“Cassandra Bennett, are you still waiting for Lucas? Don’t delude yourself. He slept with me last night. How could he possibly marry you today?”

At the gate of the Civil Affairs Bureau, Danielle Bennett leaned against the railing, her smile triumphant.

Cassandra spun around sharply, her blood turning to ice in an instant. Her half-sister stood right in front of her.

“What do you mean?” Her voice stretched tight, trembling with unwilling disbelief.

“I know this news is hard to swallow, but it’s the truth.” Danielle rested one hand lightly on her stomach in a slow, taunting gesture, her eyes shining with the air of a victor. “I’m carrying Lucas’s child. He promised to marry me. Sister, it’s time for you to step aside.”

Boom—

All color drained from Cassandra’s face in an instant, leaving her pale as paper.

Today was the day she and Lucas Daniels had agreed to register their marriage. She had brought her documents, yet all she received was Danielle’s provocation.

“You’re pregnant with his child? He’s my fiancé!” Cassandra’s voice rose abruptly, a sharp pain stabbing through her chest.

“So what?” Danielle let out a sneer. “Lucas would not even bother going through the motions with you if he didn’t want those shares you hold.”

She pulled up her phone photo album and shoved the screen straight into Cassandra’s face.

Lucas lay naked in the picture, holding Danielle tightly in bed. The wristwatch resting quietly on the nightstand was the birthday gift Cassandra had spent ages carefully selecting for him.

Cassandra’s breath caught abruptly. A massive hand seemed to clamp down hard on her chest, and a wave of suffocation washed over her entire body.

All her efforts to secure business deals for him and help the Daniels family weather their crisis were nothing but a joke in his eyes.

“See it clearly?” Danielle pulled her phone back. “What do you have to compete with me? I truly wonder where you get your confidence.”

Cassandra held back her roiling emotions. The corners of her eyes reddened, yet her voice stayed cold. “You’re in such a rush to flaunt this. Are you afraid this shameful affair will only ever exist behind closed bedroom doors?”

Danielle’s smile froze at once. “You’re nothing but a country bumpkin who just came back! Father doesn’t like you, and Lucas doesn’t love you. Your only worth lies in those shares!”

The words barely left her mouth before Danielle threw her body backward violently, clutching her stomach with both hands and letting out a shrill scream that echoed down the street.

“Ah! Cassandra, why did you push me?”

Cassandra froze completely. She had not laid a single finger on Danielle.

“I didn’t push you.”

A harsh screech of brakes cut through the air. A sedan skidded to a stop by the curb.

Lucas sprinted out of the car and pulled Danielle, who had fallen to the ground, tightly into his arms, his tone panicked. “Danielle! Are you alright?”

“Lucas, don’t blame sister…” Danielle grabbed his sleeve, tears streaming down her face. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have told her about the pregnancy…”

Lucas whipped his head around. His furious gaze pinned Cassandra in place, blazing with rage. “How could you be so vicious! She carries my child, and you dared push her?”

Cassandra stared in disbelief at the man she had once loved wholeheartedly, her heart shattering piece by piece.

“You won’t even ask for my side of the story? You immediately assume it’s my fault?”

“I saw her fall with my own eyes!”

“Did you see me push her with those same eyes? Lucas, you’re shameless! Meeting you was the greatest disaster of my life!”

Lucas stiffened slightly, then curled his lips into an icy sneer.

“Enough. Danielle has a heart condition. You’d better pray she pulls through. Otherwise, I won’t let you off. Our engagement can be voided at any time!”

Cassandra’s lips trembled uncontrollably.

“So… you never planned to marry me at all?”

“Do you think I would choose to wed a country girl if you didn’t own those shares?” Disgust filled Lucas’s eyes. “You’re dull and unpolished. Being with you is pure torment.”

Every word sliced through her heart like a dull blade. Her thick eyelashes fluttered violently, and she fought hard to hold back the flood of tears welling in her eyes, refusing to let them fall.

Just then, Richard Bennett and Ariana Camana hurried over.

Cassandra looked toward her birth father, clinging to one last, humble shred of hope—if only he would ask her for the truth.

Ariana rushed to Danielle’s side first.

“My darling daughter, why are you crying like this?”

“Mom, sister pushed me…” Danielle sobbed out her accusation.

Richard’s face darkened to cold iron.

“Cassandra!”

She had barely turned her head when a heavy slap cracked across her cheek.

Smack—

The sharp, loud sound exploded at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau.

The brutal force twisted Cassandra’s head aside. A buzzing rang in her ears, and a strong metallic taste of blood quickly spread inside her mouth. She lifted her hand slowly and touched her burning, numb cheek.

“You hit me without hearing what happened first?”

The crisp slap drew passersby to stop and watch. Curious stares settled on her stinging cheek, and murmurs broke out all around.

Embarrassment crashed over her like heat, and grievance and anger flooded her body instantly.

Richard roared at her next. “Danielle is pregnant and already frail! How dare you hurt her? Could you bear the consequences if something goes wrong?”

“What about me?” Cassandra lifted her gaze and met Richard’s eyes directly, her look icy. “I’m your daughter too.”

“Stop this nonsense.” Richard’s face was full of impatience. “Lucas chose Danielle. You need to let go.”

Cassandra stared at him, and the last flicker of hope remaining in her heart burned out completely.

Ariana had destroyed her parents’ marriage years ago. Young Cassandra had been sent away to the countryside against her will. Danielle had taken the life of a Bennett heiress that should have belonged to Cassandra without a second thought.

Cassandra had to visit a small town clinic alone whenever she fell ill, and only received a belated phone call on her birthdays. Every birthday banquet for Danielle had been personally arranged by their father.

After returning home, she tried hard to please everyone and learn to fit into this family. She had believed enough obedience would win her a sliver of his recognition.

She woke up fully at this moment. It was never that she was not good enough. This family had never reserved a place for her from the very beginning.

“Father, you don’t deserve to be a dad! I hate you!”

Richard’s expression turned even darker.

“Fine.” She lowered her hand, all warmth gone from her voice. “I’ll give you what you want.”

Lucas let out a breath, his expression arrogant. “If you had been this sensible earlier, things would have been easier. I can offer you a compensation package.”

Cassandra let out a soft laugh. “Keep it. It disgusts me.”

She pulled out her phone and tapped rapidly on the screen, sending instructions to her lawyer.

Revoke the Daniels family’s authorization for project shares.

Suspend funding for projects under Danielle’s name.

Freeze financial access managed by Ariana.

Within minutes, Ariana’s phone rang. Her face drained of all color after she heard the news.

“Project suspension? Frozen funds? Revoked authorization?”

She spun around and glared furiously at Cassandra.

“Did you do this?”

“I did.” Cassandra put her phone away and stood tall, her back straight. “Seventy percent of Bennett Group shares are mine. I decide who receives my support.”

Ariana shrieked. “Those shares should have belonged to Danielle!”

“They were left to me by my mother.” Cassandra’s gaze cut sharp as frost. “They have nothing to do with you, the mistress, or your illegitimate daughter.”

Ariana’s sore spot was struck. She lunged forward frantically, grabbed Cassandra’s hair hard, and gritted her teeth. “Don’t flaunt those shares! An old widower is willing to pay a fortune to marry you. He’s old enough to be your grandfather. I’ll send you to him tomorrow and see how you act like a young lady then! You never should have come back. If you hadn’t returned, your mother’s shares would already be ours.”

Cassandra raised her hand, caught her wrist precisely, and twisted it hard.

Ariana screamed in pain and stumbled backward.

“Mrs. Camana.” Cassandra smoothed her messy hair, not yielding an inch in her posture. “Don’t threaten me again. I will strip you of the comfortable, wealthy life you have now.”

She turned to leave. Her phone lit up, and a message popped up from her lawyer: 【Your shares will enter an irrevocable protective state once you complete legal marriage registration today. Richard Bennett and his spouse will lose the right to intervene. If registration fails, they may apply for temporary supervision.】

Cassandra tightened her grip around the phone.

She had to get married today.

Just then, a deep male voice sounded nearby.

“Call off the engagement. Notify the Carter family.”

The man stood beside a black luxury sedan, dressed in a well-tailored dark suit. He carried a tall, refined frame and sharp, deep features. Even with an indifferent expression, an air of noble dominance radiated off him.

His assistant hesitated beside him. “Your father has already arranged today’s registration. If we cancel now—”

“My fiancée failed to show up.” Aldred Daniels spoke calmly. “I will not marry someone who breaks their promise.”

Cassandra’s heartbeat quickened.

His fiancée stood him up? She needed a legal husband right away.

She took a deep breath and walked up to him. “Sir, do you need a wife?”

The assistant froze.

Aldred turned his head, amber eyes settling on her face. “What did you say?”

“My fiancé betrayed me, and your fiancée stood you up. We both came here to register our marriages today. What if we swap partners?”

Aldred raised an eyebrow. “Miss Bennett, what makes you think I would marry you?”

“I have money and bargaining power. Seventy percent of Bennett Group shares are under my name. I can offer you compensation if you agree to register.”

The assistant nearly choked on his own saliva.

This woman wanted to buy their master with money?

She went on. “A limited-edition hypercar, a seaside villa, or profit rights. Anything works.”

A hint of amusement surfaced in Aldred’s eyes. “Are you trying to keep me?”

Cassandra’s ears warmed slightly, yet she did not step back.

“You could also call it a partnership. You need a marriage registration to answer to your family, and I need a legal husband to protect my shares. We won’t interfere with each other after marriage.”

Aldred studied her.

Rumors painted Cassandra Bennett as a willful, ill-bred heiress raised out in the countryside. This woman before him had just been betrayed by her fiancé and publicly slapped by her birth father. Still, she begged no one for sympathy and immediately found a way to secure her future.

She was genuinely interesting.

Aldred lifted the corner of his mouth and retrieved his documents from the car.

“Let’s go.”

She had not expected him to agree so readily.

“Are you serious?”

“Why? You dared propose keeping me a moment ago, and now you’re scared?”

Cassandra was caught off guard by his retort, then lifted her chin.

“I’m not scared.”

They were about to walk into the building when Ariana chased after them.

“Cassandra! Have you lost your mind? You’re marrying some random man right after breaking up with Lucas? Have you no shame?”

Cassandra glanced back and brushed stray hair aside. “Where was your sense of shame when you moved into the Bennett house as father’s mistress?”

Ariana’s face stiffened instantly.

“You lived off another man’s husband, spent his money, occupied his home, and raised your illegitimate daughter. You are the seasoned expert when it comes to shamelessness.”

The surrounding whispers erupted.

Ariana trembled all over, unable to find a single word to reply.

Cassandra shifted her gaze away.

Aldred held out his hand to her.

She hesitated briefly then placed her hand in his. His palm was warm, his grip steady.

The two walked into the Civil Affairs Bureau.

The clerk checked their documents. “Do you both confirm this marriage is voluntary?”

Cassandra stared at the registration form. Lucas’s betrayal, Danielle’s frame-up, her father’s slap, Ariana’s threats flashed through her mind one after another.

“I confirm.”

Aldred turned his head to look at her. “You can still back out now.”

Cassandra met his gaze straight. “I won’t back out.”

Aldred smiled faintly, picked up the pen to sign his name, then passed the pen to her. “From this moment on, you are my wife.”

Cassandra took the pen. Her fingertips trembled slightly, yet she wrote her name firmly: Cassandra Bennett.

From this day onward, she would no longer wait for salvation.

She herself would be her own escape route.