Chapter 1

"Hurry up and come to Prime Hospital, Nadia! Cae's been hospitalized after being injured!"

A sudden phone call roused Nadia Creswell from her sleep. She hurriedly threw something on and ran out. It was late at night, and the cold wind blew in her face. When she arrived at the hospital, she felt cold to the core.

She didn't have time to warm up. Nadia was about to enter the hospital ward when she heard the voices inside.

"Your wedding to Nadia, that doormat, is in a month, Cae. You raced with your life on the line just to get that necklace Josephine wanted, and you almost destroyed your car and killed yourself. Aren't you afraid Nadia will get mad and run off when she learns about this?"

Nadia's hand froze on the doorknob. She didn't move as she waited to hear Caesar Gray's answer. Soon, she heard him snort and say mockingly, "Run? Why would she do that when she's head over heels for me? She wouldn't leave even if I were to drive her away!"

This was the answer she'd expected. She pursed her lips and opened the door, entering the hospital ward. Everyone turned to look at her when they heard her come in—a few rich kids in racing outfits sat or stood in the room.

None of them looked nervous or anxious at having their conversation overheard. In fact, they became more excited. They all looked at Nadia mockingly and raised their voices. One said, "It takes you at least half an hour to get here from home, doesn't it? Look at you, getting here in less than 20 minutes. Are you that worried about Cae?"

She looked at Caesar. Her face was devoid of the humiliation or awkwardness at being mocked. She nodded and said, "Yes, I am. He's very important to me."

Everyone burst into laughter at her words. Someone said, "Cae was just telling us that he was bored just lying there. Since you're so in love with him, why don't you dance for him and alleviate his boredom?"

Someone else chimed in. "A simple dance is so lame! How about a strip dance?"

Their overt nastiness took Nadia aback. She knew Caesar's friends had never liked her and took pleasure in humiliating her, but she didn't expect them to ask something like this of her.

She parted her lips to reject them. However, Caesar spoke before she could get the words out. "What? You don't want to do it? Didn't you say that you loved me and could do anything for me?"

Her head snapped up as she stared at him. All she saw was the indifferent look on his face and the look in his eyes that made one thing clear to her—they wouldn't let her off the hook that night if she didn't do the strip dance.

Nadia thought about their wedding, which was happening in a month. She didn't want anything to change that, so she nodded. "Alright. I'll do it."

The moment the words were out of her mouth, jeers and gasps erupted around her. At the same time, a wave of humiliation washed over her.

Over the years of her relationship with Caesar, she'd gotten used to shattering her dignity to please him and his friends. She could even calmly accept their brazen mockery.

However, they were at the hospital. Even with the door shut, all of Caesar's friends were still present. The shame of doing a strip dance in public enveloped her, making her body go numb. She stepped forward, feeling rigid.

She took her clothes off one after the other, allowing the chill to seep into her bones. She bit her lip and reminded herself that she could do this. She just had to endure this for a little longer before it would all be over.

Finally, she reached the last garment she had on—a thin camisole. Amid everyone's jeers and whoops, Caesar's cold, sharp voice suddenly rang out. "That's enough! You really are shameless!"

He looked pissed and sounded like he was forcing the words through gritted teeth. When he opened his mouth again, his tone was commanding. "I'm hungry. Go get me something to eat."

Nadia kept her head lowered. She didn't take his disdain of her to heart. Instead, she silently heaved a sigh of relief before putting her clothes back on with a nod. Then, she left.

"As expected of Jeriton City's top doormat! Look at how she didn't get mad at that! She's even gone off to buy you food, Cae."

The mockery faded as Nadia walked off. Plenty of eateries were outside the hospital, but she strode past them without a second glance. Caesar was a picky eater and only went to a select few restaurants when he ate out.

When she returned to the hospital after getting the food, Caesar was alone and asleep in the hospital ward. Nadia gently placed the food on the bedside table. Just then, she heard him mumble, "I won't marry her as long as you tell me you still love me, Josie…"

Nadia felt her blood run cold at his words. She turned ashen and froze. All she wanted was a wedding—he could do whatever he wanted after they were married! Couldn't he give her just that?

Suddenly, the system's voice rang out in her mind, shattering the silence of the night.

"Your mission progress has already hit 99%, Nadia. You'll complete this once you and Caesar go through with the wedding. You'll get your reward after that."

That made her snap to her senses. She exhaled deeply and mentally comforted herself. This was fine—Caesar was only thinking of not marrying her. He hadn't called everything off.

Nadia unlocked her phone and looked at the countdown to the wedding on her home screen.

Caesar was the prince of Jeriton City, and Josephine Birch was the princess. Everyone in the upper crust called them a match made in heaven.

They were each other's first loves. Perhaps their love for each other ran so deep that their relationship had been fiery from the start. It had also ended in a spectacular, devastating fallout. Josephine had left the country in a fit of anger, even claiming that whoever was the first to ask for a reconciliation would be a loser!

Caesar was so proud that he was unwilling to humble himself to go after her despite how much he loved her. All he'd done was drink the bar dry and claim he didn't care.

At the same time, he'd been unable to stop himself from paying attention to how she was doing… until he learned she'd gotten another boyfriend abroad.

That was also the day he'd finally agreed to make Nadia, whom his friends had always called his doormat, his girlfriend. It was something he'd done out of spite.

Josephine didn't return to the country after that, though. Instead, she shared photos of her and her boyfriend being intimate, which had made Caesar so jealous that he'd almost lost his mind. Then, almost as if wanting to compete with Josephine, he'd announced that he and Nadia were getting married.

Everyone had laughed about how desperately Nadia loved Caesar—so much so that she was willing to give up her life for him. And now, through sheer madness and persistence, she'd gotten him to finally agree to marry her.

However, Josephine had returned before the wedding. Her presence made the years of Nadia's companionship and devotion vanish in an instant. Once again, she was cast aside.

Everyone made fun of her for ending up with nothing despite all she'd done, but she didn't mind. She didn't care who Caesar loved or whether she would ultimately be kicked to the curb.

All she cared about was that the wedding would ultimately go on without a hitch because it was the mission the system had assigned her when bringing her into this world. Caesar was her target, and she had to have a wedding with him.

To achieve that, she'd pursued him without regrets or resentment for a whole decade. It was all because the system had told her it could fulfill one of her wishes once she completed the mission.

Nadia's wish was to revive the man she truly loved—Theodore Camden.

Chapter 2

Nadia didn't know when she'd fallen asleep, but it was the next morning when she woke up.

"Thanks for getting the necklace for me yesterday, Caesar. I've invited all our friends to Lifeline for a party tonight to thank you—you have to come, okay?" A woman's voice rang out over the phone.

Nadia opened her eyes blearily to see Caesar looking gentle as he held the phone to his ear. He agreed to Josephine's rather nonsensical request. "Okay."

The look on his face was one he'd never shown Nadia. He only noticed she was awake after hanging up. He instantly dropped the gentle look and went back to looking aloof as always. When he spoke, his tone was wholly different from how it had been earlier. "Go handle the discharge procedures for me."

Nadia remained where she was beside the bed. She looked hesitant. "You've just been injured. You should rest for a few days…"

She meant well, but Caesar's expression turned frosty. "Are you learning how to disobey me now?"

He sounded like he would instantly call off the wedding if she were to continue stopping him. Nadia didn't dare take the risk and silently got up to leave the room. She handled the procedures for Caesar's discharge. Soon enough, they got into a car and headed to Lifeline.

Everyone had already arrived when they entered the private room. Josephine was all smiles as she pulled them both to the table and pushed some drinks toward them. "You're late, so you have to down three drinks each as punishment! Those are the rules!"

The six glasses were almost filled to the brim. Everyone around them started cheering and egging them on.

Nadia's alarm bells rang as Caesar reached out for a glass. She hurriedly snatched it from him. "You can't drink—you're allergic to alcohol. I'll do it for you."

With that, she downed the drink. The cheers grew louder.

"I didn't know you had that in you, Nadia! Do it again!" someone said.

Nadia downed drink after drink, soon leaving the six glasses empty. However, everyone else seemed to have found a new toy. They kept coming up with excuses to make Caesar drink. The alcohol ultimately ended up in Nadia's stomach, of course.

She'd attended many drinking parties with Caesar over the years and had built up a strong tolerance to alcohol because she'd drunk on his behalf each time. Still, she couldn't withstand such an onslaught of drinks, no matter how well she held her liquor. Soon, she felt her stomach start to turn.

Nadia waved a hand and bolted to the restroom, where she heaved the contents of her stomach. She endured the burning sensation in her belly as she washed her face. When she looked up, she saw herself in the mirror—her face was as ashen as a ghost's.

She took a deep breath and started heading back to the private room, not having the time to wait for the discomfort in her stomach to calm.

She was worried about leaving Caesar alone there for too long—his allergic reaction to alcohol had always been severe; he would only be in worse condition if he ended up drinking because his friends kept egging him on.

Their wedding was in a month; she couldn't let his health stand in the way of that happening.

As expected, there were several glasses of alcohol before Caesar when Nadia returned to the private room. Josephine smiled at the liquor when she saw Nadia return.

Then, she turned to Caesar and said sardonically, "I didn't believe it when I heard about this from others in the past, but I now know I was wrong.

"She really does love you to bits and can't bear to have you drink, even if she pukes her guts out after drinking on your behalf."

"Yeah, she's desperately in love with me." Caesar smiled slightly. "She does everything I say. Why else would I be marrying her?"

Nadia was secretly relieved when she heard that. Thankfully, his words had just been sleep-talk. He wasn't going to call off the wedding.

Her relief only lasted for a second, though. Caesar continued, "Still, she's just a doormat, no matter how much she loves me. We've been at this for so long, Josie. As long as you—"

Josephine laughed and cut him off. "What a coincidence! I'm getting married, too."

As she spoke, she pulled out a stack of wedding invitations from her bag and handed them out. She saved the last one for Caesar. She held it out to him with both hands. "I wrote this just for you. You have to come, okay?"

Nadia glanced at him. As expected, his expression was hideous. He stared fixedly at Josephine before barking out a clipped laugh. "Fine. Fine! You're really something, Josephine."

The gathering ended on that unpleasant note. Nadia hurried after Caesar as he stormed out of the private room and into the car. They were about to leave when they saw Josephine come downstairs and get into a car with a man in a sharp suit beside her.

Nadia had seen him before. He was the boyfriend Josephine had picked up abroad. Now, he was her fiancé, Sebastian Hartnett.

Chapter 3

Caesar's expression was hideous as he revved the engine, making it roar. The sound pulled Nadia out of her reverie. She could tell he was mad—mad that Josephine had gotten into someone else's car before his very eyes and that she was going to marry someone else.

She grabbed the handle above the door without saying anything. Then, she watched as he deliberately blocked the other car's path and cut it off. He also sped up as if challenging it.

The trees outside zoomed past, and the nausea of having had too much to drink welled in her again. She endured it for as long as she could. When she was almost about to puke, she turned to Caesar to ask him to slow down.

Her eyes widened as soon as she turned her head. As a deafening roar rang out, Nadia instinctively threw herself at Caesar. The impact was brutal. The car, which had been moving far too fast, was sent airborne before slamming back onto the ground with a sickening force.

The airbags deployed instantly, making the glass shards scrape against her skin. Pain shot through every inch of her. Fortunately, it also stimulated her nerves, which helped her remain conscious.

The sound of fuel dripping from the tank made its way to Nadia's ears, reminding her that she needed to get out of there fast. She didn't dare to just sit there and wait for someone to save them. Instead, she tried to break the window and get out.

She didn't dare rest once she was out. She grabbed her cracked phone from her pocket and called 911 while trying to drag Caesar out of the car. "Hang on, Caesar! I'll get you out of there right now!"

Fortunately, he was fine, thanks to Nadia's shielding him. Once he was free, he ran straight to the other car, which looked totaled.

"Josie! Josie!" He staggered to the car and saw Sebastian stumble out. When he looked inside, he saw Josephine unconscious in the front passenger seat. Her head was covered in blood.

Fury instantly burned away his rationality. He stormed forward and grabbed Sebastian by the collar. His eyes were bloodshot as he roared, "How the fuck could you not protect Josie?"

"Who wouldn't save themselves first in a situation of life and death? I'm the Hartnett family's only son!" Sebastian shoved Caesar aside, still looking fearful. Then, he ran off to the roadside to hail a cab to the hospital.

Caesar was left alone to save Josephine. Once he got her out of the car, he held her tightly. Just then, both cars exploded!

The ambulance soon arrived, and everyone was taken to the hospital. Nadia silently watched as Caesar paced before the operating theater. Panic and worry were written all over his face. He didn't even spare her a glance.

The doors swung open, and a nurse ran out. "The patient is suffering from significant blood loss and needs a transfusion, but we don't have enough on hand. Does anyone here have blood type A?"

Caesar immediately said, "I do! Take my blood!"

"No!" Nadia stopped him. She grabbed his arm and said firmly, "You've just been discharged from the hospital; you can't donate blood."

He was about to go on a rampage when she continued, "My blood type is also A. Take mine."

The nurse looked at her hesitantly, taking in her wounds and bloodied clothes. "But you're injured, too. You're not suited for a blood donation…"

"I'm fine. Take mine!" Nadia stood before Caesar stubbornly, so she didn't see the complex look in his eyes. He never would've expected her to go to such lengths for him.

Ultimately, Nadia headed to the blood donation room with the nurse. She was already injured; the nurse wanted to stop the donation when she saw how pale Nadia's lips became. However, Nadia stopped her. "I'm okay. I can get through this."

Nadia felt her vision blur by the time everything was over. She braced herself against the wall as she staggered out of the blood donation room. Her head was spinning. Coincidentally, Josephine's surgery ended at that moment. She was wheeled out of the operating theater.

Caesar hurried forward. His heartache was practically oozing from his eyes. He stayed by Josephine's side as she was wheeled to the hospital ward and cared for her with tender devotion.

Nadia watched all of this play out from behind him. The dizziness and overwhelming weakness from blood loss finally caught up with her, and she fell sideways.

Right before she passed out, she heard the nurse supporting her sigh and ask, "Do you love your boyfriend so much that you're willing to hurt yourself for his sake? I saw that he only has eyes for the woman who was in the operating theater, though!"

Nadia smiled wanly without saying anything. However, she answered in her heart. She didn't love Caesar at all, but this was the only way for her to ensure that the wedding would go on as planned. That was the only way for her to save the person she truly loved.

…

Sebastian didn't show up anymore after that day, giving Caesar the perfect opportunity to stay by Josephine's side. The tension in their relationship reduced with every day that they spent together. They were no longer at each other's throats.

Meanwhile, Nadia found herself barely speaking to Caesar. The few times they'd spoken on the phone or texted each other was when he'd ordered her to bring food for Josephine.

She cared for them without complaint, though.

One day, when she brought two portions of food to the hospital, Josephine looked at her and said, "Those caretakers do such a bad job of caring for me, Caesar. I think Nadia seems to be pretty good at that. How about you ask her to care for me for the next few days?"

She sounded like she was asking for permission, but the look in her eyes made it clear that she was sure Caesar would agree.

Sure enough, things turned out the way she expected. He didn't hesitate or ask Nadia for her opinion before agreeing. "I'm leaving Josie in your hands, Nadia. Take good care of her."

Chapter 4

Nadia fell silent for a moment but ultimately didn't object. She agreed in a low voice.

It was clear Josephine didn't want Nadia around just to care for her—the latter didn't know what she'd done to upset the former, but Josephine caused trouble for her even at the hospital. She thought of many tricks to pick on Nadia.

On the first day, Josephine had someone bring her some nuts. She sounded imperious and contemptuous as she said to Nadia, "I want to eat these nuts, but there aren't any tools to open them here. I'll have to trouble you to open them with your bare hands."

Nadia made a sound of agreement before starting to crack the nuts open. Their shells were tough, and most of them weren't easy to open. No matter how careful she was, she still couldn't avoid being cut by the shells.

Once she was done with one plate, another would follow. She did this for the rest of the day, ending up with bloody fingers. They hurt so much that she almost couldn't feel them anymore.

However, when Caesar showed up, she merely hid her fingers and watched as he gently fed Josephine and read her stories.

The following day, Josephine deliberately threw her necklace out the window, making it fall into the manmade lake outside. "Oh my. I accidentally dropped my necklace. Could you help me look for it?"

Nadia waded into the lake. It was late fall, so the water was ice cold. The lake was huge. She had no choice but to search it inch by inch. When she occasionally looked up, she got a good view of Josephine's room. Through the window, she saw Caesar gently wiping her hands for her.

She lowered her head and continued searching until the sky slowly darkened. Her fingers were stiff from the cold, but she finally found the necklace in a corner.

On the third day, a golden retriever appeared in Josephine's hospital ward. Nadia reflexively kept her distance from it, but it was too active. It ran around the room, and she couldn't resist sneezing, no matter how hard she tried to hold back.

That attracted Josephine's attention. She placed the dog leash in Nadia's hand like she didn't see her discomfort and said, "Bubbles is very active and needs to be walked for two hours daily. It's not convenient for me to do that right now, so I want you to do it for me."

Nadia wanted to tell Josephine she was allergic to dog fur but ultimately swallowed the words. She could tell the latter had deliberately told her to do this because she knew she was allergic. She suppressed her discomfort and nodded. She held onto the dog leash tightly as she walked out of the hospital ward.

Bubbles was affectionate. To anyone else, this would've been a sweet gig. Unfortunately for her, she was allergic to dog fur. Every time Bubbles got close to her, it was like she was experiencing death.

The dog fur flew everywhere and clung to her clothes. She tried her best to cover her nose and mouth, but she still struggled to breathe.

That wasn't the end of it. Her exposed skin started itching, and the rashes looked horrifying. Her eyes also became bloodshot, and tears streamed down her face. Despite that, she didn't let go of the dog leash.

Once the agonizing two hours were over and Bubbles had had his fun, someone came to take him home. Nadia hurried back to the hospital ward. The laughter and cheer inside contrasted starkly with the messy state she was in.

Caesar saw her but was unsympathetic. He merely glanced at her before looking away. "Go clean yourself up. I don't want you to dirty Josie's eyes."

"Okay." Nadia backed out of the hospital ward.

Behind her, the laughter continued.

"Did you see how unkempt she looked? Isn't it hilarious?"

"It's the funniest thing ever! Seriously, don't you guys think she's like a nanny at Caesar's beck and call?"

"Like a nanny? That's exactly what she is! Do you think Cae will kick her to the curb and get back together with Josephine?"

Nadia stopped outside the room, anxiously waiting to hear Caesar's answer. Fortunately, he didn't say anything. She sighed in relief and left.

…

On the day Josephine was discharged from the hospital, Caesar came to pick her up. Nadia opened the door to the backseat after handling all the necessary procedures. She'd just sat down when Josephine's expression shifted. "Who allowed you to ride in Caesar's car? I don't want to be in the same car as you!"

Nadia subconsciously glanced at Caesar. Sure enough, she heard him say indifferently, "Take a cab home."

It was pouring outside, and the raindrops pattered against the window. Nadia clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white. During her brief silence, Caesar already unlocked the doors. It was clear he wanted her to get out.

She did as told as they watched her nastily. She didn't have an umbrella, so the rain drenched her almost immediately.

"You won't blame me for kicking her out and getting her drenched, will you, Caesar?" Josephine asked.

It was a question, but Nadia heard the smugness in her tone.

"Of course not," Caesar said firmly. The car sped off after that.

Nadia watched as they disappeared into the distance. She tried to hail a cab, but it was raining so heavily that none of them wanted to stop for her. She had no choice but to walk home in the rain.

It was three hours later when she got back to the villa. The days of exertion and the torrential downpour had thoroughly worn her out. She took some medication before getting into bed and soon drifted off.

She seemed to hear a sigh in her sleep and opened her eyes to see the face she longed to see again. He leaned close to her, his arms almost wrapping around her. His gentle tone was filled with heartache as he asked, "How did you end up like this, Nadia? It's all my fault for not being able to protect you."

He sounded concerned, yet it made her break down. All the grievances and sorrow she'd bottled up burst forth, and tears streamed down her face. "I miss you so much, Theo. I'm so, so close to giving up… Theo…"

Nadia didn't know how long she was asleep, but she finally woke up when her fever had subsided. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the ugly look on Caesar's face.

He asked, "Who is Theo?"

Chapter 5

Nadia had depended on Theodore's name to get her through the countless agonizing days and nights of the past decade. She'd never once expected to hear his name from Caesar's lips.

Her heart sank, and a chill ran down her spine. She felt her throat clench but still forced herself to remain calm. She pretended to be confused as she asked, "What's wrong?"

Caesar looked deep into her eyes, almost as if he was going to see through her act and right to her soul. After a heartbeat, he said, "You kept calling for Theo when you were asleep."

Nadia was a little mad at herself but didn't show it. She even forced a smile and said, "He's my brother. I lost my parents as a child; my brother and I grew up together."

"Why haven't I ever seen him, then?"

"He died." Her tone became somewhat glum at this point. Caesar vaguely felt something was off but didn't probe further.

After a brief silence, he turned to leave. Then, he faltered and said, "There's medication at home for a fever. Remember to take it."

Then, he left the room.

A few days later, Caesar suddenly gave Nadia an evening gown and told her to wear it for a banquet. Only when she arrived did she realize it was Josephine's birthday celebration.

Shortly after they entered the banquet hall, Caesar abandoned her and made a beeline for Josephine.

It was a birthday celebration for the princess of Jeriton City. Naturally, the guests were all wealthy and powerful. They gathered in twos or threes as they chatted and drank. However, they seemed to have a tacit understanding to stay away from Nadia.

She was ostracized, but it didn't upset her. She was glad not to have to socialize. She hid in a corner and watched as Caesar followed Josephine around and gave her his tender, loving care.

Soon, it was time to present the birthday gifts to Josephine. Caesar was the first. He waved, and several men carried a crystal castle to her. The crystal was clear and flawless. It was evident that the raw material used to carve the castle had been expensive and painstakingly selected.

For a moment, everyone was abuzz.

"I heard Mr. Gray recently attended an auction and won the bid for a slab of crystal that cost close to a million dollars. Is it the one he used to make this castle?"

"How can one slab be enough? I heard he's bid on several of them in different auctions, and they were all of top-notch quality. The total amount is probably close to 10 million dollars!"

"Look at the castle. Doesn't it look like the work of that master artisan? He shared it on his social media! Think about the cost of the raw materials and the labor fee. I bet certain people haven't even seen that much money in their lives!"

"Are you talking about that doormat? She might be Mr. Gray's fiancée, but she doesn't have his heart. She's a disgrace to all women!"

Nadia heard the comments loud and clear. She also sensed people pointing at her and whispering about her. To their surprise, they didn't see the sorrow and resentment they expected. It was as if she didn't care what was happening.

They thought she was just putting on a calm façade. She was the only one who knew that she genuinely didn't care. She didn't love Caesar. Naturally, she couldn't care less who had his heart.

She didn't care about anything he did as long as he didn't call off the wedding.