Prologue
The night I found out I was pregnant, my husband stumbled home drunk, covered in another woman’s lipstick and hickeys.
I hid the pregnancy test and asked him, “Did you go to see Liora?”
He snapped, annoyed, as he ripped off his tie. “So what if I did? If you hadn’t gotten in the way, I’d be married to her right now!”
I fell silent, crumpled the pregnancy test results into a ball, and tossed it into the trash.
The next day, I called the clinic to schedule a termination.
On the day I took the pills, he ran into me in the hallway.
Staring at the blood between my legs, he panicked. “When were you pregnant?”
I said flatly, “The day you ****** your so-called true love.”
Chapter 1
“I’m hungry. Make me noodles.”
The bedroom light blazed on at two in the morning, jolting me awake. A hard shove landed on my back.
Rhett leaned lazily against the headboard, looking at me like I was his servant.
I frowned and sat up, hit by a thick wave of alcohol mixed with a cheap, floral perfume.
“Hurry up. Don’t keep me waiting.” He tugged off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt, his voice sharp with irritation.
My eyes locked onto his skin—dark, bruising hickeys covered his collarbones and chest. His eyes held a sick, satisfied glint.
I quickly grabbed the pregnancy test results from the nightstand and hid it under my pillow.
My chest tightened. I didn’t hold back. “Did you really go to see Liora?”
I’d known he’d never gotten over his first love. But I never thought he’d be so careless, so unashamed.
He came home with another woman’s marks on him and still expected me to wait on him hand and foot.
His assistant had told me: as soon as he heard Liora’s new movie wrapped and she was flying back to the city, he’d dumped a billion‑dollar client and rushed to the airport to pick her up.
I’d planned to warn him when he got home. I never thought he’d come back with proof of his betrayal, like he was rubbing it in my face.
Reminding me that his heart had belonged to someone else for three years.
Rhett lifted his chin, mocking me. “So what if I did?”
“I’m going to see her every day from now on. I already gave you the title of Mrs. Blackwood. Be grateful.”
“You stay out of my life.”
He flung his tie at me and stormed into the bathroom.
The door slammed shut, making me flinch.
This wasn’t the first time he’d treated me like this. And it wouldn’t be the last.
My heart turned cold. We’d grown up together. I’d been by his side since we were kids. Yet I meant less to him than some actress he’d dated for a few years.
He kept blaming me for stealing his place as Mrs. Blackwood.
But the truth was, he was the one who’d benefited from this marriage.
After his father’s funeral, his own sister had gotten on her knees at my family’s door, begging me to save his family company.
With his reckless, arrogant attitude, Rhett would’ve been eaten alive by his uncles without someone powerful backing him.
The Blackwood Group needed a sharp, fearless woman to keep it steady. His mother knew it, but she could never make him admit he wasn’t strong enough on his own.
So his sister came with gifts, begging me to help him for the sake of our childhood.
I came from a wealthy family, just like the Blackwoods. I was known in high society for being tough and decisive.
I’d watched Rhett run around after me since he was a little boy with snot on his face.
His sister thought I was the only one who could save him.
And I’d loved him. So I said yes.
For three years of marriage, I’d acted like a carelessly social wife, attending parties and smiling for the cameras.
Behind the scenes, I’d cleaned up his messes, outmaneuvered his greedy uncles, and kept the Blackwood Group stable. Everyone in the family feared me but dared not speak against me.
His mother and sister knew exactly what I’d done. No matter how badly Rhett behaved, they stayed firmly on my side.
