Chapter 2

An hour later, Tiffany and Chad finally came downstairs together.

By then, I had already returned to my room, cleaned myself up, changed clothes, and prepared breakfast in the dining room.

The moment Chad saw me, though, his eyes narrowed slightly.

“Why are you dressed like that?”

Instinctively, my fingers tightened around the tray in my hands.

I couldn’t answer.

Chad was rough in bed. He always left marks all over my body. The high collar was the only way to hide them.

Even in the middle of summer, I had no choice but to keep myself covered.

Before the silence could grow awkward, Tiffany gently touched Chad’s arm.

“You forgot? Nancy can’t speak.”

I quickly lowered my head and nodded.

Tiffany had always been terrified that our arrangement would be exposed, so she told everyone in the Lynch family that I was mute.

No one had ever questioned it.

Chad raised an eyebrow slightly, amusement flickering in his eyes.

“Pretty little thing,” he drawled lazily. “Shame she can’t talk.”

Tiffany’s smile stiffened almost imperceptibly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked softly. “Don’t tell me you’ve taken a liking to her.”

Her tone remained gentle as always.

But I could hear the warning underneath it.

I immediately lowered my gaze.

Tiffany glanced at me coldly, the look in her eyes sharp enough to make my stomach tighten.

Chad smirked.

“I haven’t even questioned you yet, and you’re already interrogating me?”

As he spoke, he casually rolled up his sleeve.

“Then explain this.”

The bite mark on his wrist instantly drained the blood from my face.

Last night, he had been too rough.

I had cried until my throat went hoarse, and in a moment of pain and humiliation, I bit him.

But to them, it looked no different from flirtation between husband and wife.

I stood frozen beside the table, my fingers icy cold.

A few minutes later, Chad left the dining room.

The second the door closed behind him, a cup of scalding coffee splashed across my chest.

I gasped and looked up.

Tiffany’s face was twisted with fury.

The slap came so suddenly that my head snapped sideways.

“You filthy bitch!” she hissed. “How dare you bite Chad? Are you trying to provoke me?”

Before I could defend myself, she ordered the servants to drag me downstairs.

They tied my hands and locked me in the basement.

No food.

No water.

Chad had gone to the docks to handle family business and wouldn’t return for three days.

So Tiffany locked me there for all three.

By the time I was nearly delirious from hunger, Bella finally bribed one of the guards and slipped me a bowl of broth through the crack beneath the door.

Bella was my younger sister.

She had entered the Lynch household with me as a maid, though she knew nothing about my role as Tiffany’s replacement.

“Nancy, what happened?” she whispered anxiously. “How did you upset Tiffany this badly?”

I shook my head weakly.

The only thing I asked was, “When is Chad coming back?”

Bella hesitated before answering quietly, “Tonight.”

I let out a slow breath of relief.

Then I asked about the estate.

Bella sighed softly.

“The old Donna wants to arrange a marriage for Mr. Boyd according to old Sicilian custom, but nobody’s willing.”

Above Chad, there had once been an older brother—Boyd Lynch.

The eldest son of the family.

But Boyd had been born with a congenital heart defect and had spent most of his life hovering between life and death. Years ago, he withdrew completely from family affairs, which was how Chad became the Lynch family’s acting heir.

And according to Sicilian tradition, if a woman married Boyd, she would be expected to follow him into death once he died.

With rules like that, no respectable family wanted anything to do with him.

Not even the servants dared go near him.

That evening, Tiffany finally ordered someone to release me.

A lavish dinner had already been prepared in the dining room.

Tiffany sat elegantly at the table and smiled at me as though nothing had happened.

“Nancy, I acted too impulsively that day,” she said gently. “Things have been chaotic lately, and I completely forgot about you. Don’t take it personally.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” I replied quietly.

After a moment of hesitation, I finally gathered the courage to speak.

“I want to leave the Lynch family.”

The smile on Tiffany’s face disappeared instantly.

“You want to leave?”

I nodded carefully.

Three years.

That had been our agreement.

And those three years were already over.

But Tiffany only smiled faintly.

“My health still hasn’t recovered. Chad still needs you.”

I looked at her in disbelief.

She had promised me.

Only three years.

Tiffany slowly crossed her legs.

“If you insist on leaving,” she said lightly, “then I’ll simply have Bella take your place.”

My blood ran cold.

“You’re sisters, after all. Similar voices. Similar figures.”

For a long moment, I couldn’t say a single word.

Finally, I forced myself to ask in a trembling voice:

“Then… could you at least ask Chad to give me a title?”

Tiffany looked at me as though I had said something ridiculous.

“You want to become the lady of the house now?”

She laughed softly.

“If Chad wanted a mistress, there are plenty of women he could choose from. You’d be the last one.”

Then her voice turned colder.

“And don’t even think about asking him yourself. To him, you’re nothing but a toy.”

“Even if you became his mistress, I could still get rid of you whenever I wanted.”

My chest tightened painfully.

“The gatekeeper has a son around your age,” Tiffany continued casually. “Next year, I’ll arrange your marriage to him. Consider it a reward for your years of service.”

I felt sick instantly.

Everyone in the estate knew the gatekeeper’s son was mentally unstable and violently abusive toward women.

Cold sweat spread across my back.

In that moment, I finally understood.

Tiffany never intended to let me go.

She wanted me trapped forever—

a nameless shadow hidden beneath her marriage for the rest of my life.

When Chad finally returned that evening, I was standing silently in the corner of the living room.

Tiffany immediately rose to greet him.

“You’re finally home,” she said sweetly. “Nancy accidentally broke one of the Italian antique cups, so I made her stand here and reflect.”

Chad barely spared me a glance as he loosened his tie.

His expression looked exhausted.

“What’s happening with Boyd?”

Tiffany sighed softly.

“You know how it is. No decent family would willingly send their daughter to die beside a dying man.”

Chad frowned impatiently.

“Then find someone desperate enough.”

His voice was cold and indifferent.

“Money. Threats. Whatever works.”

“Mother already dislikes you enough. Handle this properly, and maybe her attitude will improve.”

Tiffany obediently lowered her eyes.

“Yes, darling.”