Jane, please be gentle. It’s my first time. That was the line my own half-sister, Stella, had the nerve to whisper in my fiancé’s ear while crawling into his bed. She was brazen enough to brag about liking to steal my things, including my man, just like she always had.
She never saw me as a real sister, just the illegitimate daughter her mother and father had allowed to tag along. She was right about one thing—I was powerless back then. I’d spent eight years under the control of the Sinclair family, especially tied to their golden boy, Steven. He treated me like a chess piece, a convenient puppet.
My father, Marcus Sinclair, had remarried Patricia after my mother died, and he’d brought Stella into our home as the perfect, favored daughter. I had no voice, no rights, and no future of my own. They made sure of that. When Ethan Hail returned to the country, freshly back from Europe and ready to resume his engagement to Stella, I recognized my one chance at freedom.
I found him alone and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. I told him that if he let me be his blade, if he let me help him see the truth about the Sinclair family, I’d give him everything I had in return. “Ethan Hail, my future brother-in-law,” I said. “Will you become the sharpest blade in my revenge?
”
He smiled, a cold, knowing smile. “More than that. ”
I thought I understood what I was getting into. I thought I could keep my heart out of it.
But I was wrong. For years, I had been nothing more than a pawn. Steven used me to get closer to Stella. Stella used her status to humiliate me at every turn.
My father, Marcus, treated me like a stain he couldn’t wash off. And Patricia, his wife, looked at me like I was lower than the dirt under her designer heels. All I wanted was to see my mother one last time. I begged my father, desperate after years of searching for the truth.
He laughed in my face. “Your mother’s already dead. Pity about the car accident. Oh, but we were glad to say a few harsh words to her before she finally went.
”
I couldn’t process it. My mother was dead. She’d died in a car accident, and they hadn’t even told me. They hadn’t let me say goodbye.
My father watched me break apart, then delivered the final blow. “Her body’s already been cremated. ”
I didn’t know it yet, but that was only the beginning of what I’d uncover. By the time my stepmother and father died to see me put in my place, I’d already stopped being the scared girl they’d raised.
When Stella tried to beat me for daring to sleep in Ethan’s bed, I didn’t fight back—I let them see the story they wanted to see. They believed every lie I fed them. Steven tried to force me to sleep with Ethan, thinking he could use me to win back Stella’s favor when their own relationship soured. He paid me to seduce my future brother-in-law, not knowing I had my own reasons to play along.
When I hurt him instead of seducing Ethan, he was furious. But that was only the first chip to fall. My father, furious that I’d touched Ethan and terrified Stella would be humiliated, hit me until I couldn’t see straight. “You’re dirt compared to Stella,” he hissed.
“You don’t even deserve to breathe the same air as her. ”
I let him. I let him because I knew his rage was his greatest weakness. And when Ethan walked into the Sinclair mansion that evening and saw the bruises, he didn’t need me to say a word.
“I saw Jane last night,” Ethan told them calmly. “She came over to congratulate me on my return, exchanged some pleasantries, and left. That’s all. ”
Stella spluttered.
“She’s lying! She tried to seduce you! ”
“Since this was all a misunderstanding, apologize to your sister,” Ethan said flatly. Forced to back down, Stella muttered a hollow sorry.
I smiled and forgave her, knowing she’d only grow more reckless. That night, I found Ethan again. He’d stayed over at the Sinclair mansion, and I’d slipped into his room. We both knew the tea Stella had brought him was laced with something she intended to use to trap him into a forced engagement.
I warmed him, and we decided to give them both a taste of their own medicine. First, I made sure Steven saw Stella going after me, convinced she was desperate enough to sabotage Ethan’s engagement just so I couldn’t have him. Then I made sure Stella thought Steven was coming back to her, whispering about how he couldn’t stay away even after everything. The plan worked better than I could have imagined.
That night, Stella crawled into the wrong bed, desperate to win back the man she thought she could control. She threw herself at Ethan, whispering her little lies about how she’d always loved him and how she was willing to do anything to keep him. But Ethan had switched places. When the doors burst open, and Mr.
and Mrs. Sinclair, along with a shocked Steven, walked in, they found Stella in bed with Steven—not Ethan. “Stella, what the hell are you doing? ” Patricia screamed.
“Dad, Mom, Ethan, I—I didn’t— I thought he was you! ” Stella cried, scrambling for excuses. Ethan stood in the doorway, calm and utterly unbothered. “Mr.
Sinclair, Mrs. Sinclair, I’ll take responsibility for Stella. ”
“I treated you like a son! ” Marcus barked.
“How dare you touch my daughter? ”
Ethan gave a slow smile. “I’ll come back to discuss this after you’ve calmed down. ”
And just like that, he walked away, leaving Stella to face the destruction she’d caused.
I followed him out, breathless. “Ethan, I knew you loved me,” I teased. He turned to me, his eyes glittering. “You were the one who couldn’t wait to bring people to catch us.
”
“I’m miserable, so you’re going to be miserable, too,” I admitted. We both knew the game was just beginning. Steven came crawling back to me days later, humiliated and desperate. “Jane, I’m in a very bad mood right now,” he snarled.
“You know, every time you get humiliated at the Sinclair family’s house, you take it out on me. ”
“You’re pathetic, Steven,” I told him. “You should be thinking about how to please me. Maybe then I’ll let you off the hook.
”
“You’re nothing but Stella’s backup plan,” he shot back. “You think I won’t blacklist you? ”
“Try it. ”
I had already negotiated my contract termination with him.
But he thought he had me trapped. “I doctored that contract ages ago,” he sneered. “It’s like I told you, Jane. You’re mine until the day you die.
”
I simply smiled. “Let’s find out. ”
Ethan, hearing I’d walked away from Steven, offered me a lifeline. He introduced me to Lucas, a top modeling agent, and signed me into his agency with one condition: I had to win the biggest competition of the season.
“Let’s see if Miss Jane’s worth the investment,” he said. I was more than ready. But Stella wasn’t done. She tried to sabotage me at every turn, even showing up when I was buying a gift for Lucas, accusing me of sleeping with him.
She thought she could break me, but I was done being the weak girl she used to push around. When she slapped me during a fitting, Ethan made her apologize. When she refused, he walked up to her and slapped her right back. “Now we’re even,” he said.
“Apologize, or I’ll make sure you never work in Harbor City again. ”
Stella begged, cried, and fell apart. Lucas took her to deal with the swelling on her face. I couldn’t stop smiling.
The next day, as the competition loomed, I received an anonymous call. “Your mother’s death wasn’t an accident. It was staged. Argus and Patricia did it to get her out of the way.
”
I felt my world crack open. For years, I’d blamed myself for my mother’s shame, for being the bastard daughter who ruined her life. But she’d been murdered because she stood in the way of my father and his mistress. They’d killed her, and they’d told me she was dead, but they’d also made sure I knew her final moments were filled with humiliation and pain.
On the day of the competition, I was seconds away from walking on stage when a car slammed into mine. I blacked out, only to be woken by a man dragging me from the wreckage. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to. Please, it was Steven!
He paid me to do this. I needed the money. ”
I felt the fire of rage ignite in my chest. They had tried to stop me from becoming something.
They had tried to kill me to keep me small. But I wasn’t small anymore. Shaking, bruised, and dizzy, I still made it to the venue. The judges had already declared the competition over, ready to hand the title to Stella.
Even Lucas thought it was too late. But Ethan walked onto the stage, his voice cutting through the noise. “Contestant number 10, Jane Sinclair, is here. I’m her partner, and I’m ready to walk with her.
”
The crowd erupted. I walked that runway like I was born on it, and with Ethan by my side, I won the championship. The same night, Steven was arrested for soliciting attempted murder. Marcus and Patricia panicked, but I wasn’t done.
I let them think they were in control. I stayed in their house, swallowing their insults, because I knew the truth. I had finally found it: Marcus Sinclair had another son, a bastard son he’d hidden for years. His name was Jason.
I found him, and I offered him a deal. “You’re the only male heir, and Stella is about to marry into a family that will give her everything. Once she becomes Mrs. Hail, you and your mother will have exactly nothing.
Join me, and I’ll make sure you get what you deserve. ”
He didn’t need much convincing. Marcus tried to stop me from leaving the family. He had arranged for me to marry Mr.
Smith, a man pushing seventy with two dead wives, just to get me under control. But when I met the man’s son, who made his intentions clear—he was only interested in taking me for the sake of producing a child—I walked out. “Anyone who touches me is dead,” I said. I went straight to Ethan, who took me in.
“Move in with me,” he said. “I don’t want to see this happen again. This is the second time. ”
“Jane, since we first met, do you have any feelings for me?
”
I didn’t have to think. “They’ve grown,” I admitted. “I really like you. I don’t mind the pain to feel again.
”
Then the final act came together. Ethan’s grandfather returned to the country, and he wanted to announce Ethan and Stella’s engagement at a grand banquet. Everyone was there—the Hail family, the Sinclair family, all the scheming witches and their poison-tongued allies. On stage, Ethan stepped up to the microphone.
“I have an announcement to make. My engagement to the Sinclair family’s eldest daughter, Stella Sinclair, is officially… canceled. ”
Stella screamed. Patricia threatened.
Marcus raged. And then, the best part: Steven, freshly free from jail, walked in with a smug grin. “Stella, you claim to love Ethan, but you slept with me. Ethan saw us in bed together.
Isn’t that right, Ethan? ”
“Shut up! ” Stella screamed, her face contorted with fear. “Mrs.
Hail, you don’t know all the terrible things Stella has done, do you? ” Steven declared. “For instance, hiring a hitman to kill Jane so she couldn’t make it to the runway. ”
The entire room gasped.
Stella tried to deny it, but Steven had proof. He played the recording of her voice, plotting my death. And when Stella realized she was caught, she turned to me, her eyes blazing. “You two have been planning this the whole time, haven’t you?
”
“You’ll be fine, sister,” I said sweetly. “I forgive you. ”
In the chaos, I dropped another bomb. “And your father, Miss Stella, never planned to give you the inheritance.
He has another son, a bastard son he’s been hiding for years. ”
The entire Sinclair family fell apart. Marcus tried to hit me, but Ethan stopped him. Patricia clawed at my face, screaming about how I was ruining her family.
But I had one more card to play. “You want the truth, Patricia? ” I said. “You and Marcus killed my mother together.
”
Patricia froze, her mouth open. “Shut up, you little liar! ”
“Stop pretending, Patricia,” I said, my voice steady. “Don’t be a hypocrite.
You and I killed that woman together. ”
The room went silent. The police were already there, called not only for the fight but for the confession. Marcus and Patricia were both arrested.
Marcus was implicated in criminal threats and murder for hire. Patricia was taken into custody for her role in my mother’s death. I barely had time to breathe before Ethan collapsed. He’d been running on fumes, protecting me at every turn, and his body finally gave out.
He was rushed to the hospital, and I sat by his bed, waiting, praying. When he finally woke up, I smiled through my tears. “You have no idea how scared I was. ”
He squeezed my hand.
“It’s all over now. Stella committed suicide in prison. Patricia’s been admitted to a psychiatric hospital. And Marcus—he’s never getting out.
You can finally rest in peace, Jane. ”
I visited my mother’s grave that afternoon, carrying the newly discovered truth. “When I was 17, I wanted to kill them,” I whispered. “But you always told me, no matter how hard life gets, I have to keep living.
I couldn’t throw away my life for garbage like them. And you were right. Things got better. ”
I paused, grief hitting me like a wave.
“I didn’t treat your murderer the same way. But I wrote his son a very big check. Him and his family are going to live very happy lives. ”
Ethan appeared beside me, his hand slipping into mine.
“Mom, this is my husband, Ethan Hail. He’s been so good to me. If you meet her in hell, please tell her I’ve suffered way too much in this lifetime. But don’t you worry.
From now on, I’ll take care of her, and her peace. ”
He turned to look at me, his eyes soft. “Jane, I love you. ”
“I love you, too.
”
The sky was gray, but for the first time in years, I felt warm.
