“Can you believe the nerve of the Dunlops! Trying to hook us up with this hideous gal for marriage! The Williams family has never suffered such disgrace."
The voice near Caroline Dunlop's ear was sharp and abusive, as a servant roughly tugged at her hair, dragging her down the stairs like a cheap sack of potatoes.
They rudely dropped her in front of the couch.
"Ouch! Can't you be gentler?" Caroline winced in pain, her face contorted behind the mask she wore.
There was only silence, suffocating and deafening, all around her.
Pushing through the pain, she slowly sat up and saw two figures in front of her.
A well-dressed, middle-aged woman with a furious expression, and a man sitting in a wheelchair.
The woman who had berated her earlier was likely the angry lady before her. Caroline assumed this must be Chloe Williams, the matriarch of the Williams family. The man in the wheelchair beside her was surely her son, and Caroline's soon-to-be husband, Jeffrey Williams.
Preparing to defend herself, Caroline noticed Jeffrey wheeling towards her.
His towering presence cast a shadow over her, and his voice turned icy as he looked down at her, as though she were nothing more than rubbish.
"Speak! Are you Susanna Dunlop, or Caroline Dunlop?"
Caroline couldn't help swallowing nervously.
The backlight made it difficult to see his face clearly, but the weight of his gaze was palpable.
At that moment, she knew that her secret proxy marriage had somehow been exposed. The Williams family knew she wasn't her older sister, Susanna.
Though they both shared the Dunlop surname, in the eyes of the world, they were two entirely different individuals.
"I am Susanna!" Caroline clutched her mask tightly. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
Although puzzled as to how her disguise had been uncovered, Caroline knew she couldn't admit to their accusations.
She had come to the Williams family for a very important reason: to find the only doctor, Isaac, who happened to be Jeffrey's cousin, to save her grandmother.
She couldn't be chased out the first day here!
Caroline raised her eyes, peering over the mask at Jeffrey, and repeated, "If you don't believe me, you can investigate. I AM Susanna!"
Her voice grew louder, as if she were trying to gather courage for herself.
Unconvinced, Jeffrey sneered at her defiance.
He extended his hand, and a servant handed him a phone. He dialed a number, which was answered promptly.
"Mrs. Grace, can you repeat what you just told me?"
Upon hearing her stepmother's name, Caroline's body tensed.
Her gaze fell upon the phone in Jeffrey's hand, and in the next moment, Grace's sobbing voice reverberated through the room from the speaker.
"It was all that wretched Caroline's doing! You have to believe me, Jeffrey. She drugged her own sister and took her place, all to infiltrate the Williams family! She's a despicable woman, and it's my fault for not raising her properly..."
Chloe's furious voice cut through, "Now, do you still dare to claim you're Susanna?"
Susanna, the eldest daughter of the Dunlop family, was known as a beauty in City A. Her gentle and dignified temperament earned her the reputation of a noble lady.
On the other hand, Caroline was notorious as the ugliest woman among City A's aristocrats—unscrupulous and infamous, with a disfiguring scar on her right cheek.
The Williams family had expected to welcome their daughter-in-law, Susanna, that day.
However, upon completing the registration, they realized that the registered person had been changed to Caroline.
How could Chloe not be furious?
Not only Chloe, even Caroline herself was on the verge of exploding.
Her hand clenched into a fist against the ground.
If it weren't for Grace using her grandmother's illness to force her, she would never have replaced Susanna and married the despised Jeffrey.
Now that she was married and moved in, Grace had burned the bridge behind her and played a cruel trick, claiming it was all Caroline's plan.
Grace had intended to destroy Caroline with the help of Jeffrey and the entire Williams family.
But despite her anger, Caroline forced herself to take a deep breath.
She longed to reveal the truth and leave gracefully.
However, reasons held her back.
If she couldn't stay, Grace would surely harm her grandmother, her only family. After her mother's death, it was her grandmother who took care of her with great difficulty.
She couldn't let anything happen to her.
Lost in her thoughts, Caroline suddenly felt a cold hand cruelly gripping her jaw.
Feeling the icy gaze in Jeffrey's eyes, she grew frightened. "I... I am already married to you. If you kick me out, it will only bring shame upon the entire Williams family..."
"It seems you think too highly of yourself." Jeffrey's voice seemed to come from the depths of hell, each word sending shivers down Caroline's spine.
"Even if you were to die here today, I have enough influence to bury the scandal!"
As Jeffrey remained determined to drive her away, Caroline mustered the courage to grab his wrist.
The situation had spiraled far beyond her expectations. In order to stay, she had no choice but to play her trump card.
"I know your secret!"
At this point, the woman before him was still fighting on her deathbed.
Disgusted, Jeffrey forcefully shook off Caroline's grip on his chin, his voice chilling. "Oh, do tell me, what secret do you think you know about me?"
No matter what this woman claimed, it wouldn't change his decision to cast her out.
"Of course, I know," she said, collapsing to the ground, tears glistening in her eyes. "Everyone believes that you, Jeffrey, the eldest son of the Williams family, are disabled! But they have all been deceived by you!"
Then, in the eyes of Jeffrey, who gradually became colder, she raised the corners of her mouth confidently and said, "You are not lame at all. You sit in a wheelchair all day, just for others to see..."
Before she could finish her words, Jeffrey angrily silenced her.
He stood up, his voice deep, his fingertips pressing against Caroline's veins.
"Now, do you have any last words?"
Caroline struggled to catch her breath, her gaze fixed on the chandelier above, her heart filled with fear.
No, she couldn't die here...
"If I die, your secret will be exposed..."
Caroline forced the words out, tears streaming down her face.
"I'm not threatening you. I just want to speak with you alone..."
Upon hearing this, Jeffrey studied the woman before him once more.
Chloe quickly interjected, "Jeffrey, don't be fooled by this wretched woman's nonsense. Kick her out immediately!"
Caroline fought desperately. "Two years ago, Oak Street, No. 156..."
The mention of the address caused Jeffrey's piercing blue eyes to tremble.
He released his grip, and Caroline, finally able to breathe again, gasped heavily on the floor.
Could it be that this woman had also been there two years ago?
His eyebrows furrowed deeply.
After a long pause, he settled back into his wheelchair, leisurely adjusting his disheveled cuffs.
"I agree to have a conversation with you. Take her to the side hall," he finally said.
