Chapter 1

In the dead of night, an alert chimed on my phone from the smart security system. Someone was tampering with the front door lock.

I reached to dial 911, but my husband, Mason Vance, grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"Stop being so paranoid! With security around here, who’d dare break in?

It's just a glitch in the sensor. Don't waste police resources by making a false report."

Annoyed, Mason snatched my phone, threw it onto the floor, and lay back down in bed to continue his FaceTime call with his mistress.

Seven years of marriage, and after his endless cheating, our relationship had long been in ruins.

Left with no choice, I had to go check on the front door myself.

The moment I stepped out, seven muscular men stormed inside, grabbed me, and dragged me straight back into the master bedroom.

Terrified, Mason pointed at me and pleaded with the thugs:

"Take her! Do whatever you want with her! Just don't touch me. I swear I'll pretend I never saw a thing. I won't call the cops!"

He couldn't wait for them to brutalize me to death so he could take all the money and marry his young trophy mistress.

Too bad for him, these seven men were only interested in him!

"Babe, did you miss me?"

"Buy whatever you want. That custom designer bag you liked will arrive in a couple of days."

"Of course, I’ll take you to pick it up myself. We can take a vacation abroad while we’re at it..."

Right in front of me, Mason flirted shamelessly with his side chick, Samantha Reed, over FaceTime.

We had been sleeping in separate rooms for two years.

I had only come to his bedroom tonight to talk about the divorce, but he gave me the silent treatment, treating me like air. The familiar chill of his emotional abuse made me tremble, suffocating me from the inside out.

He had built his empire in New York using my parents' wealth and connections.

Yet the moment my parents passed away, he tried to strip me of everything and leave me with nothing.

I refused to sign.

In retaliation, he froze all my credit cards, cutting me off from every single penny.

He was the one who cheated first, but because he controlled all the marital assets, I had no leverage against him.

If I didn't agree to walk away penniless, my only choice was to endure this endless, agonizing stalemate.

I felt like I was on the verge of losing my mind.

"Mason Vance!"

I clenched my fists, finally screaming at him as I threw the divorce papers onto his bed:

"I'm not asking for half of the estate! I only want the initial investment my parents gave you—around thirty million dollars. That's pocket change to you now!"

"Seven years as husband and wife, and your entire status and power were built on my family's back.

Show some damn conscience. Sign the papers and let me go!"

I had backed down again and again, reaching my absolute limit.

Mason let out a cold chuckle and gave me a look of pure disgust.

"Did I beg your parents for help? Cut the moral high ground, Nina. That guilt trip doesn't work on me.

I'll say it one last time: walk away with nothing, and we get divorced. If not, get the hell out of my sight."

I pressed a hand against my chest, physically unable to speak.

Samantha, Mason's latest mistress, overheard our conversation and whined into the camera:

"Babe, why don't you just throw her some scraps? Treat it like feeding a stray dog. As long as I get to marry you, I wouldn't mind spending a little less to save those few millions."

Mason sneered. "Give her a dime? In her dreams.

She thinks she's still the pretty young heiress from back then? She's a washed-up, dried-up hag. Looking at her makes me sick."

My scalp tingled with rage, my ears ringing violently.

Ever since my parents died and Mason showed his true colors, sleepless nights had worn me down. I had grown painfully thin, and the stress had aged my face prematurely.

Mason, on the other hand, still looked polished, handsome, and rich.

That was why Samantha, even though she already had a husband, was utterly obsessed with him and desperate to become the next Mrs. Vance.

"Mr. Vance~"

Samantha drawled in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"Hurry up and divorce her so you can marry me. I already filed for divorce in court, but that leech of a husband won't stop clinging to me. He's been looking for me like a lunatic every single day.

I won't feel safe until I'm wearing your ring."

Hearing that, Mason chuckled with smug satisfaction. "That loser is still kicking? I crushed his gym and drove him into bankruptcy, and he still hasn't learned his lesson?

Don't worry, sweetheart. I have a hundred ways to finish him off..."

Samantha's husband was Ryan Cole. I had met him before; he had loved Samantha with his whole heart.

Back when I was gathering evidence of Mason's infidelity, Ryan and I had tried to team up. But against Mason's ruthless connections and dirty tactics, we were completely outmatched.

Ryan ended up in an even worse state than I was.

Not only did he lose his business to bankruptcy, but Mason also hired goons to break his leg.

Was Mason eventually going to do the same to me?

Just as the thought crossed my mind, a sharp, repetitive beeping erupted from my phone.

I unlocked the screen.

The front door lock was being forced open!

My heart dropped into my stomach. "Mason, we have a problem!"