Chapter 1

The year Xavier Knight returned to the country, he had become a world-renowned billionaire.

But everyone in New York's elite circle knew he hated me to the bone.

Three years ago, when his illness was at its worst, I took ten million dollars from his biggest rival, slapped him in public, and told him to get the hell out of my life.

So when we met again, he used his power to force me into becoming his on-call secret mistress.

He would sit in his VIP booth, sipping champagne and sneering as he watched me strip-dance at private parties just to make a few bucks from wealthy investors.

"Eva, you abandoned me for money back then. Now, your pathetic body is only fit to crawl and beg for my pocket change."

That same night, he threw his engagement invitation to another wealthy heiress right in my face.

I numbly wiped the blood from my forehead where the sharp edge of the card had cut me, and slowly picked it up.

He thought I would throw away my remaining dignity and beg him to stay, just like I always did.

But he didn't know that I was running out of time.

I had spent every single penny of that ten million dollars on his medical bills back then.

And my right ear had been beaten to complete deafness years ago when I shielded him from a mob.

Now, I was dying.