Chapter 1 I Will Marry Him

“I won't marry him!” Savannah Gardner's loud voice resonated in the Avery residence. “You have no other choice. Savannah, I'll be honest with you. You must take Sydney's place and marry into the Quaker family,” commanded Savannah's father, Sean Avery, sternly. “Savannah, just say yes and help Sydney out. Emmett Quaker is intellectually disabled. If Sydney marries that fool, she'll be doomed for the rest of her life!” Her mother, Nina Sparrow, came over and cajoled nicely. Meanwhile, her brother, Ford Avery, had his legs crossed on the white leather sofa in the living room. “Dad, Mom, why bother? Just tie her up and bring her over to the Quaker family. She should consider herself lucky to replace Sydney and marry someone rich like Emmett. After all, she's just a country bumpkin.” Hearing their words, Savannah felt her blood turn cold. “Why do you keep siding with Sydney? Do you seriously adore her that much? I'm sorry to break the news, but excuse me, I'm actually your biological daughter! She's the adopted daughter! Have you forgotten how her parents deliberately exchanged us back then? I'm an Avery, and she should've been that country bumpkin!” Yes, Savannah Gardner was indeed born into the Avery family. After spending eighteen years in the countryside as an orphan, Savannah only found out she wasn't an orphan when she was accepted into university. When she was born, a couple from the countryside purposely exchanged her with their own daughter and abandoned her at an orphanage. The horrible couple later died in a car crash when she was eighteen. In the process of going through their identities, the police discovered their actions eighteen years ago and traced them back to her and her parents from the Avery family. The Avery family did take her back after that. But because the couple was dead, Brian and Nina could not possibly “return” Sydney back. Besides, she had always been with the Avery family all this while, and she was treated like their own, so they decided to let Sydney stay with them. Meanwhile, Savannah used to be an orphan, so she was elated to be reunited with her family. Dreaming of a happily ever after, Savannah vowed to treat Sydney as her own sister. After all, Sydney was innocent and couldn't be blamed for her parents' crime. To her dismay, when Savannah returned to the Avery family, her dad was certain that she was a boorish country bumpkin and refused to change her last name to Avery legally. He didn't even inform the public about her and continued treating Sydney as his own daughter instead. As for Nina, she would often urge Savannah to give in to Sydney. Her reason was that the latter had lost her parents, so they should make it up to her. In the end, Savannah was the one who had to suck it up. Meanwhile, her brother, Ford, kept mocking her for being a yodel from the countryside. She was his biological sister, but he couldn't stop criticizing her like she was the worst person in the world. It was as if she meant nothing to him at all. Sydney Avery, however, was something else. After taking over Savannah's identity for eighteen years, she was determined to keep her place in the Avery family. Hence, in order to graduate from college successfully and satisfy her ego, Sydney had a plan - a plan so evil that it would tear Savannah apart and make sure that she stayed beneath her... During her final year in college, Sydney allowed her thesis supervisor to rape Savannah so he would pass her paper. As a result, Savannah did not only end up pregnant but was also sentenced to three years in jail after accidentally killing him to defend herself. After one year of living miserably with the Averys and three years in jail, all hopes of living a blissful life with her so-called family were shattered into pieces, with not even a speck left. All Savannah wanted was to stay away from the Averys with her child, whom she gave birth to while serving her sentence. Alas, the Avery family was far heartless than she had expected. Just when she thought that things could not get worse, they did the unthinkable by forcing her to marry an intellectually disabled man! “I won't take Sydney's place and marry that fool. Leave me alone. I have nothing to do with you Averys!” uttered Savannah coldly with tears in her eyes. She was no longer the naive girl she once was. No, the Savannah, who used to be desperate for her parents' attention and was willing to do anything just to please them, was long gone. Hearing that, Sean immediately scowled in anger and ordered one of the helpers, “Tell Sydney to bring the child down.” At his words, Savannah's heart sank. A strong sense of foreboding nagged at her as footsteps sounded on the stairway. Thud. Thud. Looking up, Savannah saw the bubbly and gorgeous Sydney coming down the stairs slowly with a young boy in her arms. “Freddie!” she called out her son's nickname anxiously. The young boy's eyes were shut, so everyone thought he was sleeping. But the moment he heard Savannah calling his name, his eyes snapped open. “Mommy! Mommy!” he yelled excitedly. With a scowl on her face and her hands balled into fists, she demanded at her sister, “Give me my son!” Instead of letting him go, Sydney tightened her arms around the kid and grinned. “How dare a murderer like you demand custody of your child? Besides, Dad has already requested to be his legal guardian, so technically, you don't have any custodial rights anymore.” “Mommy! I want Mommy!” Little Freddie struggled in Sydney's arms that moment so he could go to his mommy. However, Sydney continued to grab him tightly, refusing to let him go to his mother. In just a split second, Little Freddie started bawling. Struggling and kicking to free himself to no avail, he ended up sinking his teeth into Sydney's arm. “Ow! You son of a b*tch!” Shocked at the sudden pain, Sydney yelped and released her grip on him, dropping him headfirst onto the marble floor. No! Freddie! Savannah's motherly instincts reacted instantly and dashed forward to protect her beloved child. Just before tragedy could unfold, she caught him just in time and gave him a tight hug. “Now, now. Don't be afraid. Mommy's here.” Snuggling in her arms, Freddie could barely make out his words while sobbing and sniffling, “Mommy, I-I'm scared. T-they are bad p-people... I'm afraid of this l-lady... S-she kept asking me to s-sleep and yelled at me w-when I cried. But I miss you, I c-cried cause I m-missed you, Mommy.” Tears trickled down Savannah's cheeks at his words. It felt like someone used an iron shard to stab at her heart multiple times. “Dad, look. I can't believe this bastard bit me! He's just as barbaric as Savannah!” Sydney burst out angrily and showed the bite mark to Sean. Sean scoffed and tried to pull Freddie out of Savannah's arms immediately. At the same time, he told the helpers, “Come and take the child away from her! They are not allowed to see each other from now on!” Freddie didn't know what was going on, but he instinctively knew the adults were trying to take him away from his mommy. Thus, he burst into tears the moment Sean grabbed him and went on to grip Savannah's hand tightly. Obviously, Savannah was not willing to give up her son just like that. So she held on to Little Freddie in her arms, trying all she could to protect him from the grasp of Sean and the helpers. Alas, she was no match for the helpers' strength, who pried her hand off her son in no time. Savannah could only watch as the strongest helper in the household, Lily, strode away with Freddie in her arms. She wanted to go after them, but her parents, Ford, and Sydney stood in her way. As Freddie's cries faded away, she broke down and fell onto her knees in despair. “What do you want? Please, give me my son back.” “If you agree to marry Emmett on behalf of Sydney, you can see your son once a month,” said Sean, his face crinkling up with disgust. Out of options, Savannah pleaded, “Once a month? Dad, can I at least see him once a week?” “I don't think she should meet him once a week, Dad. What if the Quaker family finds out? We'll be in trouble then.” Glaring at Sydney angrily, Savannah exclaimed, “If it wasn't for you and your stupid ego, I wouldn't have-” Before she could finish, Sean gave her a tight slap right across the face. “You're a disgrace to our family. And how dare you put the blame on Sydney? You can see him once a month, and that's that! Now, are you going to marry Emmett? If you refuse to marry him, I'll kill this bastard!” Covering her cheek in horror, she collapsed to the ground while trembling. “I will! I will...” For the sake of Freddie, I will...