Five years later, a flight from the USA landed at Crestfall Airport.

In the VIP lounge, a five-year-old boy quietly slipped away from the crowd and crawled into an oversized suitcase. When Estelle Lockwood returned from the restroom, she noticed that her suitcase was much heavier than before. Frowning, she gave it a hard tug.

’That’s strange. It definitely wasn’t this heavy a moment ago,’ she thought.

"Estelle!" Her best friend, Penelope Sullivan, waved at her, interrupting her thoughts. "Over here!"

When she saw Penelope, Estelle set her doubts aside, and her lips curved into a light smile. "Just call me Yara."

She had nearly died in that fire five years ago, but after being rescued thanks to a stroke of luck, she had decided to change her name.

Now, under the name Yara Lockwood, she was a world-renowned pediatrician, and her return to the country was causing quite a stir both at home and abroad. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Alright, Yara," Penelope said as they started walking.

"I looked into that thing you asked me about. The Sloan heir has been in poor health since he was a child. The Sloan family has been searching everywhere for a doctor, and as soon as they heard that you’d be coming back, they sent someone to invite you over. Oh, and I heard that Nathaniel brought the young boy to the airport, too. No idea where they are now, though."

The suitcase shifted for no apparent reason, but Estelle didn’t notice anything amiss. She simply lowered her eyes.

Back then, Noelle had set fire to the delivery room, and Estelle’s death had been announced soon after the incident.

Anyone could see that the fire had not been an accident, but to protect Noelle, Nathaniel had forged a suicide note to make sure the case was ruled as a suicide.

The reason the note gave for her suicide? That she had wronged Noelle, and she wanted to atone for her sins by dying!

Afterward, her murderer had just shed a few tears, only to be forgiven by everyone, while she, the victim, had been forced to live in hiding under a new name.

As for her child, it had died in that inferno... Why did her child have to die while Noelle got to live safe and sound?!

Estelle was going to settle that score, no matter what it cost her!

Penelope glanced around, interrupting her reverie. "By the way, where are your two little ones? Didn’t they come back with you?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Estelle’s phone rang.

She composed herself and glanced at the caller ID, a pang of guilt immediately shooting through her.

Estelle quickly put a finger to her lips, shushing Penelope before instantly switching to a syrupy voice. "Zachery, sweetie, Mia, sweetie, I’m so sorry. Mommy was busy. What’s up?"

The boy’s haughty voice was heard through the phone. "Hmph. So you really are a big shot. I hear that you need an appointment just to see Dr. Lockwood. How impressive."

Estelle immediately tried to placate him. "I’m sorry, Zachery, sweetie. Mommy apologizes. I miss you so much."

Zachery pouted. "Oh, so you do miss me? I thought you’d be having so much fun back home that you’d forget all about us!"

Estelle did her best to butter him up. "How could I? Wow, my cool little guy is using long words now! You’re so smart!"

Zachery tried to keep a straight face, but a faint blush crept onto his cheeks. He was clearly flustered to hear her praise. "I’ve always been smart! Mommy, Mia wants to talk to you. I’m handing her the phone."

Estelle laughed softly.

That fire might have taken her first child’s life, but thankfully, God had left her two more to see her through the darkest of times.

Her son, Zachery Lockwood, loved computers, programming, and coding—he was a cool little kid who dreamed of being a hacker.

Her daughter, Mia Lockwood, had no interest in the arts, but she absolutely adored all things related to divination and couldn’t get enough of fortune-telling paraphernalia.

Estelle felt terribly guilty for choosing to return home to take revenge, leaving her two little treasures behind, but if she had brought them with her, she was terrified that Nathaniel Sloan would find out about them and take them away from her.

The voice on the other end of the line changed. A little girl’s voice, soft yet serious, said, "Mommy, I did a reading for you."

Although Mia was only five, she was already a well-known soothsayer, so Estelle was intrigued. "And what do the signs say?"

Mia said very seriously, "Your star of romance is shining. If you turn around right now, your one true love will be standing right behind you."

Estelle fell silent for a while.

She was there for revenge. Why would she need romance in her life?

Estelle changed the subject. "Mommy has to go to the hotel with Aunt Penelope now. When I get settled in a few days, I’ll come get you, okay?"

"Okay. You get back to work, Mommy. Bye-bye, Mwah!"

After hanging up, Estelle breathed a sigh of relief. Penelope asked her curiously, "So what did little Mia say?"

Estelle replied with a helpless sigh, "She said the first man I see when I turn around will be my future husband. As if that could ever..."

As she was speaking, her ankle suddenly gave out. Estelle lost her balance and went tumbling sideways.

A moment later, a warm pair of arms caught her, and a crisp, cool masculine scent instantly enveloped her.

"I’m so sorr—" Estelle turned to apologize, but the word died in her throat.

Her blood ran cold as hatred surged through her, and she clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Nathaniel was a tall, imposing man with gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. His eyes were deep and sharp, and he exuded a natural air of nobility.

Estelle’s eyes reddened at the sight of him. After five years, she still had not forgotten Nathaniel. She had never forgotten the child who had died in that fire!

She had been willing to step aside and let Noelle become Mrs. Sloan, so why did they still have to kill her?

Her hatred for him now was as deep as her love for him once was.

How laughable. The man who had let Noelle murder her child five years ago was now wearing a prayer rope on his wrist.

What, was he afraid that his dead child would come back to haunt him in his dreams?

Nathaniel glanced down, his expression cool. "Were you not watching where you’re going?"

Estelle snapped back to reality. Swallowing down her hatred, she said sarcastically, "Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see anyone there. I certainly didn’t expect to bump into you, Mr. Sloan."

Nathaniel’s eyes narrowed. "You know who I am."

Estelle had already composed herself. She had chosen to return to take revenge, so she had long known she would have to face this man sooner or later.

She chuckled slowly and looked up. "Of course I do. Who hasn’t heard of Mr. Sloan, the greedy man who claimed two sisters for himself? It’s quite a famous story."

Nathaniel frowned at her words and opened his mouth to explain, but a moment later, he got a clear look at the woman’s face. He flinched slightly, and his voice suddenly became heavy. "What’s your name?"

Estelle raised an eyebrow. "You’re asking for my name already. Isn’t that a bit presumptuous?"

Nathaniel sneered.

Over the past few years, plenty of women had gotten plastic surgery to look more like Estelle and then tried to throw themselves at him. He couldn’t believe another one had shown up.

This woman’s looks were certainly convincing enough, but Estelle Lockwood had been dead for five years. She had left with a single goodbye and vanished from the world. He would never be able to find her again, and none of these women was anything like her.

Nathaniel’s expression became cooler. "Getting plastic surgery to look like my wife, deliberately throwing yourself at me... What’s next? Are you going to tell me your name is Estelle Lockwood?"

Estelle’s expression grew chilly. Her face had been injured in the fire, forcing her to get minor cosmetic surgery, so her appearance was slightly different from what it had been five years ago.

Nathaniel thought she was just another woman who’d had surgery to look like his ex-wife, all to get something out of him?

What a joke. If someone wanted to use their looks to get close to him, they should have gotten surgery to look like Noelle instead.

Estelle sneered. "You think I’m deliberately trying to get your attention? You’re reading too much into this, Mr. Sloan. I’m very picky when it comes to men. You wouldn’t even make the cut. Instead of wasting your time accusing me of throwing myself at you, you should get to a hospital and have your head examined."

After speaking, she turned and brushed past Nathaniel. "Penelope, let’s go."

Penelope snapped out of her daze at the sound of Estelle’s voice and hurried to catch up.

Nathaniel’s lips were pressed into a thin line. This was the most audacious woman he had ever met. She was every bit as bold as the Estelle he used to know, if not more so.

"Sir!" An assistant suddenly came forward, his expression panicked as he lowered his voice. "Mr. Christian has gone missing. He was last seen in the VIP lounge..."

Nathaniel’s expression darkened, and his gaze turned frosty. "Find him!"

...

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, a small head quietly poked its way out of Estelle’s suitcase.