For three days, Victoria Gu remained in the hospital bed, pretending that her world had collapsed.

Every time Adrian Shen entered the room, she played the same role.

The woman who was afraid.

The woman who needed him.

The woman who believed his lies.

And every time he held her hand and whispered words of comfort, Victoria felt something inside her become colder.

Because she finally understood something painful.

The person who knew her best was also the person who had planned to destroy her.

“Victoria, the doctor said your recovery will take time.”

Adrian sat beside her bed, gently adjusting the blanket.

His expression was perfect.

Concerned.

Patient.

Loving.

The same face that had once made her believe she was the luckiest woman in the world.

She looked at him and forced herself to smile.

“Will I walk again?”

Adrian’s fingers paused for half a second.

Only half a second.

But Victoria noticed.

“Of course,” he said softly.

“We will find the best doctors.”

A beautiful lie.

Because he already knew there would be no recovery.

He had already paid for that future.

Victoria lowered her eyes.

“I am scared, Adrian.”

He immediately leaned closer.

“Don’t be afraid. I will never leave you.”

Those words almost made her laugh.

Never leave her.

The same man who had arranged for her life to be destroyed was promising to protect her.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Adrian smiled.

He thought he had won.

He didn’t know that every word he said was being recorded.

The small device hidden beneath Victoria’s pillow had captured everything.

Not just his lies.

But his mistakes.

Three days later, Adrian took her to the Shen family estate.

Exactly as she expected.

The mansion was enormous.

Cold.

Beautiful.

And completely unfamiliar.

Victoria sat in her wheelchair as the servants welcomed her.

Then she saw the little girl standing near the stairs.

A three-year-old girl.

Long black hair.

Bright eyes.

A small pink dress.

“Luna.”

Adrian’s voice became softer.

The girl ran toward him.

“Daddy!”

He lifted her into his arms.

Victoria watched quietly.

She had imagined this moment many times.

But seeing it with her own eyes hurt more than she expected.

Because the little girl was innocent.

She wasn’t the enemy.

The enemy was the man who had decided to sacrifice one person to protect another.

“Victoria,” Adrian said.

“This is Luna.”

The girl looked at her curiously.

Adrian continued:

“She will live with us from now on.”

Us.

That word almost made Victoria smile.

Because there was no “us” anymore.

There was only a man who had created a prison and expected her to happily live inside it.

Luna walked closer.

“Are you my new mommy?”

The room became silent.

Adrian looked at Victoria.

Waiting.

Waiting for her to accept.

Waiting for her to become the person he wanted.

Victoria looked at the little girl.

Then she smiled gently.

“We will get to know each other first.”

Adrian frowned slightly.

It wasn’t the answer he wanted.

But he quickly hid his expression.

That night, Victoria stayed alone in the room Adrian prepared for her.

She opened the hidden folder on her phone.

Inside were copies of everything she had secretly saved.

The hospital conversation.

The driver’s payment record.

The transfer to the doctor’s account.

Every piece of evidence.

But there was one thing missing.

Who else knew?

Because Adrian was not acting alone.

A doctor could be bribed.

A driver could be paid.

But making a woman disappear from her own life required more than one person.

The next morning, Victoria discovered the first clue.

She overheard two servants talking outside the room.

“Poor Miss Gu.”

“She doesn’t know anything.”

“Mr. Shen really did everything for Miss Jiang.”

Victoria froze.

Miss Jiang.

Elena Jiang.

The woman Adrian claimed was his first love.

The woman whose daughter he wanted Victoria to raise.

But then she heard something else.

Something that made her blood run cold.

“Did you hear? The little girl isn’t even Elena’s daughter.”

Silence.

Victoria slowly moved closer.

“What did you say?”

The servants immediately stopped talking.

But it was too late.

Victoria had heard enough.

That night, she searched through every document she could access.

And finally found something.

A hospital record.

A birth certificate.

A name that made her hands tremble.

Because Luna’s biological mother…

was not Elena Jiang.

The next morning, Adrian entered the room and found Victoria staring at him.

For the first time, there was no fear in her eyes.

Only calm.

“What happened?” he asked.

She smiled.

“Nothing.”

But Adrian felt something was wrong.

Because the Victoria in front of him was different.

The woman who once loved him was gone.

And in her place was someone much more dangerous.

Someone who knew how to wait.

Someone who knew how to collect evidence.

Someone who knew how to destroy an empire without raising her voice.

Before leaving, Adrian kissed her forehead.

Just like he had done before the surgery.

“Be patient. Everything will be fine.”

Victoria looked at his back as he walked away.

Then she whispered:

“You’re right, Adrian.”

“Everything will be fine.”

“For me.”

“But not for you.”

Because she had just discovered the secret he had spent years hiding.

Luna was not the daughter Adrian claimed.

And the truth about the little girl would expose the biggest lie of the Shen family.

A lie that even Adrian himself did not know.

Read the entire Part 3 below.