Editor: Henyee Translations Grace’s parents had always been the kind to boast about their daughter’s achievements at every opportunity.
As Felix continued, his voice brimming with unrestrained admiration for his younger daughter, a quiet realization dawned on him.
A hazy memory surfaced.
Years ago, in a passing remark over the phone, his wife had casually mentioned that Evelyn had never attended college.
Thinking back on it, Felix sighed.
“If only you were as accomplished as Grace.” Evelyn said nothing.
If anything, she found the comparison almost amusing.
They remembered every detail about Grace.
Her achievements, her preferences, even her little habits.
Yet when it came to Evelyn, they hadn’t bothered to learn something as basic as her education before deciding she could never measure up.
Everything about the Ashford mansion felt foreign to Evelyn.
This was supposed to be her home too, but it was the first time she had ever set foot inside it.
Isabelle personally led her upstairs and showed her to a spacious bedroom.
“If there’s anything you don’t like, just let me know,” she said with a warm smile that felt carefully practiced.
Evelyn nodded.
“Thank you, Mom.” “Oh, sweetheart,” Isabelle chuckled.
“There’s no need to be so formal.
I am your mother, not a stranger.” Isabella remained standing in the doorway instead of leaving as Evelyn looked up.
“Is there something else?” For years, Isabelle and Felix had fought their way upward, into high society, seizing every opportunity to climb the social ladder.
However, simply rising to great heights and amassing wealth was not enough to gain acceptance into elite society.
Despite their wealth, old-money families still dismissed the Ashfords as newcomers.
The Lowell Family, however, stood at the very top.
Their fortune, influence, and generations of prestige placed them in an entirely different league.
Hence, when the Lowell’s proposed a marriage alliance, Isabella had no intention of letting the opportunity slip away.
Being included in the Lowell family tree could elevate the Ashfords beyond anything money could buy.
The problem was Matthias.
After the accident, he had been permanently disabled, and Isabelle would never allow her beloved younger daughter to marry him.
Besides, Grace hadn’t even come of age yet.
She was afraid the Lowells would call off the wedding if she attempted to substitute a minor.
That was exactly why she had finally brought her eldest daughter home.
Yet as she looked into Evelyn’s clear, tranquil eyes, a faint trace of guilt surfaced within her.
But it was equally true that she felt no real affection for her.
After all, what future could Evelyn possibly have?
She had grown up in the countryside.
Isabelle believed she didn’t possess any extraordinary qualities either.
At best, she had become a physician at a modest community hospital in a place like Greendale.
Perhaps, a quack.
Even if Matthias was disabled, marrying into the Lowell family would still grant her a life of wealth, luxury, and status beyond anything she could achieve on her own.
In Isabelle’s eyes, she was giving Evelyn a better future.
“Get some rest,” Isabelle said.
“There’s someone I would like you to meet tonight.” She didn’t need to explain who.
Evelyn was already aware.
Matthias Lowell.
She had followed the news coverage of his car accident and learned that he was unable to walk.
For a moment, Evelyn didn’t know whether to laugh or feel disappointed.
In the end, she really shouldn’t have expected anything from her so-called parents.
Children who grow up without love all carry the same quiet ache.
The bitterness of being unwanted and the helplessness of knowing they can’t change it.
“Okay,” Evelyn answered with a small nod.
But she wasn’t agreeing for Isabelle’s sake.
The only reason she had returned to Norbright was because of Matthias, after all.
She couldn’t help wondering how he was doing.
Seeing Evelyn cooperate, Isabelle felt slightly relieved.
“Good.
I will let you rest.” She paused at the door before adding, “If anyone asks where you went to medical school, tell them you earned your M.D.
from Crestview University School of Medicine.
Don’t worry about anyone checking.
I will handle it.” After Isabelle left, Evelyn lay back on the bed and slowly raised her right hand.
It had been trembling uncontrollably like this for six days.
Ever since the moment she had held a scalpel and failed to save her grandmother, her hand had never stopped trembling.
For a surgeon, shaking hands wasn’t just a nightmare.
They were career-ending sentences.
Her thoughts weighed heavily on her until exhaustion finally pulled her into an uneasy sleep.
Downstairs, Grace lounged on the living room couch, scrolling through the group chat.
Texts after texts popped up.
Is your sister pretty?
What’s she like?
A knot tightened in Grace’s chest.
Pretty?
That hardly did Evelyn justice.
Evelyn dressed plainly, but she possessed a striking kind of beauty.
Cool, elegant, and effortlessly captivating.
Even her complexion was flawless, nothing like Grace had imagined a girl raised in a small town would have.
Standing beside Evelyn, Grace’s own sweet, delicate features seemed painfully ordinary.
Those constant questions about Evelyn irritated her.
She is average.
Not ugly.
The instant she hit the Send, she knew she had lied.
But the words had come naturally.
Everyone in Norbright’s elite class already knew about the upcoming marriage alliance between the Ashford and Lowell families and curiosity had reached a fever pitch.
After all, who would marry Matthias Lowell, the once untouchable golden son of their generation?
When Grace’s text appeared, the group chat fell silent.
Not ugly?
Everyone knew what that really meant.
It was simply a polite way of saying someone wasn’t attractive.
Poor Matthias.
Miles, the youngest son of the Lowells’ family, happened to be in that same group chat.
His face darkened as he read the messages.
“What the hell?” He turned toward his mother.
“Mom, my brother has just injured his legs, that’s all.
Do you really have to marry him off to some random woman?
Even Grace Ashford practically admitted her sister isn’t attractive.” Mrs.
Lowell’s heart ached.
More than anyone, she wanted the very best for her son.
But his injuries extended far beyond his legs.
The accident had also robbed him of his ability to continue his bloodline.
As the matriarch of the Lowell Family, she couldn’t allow rumors spreading or scandals damaging the family’s reputation.
She needed a wife for his son who would be easy to manage.
Someone who wouldn’t make trouble.
After careful consideration, the Ashford family’s long-lost eldest daughter seemed like the ideal choice.
“This is an adult matter,” she said coldly.
“It’s not your place to talk about.
Stay out of it” Miles nearly exploded with frustration, but didn’t argue.
Ignoring him, Mrs.
Lowell walked upstairs.
Isabelle had already contacted her to arrange a meeting that evening.
She pushed open Matthias’s bedroom door.
Darkness greeted her.
The curtains were tightly shut, leaving the room cloaked in shadows.
Suppressing the pain in her chest, she crossed the room and pulled them open.
Sunlight poured inside, driving away the gloom.
Matthias lay awake on the bed.
His dark eyes were as still and deep as a bottomless lake.
His sharply sculpted features remained handsome as ever, though an icy distance surrounded him like armor.
He hadn’t been sleeping.
“I have arranged for you to meet someone tonight,” Mrs.
Lowell said without preamble.
“Come with me.
Meet the girl, and agree to the marriage.” Matthias’s expression didn’t change.
“If my opinion doesn’t matter,” he answered flatly, “Why bother meeting her?
We might as well skip straight to the wedding.” Mrs.
Lowell loved her son deeply.
But beneath that love lingered resentment.
No one outside the family knew the accident had not only crippled Matthias.
It had also claimed his father’s life.
With Matthias in his current condition, she couldn’t announce her husband’s death.
If word got out now, ambitious executives and distant relatives would begin fighting for control over the family business.
“So long as you aren’t refusing,” she said quietly, “basic courtesy requires that you meet her.” When she left, silence settled over the room once again.
Pain and self-loathing flickered across Mathias’s face.
If it weren’t for him, his father would still be alive.
Evelyn woke just before sunset.
Grace had come to bring her downstairs.
For reasons Evelyn couldn’t quite understand, Grace suddenly smiled.
“Well, Evelyn, congratulations.
You are about to marry into the Lowell Family.
The most powerful family in Norbright.” Evelyn was twenty-five.
Years of studying and living abroad had taught her how to read people.
She saw through Grace’s petty games immediately.
It was obvious that Grace didn’t like her.
So Evelyn simply continued smoothing the comforter across the bed, waiting to hear what Grace would say next.