Chapter 1
Today was Mateo Naillon’s wedding day, but the bride wasn’t Catalina Higgin, the woman who had slept with him for three years. It was someone else entirely.
Backstage at the venue.
Mateo was dressed in a suit and had Catalina pinned against a table. His hand grabbed her hair as he indulged in his pleasure.
Outside, footsteps and chatter approached. Catalina frowned in pain.
“Let go… Someone’s coming…”
But the more she resisted, the more amused Mateo became.
“Then stay quiet. Imagine what people would say if they found out you were messing around with the groom right be- fore his wedding.”
Tears slid down her cheeks, her face pressed against the cold tabletop.
When he was finished, Mateo tossed her clothes toward her without a hint of care.
“Get dressed. Don’t let anyone see you.”
She collapsed to the floor, weak and humiliated. Moments like this had happened again and again, but she never thought he still wouldn’t let her go on the very day he was marrying Valerie Morozov.
As she stepped out of the room, whispers followed her like shadows.
“Isn’t that the fallen rich girl? What now? Became the Naillon family’s lackey? I heard she works as Valerie’s assistant
now.”
“She still thinks she’s the heiress of the Higgin family? That family’s long gone! Even her parents were destroyed by Mateo, and now their daughter is acting like his pet. How pathetic.’
“If I were her, I’d rather be dead.”
***
Catalina froze. A cold, numb feeling spread from her feet up. Every cruel word seemed to carve itself into her memo-
She had once been the most renowned heiress in Chicago. Mateo was the boy she rescued from a dog cage.
She had taken care of him and treated him with sincerity, and in return, he seemed to care for her in every possible
way.
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Chapter 1
But when she brought him home to meet her parents, asking for their approval, Mateo gave her three cruel surprises instead.
First, he fabricated evidence accusing her father of corruption and handed it over to the authorities. Catalina cried and begged him to stop, but it was no use. Her father ended up being sentenced to ten years in prison.
Second, Mateo threatened to send her mother to red-light districts to sell herself. Catalina pleaded with him for mer- cy. But the blow was too much. Her mother collapsed on the spot and passed away.
Third, he made her sign a contract, forcing her to become his personal toy. For three long years, she had to suffer through shame and abuse.
***
Catalina cried so hard she felt like she would pass out. She screamed at him, demanding to know why he had done all of this. But instead of an answer, Mateo yelled back at her.
“Because of your parents! They destroyed my dad until he jumped from the roof of the Higgin Group building. Thirty floors! He died right at the front door! Do you have any idea how much that hurt?”
Catalina’s entire body shook. She stared at him with burning eyes, full of hatred.
Then she burst into laughter, her eyes red with tears. So that was it. Mateo had gotten close to her just to get revenge.
And she had led her parents right into his trap.
She snapped out of her thoughts, her hands clenched tight. Her chest ached from the grief. The image of her mother’s death would stay in her mind forever.
The wedding carried on as if nothing had happened. Catalina stood by the stage, watching Mateo kiss Valerie. Her face showed no emotion.
Three years ago, she had almost become Mateo’s bride. That thought made her lips curl into a cold smile.
Once the ceremony ended, Catalina got a call from the hospital.
“Hello, is this Ms. Higgin? It’s time for your follow-up check.”
Catalina dropped what she was doing and hurried to the hospital. After the checkup, the doctor looked very serious.
“Your kidney failure has progressed to the final stage. It’s already caused heart failure. If you don’t start treatment im- mediately, you won’t have much time left. At worst, just a week…”
Catalina felt a small chill in her heart, but oddly enough, she also felt lighter than ever.
“I already knew. I’m not getting treated.”
For years, she had been trying to end her life, but Mateo always stepped in to save her, only for her to suffer again.
She was tired of it all. This time, no one would be able to stop her.
