She instinctively tugged at the collar.

“Tessa... what are you doing here?”

The door to the master bedroom opened right after that.

Evan stepped out in a T-shirt and sweatpants. The moment he saw me standing in the entryway, the color drained from his face.

“Tessa?”

I looked at the two of them, my stomach churning with disgust.

“Wasn’t tonight supposed to be your way of making it up to me?

“You brought her to your apartment, and that’s your idea of making it up to me?”

Evan strode toward me and reached for my hand.

“Tessa, calm down! Let me explain!”

I took a step back, avoiding his touch.

“Explain what?” I pointed at the shirt Maya was wearing.

“Explain why she came out of your guest room, or explain why she’s wearing the shirt I bought for you?”

Evan frowned, his voice taking on a reproachful edge.

“Can you stop being so sensitive? Maya took care of her grandmother last night and fainted from low blood sugar in the hospital hallway.

“I couldn’t just leave her alone on the street, could I?

“She threw up on her clothes last night and ruined her dress, so she grabbed something from the closet.

“I didn’t even know that was something you bought for me.”

Something she just grabbed?

That shirt had been hanging in the most visible spot in the closet, still covered with its protective garment bag.

Maya shrank behind Evan, her eyes instantly turning red.

“Tessa, please don’t misunderstand. Mr. Carter stayed up late talking to my grandmother last night.

“He didn’t feel comfortable leaving me alone, so he let me stay in the guest room for the night.

“I accidentally ruined my clothes, so I borrowed one of Mr. Carter’s shirts.”

As she spoke, she hurriedly began undoing the buttons, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, Tessa. I really didn’t know you bought this for him.

“I’ll take it off and give it back to you. Please don’t be angry with Mr. Carter...”

She made as if to remove the shirt.

Evan immediately grabbed her hand and stopped her. He turned to me, his eyes filled with disapproval.

“That’s enough, Tessa! She’s a woman. What do you expect her to wear if you make her take it off?”

I quietly watched Evan defend her.

Seven years.

I’d stayed by his side from the early days of his startup, when he worked through the night on business proposals, all the way to the successful executive he was today.

I thought what we had was unbreakable.

Apparently, all it took was one episode of low blood sugar, an old woman’s tears, and a stained shirt to shatter seven years of my life with him.

I pulled out the spare key and slapped it onto the shoe cabinet in the entryway.

“Keep it. I don’t want it back. It’s filthy.”

With that, I turned around and pushed open the apartment door.

Evan finally panicked and chased after me.

“Tessa Morgan!” His grip was painfully tight, his fingers digging into my bones.

“Don’t go! I’ll make her move out right now. I promise I’ll keep my distance from her from now on. Please don’t do this!”

Chapter 3

The elevator stopped on the first floor.

Evan still had a tight grip on my wrist.

“Tessa, after seven years together, are you really going to break up with me over this misunderstanding?”

I looked into his red-rimmed eyes. I was about to answer when the apartment door suddenly flew open.

Maya came running out barefoot, clutching her phone tightly in one hand. She was crying so hard she could barely breathe.

“Mr. Carter... Mr. Carter!”

Evan instinctively turned around.

“What happened?”

Maya sobbed between gasps.

“The hospital just called... Grandma was declared critically ill.

“The doctor said her organs are failing. She might not make it through the month...”

She covered her face and slowly slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.

“She woke up for a moment and told me that her greatest wish was to see me in a wedding dress before she closed her eyes for good...

“But where am I supposed to find a groom for her?”

Evan’s grip on my wrist immediately loosened when he heard the words critically ill.

He turned toward Maya, who was crying so hard she looked like she might faint, his eyes filled with sympathy.

I stood there, staring at the red marks his fingers had left on my wrist.

The man who had just sworn he would make Maya move out and keep his distance from her had now shifted all his attention to another woman.

Evan was silent for a long time before finally turning back to me.

“Tessa, her grandmother’s dying wish is to see her granddaughter settled down before she goes.

“I promised Maya that I’d have a fake wedding with her this weekend. It’s just to fulfill her grandmother’s final wish.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“Could you help me lie to your parents? Just keep it from them for now.

“Once the weekend is over, I’ll apologize to them myself and formally ask for their blessing. Please?”

He wanted me to lie for him and cover for him while he held a wedding with another woman?!

I stared at the man in front of me, but I couldn’t even cry anymore.

Seven years ago, I had been bullied and left out at school. I was hiding in a corner of the playground, crying.

Evan had been the one to hand me a tissue and tell me, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll protect you from now on.”

The boy who had pulled me out of the darkness had apparently died somewhere during those seven years.

“Evan, do you think I’m a fool?”

Evan’s face went pale.

“Tessa, it’s only an act. The wedding isn’t real!

“Why can’t you be a little more understanding?

“You can keep playing your part.”

I took a step back, putting more distance between us.

“I’m done.”

I turned and walked out of the apartment building.

Evan chased after me again.

Just as his hand was about to reach me—

Screech!

A silver Aston Martin suddenly swerved and came to a hard stop at the curb.

The door opened.

A tall man in a black trench coat stepped out, his long legs carrying him toward us.

It was Julian Morgan, my adoptive brother and the Morgan family’s true heir.

He had always been cold and distant toward me. Even when he called my name, there had always been a hint of indifference in his voice.

I’d always thought he hated me for taking the place of his biological sister.

But this time, he stepped in front of me and slapped Evan’s hand away.

He was half a head taller than Evan, his height alone creating an intimidating sense of pressure.

“You’re using my sister’s relationship to play the devoted boyfriend for another woman? Who the hell do you think you are?”

Evan froze. He clearly didn’t know Julian.

He frowned.

“Who are you? This is between Tessa and me.”

Julian let out a cold laugh.

“You don’t even know who I am, yet you think you’re worthy of marrying her?”

Chapter 4

He didn’t bother responding to Evan. Instead, he turned around and opened the passenger door, his voice softening slightly.

“Get in the car.”

I stood there in shock, staring at Julian, who had stepped in front of me.

When he saw that I wasn’t moving, Julian reached out, grabbed my wrist, and guided me into the car.

In the rearview mirror, Evan stood frozen in disbelief while Maya stumbled out of the apartment and clung to his arm.

After Julian took me home, I came down with a high fever that lasted for two days and two nights.

The first thing I did after my fever broke was write a resignation letter and send it to Evan’s company’s HR department.

As soon as I sent it, there was a knock on my door.

The housekeeper told me my father wanted to see me in his study.

A moment later, my father sat behind his mahogany desk. A gold-embossed invitation lay on the desk in front of him.

“Sit.”

He gestured toward the chair across from him, his tone as detached as ever.

I sat down, my eyes falling on the invitation.

My father picked up his teacup and gently blew across the surface.

“There’s a rising businessman named Evan Carter. He’s holding a wedding reception today.

“He’s been trying to land a project with Morgan Group recently. He sent someone to deliver this invitation, hoping to get on the Morgan family’s good side.”

My heart skipped a beat at the mention of Evan’s name.

My father looked at me, his gaze deep and unreadable.

“Tessa, I want you to go in my place.”

I looked up sharply.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

He set down his teacup.

“Consider it your formal introduction to our business circle as the Morgan family’s heir.”

The Morgan family’s heir.

Those five words struck me like a bolt of lightning.

I instinctively looked at Julian, who was standing nearby. He was supposed to be the Morgan family’s true heir.

Julian leaned against the bookshelf with his arms crossed.

When he caught my gaze, my usually aloof younger brother unexpectedly gave me a warm smile, as if encouraging me.

That was when I finally understood.

They had never considered me an outsider.

They hadn’t interfered in my life because they respected me.

They hadn’t scolded me because they cared about me.

I lowered my head and finally read the names printed on the invitation.

[Groom: Evan Carter. Bride: Maya Collins.]

A sharp, indescribable ache spread through my chest.

He had used this so-called “fake wedding” as an opportunity to throw a lavish reception, expand his network, and even send an invitation to the Morgan family.

He really knew how to have it both ways.

I had intended to refuse.

But when I saw the expectation in my father’s eyes and the encouragement in Julian’s, I reached out and took the gold-embossed invitation.

“Okay. I’ll go.”

The wedding reception was being held in the hotel’s ballroom on the first floor.

Evan stood at the entrance in a tailored suit with a groom’s boutonniere pinned to his chest, greeting the guests as they arrived.

Yet he looked distracted.

Every so often, he glanced at his phone, his brows tightly furrowed.

He had just learned that my phone number was no longer in service. He had also received my resignation letter at the company.

He had been certain I was merely throwing a tantrum and that if he ignored me for a few days, I’d eventually come crawling back.

But now, a sudden fear that he had truly lost me began to consume him.

Just then, the ballroom doors opened again.

Evan instinctively looked up, and his entire body went rigid.

I walked into the ballroom wearing a black off-the-shoulder gown that my mother had personally made for me. My hair was swept into an elegant updo, and around my neck hung a necklace that had been passed down through the Morgan family for generations.

The hotel’s general manager personally escorted me inside.

With every step I took into the ballroom, Evan’s expression shifted from shock to panic.

He assumed I’d come to cause a scene at his wedding.

Without paying any attention to the guests around him, he grabbed my wrist and lowered his voice.

“Tessa, you quit your job just to spite me, and now you’re dressed up like this to come here and make a scene?”

His eyes remained fixed on the necklace around my neck.

“Where did you get the money to buy something like that? Do you even know what kind of people are sitting inside?

“Don’t embarrass yourself here. Go home. Now.”

We had been together for seven years, yet I had never told him who I really was.

I’d always thought of myself as nothing more than an adopted daughter. I didn’t feel worthy of using the Morgan family’s name or status.

I forcefully pulled my hand free and took the gold-embossed invitation he’d gone to such lengths to deliver to the Morgan family from my clutch.

“Mr. Carter, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not here to ruin your wedding.

“I’m here on behalf of Morgan Group, representing my father, to congratulate you and deliver our wedding gift.”