Chapter 1

It was a busy day at Twilight Villa. Grannie Blake, especially, was in high spirits and had been waiting eagerly at the front door since early morning. A month ago, the young master of the Blake family got into a car accident and had been in a vegetative state ever since. With little hope of him waking up, Grannie Blake came up with the idea of a 'ward-off wedding' in an attempt to ward off bad luck so that he would regain consciousness. After going through the birth dates of every young woman in South City, the daughter of the Young family was to be the final bride candidate. According to the priest, they were said to be a match made in heaven. Today was the day when the two families would meet. A Volkswagen stopped at the front door, and a young woman slowly appeared in front of the crowd. Everyone was shocked once they got a good look at her. The first thing they saw was a pair of black espadrilles that were stained with mud, followed by a red and green cheap-looking cotton top that made her look like a comedian. She was also wearing her hair in a braid, which added to her overall tacky appearance. As she approached the crowd, a pungent smell of pig manure filled the air. The people around her could not help but cover their noses and take a few steps back, their faces filled with disgust. Tiffany Young gazed levelly at the crowd, taking in their expressions. She then dropped her gaze, the corner of her mouth turning up into a slight smile. She was now sure that the wealthiest family in South City would no longer want her as their daughter-in-law after seeing her appearance today. Earlier this morning, the Young family had sent their butler to pick her up from the countryside, saying that they had found a good match for her and that she would be marrying the richest man in South City. It sounded like a good deal, but Tiffany knew for a fact that the Young family had never been kind to her. If it was really a good deal, would she have stood a chance? Of course not. That mother-daughter duo would have jumped at the opportunity for sure. She later got to know from the butler that she was actually promised to a man in a vegetative state. Hence, in order to ruin the marriage, she purposely stalled for time and even went to the trouble of making herself look unattractive. All these rich families want to save face, so they would never accept someone like her as their daughter-in-law. Besides, the sooner this matter was settled, the sooner she could go back and feed the pigs. Feeling confused, Grannie Blake asked, "Who is this?" Braxton Young replied with an apologetic smile, "Grannie, there has been a mistake. The birth date chosen actually belongs to my youngest daughter, Tiffany. I picked her up earlier today." The expressions of the Blake family members changed slightly the minute they heard this. Everybody knew that the Young family's second daughter had a bad reputation since her childhood and she was actually an illegitimate child. It was known that she tried to burn her sister to death a few years ago but ended up disfiguring her sister instead. Braxton sent her to live in the countryside because of that, thus erasing her presence from the upper class. While Braxton might have said with a smile that he had made a mistake, it was clear that he did not want his precious daughter to be married to a man in a vegetative state. However, he did not dare to offend the Blake family either, and that was why he had no choice but to offer his illegitimate daughter's hand in marriage instead. Now that they had seen Tiffany Young's tacky appearance, the expressions of the Blake family members darkened even further. However, Grannie Blake had no choice but to accept Tiffany into the family even if she disliked her as nothing was more important than her grandson regaining consciousness. For this reason, she ordered a servant to lead Tiffany into the house to be bathed and also asked for her to be sent straight to the bridechamber once she was cleaned up. Being utterly dumbfounded, Tiffany was soon pushed into the bathroom and had her clothes stripped off by the servant before she even had a chance to react. She was then bathed and changed into a wedding gown within minutes. In the bridechamber, she saw her husband-to-be, Micah Blake. He was lying silently on the bed. His nose was sharp and tall, and his thin lips were slightly pursed. Even in his sleep, his bold and defiant personality was still portrayed in his arched eyebrows. He looked cold and distant, and one could see that he was born into privilege and nobility. Staring blankly at this familiar yet unfamiliar face, memories came flooding back to Tiffany. She could never have imagined this was how he had ended up after so many years. Upon touching his wrist, Tiffany frowned slightly. While others might have said that he had fallen into a vegetative state due to a car accident, it was clear that he was actually poisoned, and it was this potent poison that was keeping him from waking up. Whoosh! The door was kicked open suddenly. A figure stormed into the room, grabbed her by the wrist, and pulled her outside while shouting angrily, "Get the hell out of my house, you country bumpkin! Our Blake family will never accept someone like you as our daughter-in-law. You're not worthy of my son." Hearing these words, Tiffany gave the woman a cold stare. With a slight twist of her wrist, she shook herself free from the woman's grip, causing the woman to stumble against the wall. After taking a good look, Tiffany soon realized that the woman was Micah's mother, Quinlan Xavier. Tiffany crossed her arms and said coldly, "I'm afraid it's your son who isn’t worthy of me. If he really is able to get a wife, surely he wouldn't need to come up with this 'ward-off wedding' with me as his bride?" Fury surged through Quinlan when she heard those words. Never would she have expected her outstanding son to be despised by a dowdy woman like her. Tiffany had humiliated the Blake family in the worst way possible. Quinlan pointed at Tiffany, her body shaking with anger. Rich wives like Quinlan had the privilege of proper education since young, so they were usually good-mannered and seldom used any foul language. For that reason, the swear words that she used were nothing new to Tiffany. Tiffany scratched her ears and appeared tired of listening. Quinlan's curses were nothing compared to that of Madam White, her next-door neighbor. "What's all that noise?!" Grannie Blake's shrill voice came from afar. With fury still plain on her flushed face, Quinlan said, "Mom, how could you choose a woman like her to be Micah's bride? I don’t agree with this." Grannie Blake glanced at Tiffany. Even the servant despised her, and because of that, Tiffany was only given a careless bath just now. The unpleasant smell lingered around Tiffany, and her face was still covered in ashes. Grannie Blake replied with a hint of disdain, "The priest has said that Micah will wake up within three days after this 'ward-off wedding'. If he doesn't, you can do whatever you want with her." Tiffany raised her eyebrows. 'Three days?' she thought to herself. She was not aware of this. Judging by Micah's current condition, it would not be surprising if he did not wake up in a month, not to mention three days. Looking at their wretched expressions, Tiffany could not help but start to feel rebellious. 'Since all of you are just using me as a tool for marriage, I’ll become a thorn in your side', thought Tiffany. "That's fine with me. You can do whatever you want with me if Micah doesn't wake up in three days. However, if he does wake up, not only do I want the Blake family to give me a grand welcome into the family, but I also demand that you apologize for the things you said to me in front of all the guests."