The Lies of Marriage, The Price of Love

Why was Leona the center of their parents' love, while she was treated as if she didn’t matter?

Years ago, their parents had lost their biological daughter. When they found Kate and Leona, they discovered that both shared strikingly similar traits to their missing child. Thus, they decided to adopt them both.

However, to the outside world, they announced that Leona was their biological daughter, while Kate was merely an adopted child.

Kate had long grown accustomed to such treatment. Her life was a constant shadow to Leona's dazzling spotlight.

Facing Leona's questioning, Kate's expression remained indifferent, her gaze icy and detached. "I'm sorry, I'm late."

What Leona hated the most was the indifferent look on her face. "You don't have to take me seriously, after all, you've always been like this since we were kids. But how can you not respect Mom and Dad?"

She spoke as if she were defending their parents.

Before Kate could respond, Dave, who had been sitting to the side, spoke up first. "Don’t be upset, Leona. Your sister didn’t mean it. Don’t argue with her."

The first thing he said wasn’t to defend Kate, but to comfort Leona.

This wasn’t the first time. He already knew what words to use to comfort Leona.

The thousands of messages in his phone, each one expressing his love for Leona.

Kate felt utterly foolish—so foolish that it took her this long to realize that he had a secret account.

And everything in that account was about Leona.

The moments shared, the background, every little detail—none of it contained a trace of her.

It was as if they had never loved her at all.

Dave not only knew how to comfort Leona, but he also knew exactly how to please Kate’s parents.

It wasn’t just that his family was wealthy and prestigious enough to be worthy of the respected Shawn Family. It was also because he was obedient, sensible and the perfect son-in-law.

In no time, Kate’s parents were easily won over by his flattering words. They turned to Kate and said, "Alright, sit down. You’re really lucky to have Dave around."

After receiving the praise, Dave seemed to shine, his face beaming with a smile as he looked at Kate.

But what he didn’t know was that Kate had always despised this sycophantic side of him.

She didn’t raise her eyes to look at him, but as she lowered her head, her peripheral vision caught the movement of his hand under the table—immediately reaching for Leona’s hand.

She quickly raised her head and for a moment, words failed her. All she could feel was a lump in her throat, choking her heart with an overwhelming sense of pain.

She had to pretend like she knew nothing and continued eating her meal.

She was desperately trying to control her emotions, not letting anyone see what she was feeling.

Her thoughts flashed to the date when the ship would set sail and she reassured herself that soon she would be able to completely leave this man in front of her and the suffocating home she was trapped in.

Early in the morning, Dave had called her awake. As she watched his lips coming dangerously close to hers, she immediately sat up on the bed, pushing herself away.

"What's wrong?"

Dave flashed a bright smile and pulled her into his arms.

"Did you forget? We’ve made an appointment to try on wedding dresses today."

Kate froze for a moment. So many things had happened in the past few days that she hadn’t reacted right away.

She gently nodded, realizing that there was only one week left until their wedding.

"Finally, I can marry you and bring you home, my wife. I've been waiting for this day for so long."

Even the day of their wedding had been arranged with Leona in mind.

It seemed like in this life, Kate could never escape Leona.

From the moment they were both brought home from the orphanage, Leona had never intended for there to be two daughters in this family.

She constantly targeted Kate, framing her and causing trouble in various ways.

Kate coldly watched Dave without saying a word. On their wedding day, she would definitely give them a surprise.