Chapter 1The Woman They Could Never Replace

William Lloyd has never gotten over me, and to Gabriel Zeller, I'm the sister he's always doted on.

But I have ambitions of my own, just like the unforgettable first love in every romance novel. So I leave the country to study abroad.

At the airport, William and Gabriel promise they'll wait for me to come home.

Nine years later, I finally return. They've kept their promise. They've just found someone to take my place while I was gone.

"The real Zeller heiress is back. You're nothing but a kept woman, so know your place."

"A replacement will always be a replacement. Have some dignity and leave."

They shower me with affection and give her nothing but the cold shoulder, but I can still see the hesitation in their eyes.

Then, on my wedding day, we get word that she's been in a car accident. William leaves me at the altar, and Gabriel gets up from the family table and walks out too.

"I'm sorry, Noelle. I finally understand how I feel. She was never anyone's replacement."

It doesn't matter to me. Being someone's unforgettable love or someone's kept woman was never what I wanted.

I'm the future head of the Zeller family, and I have my own goals.

* * *

The night before our wedding, William Lloyd went back to the rental apartment.

I had been back for two years, and it had been just as long since he drove away the woman he'd kept as my replacement. Somehow, that tiny apartment had become the only place he could find any comfort.

By the time I found him, he was already drunk.

William Lloyd, heir to Lloyd Group, lay asleep on a narrow bed made of plywood in the cramped basement, the corners of his eyes red.

The moment he saw me, he pressed me against the doorframe and kissed me passionately.

"Rachel, you're shameless. We agreed we wouldn't cross that line, and you actually drugged me? I was saving my first time for Noelle. Rachel, remember your place. You're just Noelle's replacement. Don't ever think you can take her place."

I fell silent for a moment, then slapped him hard across the face. I grabbed his chin and made him look at me. His eyes cleared a little.

"William, take a good look at me. I'm Noelle Zeller. I came back two years ago. And the woman you were keeping? Weren't you the one who drove her away?"

I thought back to the day I returned home.

My assistant, Vincent Webb, took my luggage and asked without thinking, "Ms. Gilliam, are we heading to your favorite restaurant again?"

I froze for a second.

"Who's Ms. Gilliam?"

From that day on, the name Rachel Gilliam seemed to follow me everywhere.

Gina Brooks, one of the maids, told me Rachel and I looked a lot alike, but that was where the resemblance ended.

Rachel never put on airs. She didn't wear elaborate gowns or like going to formal dinners.

She was always saying, "Once I save up 50 million dollars, I'm going out to hire some male escorts. In our line of work, the one thing you never do is catch feelings."

She was carefree, lively, and fun to be around. Everyone seemed to like her, from the butler and driver to the maids.

I heard Rachel hadn't made a scene when William and my brother, Gabriel Zeller, kicked her out. She had simply cried in silence all night.

By morning, she had cried so hard that she hyperventilated and developed respiratory alkalosis, and the butler had to take her to the hospital.

William gave her the 50 million dollars she had always dreamed of.

He also told her, "It's up to you whether you keep the baby. It only happened once between us. I was drunk, and I mistook you for Noelle."

After that, Rachel did exactly what she had always said she would. She disappeared completely from William and Gabriel's lives.

William seemed to have sobered up a little.

He quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, Noelle. Rachel was around me for so long that I just reacted out of habit. You heard what I said. I never fell for her. I always reminded her that she was only your replacement."

A replacement? So he could sleep with her and still claim he was in love with me?

I picked up a glass of cold water and threw it in his face.

"Are you sober now, my fiancé? Take a good look at me. I'm not your kept woman. I'm the heir to the Zeller family. We grew up together, and our marriage is a business arrangement. The wedding is tomorrow. Don't forget."

I opened the door, and the biting night air hit me.

Gabriel was standing right outside, blocking my way and glaring at me like he had come to demand answers.

"Gabriel," I started, but before I could finish, he slapped me across the face.

"Rachel is missing, Noelle. Did you do this? Are you really that jealous? You couldn't stand to have her around?"