If it had been Daphne’s face, Lucas would have recognized her as soon as he saw her. But now, her face had become someone else’s.

If it hadn’t been for today’s car accident, during which he heard her crying and begging her savior not to die or something of that sort, he would never have associated her with Daphne.

Daphne said, “I had plastic surgery to look like the Kelly family’s Yalena.”

Lucas was stunned. “And then?”

Daphne didn’t say a word. She didn’t mention what had happened to the real Yalena of the Kelly family. Instead, she only shared with Lucas all the pain she had endured over the years.

Actually, after meeting Lucas, she’d thought about trying to live a decent life. If the world had shown her just a little more kindness, she might never have ended up so desperate.

But fate was just that cruel to her. On the night she last saw Lucas, when she got home, she overheard her foster father on the phone, planning to sell her off on the black market.

She tried to escape, but her foster father heard her and dragged her back, beating her mercilessly. Even when she cried and begged for mercy, it was useless.

In the end, her desperate will to survive made her grab a beer bottle and smash it over her foster father’s head.

While he was knocked unconscious, she fled for her life, stumbling, covered in blood, barefoot, and attracting strange looks from people on the street.

She yearned for someone, anyone, to give her a bit of warmth. Missing Lucas, she rushed to that convenience store. She only saw the note he left: [My mom’s taking me back to Seriul. Maybe we’ll meet again someday.]

The light that had once been hers had gone. She knew it was also time for her to go.

Lucas explained, “Actually, I waited for you all night. When you never showed up, I wrote that note for you in the morning and left it there. Later, I went back, and the clerk told me you’d already left.”

Daphne lowered her head. “It’s fine, really. I don’t blame you. You were just a fleeting light in my life. I never expected you to stay by my side forever.”

Lucas felt a complicated mix of emotions, and for some reason, a hint of guilt. He asked, “So what happened after that?”

Daphne went on. “After that, I snuck out of the country alone and just wandered from place to place.”

She ended up in the Philippines, Thailand, and Mianara. She saw how cruel people could be there. She learned to be slick, to lie and cheat just to survive, and before long, she managed to make quite a bit of money.

That was when she met Yalena. Eventually, she underwent plastic surgery to resemble Yalena, and her current parents took her in. Just like that, she began living as Yalena. Unfortunately, however, that wonderful life didn’t last long.

Daphne said, “Ever since I got plastic surgery, I’ve had to constantly get touch-ups on my face. My current parents have been suspicious of me for a while now.”

“I know it’s only a matter of time before I get exposed, so I wanted to make a lot of money and get out before that happened.”

Lucas seemed to get it. “So you set your sights on Jonathan?”

Daphne nodded, expressionless. “I never loved him. I knew he was rich, so I acted like a perfect daughter-in-law to please his mom. My plan was to marry him, get hundreds of millions from him, and then leave."