Chapter 1: The Cold Rain of Betrayal
The rain in City S was unforgiving, much like the people standing inside the opulent Lin family mansion.
Elena stood by the tall mahogany doors, her cheap, worn-out dress soaking wet, clinging to her thin frame. In her trembling hands, she held a small, crumpled medical report. She was two months pregnant. She had come here today, swallowing her pride, to tell the man she loved—the man who was supposed to be her husband—the news.
But the laughter coming from the grand hall made her feet freeze.
"Young Master Lu, when are you finally going to kick that 'trash' out of your life? Everyone knows Elena is just a stray the Lin family picked up to save face," a high-pitched, mocking voice rang out. It was Sarah, Elena's step-sister.
Elena's heart skipped a beat. She waited for the rebuttal. She waited for Jasper Lu, the man she had stayed beside for three years, cooking for him, cleaning for him, and even selling her mother's only heirloom to fund his first business venture, to defend her.
"Soon," Jasper's voice was cold, devoid of the warmth he usually showed her in private. "She served her purpose. Now that the Lu Group is at the top, a woman with no background like her doesn't fit the image of a CEO's wife. She was always just a temporary tool."
The medical report in Elena's hand fell into a puddle. The ink blurred, turning the "Positive" sign into a messy grey smudge.
She didn't cry. The pain was too deep for tears. It felt like a physical blade carving out her chest. For three years, she had been his shadow. She had endured the insults of his mother and the bullying of her own step-family, all because she thought they were building a future.
A tool. That's all she was.
Elena turned around and walked back into the storm. She didn't head for the bus stop. Instead, she walked toward the black Mercedes parked at the corner of the street—a car that had been following her in silence for weeks.
As she approached, the driver's door opened. A man in a sharp black suit stepped out, holding a large umbrella over her.
"Miss Elena," the man said with deep respect, bowing his head. "The Old Master has been waiting for twenty years. It is time to stop playing 'poor girl' and come home. The Thorne Empire needs its rightful heiress."
Elena looked at her reflection in the darkened window of the luxury car. The girl who was weak, the girl who begged for love, died in that rain.
"Tell my grandfather I'm ready," she said, her voice cracking but turning into steel. "And tell him I want the Lu Group crushed by the end of the quarter."
"As you wish, Miss Thorne."