Every woman was looking forward to marrying her beloved man.

So was I.

I married a man who I had a crush on for twelve years, in the name of my sister, Caroline Archer...

Although Caroline and I looked identical on the surface, I had been sent to an orphanage because of the negligence on the hospital's side as soon as I was born.

It was not until three years ago that I came back to Archer Family.

I, a wild girl, didn't fit the grand Archer Family. However, without parents by my side since I was a child, I was extremely discreet, hoping that I could get along with others of this family as well as winning the favor of my parents.

Consequently, when both my parents and Caroline had begged me to marry Patrick Cowell on behalf of Caroline the day before yesterday, I had consented immediately without deliberation.

On the one hand, it was because I loved Patrick Cowell. On the other hand, it was the first time that I felt that my family needed me. And I didn't want them to be disappointed.

It was already 12 p.m. Patrick left in a hurry after the wedding ceremony without even giving me any explanation.

Looking at the diamond ring in my hand, I felt inexplicably bitter in secret.

There came the sound of the engine of a car being powered off from downstairs, indicating that Patrick was back. I walked to the front of a mirror, tidied up my hair in a hurry, and walked out of the bedroom nervously.

Then I went downstairs.

Taking out a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet, I waited for him at the door.

Seeing Patrick come in, I put on a happy smile the way a wife should do, put the slippers beside his feet, and called, "Honey, you're back..."

Before I could finish my words, I smelled alcohol in the air, which was mixed with a strong perfume...

I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pain in my nose.

As for where he had gone tonight...

The answer couldn't be more evident.

Even so, I knew what my task was, which was that I got married on behalf of my sister. And the relationship between me and Patrick had something to do with the cooperation between the Archer Family and the Cowell Family."

Thinking of this, I still tried to smile despite the disappointment in my heart.

Ignoring Patrick's indifference, I followed him upstairs and called, "Honey."

As I looked up, I saw that Patrick had taken off his shirt. His strong muscles looked particularly sexy against the ambiguous light in the bedroom.

I instantly blushed and quickly turned around. As I was about to apologize, I felt a strong arm coming from behind me.

Before I could react, I had already been lifted. By the time I realized what had happened, I had been thrown onto the bed.

Although the bed was soft, I, who had fallen from a high position, felt that my back faintly ached.

I saw Patrick standing by the bed and looking down at me in a condescending manner with his angular face against the moonlight. Although I couldn't see his expression, I could sense the profound indifference on his face.

The next second, Patrick suddenly asked me, "What's your name?"

"Me?" His question startled me. Even so, I said, "Caroline, Caroline Archer..."

I was not Caroline Archer. Instead, my name was Charlotte Archer.

But I couldn't reveal my true name.

As soon as I responded, Patrick pressed down upon me directly. Then he grabbed my hair tightly with one hand and forced me to look at him into his eyes as he asked word by word, "Are, you, Caroline, Archer?"

Only then did I see his face clearly. There wasn't any warmth in his profound eyes at this time.

Instead, it was all hatred down into his bones!

When he said Caroline's name, inexplicable madness filled all over his pitch-black eyes.

It was in the middle of summer. Even so, my forehead was covered with a thin layer of cold sweat. And I was in a panic.

With my hair being pulled by him, I couldn't turn my face and could only look at him like this as I tried my best to nod.

Even so, I was overwhelmingly nervous in secret.

As Patrick saw that I admit it, his eyes became colder and colder. And he said, "Since you are here today, you should be aware of it. I, I have never been a kind person!"

As soon as he finished his words, I heard the sound indicating that the red dress of mine was being ripped open!

The next second, completely ignoring my resistance, Patrick got into my body directly...

...

In the morning, I woke up from the pain, feeling that the lower part of my body had been ripped apart. And what had happened last night was surging in my mind as if it were a nightmare...

On my wedding night, Patrick treated me as if I were his enemy and took away my virginity.

What he had done to me ruined all my previous fantasies.

The bed beside me was already cold.

A drop of scarlet blood on the snow-white sheet looked particularly irritating.

I got up and went to the bathroom to take a bath despite the pain. After getting dressed, I changed the sheet into a new one.

I went out, stood at the entrance of the stairs on the second floor, and saw Patrick sitting at a rectangular dining table, who was reading the newspaper as well as having breakfast.

The golden sunshine in the morning shone on his side through the window, making him look warm and holy.

Over the past twelve years when I had a secretive crush on Patrick, marrying him and living with him under the same roof for breakfast had been something that I dared not dream of and yet yearned for.

Now it came true. But I dared not take a step forward.

The way how he had ravaged me like a beast last night reminded me constantly that I had never known Patrick Cowell.

"Miss Archer, you're awake."

When I was staring at Patrick, a servant, who had already seen me, greeted me politely downstairs.

She didn't call me "Madam" the way she had done yesterday.

Instead, she called me "Miss Archer".

My heart trembled slightly. Despite the dissatisfaction in my heart, I dared not question her because of my identity. So I could only put away the lingering fear resulting from what had happened last night, went downstairs, and sat opposite Patrick.

The servant brought me the meal. I, who didn't have an appetite, just ate a few mouthfuls ceremonially.

I looked up and found that Patrick was the same as me. He almost didn't touch the meal in front of him.

"I'm sorry. I got up late today. From tomorrow on, I'll wake up early every day to make breakfast for you," I said in a gentle voice. It was unknown whether I said so to enliven the atmosphere or to keep the marriage whose fate was unknown.

If I did have any talents, it must be cooking.

After that, I was somewhat expectant. However, Patrick threw away the tableware in his hand and got up. And his expression was as indifferent as usual as he said, "Let's go. The car is waiting outside."

"Where are we going?" Seeing that Patrick seemed to be a little unhappy, I was a little flustered for a moment.

I was worried that I had said something wrong.

I had never been an introverted person.

However, in front of Patrick, I seemed to be overwhelmimgly humble in every way.

At this time, Patrick, who had already walked to the door and began to change his shoes, replied without looking back, "Let's go back to your family."

I arrived at Archer Family's house in Patrick's car.

Before entering the house, I originally thought that the reason why Patrick had treated me like this was that he was dissatisfied with the marriage between me and him rather than he had found out that I was not Caroline.

However, when I followed him into the house, I saw Caroline, whom I had said goodbye to at the airport yesterday, standing with our parents in the living room at this time.

Her eyes were overwhelmingly swollen, indicating that she had been crying for a long time.

Our parents, who were standing next to her, looked angry.

I glanced at Patrick. And the first thing that came to my mind was that he had discovered the fact that I had married him on behalf of Caroline and that he had sent someone to bring Caroline back.

I was in a panic.

Although Patrick couldn't get whatever he wanted in this city, if he wanted to mess with someone, it would be a piece of cake.

I thought, "It's fine if it's just a matter of me. But now my parents and my sister are all involved..."

As I felt remorseful and wondered how to explain to Patrick later on, I saw Patrick taking a few steps forward and holding Caroline, who was crying, in his arms directly. He lowered his head and comforted her, "Are you okay?"

The gentleness in his eyes was something that I had never seen before.

...

As soon as I saw this scene, my heart trembled. Just as I wanted to figure out what was going on, my father came to the front and slapped me, making me hit against the wall. Before I could come to my senses, I heard him cursing angrily, "Charlotte Archer, we have been raising you for three years. And is that how you should repay us?"

There was a smell of blood in my mouth. And I was also in a trance.

Trying my best to stand up straight, I looked at my father as I asked, "What..."

"How come you have the nerve to ask me any questions? Do you assume that we don't know what you have done? You schemed against your sister, fed her sleeping pills, and attended the wedding for her! If we hadn't found it out earlier and took Caroline to the hospital to have a gastric lavage, I don't even know if she would be alive now!"

After that, my father raised his hand and gave me aother hard slap.

This slap was even more vicious than the previous one. I was in a trance for a moment and fell to the ground.

Although my eyes were blurred, I was exceptionally sobered!

A few days ago, my parents said that Caroline had fallen in love with Denny Faris, someone from their company. But they dared not go against Patrick, which was the reason why they asked me to marry Patrick on behalf of Caroline.

I personally sent Caroline to the airport and watched her go through the security check the day before yesterday.

"In the end, how did it become that I set up Caroline?"

My mind was in a mess.

Some things gradually dawned on me, which I didn't want to believe.

My father, who seemed to haven't gotten over his fury, picked up a wooden bench from the side and smashed it at my head!

I was so scared that I tried to hide, only to be hit in the back!

"It hurts!"

I was in great pain. But I held myself back from crying or screaming, which I had usually done in the orphanage.

At that time, even if I was sick and felt unwell, I didn't have anyone to accompany me. Nor did I have anyone to share my sorrow with.

As time went by, however painful I was, I wouldn't reveal my feeling with ease.

Seeing that I didn't cry, my father was still angry. And he hit me a few more times, making me bite my lips tightly.

Finally, my mother couldn't stand it anymore. She grabbed the stool and said, "It's enough. You'll beat her to death if you keep hitting her!"

My father threw the stool away and said angrily, "She deserves this!"

Only after I heard the sound indicating that the stool had fallen to the ground did I dare to stand where I was. I looked up and saw Caroline in Patrick's arms. But she was looking at me and said, "Patrick, look, my parents have hit her. So is it okay that you just spare her? After all, she grew up in the orphanage. And it's inevitable that she has learned something bad."

Although her tone was sympathetic, I could see clearly that she didn't look at me with sympathy but with a shrewd calculation!

The look in her eyes certified my guess!

I squatted in the corner and said nothing. Because my spine was in great pain at this time. I was afraid that my father would hit me again. In that case, my spine would be broken.

Patrick glanced at me. To my surprise, a hint of complex emotion flashed through his black eyes. After a long while, he said, "Let's talk about it later."

After that, my parents, Caroline, and Patrick all sat in the living room.

When my father saw me, he scolded, "Go f**kingly upstairs hurriedly. I'll beat you again if you are still here!"

I saw that Caroline was sitting next to Patrick while holding his arm intimately. The two of them held each other's hand with their fingers intertwined.

This was how a couple should look like...

Enduring the pain, I bent my back. A dozen steps in front of me were like a ladder in the air for me. Every time I climbed up a stair, the ache in where I had been hit made me break out in a cold sweat.

However, compared to the physical pain, I was more psychologically painful!

I thought, "Although I don't know why things have come to like this, I am clearly innocent. And I have been trapped."

Caroline's coquetry, Patrick's doting words, and her parents' words indicating their concern for her rang behind me.

I knew that I, who was nobody but a clown, would never fit in their world. Nor have I ever fit in.