Chapter 1

After five years of marriage, I finally gave birth to our baby. My dad and I had been waiting for this child for so long.

I never imagined that while I was away on a business trip, my husband would let our newborn starve to death.

All just to help his first love pretend she had a fiancé to get her family off her back.

I rushed home overnight, my heart freezing in my chest, only to see her walking out of my bathroom wrapped in a towel.

My husband looked startled.

"What are you doing back? Don't get the wrong idea. Her family was breathing down her neck, so I just let her stay here for a couple of days."

I looked at them, smiled faintly, and placed his hand into hers.

"Then why don't I just lend you to her permanently?"

Tyler froze at my words.

He stared at me in pure disbelief, his voice dropping into a sharp hiss.

"Chloe, what the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm your husband. How could you just offer to hand me over to another woman?"

I scoffed under my breath.

My last assignment had been brutal—a six-month relocation to an overseas branch in Africa.

The compensation, however, had been astronomical.

I hadn't wanted to go at first.

But I had just given birth.

To give our baby the best future possible, I gritted my teeth and took the job.

Just as the contract was wrapping up, I saw a post on Nicole's SnapChat story.

Tyler was there, proudly acting as her boyfriend, holding hands with his childhood sweetheart and receiving warm congratulations from her entire family.

My vision blurred with tears. Ignoring my lingering postpartum aches, I booked the first flight home and flew across the world overnight.

And what did I walk into? Nicole coming out of my master bathroom barely covered.

In that single second, whatever was left of my heart died.

I looked at him and let out a cold, empty laugh.

"I'm just giving you and Nicole what you've always wanted."

"After all, didn't you just tell everyone in her family that you're her boyfriend?"

Tyler scowled, his temper flaring.

"Chloe! You know damn well whether I'm her boyfriend or not! Her dad wouldn't stop pushing her into blind dates. She was at her wit's end, so I stepped in as a favor!"

"You're my wife. Can't you be a little more understanding? Why do you have to be so damn jealous all the time?"

Hearing this, Nicole lowered her head with practiced innocence, looking downcast right in front of me.

"Chloe, if you're upset, I can call my family and clear everything up right now. Please don't fight with Tyler over me."

"It doesn't matter if my dad screams at me or disowns me. Just don't blame him."

Tyler's heart instantly softened for her.

"Nicole, stop. Don't apologize to her. She's always been this petty. She doesn't focus on what matters, just invents drama out of thin air."

He snapped his head back toward me. "Chloe, if you keep making a scene over this, don't push me to my limit!"

I almost laughed aloud at his hypocrisy.

In our five years of marriage, I had begged him more than fifty times to visit my hometown with me.

He had always turned me down with flimsy excuses, sneering that my family was just a bunch of country bumpkins.

Yet when it came to Nicole, he didn't hesitate for a second to go home with her.

It was truly pathetic.

I took a breath and locked eyes with him.

"Fine. Put all of that aside for a second. I only have one question for you. Where is our baby?"

"Tyler! Why didn't you take care of him? Why did you let him starve to death?! You knew how desperately I wanted this baby!"

We had been married for five years.

For the longest time, we couldn't conceive.

I had visited countless specialists, endured agonizing hormone treatments, and swallowed every bitter supplement doctors threw at me.

I suffered through all of it, and none of it worked.

The whispering behind my back was endless.

Every holiday when I visited home, relatives would probe and pry, asking why I couldn't get pregnant.

It got to the point where I dreaded going home for Thanksgiving.

It wasn't until this year that I finally gave birth to little Leo, clearing my name of all the quiet blame.

I spent thousands on specialized baby care courses.

I booked the best private maternity nurses well in advance.

From the moment he was born, I gave him the absolute best of everything.

Even my dad dropped all his farm work and packed his bags, eager to come help take care of his grandson.

Tyler knew better than anyone in the world how much that child meant to me.

And yet, he let him starve.

Tyler's face drained of color. "Chloe... we can always have another baby later. Honestly, I just felt the pressure was too much for us right now."

Too much pressure? What a pathetic joke.

In five years, I had never let him worry about a single bill.

He hadn't brought a dime into the marriage, yet I handed over every cent I made from my business to let him play the big shot at home.

No matter how exhausted I was from running the company, I never brought that stress back through the door.

Tyler had never faced a moment of real pressure in his life. It was nothing but an excuse!

Seeing the tension, a flash of mockery danced in Nicole's eyes, though her tone sounded desperately apologetic.

"Chloe, please don't be mad at Tyler. It's all my fault."

"My dad was pressuring me so badly to get married, so I begged Tyler to help. Tyler was just afraid my dad would figure it out if he brought a baby along, so he couldn't get back in time to feed him. Nobody knew he would... pass away like that."

A sharp crack echoed through the foyer as my palm slammed across Nicole's face.

"Afraid your dad would figure it out? For a pathetic, selfish lie like that, you let my baby starve to death?!"

I swung around toward Tyler, my eyes blazing. "Tyler, do you even have a soul?! That was your own flesh and blood!"

"And you knew my dad is sick! Seeing his grandson was the one thing keeping him going! If you didn't want him, why the hell didn't you just tell me?!"

Tyler shoved me back violently. "It was just a baby! What's done is done—why are you taking it out on Nicole?!"

He pulled Nicole into his arms, gazing at her reddened cheek with open heartache. "Apologize to her right now!"

"Me? Apologize to her?"

My fists clenched until my knuckles turned white. "She doesn't deserve a single word from me!"

"See that? This luxury penthouse belongs to my daughter!"

A key turned in the front door, and Nicole's dad strutted in, boasting loudly to the relatives trailing behind him.

The moment he spotted the red mark on Nicole's face, his expression darkened. "Who did this?! Who has the damn nerve to come into my daughter's house and lay a hand on her?!"

I lowered my hands, staring at him. "Your daughter's house? This is my property."

Nicole's dad sneered. "Cut the crap. This belongs to my daughter, Nicole, and my future son-in-law is standing right here! What kind of nonsense are you barking?"

"Wait a minute... are you the psycho who just hit my daughter?!"

He pointed a shaking, furious finger in my face.

I ignored him completely, fixing my gaze on Tyler.

"Tyler. Tell him. Whose house is this?"

Tyler froze. Guilt flickered across his face, and his lips clamped shut.

Nicole deliberately tilted her head so her welt was visible, wrapping her arms snugly around Tyler's waist.

"If it isn't mine, could it possibly be yours?"

At that, Tyler hardened his expression and looked at me coldly. "This house belongs to Nicole, obviously."

Nicole's dad burst out laughing. "You hear that from my son-in-law?"

The rest of Nicole's relatives chimed in, tossing smug looks around the living room:

"Nicole's really hit the jackpot, hasn't she? Living in a place like this, with such a handsome man."

"Next up is giving us some grandbabies, right? Don't forget to invite us to the baby shower!"

Fury flared in my chest so hot it nearly choked me.

Nicole's dad stepped closer, barking right into my face. "Yeah, it was you! You're the one who assaulted my girl!"

"Breaking into someone's home and attacking them—do you think the law doesn't apply to you?!"

"This is my house!" I roared, my vision tinting red. "Every single one of you, get the hell out!"

Nicole's dad planted his hands on his hips and shrilled:

"She's completely out of her mind!"

"What are you all standing around for? Throw this crazy woman out of here!"

The relatives moved in at once, scowling at me.

"Get lost! If you ever step foot in Nicole's place again, we'll break your legs!"

"How dare you touch Nicole? Toss her out on the curb!"