Chapter 1

My husband’s ex-wife made a single unauthorized charge of $600,000 to my card.

When I tried to pay for my prenatal appointment, the transaction was declined.

Panicking, I messaged my husband again and again.

[Julian Harding, I started bleeding and having severe abdominal pain last night. The doctor said I need an urgent prenatal exam.]

[But Vanessa Reed charged $600,000 to my card without permission, and now I can’t pay the hospital bill...]

Every message went unanswered.

I endured the pain and kept rejoining the line.

By the nineteenth time, a family photo appeared on my phone.

In the picture, Julian was vacationing in the Maldives with his ex-wife and their daughter, smiling as though they were the perfect family.

My chest tightened.

I traced the account that had sent me the photo.

That was how I discovered why Julian had missed every important moment since we got married.

He had arrived an hour late to our wedding because he was having a family meal with his ex-wife and daughter.

When I was three months pregnant, I had been in a car accident and nearly lost the baby.

I called him thirty times.

He never answered because he was helping his ex-wife and daughter with a family craft project.

Bitterness filled my mouth.

Then I remembered where the $600,000 in my account had come from.

I stopped trying to reach Julian and called an emergency number instead.

“Hello. What is the procedure when unauthorized charges are made against the Valenti Family’s No. 001 beneficiary account?”

……

Ever since I became pregnant, my brother had anonymously wired me $100,000 every month.

That money was what gave me the confidence to quit my job and stay home during my pregnancy.

I never imagined someone would steal from that account.

Carefully, I explained everything after calling the emergency number my brother had given me.

Silence answered from the other end.

Just as I began to wonder if I had dialed the wrong number, a shocked voice finally came through.

“What did you say?”

“The Valenti Family’s No. 001 beneficiary account was compromised?!”

“I’ll notify the head of the Family immediately!”

A few seconds later, a stern voice took over the call.

“Ms. Valenti, we’ve received the report. We’ll send someone to investigate and handle the matter immediately.”

“You’ll have an answer within three hours.”

After the call ended, Julian finally replied.

[It’s only $600,000.]

[Use the secondary card I gave you. Spend as much as you want.]

I froze.

Then I remembered the early days of my pregnancy, when my emotions had been unstable.

I often came across stories about pregnant women who had stopped working, only to have their husbands control and humiliate them with money.

Again and again, I had asked Julian for reassurance.

“I’m not working now. Are you ever going to use money to make things difficult for me?”

Julian had laughed softly and comforted me in a low voice.

“Elena Valenti, the Harding family has more money than we could ever spend. I don’t care about a few thousand dollars.”

“And I could never bear to watch you lower your voice and beg me for money.”

He had ordered his assistant to rush to the bank and arrange a secondary card for me.

But after receiving it, I had never used it.

I pulled up the card on my phone and tried to pay for the nineteenth time.

The staff member immediately sneered.

“This card has already been canceled!”

“If you can’t even afford a prenatal appointment, why are you having a baby?”

My entire body stiffened.

I stared at her in disbelief.

Julian had canceled the card he gave me.

My fingers curled tightly.

Once again, I walked away from the long line in humiliation.

This time, I left without receiving the prenatal exam.

I walked all the way home.

But the moment I reached the villa, I stopped cold.

“Hurry up!”

“What is all this junk?”

“Throw it away!”

“My daughter is staying here for a week. What if these filthy things trigger her allergies?”

Vanessa stood outside the villa, ordering the bodyguards to dump my belongings into the trash.

Even the collectible models my brother mailed me from the Northwest every year had been thrown away like garbage.

I stood frozen for several seconds.

Then I strode toward them.

Before I could reach the pile, a jagged shard suddenly flew through the air and sliced across my neck.