Chapter 1 Fateful Night
In the luxurious presidential suite, Elena Reed lay beneath a tall, muscular man , their bodies locked in a breathless embrace. The unfamiliar sensations left her lightheaded and unmoored.
Elena struggled to open her eyes, desperate to see the man's face, but each wave of sensation pulled her further into the depths of pleasure.
Hours later, utterly spent, Elena collapsed onto the massive bed. In her semi-conscious state, she felt something cool touch her neck—a ruby pendant that the man carefully placed around her throat before disappearing.
She slept until noon the next day, worn down to the bone. When she finally awoke, she found her stepsister, Mandy Reed, standing by the bed with her arms crossed, her gaze full of disdain.
Elena quickly pulled the sheets around her body, trying to hide the bruises that marked her skin. When her terrified eyes met Mandy's gaze, Mandy turned away, grabbed her purse from the side table, and pulled out a check, tossing it carelessly onto the bed beside Elena.
"Your job here is done. Here's $800,000, take it and leave Pinewood City today.," Mandy said coldly.
"As for what happened last night, you’d better keep it to yourself and pretend it never happened," she continued, "Otherwise, I can make you vanish without a trace, and I can turn everything your mother left you to ashes. Elena, you'd better behave."
After delivering this threat, Mandy gave Elena one more contemptuous look before leaving. As she turned, her eyes inadvertently caught sight of the red bloodstain on the sheets.
If Elena hadn’t already lost her virginity, why would Mandy have spent $800,000 to have Elena sleep with that man?
Fortunately, she had drugged Elena the night before, so Elena probably wouldn't recognize the man's identity. She would never know that the man from last night was Harrison Frost—the business titan whose name made Pinewood City tremble.
After Mandy left, Elena sat on the bed, staring blankly at the check in her hand.
This was the price of her dignity and virginity—$800,000. Enough to go abroad and pursue further medical studies.
If her mother hadn’t died so early, if her father hadn’t married Christine Hayes, how could she have fallen to such depths? Having to trade her body to pay for her education?
Elena gave a bitter smile. But there was a bitter comfort in it—at least she would no longer owe the Reed family anything.
After securing the check, she put on her slightly wrinkled clothes from the previous night,
Two days later, Elena boarded a plane heading overseas.
A month later, in a foreign country, when the doctor handed Elena her pregnancy test results, she was stunned.
She never imagined that a single night of passion would result in pregnancy. She didn't even know who the father of her child was—she remembered almost nothing about the man himself. Her only memory was that he hadn't been stingy—the ruby pendant he had placed around her neck seemed to be worth something.
Nine months later, Elena lay on the operating table and gave birth to triplets. Unfortunately, when she recovered enough to visit her babies, the doctors informed her that one of her children had mysteriously disappeared.
Five years later, at Pinewood International Airport, Elena walked through the arrival gate holding the hands of two nearly identical twins—a boy and a girl—carrying minimal luggage.
Returning to the city stirred a tangle of emotions in Elena.
Her son Connor, looked up at her and asked, "Mom, is this the city where you grew up?"
Elena gently stroked Connor's head and answered tenderly, "Yes, Connor, this is the city where I once lived."
"But Mom, are you sure we can find our missing sister in this city?" Elena's daughter Mia asked her tiny voice tinged with curiosity.
Elena sighed softly, her eyes gazing into the distance. After a moment, she said, "Your godmother found some leads. We should be able to find her soon enough if nothing goes wrong."
Just as Elena finished speaking to Mia, her phone rang. Looking at the screen, she saw it was her school alumni Dr. Nathan Parker.
"Elena, I'm terribly sorry. I meant to come to the airport to pick you up when you returned, but I had an emergency surgery. I got out late and couldn't make it," Nathan explained.
Nathan worked at Westland General Hospital as the vice president. His busy schedule and numerous surgeries made it understandable that he couldn't find time to meet Elena.
"Don't worry about it. We can take a taxi. We'll see you at the hospital," she replied.
"Good. Thank you for understanding, Elena. Zander's father's surgery is waiting for you to take the lead."
After ending the call with Nathan, Elena and her kids quickly took a taxi and left the airport.
At the same time, a convoy of high-end vehicles pulled up at the airport entrance.
Mandy hurriedly stepped out of one of the cars with several assistants and rushed toward the exit area.
Mandy directed everyone to wait at the airport exit, holding welcome signs. When she suddenly turned her head, she caught a glimpse of the taxi carrying Elena and her children as it passed by.
Mandy started in surprise, her heart skipping a beat. Had Elena returned?
She took a few steps forward to get a better look when Harrison appeared beside her, carrying a pale four-year-old girl in his arms. His tall figure and imposing demeanor made him the center of attention despite the child in his arms.
Seeing Harrison approach, Mandy quickly went to greet him.
"Harrison," she said sweetly.
Harrison looked down at Mandy with a cold gaze. After a moment, his thin lips moved slightly as he spoke in a cool tone.
"Are you certain Dr. Ella Johnson arrived in Pinewood City on this flight?" he asked.
Mandy nodded. "Yes, I checked with my contacts. Dr. Johnson was definitely on this flight. Dr. Johnson is an exceptional physician. Once we find her, Lily will be fine."
After saying this, Mandy looked tenderly at the little girl in Harrison's arms.
When Lily noticed Mandy's gaze upon her, she suddenly tensed with inexplicable anxiety, instinctively shrinking into a ball in her father's protective embrace.
