Chapter 1 Your Love Is Truly Noble

• Ariana Winston's POV:
• "Todd's coming back?"
• While I was in the nursery, folding the tiny clothes I had just purchased for my baby, I overheard the staff murmuring about it.
• Was he coming back?
• Was it because my due date was approaching?
• A wave of happiness surged through me, causing my hands to tremble ever so slightly.
• Todd Lockford was the father of my child.
• However, since our marriage, I had only encountered him once. We made passionate love on the night of our wedding, and he didn't wear any protection as he entered and exited my body in high speed, his every thrust reaching the depths of my core, leaving my mind blank. I could do nothing aside from moaning. Then, he left without a trace, and I never saw him again. Todd was involved with the mafia, always caught up in his busy life. More importantly, he didn't have any affection for me.
• Our marriage was an unexpected turn of events. Seven years ago, when I was just thirteen, my father suffered a tragic accident. I was completely oblivious to what was happening at that time. When I returned from school, I found my home in ruins, reduced to ashes, and my father ... unrecognizable.
• "Dad ... " I gazed at the devastation in shock, as if my entire world had crumbled around me. The sky and ground seemed to spin, and then everything went dark as I fainted.
• When I came to, Mr. Charles Lockford was standing in front of me. He informed me that my father had died protecting him and promised to take care of me.
• That was the moment I learned Mr. Charles was the godfather of a mafia known as Dark Angel, and my father had been involved with him. I was stunned; in my mind, my father was a kind gentleman, completely disconnected from the world of mafias, but it was the truth, and he had kept it hidden so well.
• Despite my reluctance to accept this new reality, I had no choice. I moved in with Mr. Charles and met Todd, who was 15 at the time. He was already incredibly handsome, yet his demeanor was cold. Mr. Charles remarked that Todd was more suited to lead the mafia, a natural-born leader.
• I couldn't deny the instant attraction I felt when I first laid eyes on him.
• I lived with Mr. Charles for seven years, and the family often joked that I would end up marrying Todd. It brought me joy, but I never fixated on him, especially since he didn't seem particularly interested in me.
• Then everything shifted on my 20th birthday when I was kidnapped on my way to school. The plan was to use me as leverage against Mr. Charles to gain control of some territory. I didn't grasp the details of the negotiations; all I could recall from that terrifying night was the man who abducted me bringing over a dozen strong men with him and him saying they would gang-r*pe me, his expression twisted in anger. I remembered he had one eye missing.
• He tore my clothes off my body, and I was terrified, convinced I was going to die. I thought Todd would end up seeing my body with disgusting marks on it, but somehow, I survived.
• Amidst the chaos, I heard gunfire, and the repulsive man who tried to r*pe me fell to the ground, dead. When I looked up, I saw Todd brutally taking down the attackers. Blood splattered across his face, and he showed no sign of flinching. Instead, he wore a slight smirk that made him appear like the devil, powerful and unyielding.
• Then this "devil" approached me, removed his jacket, and wrapped it around my bare shoulders, murmuring, "It's okay; you're safe now."
• In that moment, I realized I had fallen for him—completely and utterly.
• After that night, Todd assumed control of Dark Angel, and Mr. Charles stepped down as the head. To my surprise, I found out that Mr. Charles had quietly arranged a marriage license for Todd and me beforehand. Being the mafia leader, he had his methods. I became Todd's wife, which thrilled me, and I couldn't help but feel a strange sense of gratitude for the kidnapping. It hadn't harmed me; instead, it had given me a chance to marry Todd.
• I knew he didn't love me, but I held onto the naive hope that if I tried hard enough, I could win his heart.
• "Sweetheart, I understand that your daddy doesn't have feelings for me, but that's okay. As long as your daddy is here to witness your arrival into this world, I will be so happy."
• I caressed my round belly, my heart swelling with uncontainable joy.
• Two days later, just as I had wished, Todd returned after being absent for ten months.
• Overjoyed, I hugged my belly and rushed downstairs.
• But my heart sank when I reached the bottom of the stairs. In the hallway, beside the man I had missed so much, stood another woman.
• "Todd, what is going on? I called you back to be here for the birth, and you bring this woman along?" Mr. Charles shouted in fury.
• "Don't you see what this means? I've already told you, I want nothing to do with this marriage! The woman I want to marry is Lilith, and she's right here beside me!"
• Todd stood there clad in a sleek black trench coat, his strikingly handsome face sculpted like a work of art, with his deep, cold black eyes fixed intently on Mr. Charles. He exuded an aura of frostiness as if a chill surrounded him.
• Mr. Charles fury erupted instantly, his face flushing red with anger.
• "You scoundrel! Do you even understand that Ariana is carrying triplets? She's about to give birth, and you dare to say such things?!"
• "Why shouldn't I? If you hadn't drugged me on our wedding night, none of this would have happened! I'm telling you, those kids don't deserve to exist!"
• As he spoke, he raised his gun, the cold, dark barrel aimed directly at me. "Ariana, you must agree to divorce me, or you'll deeply regret it."
• "No, I ... " My voice faltered as I lowered my head and headed down the stairs, desperately trying to reason with him, when suddenly, I heard a deafening bang. A sharp pain pierced my scalp as something whizzed by.
• Screams erupted from the household staff, and I looked up in shock to see a bullet lodged in the wall behind me. If I hadn't ducked just then to go down the stairs, I would have been dead!
• The realization crashed down on me like a tidal wave.
• Todd had shot at me! My husband wanted to kill me!
• He even claimed ... our children didn't deserve to be born!
• I felt myself beginning to sway.
• "Ah! Mrs. Lockford! You're bleeding!"
• "What?"
• I saw the staff rush toward me in panic, their eyes wide with terror as they stared at my belly.
• I didn't understand what was happening.
• Confused, I glanced down to see large pools of blood seeping from beneath my skirt.
• My children ...
• "Todd, you've just killed your own children. Your love ... is important than your flesh and blood?!"
• As I collapsed, I locked eyes with the cold, unfeeling man and whispered those final words.
• And I vowed that this would be the last thing I ever said to him in my life!