After the real daughter came back, my brother robbed me, but he forgot me after the accident.
**Chapter 1**
For twenty years, Elara had been the Sterling family’s pampered darling. Then, the real daughter showed up with a DNA
report.
That’s when I learned I was nothing but an imposter, mistakenly swapped at birth.
Humiliation burned through me. I packed my bags, ready to leave, but on my last night in the house, Damien Sterling, the eldest son, hauled me into his car.
The brother who’d always been so cold, so distant, pinned me against the plush leather seats, pushing me to tears three
times over.
My throat was raw from crying, but he just clamped his hand around my waist, whispering, “I’ve wanted to do this to you for a long, long time.”
Only then did I understand-
His coldness all these years? It was just a mask, a forced restraint.
Soon after, he announced our engagement. No one could talk him out of it.
When Mr. and Mrs. Sterling objected, he stripped them of their authority, becoming the sole ruler of the Sterling empire.
When Brooke, the real daughter, cried and threw tantrums, he cut off all her credit cards, threatening to send her away if she didn’t quit.
I couldn’t accept being with the brother I’d grown up with. I ran countless times, but he dragged me back every single
time.
He had eyes everywhere. There was no escape.
Until half a month ago. He’d driven out late at night to buy me a cake I was craving, and he got into a car accident.
When he woke up… he’d forgotten everything.
The Sterling family rejoiced. When they introduced me to him, they didn’t say I was the girl he loved to the point of madness. They just said I was the household maid.
And now, with Damien’s amnesia, they saw their chance to finally get rid of me.
“Here’s a hundred million.”
Mr. and Mrs. Sterling eagerly pushed a check across the table towards me. “Damien has amnesia now, he doesn’t remember you. Take this money and leave, quickly. We raised you, and now we’re begging you–never appear before him again. Never let him find you.”
After a long silence, I finally spoke.
9.26 AM
<
“Fine. I’ll finalize all my overseas paperwork within two weeks and never return to the country.”
I took the flimsy check. This past year felt like a grotesque dream.
They wanted me gone, and truthfully, I wanted to leave too.
Damien had spoiled me rotten this past year, it was true, but I couldn’t bear the weight of his obsessive, forceful love.
With Damien’s amnesia, this was my only chance to escape him.
“What are you doing?”
Just then, the front door swung open. Damien stood there, perfectly tailored in a suit, followed by Brooke. His imposing presence, the aura of a man in power, silently filled the room, making the air feel thick and heavy.
Mr. and Mrs. Sterling’s faces paled. They quickly put on strained smiles. “Nothing, nothing at all. Just giving some instructions to the household maid.”
Mrs. Sterling nudged Mr. Sterling, chuckling nervously. “We’re going upstairs for our afternoon nap.”
Before leaving, she shot me a venomous glare, a clear warning.
I lowered my eyes, clutching the hundred–million–dollar check. I was about to turn back to the maid’s quarters when…
“Stop right there.”
Damien’s voice was as cold as ice.
I froze, head bowed, my heart nearly stopping.
The sound of his dress shoes on the polished floor grew closer. The next second, my chin was roughly yanked up, forcing me to meet his dark, fathomless eyes.
My breath hitched. My mind replayed all those moments–pinned against the floor–to–ceiling windows, pressed into the bedsheets, even held down on the kitchen island.
His thumb brushed against my chin, his gaze frigid. “What perfume are you wearing?”
I opened my mouth, about to answer…
“Don’t wear it again.” He let go, his voice laced with disgust. “Maids should act like maids. Don’t try to seduce anyone.”
My fingertips curled.
He used to bury his face in my neck, chuckling low, asking, “What did you spray? Smells so good.”
I’d shake my head, “Nothing.”
He’d bite my earlobe, laughing huskily in my ear, “Even your natural scent is this good? Elara, truly every part of you was born for me. Don’t you dare leave me. Wherever you run, I’ll find you. Understand?”
I once thought I’d never escape. But this time, fate had given me a chance…
<
I didn’t explain or argue with him, just nodded. “Understood, Master Damien.”
Watching him turn and enter his study, I let out a shaky breath. I was about to go back and pack my luggage when Brooke suddenly lunged at me, slapping me hard across the face!
“Elara, how shameless can you be?!” she shrieked, her voice shrill. “You tried to seduce my brother before, and now he has amnesia, and you’re *still* trying to hook him?!”
“Let me tell you, my brother already has a fiancée!” She sneered triumphantly. “The engagement news will be announced soon. This sister–in–law is a thousand, a million times better than you!”
My body trembled slightly.
A fiancée?
Right. He had amnesia now. With the Sterling family’s status, prospective partners for a strategic alliance would be lining up.
But it no longer concerned me.
Brooke still wasn’t done. She snapped, “Guards, seize her! Throw her into the cold storage! Let her know the consequences of seducing my brother!”
The bodyguards exchanged uneasy glances. No one dared to move.
Everyone knew how much Damien had doted on me before.
Once, a business partner simply touched my arm, and the next day, that man’s hand appeared on Damien’s desk.
Brooke fumed, shaking with rage. “My brother has amnesia now! She’s neither the lady of the house nor the person my brother loves anymore! What are you afraid of?!”
She pointed at a bodyguard. “If you don’t grab her, I’ll fire all of you!”
The guards still hesitated.
Just then, the study door flew open-
Damien frowned. “What’s all this racket?”
Brooke immediately plastered on a fawning smile. “Brother, Elara was inefficient, and I wanted to punish her by sending her to cold storage, but these bodyguards won’t listen to me!”
Damien’s gaze swept coldly over the bodyguards, his voice chilling. “What did she give you that you won’t even obey your master?”
He looked at me, his eyes filled with disgust. “Drag her away quickly. Don’t be an eyesore here.”
With that, he slammed the door shut.
With Damien’s words, the bodyguards no longer had any qualms.
<
I closed my eyes, letting the bodyguards drag me away.
I’d always hated the cold, which was why Damien always kept the mansion warm, like eternal spring.
At night, when my hands and feet were icy, he’d even deign to cradle my feet against his chest, warming them.
But now, he had personally given the order to lock me in here as punishment.
The cold was bone–deep. I curled up in the corner, my consciousness fading.
It’s fine. Just endure it.
I’d be free soon.
Soon, I could… be Elara again, not Damien Sterling’s private possession.
Just as I was about to lose consciousness, I faintly heard someone screaming my name like a madman.
“Elara!!”
A figure burst into the cold storage, trembling as he lifted me into his arms.
