Chapter 1

Ten years of marriage, and I was finally pregnant with the heir to the wealthy Vance empire.

Yet on the day of my prenatal checkup, I accidentally ran into my husband, Julian Vance, waiting outside the delivery room for his first love, Melanie Hale.

Before Melanie was even wheeled out of the operating room, Julian ordered his bodyguards to beat me until I miscarried.

"Melanie has a frail heart. She won't tolerate any other woman carrying my child."

Seeing that I stayed silent, my mother slapped me hard across the face.

"Haven't you thrown enough tantrums? If it weren't for you, Melanie and Julian never would have broken up back then. Losing this baby is your way of making amends to her."

Worried that I might disrupt Melanie's recovery, Julian told my mother to take me away.

I was dumped at our old family house on the rundown south side of town.

They chose it specifically because the place was always crawling with bugs and snakes, and cold-blooded creatures were my biggest phobia.

After Julian left, my mother sneered, "Your father was the reason Melanie's dad died, and you stole Melanie's man. Both of you deserve to rot in hell."

She watched indifferently as my lips turned blue from shock and pain.

Using the last ounce of my strength, I dialed Julian to beg for help, but he only scoffed, "Zoe, there's no need for this pathetic drama. You'll always be my legal wife, but Melanie... she's the one I will forever owe."

Julian didn't believe me, and my own mother abandoned me.

In that exact moment, I finally understood the devastating power of a man's first love.

It wasn't just Julian who was bewitched—even my own mother was under Melanie's spell.

I suppose this is for the best.

Ten long years. Whatever monumental debt my family owed them, it should be paid in full by now.

When I woke up, I was already in a hospital bed.

The nurse said softly, "You got lucky. A passerby found you just in time, or we would've had to amputate your leg."

Just as I opened my mouth to thank her, my phone rang. It was my mother.

"Who said you could leave? Zoe, are you plotting something against Melanie again?"

Her shrill, venomous voice sounded like she hated my guts. Before I could even speak, she barked, "Zoe, you forced my hand."

I had no idea what she was about to pull, but I knew she wouldn't let me off easily.

Not long ago, just to appease Melanie, my mother actually had my father's grave dug up, sneering, "Your daughter deserves to die, so you'll atone for her sins first."

Panicking, I quickly tried to call her back, only to realize she had already blocked my number.

I stared blankly at my phone, completely unable to fathom how everything had gone so wrong. My mom used to love me so much. But ever since I married Julian, she had turned into a total stranger.

I still remembered how she screamed back then, "If you insist on marrying Julian Vance, I will kill myself!"

Later, Julian had a private conversation with her, and only then did she reluctantly give her blessing.

After the wedding, though, my mother rarely spoke to me.

Instead, she grew closer and closer to Julian.

It wasn't until Melanie returned to the country that the ugly truth hit me.

Melanie's return happened on my birthday, but both Julian and my mother stood me up.

Later that night, photos of them surfaced on Melanie's Instagram.

Only then did I learn that Melanie was not only Julian's unforgettable first love—she was also the daughter of my mother's own first love.

Must be wonderful to be someone's cherished first love.

As for me, I was a nobody.

A sudden ringtone shattered my thoughts.

It was the nursing home where my grandmother was staying.

A cold dread gripped my chest, and I scrambled to answer it.

"Am I speaking to a relative of Mrs. Evans?"

"Yes, I'm her granddaughter. I..."

"You need to get here immediately. Your grandmother isn't going to make it."

Ignoring the doctor's orders, I threw on my clothes and took an Uber straight to the facility.

Still, I was one step too late. Grandma was already gone.

At that moment, my entire world turned dark. Then the caregiver quietly handed me the security footage.

On the screen, Julian had brought Melanie to confront my frail grandmother.

They spat cruel words at her: "Zoe framed Melanie, and she even tried to secretly give birth to my child behind my back! She deserves to die! And it's all on you, you useless old hag, for raising such a scheming tramp!"

My grandmother gripped the arms of her wheelchair and begged them to leave.

Julian just stood there, cold and detached.

Melanie even sneered, "Your darling granddaughter sleeps around with filthy old men every single night!" and Julian actually nodded in agreement.

That disgusting lie was the final straw that triggered my grandmother's fatal heart attack.

I sobbed until my throat was raw, until no sound could escape my lips.

Julian, how could you be so cruel?

Did your conscience completely vanish?

My grandmother practically watched you grow up!

I know. It was all my fault.

With trembling fingers, I dialed a number I had memorized long ago. "You saw it all, didn't you? My baby is gone. I have nothing left to give Julian. Please, let me go. My grandmother is dead. I really can't hold on anymore."

"Yes, your Vance family saved my dad and my grandmother back then, but now they are both dead because of you. We are even. I won't press charges against Julian, but I want a divorce."

Julian's mother wept on the other end, apologizing profusely.

Did apologies mean anything now?

It wouldn't bring my grandmother back.

"Alright. I promise you," she whispered.

She booked me a flight out of the country in ten days and promised she would personally ensure Julian signed the divorce papers.

I hung up, feeling a hollow sense of relief, and sent a text to my mother.

No matter what, Grandma had passed away; she was still her mother-in-law and should attend the funeral.

Three days passed, and my mother didn't call once. Instead, she plastered my name all over social media.

Posing as an agonized, heartbroken mother, she wept in a video: "I never thought my own daughter could be such a monster. She stole the man her best friend loved, drove her own father to his grave, and now caused her grandmother's death. How can I protect someone like this? Can someone please tell me what to do?"

She spun an elaborate, believable web of lies, complete with fabricated evidence.

I wanted to cry, but the tears simply wouldn't come.

After making me trend on Twitter as the most hated woman in the country, my mother finally texted me: [Hurry up and divorce Julian. Stop standing in the way of Melanie's happiness.]

This time, I replied: [Fine.]

Yet she refused to believe I would actually let Julian go.

She called back immediately, screaming that I was just playing hard to get.

"Your grandmother is dead! Do you really think anyone is left to back you up?"