I Dumped My Ex and Married His Uncle

Dayana Stone fought to catch her breath, her fingers gripping the fabric of her coat so hard they left marks on her palms. It was one thing to be unloved—but why did he have to make her suffer like this?

When she’d pulled herself together, Dayana lifted her gaze to Carter Munoz and gave him a sardonic smile. “Carter, just because I have feelings for you doesn’t give you the right to walk all over me.”

Carter looked momentarily surprised, caught off guard by a smile he hadn’t expected. But it vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and she dropped her gaze again.

Loosening his tie, Carter stubbed out his cigarette. Dayana had changed—whether he wanted to admit it or not. The vibrant smile he remembered was gone.

Like a vase knocked from its stand, her bloom had wilted. It shouldn’t have mattered to him. And yet it did. Why was it getting under his skin like this?

Pushing aside the thoughts churning in his head, he reminded her, “It’s Nora’s birthday soon. I’ll take you back to the family, but remember—behave yourself. Nora is different from you.”

The words stung. To him, Nora was a precious rose; Dayana wasn’t even worthy of being the leaves around it.

An hour later, Zaiden Daniels drove Dayana to the family mansion.

Inside, the grand hall was buzzing. Nora wasn’t their biological daughter, yet the family threw her a lavish birthday every year—a display of their standing in high society and their unwavering support for her.

The social elite had all received invitations and turned out in full force. In the hall, a group of society women gathered, trading gossip about the upper crust.

“I thought Nora wasn’t their biological daughter. So why is she the favorite? There’s got to be more to it, right?” one asked curiously.

“She’s talented,” another added. “That’s what counts in our circle. Blood isn’t the be-all and end-all—it’s about what you bring to the family.”

A young woman nodded. “I heard Nora landed several major contracts in six months at the company. The family was thrilled—promoted her to assistant director and started grooming her as an heir.”

“True, but she’s still an outsider. The family is practically handing her the company. What about her real parents? Why hasn’t she gone back to them?” another wondered.

“They haven’t been found,” said one of the better-informed women. “Which is strange. Technically, the woman who raised Dayana should be Nora’s mother, but the DNA test proved she isn’t.”

Dayana overheard and clenched her fists. She still couldn’t understand why Nora and her foster mother had no blood relation. She’d suspected her foster mother had switched them to give her real child a better life. But Nora wasn’t even her daughter. What had gone wrong in this tangled story was still a mystery.

In the end, her foster mother had lost a daughter, Dayana had returned to the family, and Nora’s origins were still uncertain. But the couple had raised Nora for over twenty years and treated her like their own—if not better.

As the society women talked, their eyes drifted to Dayana. Feeling their stares, she lowered her head and hurried out of the hall.

Once she was gone, the woman who’d started the conversation said, “Did you see the one who just left? She kind of looked like Dayana, didn’t she?”

The others followed her gaze. “Dayana? No way. Remember how stunning Dayana was—slim and elegant? The woman we just saw was all skin and bones. Definitely not her. You’ve got to be joking.”

It was true: Dayana had a presence that made her stand out effortlessly, even in a crowd of beauties. But the woman they’d just glimpsed had been utterly unremarkable.

Unaware that she was the topic of conversation, Dayana reached a second-floor room and was about to step inside. But the voices inside stopped her cold, sending a chill through her.

“So it’s true? Dayana’s out of prison?” someone inside asked in disbelief.

“Dayana? The one who always hung around Carter? When did she go to prison? What happened?” another voice asked, curious.

To protect the family’s image, Dayana’s prison time had been kept secret; the official story was that she’d gone abroad to study.

Carter shot the speaker a cold look, and the man awkwardly corrected himself. “Oh, right. She just got back from studying abroad.”

The first speaker laughed. “Back from abroad, huh? And here I thought she was in prison. You’ve got quite a way with words.”

The man chuckled. “I’m quick-witted.”

The conversation circled back. “So Dayana’s back. Things must be interesting for you, Carter. Didn’t you get engaged three years ago? When’s the wedding?”

Dayana froze at the door as realization sank in. Her room was now a card room?

The man named Lee smirked. “Engaged? You’re kidding. Marriage is just a ball and chain. Carter’s not the type to be tied down easily.”