Bincheng City
Outside the orphanage.
“Dad’s really throwing me a birthday party?” The girl, plainly dressed, looked stunned, like she couldn’t believe she’d actually be taken back by the Ross family someday.
Standing by the stretched Lincoln, the butler smiled and nodded. “You are the second daughter of the Ross family, after all. Of course your coming-of-age party will be held properly. Miss Isabella and the others are all waiting—come on, hop in!”
Emma Ross hesitated at the car door. Her whole life, she’d been nothing but unwanted.
Her birth chart was considered cursed—her mother died giving birth to her.
Born into the prestigious fortune-telling Ross family, but without a trace of the gift.
And that big red birthmark on her face? Seen as a bad omen.
When she was five, she got a high fever. Doctors said her mind would forever be stuck at five years old. That was it—she got dumped in an orphanage like she was nothing.
Five was old enough to understand things.
Emma had always known—not a single person in the Ross family liked her. No wonder she was scared to step into that car.
The butler noticed her pause and, recalling what Madam had told him, quickly added, “The Master found your mother’s old belongings. He wants to hand them to you at the party.”
Her mother’s keepsakes.
No kid doesn’t long for a parent’s love.Emma hadn’t known what love from family felt like for thirteen whole years, so now, she didn’t stand a chance against it.
Back then, she’d try bringing homemade food to her dad at the Ross house, only to get laughed at—“Even dogs wouldn’t touch that,” they’d said.
Now, the Ross family suddenly acting all warm and welcoming? Emma was on edge—hopeful, but scared stiff too. Deep down, she worried she’d just mess everything up again.
“I’ll go tell the director real quick,” she said, then bolted back to the orphanage, zipped through her goodbyes, and jumped into the car, nerves buzzing like crazy.
But the car wasn’t heading home.
Emma stared out the window, her chest tightening. “Uncle Butler, this isn’t the way home! You’re going the wrong way!”
Of course, the butler knew. This wasn’t a mistake.
Now that the girl was in the car, he dropped the act. His face turned icy cold as he sneered, “You really think a dumb kid like you can go back to the Ross house? Dream on. Truth is, we’re taking you straight to the Bennett family today.”
Emma might’ve had the mind of a five-year-old, but even she could tell he was aiming to hurt.
Her face drained of color. She flinched, her fingers scrambling for the door handle. “I don’t wanna go! Let me out! I wanna get off the car!”In the car, Emma Ross was squirming and yelling, driving the butler crazy. He slapped her hard across the face and snapped, "Shut up, you little brat! Marrying into the Bennett family—do you know how lucky you are? If you get your stupid self kicked out later, I swear I’ll break your legs! You hear me?"
Life in the orphanage had been rough for Emma, but the headmistress had always been kind—never hit them once. That slap left her stunned. She froze, clutching her cheek, eyes wide in fear as she huddled in a corner, too afraid to make a sound.
Satisfied with her silence, the butler ignored her and turned to chat with the driver. "The Bennetts are nothing but washed-up nobodies. Sending them an ugly, dumb second daughter? Please, that's already doing them a favor."
Old Wang, the driver, raised an eyebrow. "Didn’t the Bennetts get back on their feet thanks to Alexander Bennett? I drove the old master to some party—heard a ton about him. Sharp as hell, looks like a movie star, they say. Honestly, Miss Ross wouldn’t lose out marrying him. Why’d she get cold feet?"
"Are you dumb?" the butler snorted. "When the Bennetts hit rock bottom, did our family help? Nope. Madam even called off the engagement. Now you want the eldest daughter to marry over there? You think they forgot that slap in the face? She’d be toast."
The driver nodded, eyes on the road. "Yeah, guess no one expected the Bennetts to bounce back like that."
Before long, the car pulled up at the Bennett residence.
The butler, despite all his trash talk earlier, lost his bravado real quick the moment he faced the real deal.He nervously dragged Emma Ross over and muttered, “The one you wanted, I’ve brought her.”
Standing at the entrance of the Bennett estate, Ethan Bennett scanned her face and immediately snapped, “My brother wanted Isabella Ross, the eldest daughter of the Ross family. What the hell is this? You brought some random ugly chick?”
“Third Young Master, our eldest miss is already engaged to the young heir of the Wu family in the capital. She really can’t marry your brother. Madam said sending the second miss is just the same. Now that she’s here, I’m taking off.” The butler, knowing full well Ethan was notorious for his bad temper, didn’t stick around to test it. One wrong word from him and he might get a slap—no thanks.
He practically threw Emma aside, then bolted back to the car and hit the gas.
“Damn, he ran like his life depended on it,” Ethan glanced at Emma, who looked like a scared quail, trembling all over. He spat out a curse in disgust.
His aunt had told him to make things difficult for Isabella at the door, but now he hadn’t even seen her—just got stuck with this hot mess instead.
Ethan grabbed Emma by the wrist and dragged her into the main hall.
Inside, the Bennett family had been waiting for Isabella to show up. So, when Ethan walked in with this awkward-looking girl in tow, everyone froze.
“Ethan, who is this girl? Where’s Isabella?” Margaret Reed stood up anxiously.
“Big bro, the Ross family’s playing us hard. We’re this close to the wedding and they don’t send Isabella—they dump this weirdo on us instead! What kind of sick joke is this?” As he spoke, Ethan flung Emma to the floor like she was garbage.Caught off guard, Emma Ross was thrown to the ground, hitting her head hard on the floor.
The sharp pain made her let out a small whimper. She looked around at the unfamiliar faces in the room, completely overwhelmed. The coldness and disdain in their eyes stabbed straight into her already fragile nerves.
Where... where was this place?
She just wanted to go home.
With fear and pain crashing over her like waves, her vision blurred—and everything went black.
“I’m pretty sure the Ross family has a second daughter,” Sophia Collins said, twirling her fingers with a smug smile, “The one with that ‘bad omen’ birth chart. Caused her mom’s death at birth, not to mention rumored to be horrifically ugly. Got dumped in an orphanage by age five.”
She threw a glance toward Olivia White and her son, still sitting on the main couch, looking all high and mighty. “Sis-in-law, I’d take a wild guess and say that pitiful thing is the infamous second daughter.”
Olivia’s face darkened.
She had agreed to this marriage only because of the long-standing relationship between the two families. Let Isabella Ross into their home, try to mend fences, and maybe smooth over the past.
But the Ross family really went below the belt—sending over someone like *this* as their so-called bride? That was basically spitting in her son’s face.
“Alexander,” she turned toward her son, her voice cold and brittle, “What do you plan to do about the Ross family?”
All eyes in the room instantly shifted toward the man at the center of the storm.Alexander Bennett slowly opened his eyes after resting with them closed, and just like that, the sharp glint in his starry gaze lit up his strikingly handsome face.
His features carried a fierce edge, full of dominance.
Most women would lose their cool after just one look from him—blushing, heart racing, wishing they could throw themselves at him.
He stared expressionlessly at the unconscious Emma Ross lying on the floor and said coldly, “Take her away. As for the Ross family, I’ll handle it myself.”
The Ross family was done for.
There was a deadly chill in Alexander’s eyes. Ever since taking charge of the Bennett family, he’d never hesitated to act when needed.
If not for a shred of respect for past ties between the elders, he would've taken them down long ago for their betrayal.
Ethan Bennett was just about to drag Emma out when—
Suddenly!
Someone burst through the front door, pushing a wheelchair.
The moment the person in the chair came into view, Sophia Collins gasped. Her face went pale as she rushed forward in a panic, yelling, “Lucas, what happened to you?!”