Chapter 3: The Truth Behind the Wounds

Noah showed up fast.

His hair was a mess, dark circles under his eyes, blue stubble on his chin—he looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

Seeing me all battered and bruised, his eyes went red, like he might cry right there.

His hands shook as he tried to hold me, but he was scared to hurt me. “Autumn, let’s go home.”

In the car, I stared out at the city skyline, the giant LED screens playing my latest ad, my smile shining down over Times Square.

Now, even just smiling made my face ache.

When the lights dimmed, I caught my own reflection in the window.

My face was wrapped in gauze, like snow covering muddy ground—who knew what kind of horror was underneath?

The one smiling on the screen was supposed to be me, but now it was Avery.

From the moment we were born, we fought for everything.

I won the first round—I was born healthy.

Avery came out weak and sickly.

All the family’s attention shifted to Avery.

“Your sister is young and frail, you have to give in to her.”

So Avery took everything from me—like it was her right.

From childhood dolls to the boys I liked.

She had to have it all, and would even brag about it to me.

During our senior year, Avery’s grades tanked and she needed expensive tuition for a private school.

She even checked herself into the hospital, whispering, “Autumn is healthy, she’ll never go hungry, but if I don’t study, I’ll have no future.”

So I took out loans for college and worked part-time nonstop.

While working at a rehab center, I cared for Noah Hayes, who had bipolar disorder.

When he got better, his family sent him abroad.

During that time, I was discovered by a talent scout, broke into showbiz, and started to get famous.

Avery immediately pinned her past scandals on me, and the resulting gossip got me blacklisted for years—until Noah came back from overseas.

After Noah returned and took over his father’s company, he became a notorious wild card in the business world.

The mad dog found me and put the leash in my hand—asked me to handle his even more unruly illness.

Seeing me do so well, Avery became even more vicious, wanting to take my place.

She managed to fool everyone for a while—but not Noah.

Noah is a complete madman, but also a rare genius.

“Noah, did she touch you?”

Noah gently rolled up his sleeve, showing scabbed-over streaks of blood. “She touched here. I wiped it off.”

“Everyone said it was you, but I knew it wasn’t.”

“That person tried her best to imitate you, but in my eyes, whether it’s her expression or her vibe, she’s nothing like you.”

“Even if you were desperate, you’d never be as sycophantic and groveling as Avery.”

“But I didn’t know where you were. I couldn’t find you.”

Noah lowered his head in guilt, biting his lips until they bled.

This only confirmed my suspicion—this was a planned car accident.

No wonder Noah couldn’t find out about my accident.

The cameras on that stretch of road were out, the driver died in the crash, my mom took the insurance payout and didn’t investigate.

The hospital records were under Avery’s name, and Avery showed up to the shoot pretending to be me, so no one realized I’d been in an accident.

Luckily, my car had been modified, so I only had external injuries, nothing internal.

Maybe they meant to kill me, but I’m hard to kill.

“Have you not been sleeping well these days?”

“Without you, I can’t sleep.”

“Get some rest now.”

“Okay.”

Noah was so worried about my injuries, he gave me most of the bed.

He curled up on the edge, gently breathing in my scent as he drifted off.

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