Chapter 1

I was at the hospital, handling my mother’s funeral, when my mafia husband’s first love sent me a video on Snapchat.

In the video, an old woman in bloody rags, her head wrapped in a dirty scarf, was screaming in agony inside a guard dog kennel.

"Chloe, your slum-trash mother actually dared to come to my club to blackmail us? I’ve thrown her to the mastiffs. Damian said it himself—garbage belongs in the trash."

I stared at the screen, completely frozen.

My mother, Helen, had passed away from her illness weeks ago.

Today was the day of her funeral.

So...

Who was the dying old woman in the video?

Suddenly, as the camera shook, I caught a glimpse of a black stone necklace around her neck.

It was—the Sinclair matriarch’s obsidian crest pendant.

I didn’t dare waste a second. Staring intensely at the obsidian pendant in the video, I immediately called Damian.

The phone rang for a long time before Damian picked up, his voice dripping with impatience. "Chloe, I told you not to bother me tonight. I'm busy."

"Damian, something terrible has happened!"

My voice was shaking.

"Vanessa locked your mother in the dog kennel at the club! She’s being torn apart by the dogs. You need to send someone to save her right now—"

Damian cut me off, his voice ice-cold.

"Enough! Chloe, have you lost your mind?!"

"Chloe, did you forget your place? You’re nothing but collateral for your gambling addict father’s debts."

Each of his words stabbed into my chest like a knife.

"Just to get me to look at you, you’d actually lie about your own mother’s death. And when you saw I didn't buy it, you started trying to frame Vanessa!"

"Chloe, you are truly disgusting."

I froze in place. "I am not lying. My mother is dead. The woman in that video is wearing the Sinclair matriarch’s pendant!"

"Shut up!"

Damian snapped.

"You don’t deserve to mention my mother. She’s been recovering in Europe for years and only flew back tonight. To feed your petty jealousy, you’d actually curse my mother? Are you trying to die?"

"Vanessa runs the club for me. She can punish whoever she wants. Stop trying to make a scene."

I gripped my phone so hard my knuckles turned white.

Yes, I was given to him to settle a debt.

For the past two years, I had worked myself to the bone, silently enduring his humiliation.

But I was not so pathetic that I would use a parent's death to beg for his affection.

My heart went completely cold.

"Damian, your mother looks severely injured. I suggest you send someone to take her to the hospital immediately, or you will regret this for the rest of your life."

Damian instantly flared up.

"Regret? In the entire city of New York, there is nothing Damian Sinclair regrets!"

"I’ve already sent a car to the airport to pick up my mother. Once her homecoming party is over, I’ll deal with you."

With that, Damian hung up on me.

A few minutes later, I saw Vanessa post a status on Instagram.

It was just one short sentence:

*“Today, the mother of the man I love is coming back to the country. What kind of gift should I prepare for her?”*

I silently liked the post.

No need to prepare anything, Vanessa.

You’ve already given her a "grand gift" she’ll remember for the rest of her life.

I couldn’t help but feel a sick curiosity.

When Damian finds out his mother was thrown into a dog kennel by Vanessa, how will he react?