Chapter 1

My husband was barely promoted to general manager before overwork killed him, dropping him dead at his desk.

I brought a lawyer and camped outside his company for three days and three nights.

Four rounds of talks, and in the end they gritted their teeth and agreed to pay three million dollars.

But the day the paperwork cleared, the money never landed in my account.

I took our newborn son and went to ask.

Their manager said the money had already gone to Joel Harding's parents, and had security throw me out.

When I got back to the old Harding house, my brother-in-law was directing workers to tear the place down and rebuild it.

I asked my father-in-law where the money was.

He gave me a cold sideways glance and tossed out an IOU.

"This is the one hundred fifty thousand Joel borrowed from us to buy his house. For the sake of being his father, I never once asked him to pay it back all these years."

"My son is dead, and his mother and I have inheritance rights too. Your half of that money just about covers this debt. The rest we'll call interest. I'm kind enough not to come after you for the difference, so from now on you and the Hardings are square."

1

I held my son in one arm and took the IOU with the other hand.

The handwriting was crooked and clumsy, clearly not the hand of an elite-university graduate like Joel.

The signature at the bottom, though, was seven or eight parts like his.

But two years ago, when we bought the house, Joel only ever said he wanted to get his own past wages back from his parents.

He never once mentioned borrowing money.

My son was wailing with hunger against my chest, and my eyes went red with anger.

"Dad, I just finished my recovery. Joel's dead, the only income this family had is gone, and you're taking every cent. What am I supposed to raise my child on? Clay Coleman is your grandson too!"

My mother-in-law glared at me, her voice sour.

"You say so and that makes it so? My son's gone, there's no one left to prove anything, so of course you can claim whatever you like!"

"But let me tell you, we still have Timothy Harding. His son is my grandson. As for that one in your arms..."

She paused, contempt dripping from every word.

"Who's to say where you'll take the kid once you remarry? We are not spending money to raise someone else's brat!"

Before I could even react, she snatched the IOU out of my hand.

"Enough. You've seen the IOU, everything's been made clear, so stop standing there like a fool and go home. Consider that apartment our gift to you. Sell it or keep it, the Hardings won't say a word either way."

Tears welled up in my dry eyes, and my voice shook.

"Mom, how can you say that? Joel's body isn't even cold, and you're throwing us out?"

"All these years since I married in, I've stayed home. There's never been a single other man near me besides Joel. What gives you the right to doubt me?"

My mother-in-law's eyes bulged as she dodged the point.

"What are you babbling about? I never threw you out! Don't go pinning things on me."

I laughed in anger.

"And that IOU just now, when was it written? Who wrote it?"

"Joel never told me the house money was borrowed. What he did tell me was that from the day he started working, you used the excuse of the debt from putting him through college and took eighty percent of his salary every single month to pay it off!"

"Six years. He gave you at least one million eight hundred thousand. Tuition was thirty thousand at the absolute most, and that's ignoring the fact that he was a top student who won a scholarship every year!"

My father-in-law charged at me right then, reaching out to shove me.