Isabella stared at the gray suit in my hands.

—Avery, this costs four thousand dollars.

I touched the sleeve again.

—Then someone made three thousand nine hundred dollars too much.

The sales assistant coughed to hide a laugh.

Isabella’s smile stiffened.

—Fine. Wear whatever you want.

So I did.

The following week, I arrived at the Ashford estate wearing a plain cream dress my adoptive mother from the village had sewn for me years earlier.

No luxury label.

No jewelry.

No designer shoes.

Ethan looked me up and down.

—You really wore that?

—Yes.

—Caleb Quinn is coming.

—I know.

—At least stand behind Isabella and don’t speak unless someone asks you something.

I nodded.

—Fine.

Twenty minutes later, three black cars entered the courtyard.

Caleb Quinn stepped out of the middle one.

Thirty-one years old.

Tall.

Elegant.

Expressionless.

The capital called him a Go genius.

My teacher called him Board Chick Number One.

I almost laughed.

Caleb entered the salon.

My father immediately stood.

—Mr. Quinn, welcome.

Isabella approached gracefully.

—Caleb, thank you for accepting my invitation.

Caleb gave her a polite nod.

Then his gaze moved past her.

And landed on me.

He froze.

Completely.

The entire room noticed.

I lifted one hand.

—Oh.

Caleb continued staring.

I smiled.

—You’re still alive.

My father almost choked.

Ethan hissed:

—Avery!

But Caleb suddenly walked straight toward me.

One step.

Two.

Then he stopped less than a meter away.

—You.

—Me.

His composure shattered.

—Where have you been?!

Everyone went silent.

I scratched my cheek.

—Around.

—Around?

Caleb looked like he wanted to shake me.

—Your teacher disappeared ten years ago. Then you vanished. I sent people to eight provinces looking for both of you!

Isabella’s smile disappeared.

My father slowly stood.

—Mr. Quinn… you know Avery?

Caleb turned.

—Know her?

He pointed at me.

—This monster destroyed my confidence every New Year for five consecutive years.

I corrected him.

—Six.

His jaw tightened.

—You’re counting the year I was recovering from surgery?

—You still lost.

Caleb closed his eyes.

—Exactly the same.

Ethan looked between us.

—But… Avery said she defeated you twenty games in a row.

Caleb opened his eyes.

—Twenty-one.

I frowned.

—Twenty.

—You played another one after midnight.

—That was technically the next day.

—It still counts!

For the first time since returning to the Ashford family, nobody knew what to say.

Isabella recovered first.

She laughed softly.

—What an amazing coincidence.

Then she sat at the Go board.

—Since Mr. Quinn came to play, perhaps we should begin.

Caleb looked at her.

—Play what?

Her face froze.

—Go.

—I came because Chairman Ashford said the Ashford heiress wanted a match.

My father nodded rapidly.

—Exactly. Isabella has studied for years.

Caleb frowned.

—Isabella?

Then he looked at me.

—Isn’t she the Ashford heiress?

Silence.

My mother finally said:

—Avery is our biological daughter. Isabella was adopted after Avery disappeared.

Caleb’s expression cooled immediately.

—Then why is someone else sitting at her board?

That sentence made Isabella pale.

My father tried to smooth things over.

—Avery only recently returned. She hasn’t received a formal education in elite society, so we thought Isabella could represent—

—Represent her?

Caleb laughed once.

—Do you understand who taught Avery?

Nobody answered.

He looked at me.

—Did Old Master Ren really never tell them?

—I arrived three days ago.

Caleb rubbed his forehead.

Then he turned toward my family.

—Master Ren was one of the five national Go masters.

My father’s face changed.

—Ren Zhiyuan?

—Yes.

Caleb pointed at me.

—And for years, he publicly refused to accept another disciple because he said he had already found someone more talented than all of us.

Everyone slowly looked at me.

I waved awkwardly.

—He exaggerated.

Caleb stared at me.

—You beat him when you were twelve.

—He had a fever.

—He still talks about it.

Isabella’s fingers tightened around a white stone.

—Then perhaps Avery and I should play.

I looked at her.

—Are you sure?

Her smile returned.

—Of course. We’re sisters. It’s only friendly.

Ten minutes later, she was no longer smiling.

At move thirty-seven, her forehead began sweating.

At move fifty-two, Ethan stopped whispering suggestions.

At move sixty-one, Caleb leaned back.

At move seventy-four, Isabella’s hand trembled above the board.

I placed one final black stone.

—Finished.

She stared.

—I can still play.

Caleb answered for me.

—No.

His voice was almost gentle.

—You lost twelve moves ago.

Isabella went white.

My father stared at the board.

Then at me.

Something changed in his eyes.

Pride.

Too late.

—Avery… why didn’t you tell us you were Master Ren’s disciple?

I blinked.

—I did.

Ethan froze.

I reminded him:

—You told me to stop lying.

Nobody spoke.

Then Caleb’s assistant entered with a contract folder.

My father immediately straightened.

The three-billion-dollar land project.

The reason everyone had arranged this meeting.

Caleb took the papers.

—I was originally planning to reconsider cooperation with Ashford Group.

My father’s face tightened.

—Because of the rumors?

—Because someone from your family contacted our board and claimed the biological heiress was incompetent and unsuitable for the engagement.

Every eye moved toward Isabella.

Her face became bloodless.

—I never—

Caleb’s assistant placed printed messages on the table.

They had come from an account registered to Isabella’s personal secretary.

Caleb continued:

—Strangely, the same messages suggested that if the engagement were transferred to Miss Isabella, cooperation would become “more stable.”

Ethan stood.

—Isabella?

Tears instantly appeared in her eyes.

—Brother, I was only worried about the family.

I almost admired the speed.

My mother reached toward her automatically.

Then stopped.

For the first time, Isabella noticed it.

Caleb closed the contract.

—The Quinn engagement was never with whoever happened to be living in the Ashford house.

He looked directly at me.

—It was with Richard Ashford’s biological daughter.

Me.

Isabella whispered:

—But Avery grew up in a village.

Caleb gave her a strange look.

—And?

She couldn’t answer.

He turned toward my father.

—The contract stays.

Relief flooded my father’s face.

Then Caleb added:

—But all negotiations concerning my fiancée will be conducted directly with Avery.

My father’s smile froze.

I looked at Caleb.

—Who said I’m marrying you?

His face changed.

The entire room became silent again.

—What?

I crossed my arms.

—Apparently while I was kidnapped, everyone arranged my future without asking me.

Caleb stared at me.

Then, unexpectedly, he smiled.

—Fine.

—Fine?

—I’ll pursue you properly.

I narrowed my eyes.

—You lost twenty games.

—Twenty-one.

—That doesn’t improve your chances.

He laughed.

Months later, I moved out of the Ashford mansion.

Not because they expelled me.

Because I refused to spend my life fighting Isabella for a place that should never have required competition.

My father apologized.

My mother learned to stop treating me like a fragile stranger.

Ethan needed longer.

Isabella remained an Ashford daughter, but no longer the center around which everyone revolved.

And me?

I finished the education I had missed.

I opened an antiques foundation with my old pawnshop mentor.

I cooked when I wanted.

Played Go when I was bored.

And occasionally defeated Caleb Quinn whenever his confidence became excessive.

Two years later, he proposed after finally winning his first game against me.

I examined the board for several minutes.

Then I smiled.

—You cheated.

His face collapsed.

—I did not!

I lifted the stone he had misplaced while distracting me with the ring.

Caleb stared at it.

I laughed.

For sixteen years, everyone had called me lost.

Then when I returned, my own family thought I needed to learn how to belong in their world.

They were wrong.

I had survived long enough to build a world of my own.

And Caleb Quinn?

He never needed a perfect high-society wife.

He only wanted the irritating girl who had made him cry over a Go board years ago.

Unfortunately for him…

I still made him earn every single victory.