Chapter 1

The day I got fired from my own family's building-materials company, the whole company was calling me a kickback thief.

So I used my savings to open a hardware store.

I'd just landed a big construction-site order when several batches of substandard wiring turned up in the testing.

There was an accident on the site, and the only way to cover the damages was to sell the store.

On my way home I passed the hardware store, and the lights were still on.

I figured it was the new owner taking inventory.

But when I got closer, I saw it was my wife and her best friend, straightening the shelves.

"Seriously? The kickbacks, planting the substandard wiring—that was all his brother?"

"To be exact, the one behind it was my mother-in-law."

"Aren't they both her sons?"

"Sure, but Nat was born from her lover, so he's like an outsider at home."

"We never had kids—that was my mother-in-law's folk remedy too."

"If Thomas is infertile, then I can be the one to have Nat's baby."

"This store was a gift from my mother-in-law."

I stood against the wall, staring blankly into the shop.

Three days ago I was in there taking inventory myself.

Now I was standing outside like a stranger.

Violet grumbled under her breath.

"Nothing I can do about it. I'll have to keep playing along with him a while longer."

Her friend set down the ledger in her hand and teased her.

"Hearing you say all this, I suddenly feel kind of sorry for Thomas."

Violet let out a scoff.

"Sorry for him? What's there to feel sorry about?"

"His whole life, every good thing in that family went to him."

"Good at school, quick-minded."

"My father-in-law always meant to hand the whole company over to him someday."

"Nat spent all this time living in his shadow."

"Now we've finally gotten him out of the company."

"He ought to get a real taste of what Nat's been through all these years."

She said it in a breezy tone.

Like she was talking about someone who had nothing to do with her.

But I was her husband.

We'd registered our marriage, slept in the same bed for three whole years!

I clenched my fists.

But my heart was stabbing with pain.

Her friend spoke up again. "So what method did your mother-in-law actually use?"

"How'd she keep Thomas from having a kid for three whole years?"

There was a note of smugness in Violet's voice.

"A Western drug."

"Slipped into the soup he drinks every day—a small dose, but taken long term."

"It slowly strips away his fertility."

Her friend was clearly startled.

"Then… isn't that harmful to his body?"

Violet shrugged, her tone airy.

"No idea. Who cares."

"Whether Thomas lives or dies, what's it to me?"

"As long as Nat's fine, that's all that matters."

"Oh, right—our marriage certificate is fake too."

With that, she stuffed a stack of invoices into the drawer.

Like she was talking about the most ordinary thing in the world.

My head buzzed.

I was in a state of total disbelief.

The marriage certificate was fake?

And all these years, she'd often stewed all kinds of fertility tonics for me.

I'd always taken it for the warmth of marriage.

Turns out every last bowl was poison!

No wonder I couldn't get her pregnant no matter how hard I tried.

Turns out I'd been betrayed at the same time by the two women closest to me.

Violet poured herself a glass of water.

She leaned against the counter, and her voice suddenly dropped a little.

"Honestly, he was good to me too. Shame it didn't matter."

"All I see is Nat. There's no room in me for any other man."

She gave a little smile, and it looked cold.

"When it comes down to it, he had it coming."

"Who told him to stand in Nat's way."

I was shaking all over.

Not from the cold—from a rage that came straight from my heart.

My chest felt tight with it, but then I gave a bitter little laugh at myself.

So this was how she saw me.

All the good I'd done over the years was nothing but a joke.

Her friend was silent for a few seconds, then asked.

"So you really mean to have his kid?"

Violet lowered her head and touched her stomach.

"It's almost there."

"Once Thomas signs the divorce papers, I'll be with Nat out in the open."

"My mother-in-law said she'd give us this store as our marital home."

"Thomas won't get a single cent."

She looked up, a smile in her eyes.

She seemed gentle, but underneath was three years of cold, ruthless scheming.

I edged forward a step.

I wanted to storm in and have it out with her, to ask why she'd screwed me over like this.

While Violet was busy drinking her water, her friend seized the moment.

She turned her head, and her gaze cut straight through the glass and landed right on me.

She didn't make a sound, just blinked.

And made a hushing gesture at me.