Chapter 1

The Sunseal jade pendant I'd worn for twenty-two years was quietly taken off my neck by Clive Delgado, given to his one true first love's daughter to calm the child's fright.

That pendant was the Stewart family's sole-inheritance protective charm, the thing I'd leaned on since I was a child, carved into my very bones, and it was also what steadied the twins in my womb.

His childhood friend told him to think twice.

He said it carelessly: "Amelia cries herself into a faint every night. She needs it more than Eleanor Stewart does."

That day I stood outside his study, gripping the medical record the old doctor had just written up confirming my twin pregnancy, and I heard him laughing as he said, "Worst case, we just skip having the baby for now. Sibyl always listens to me."

Seven years living under a false name, setting aside everything I was as the Stewart heiress, I stayed by his side and toughed it out to this day.

And in the end, in his heart, my babies and my life together weren't worth one night of his first love's daughter crying.

1

I'd just woken up when I realized the Sunseal jade pendant I'd worn for twenty-two years was gone.

It wasn't an ordinary pendant. It was the protective charm passed down through the Stewart main line, generation to generation.

I was born with a pure-yin constitution, sickly and frail since childhood, and I relied on that pendant to gather warmth and hold my breath of life together.

The elders in the family had told me again and again: while the jade stays, the person stays; if the jade is lost, the person is in danger.

Clive hadn't come home until the early hours last night, reeking of alcohol, and before bed he'd leaned over to hold me, his hand brushing across my neck.

Pushing down the panic, I grabbed a coat and hurried to his design studio.

The studio door wasn't shut all the way. Inside I could hear his childhood friend, Warren Henson, his voice tight with worry. "Clive, did you really take that jade of Eleanor's?"

"That pendant really matters to her. She's worn it her whole life, never once taken it off. You need to get it back to her right now!"

Clive answered, a little irritated. "What's the big deal? It's just an old pendant. Look at you, blowing it out of proportion."

"Amelia's been crying for three days and three nights, can't even sleep. The master said she needs old jade with strong yang to settle her fright. Sibyl's about frantic. How could I not help?"

Warren pressed, "But it's Eleanor's. Couldn't you have at least talked to her before taking it?"

Clive said offhandedly, "What's there to talk about with her?"

"She's been with me seven years. She does whatever I say. Once Amelia's better I'll give the jade back, say a few nice things to her, and it'll be fine."

Warren was still trying. "Don't just brush it off! Last time I saw Eleanor go into the clinic, she looked terrible. Seemed like she might be pregn—"

Clive cut him off before he could finish, casual about it. "So what if she is? It's just a pregnancy, nothing so delicate about it."

"If she really wants to throw a fit over this pendant, worst case we don't keep the baby for now. Wait until Amelia's stable, then we'll see."

"Eleanor loves me that much. You think she'd really fall out with me over it?"

I couldn't make out anything he said after that.

I stood outside the door, clutching the crumpled twin-pregnancy medical record in my pocket.

Seven years!

I'd hidden it from everyone in the Stewart family, lived under a false name to stay by his side, watched him go from a poor student with nothing to a designer with a bit of a name.

Afraid of bruising his pride, I never once mentioned my background, quietly pulling strings to feed him resources and land him projects, propping up his studio one step at a time.

I thought we were each other's anchor, the person the other would spend a whole life with.

It turned out that in his eyes, my life and our two children weren't worth one night of his first love's daughter crying.

I reached out and pushed the door open.

The two men inside looked over at the same time.

When Clive saw me, a flicker of panic crossed his face, quickly smoothed over as he put on an unbothered air. "What are you doing here? Didn't you say you were resting at home today?"

I asked, my voice low. "My pendant. You took it?"

He frowned, as if he thought I was making a fuss over nothing. "Yes, I took it!"

"Sibyl's daughter got a fright and needs jade to settle her. I'm just lending it to her for a few days. Once she's better I'll give it back to you."

I said, my anger breaking through, "Clive, when you took my things, did you ask if I agreed?"

His brows drew tight, his whole face displeased. "Do we really have to keep such clear accounts between us?"

"Eleanor, can't you be a little more reasonable?"

"Amelia's only five. I can't just watch her cry herself into something serious, can I?"

"It's just a pendant. Do you really have to pull such a sour face over it?"

I said through my teeth, "That jade is my life!"

He gave a contemptuous little laugh. "Your life, your life. It's just old jade. You were never this precious about it before!"

"Enough, stop making a scene. Tonight I'll take you to that sushi place you love, and we'll put this behind us."

He reached out to take my hand. I turned aside and dodged it.

I said coldly, "Clive, you'd better pray that the baby and I are both fine."

"Otherwise, you'll cry till there are no tears left!"

I turned and walked out. Behind me came the sound of Warren sighing, and Clive muttering in dissatisfaction, "She just gets more and more unreasonable."

Out of the studio, I reached up and touched my bare neck, the dragging ache low in my belly growing sharper.

Seven years of devotion. It turned out to be a joke.