Waiting for Something That Never Came

Ivory Stone has tried and failed to seduce her stoic steward 999 times.

She thinks that maybe Wilson Quill doesn't have a heart. Maybe he won't ever fall in love with anyone.

But one day, she catches him pleasuring himself with a bracelet belonging to the fake heiress who stole her life.

It was dark in the room, and a man's low, siren voice drifted out from inside. "Belinda, be good…"

He wore a neatly pressed suit that made him look debonair. However, his zipper was pulled down to reveal an imposing, impatient beast. A bracelet that Belinda Stone had recently discarded dangled from it.

Ivory Stone silently clenched her fists. He'd yet to finish, but she pushed the door open with malice, wanting to see him panic.

However, he remained calm. His eyes were like an unfathomable abyss—she didn't see the slightest flicker of emotion in them.

"You need to knock before entering someone's room," Wilson Quill said coldly. He was just a steward, yet his tone carried the dominance that belonged only to someone accustomed to being in a position of power.

Ivory raised an eyebrow and mocked, "You should've locked your door if you wanted to do something so shameful. Besides, this is my home. Why should I knock?"

Wilson didn't answer. He gracefully tucked himself back into his pants, his eyes still devoid of emotion. "Did you need something from me, Ms. Ivory?"

Ivory smiled bitterly. She knew nothing would come out of this, but she still said stubbornly, "Take me away from here, Wilson. Let's leave together and go far, far away. Let's go somewhere where no one will find us."

The lights were off in the room, so Wilson didn't see the broken look of despair in her eyes. Or perhaps he did see it but just didn't care.

"Please don't joke about these things, Ms. Ivory," he said, his tone still icy. "I'm your steward. My job is just to manage your daily life and keep you safe."

As expected, he'd turned her down. This was within Ivory's expectations, but she still felt her heart bleed. She smiled brokenly. "I'm sure you would agree in a heartbeat if Belinda were the one asking."

Why did everyone like Belinda so much? Ivory was the Stone family's true heiress—Belinda was just an impostor who'd stolen her life.

So why did everyone in the Stone family adore Belinda? Ivory was the one who shared their blood!

Now, even the only man Ivory had ever liked preferred Belinda over her…

Wilson's Adam's apple bobbed. He seemed to want to say something, but Ivory stopped him. "Don't respond to that. I don't want to hear it."

With that, she turned and left. She went to her father, John Stone, and said with a smile, "I've thought it through. I'm willing to take that impostor's place and marry that sadist from the Fuller family."

"Who are you calling an impostor? Belinda is your sister!" John's expression turned ugly. "And Mr. Fuller is one of Jeriton's elite! You're marrying above your station by having him as your husband. Stop acting like you're oh-so-unwilling."

Ivory curled her lips in mockery at his words. She was marrying above her station? Well, he wasn't wrong. With the Stone family's net worth, they weren't even worthy of worshipping at the Fuller family's feet.

But everyone in the upper crust knew what Simon Fuller was like. He was handsome, yet he had a fetish for violence. One of his hobbies was tormenting young, beautiful women.

Before Ivory, he'd already had six fiancees, and all of them had died.

"Since this is such a wonderful marriage, I won't steal it from the rightful bride." She laughed. "Belinda can marry Simon as planned."

John's expression darkened further. "Our family has had this engagement with the Fuller family since before you were born! Don't think you're doing this for Belinda—you were always meant to marry Mr. Fuller!"

The Stone and Fuller families did have a promise to marry, but the Stone family's net worth made it clear that they weren't worthy of forming a marriage alliance with anyone from the main family. The engagement was intended for someone from a branch family.

However, with Simon's notorious reputation, no one in the upper crust dared have their daughters marry him, no matter how wealthy and powerful the Fullers were.

This made Simon's grandfather, Philip Fuller, descend into panic. Simon was the main family's sole heir—he had a massive fortune to inherit, and the line couldn't die out with him.

And so, Philip had reassigned the engagement from the branch family to Simon himself.

John and his wife, Nancy Brown, couldn't bear to have Belinda marry him. Instead, they'd set their sights on Ivory.

"If the engagement was always mine, why wasn't it pinned on me from the very beginning, even before Mr. Fuller Senior said anything?" Ivory asked sarcastically.

John paled before flushing with anger. He wanted to say something, but Ivory couldn't be bothered to listen. She said, "I can marry into the Fuller family on Belinda's behalf, but I have my conditions."

"What are they?" he snarled.

She smirked. "I want all your assets, whether they're liquid funds or real estate. I want everything to be transferred under my name. I also want all of the Stone family's businesses to be given to me. I want to be Stone Group's new chairwoman!"