Chapter 1

In the eighth year of throwing myself day and night into building the business with Lambert Barnes, I found an opened box of strawberry-flavored ultra-thin 001 condoms on his desk.

The laughable part was that we'd been legally married for less than a week.

The next second, Lambert and his assistant Denise Henson pushed the door open and came in.

Seeing the pink box in my hand, Lambert's eyes flickered with panic for a second.

"Since you've already seen it, I'll just come out and say it."

"Grandma isn't in good health. She wants a great-grandchild soon."

"Denise is already pregnant. She's a young woman fresh out of school. She can't be left without any proper standing."

He paused.

"And since no one even knows about us, I can give you five thousand dollars as a breakup payout."

"Take the money. Consider it my way of making it up to you."

Denise stood behind him, decked out in designer clothes, her makeup flawless.

She brushed a strand of hair back from her ear, and the dazzling diamond watch on her wrist caught the light.

I looked down at the worn, fuzzed-out hair tie on my wrist and couldn't help but laugh.

"Keep the five thousand for yourself."

"A thousand to buy tonics for your grandma, a thousand to buy formula for your kid."

"And keep the rest to buy yourself a pill to undo your regrets."

One generation plants the tree, the next enjoys the shade.

Well, if that's how it is, I'll pull this tree up by the roots.

1

I reached out and dropped the box of ultra-thin 001s into the trash.

"Lambert, how long have you two been carrying on?"

He tucked Denise behind him, his brows knitting together.

"Doris, watch your words."

Denise bit her lip, her eyes reddening at once.

"I'm sorry, Manager Fox. Mr. Barnes drank too much that day at the team retreat, and in the moment we couldn't help ourselves... and then it just..."

I sneered.

"Drop the sweet little innocent act. One helpless moment and you end up with a baby?"

"What, now you feel wronged about being the other woman?"

Denise's tears spilled over.

"I never meant to come between you and Mr. Barnes. It was all an accident..."

Lambert cut me off sharply, his voice pressing down his anger.

"Doris, you're both women, don't be so vicious! She's pregnant. If something happens to her, you can't answer for it!"

Watching the way he shielded Denise, a sudden cramp twisted through my stomach, and I bent over, clutching my belly.

Lambert froze for a moment, then softened his tone.

"Have you not eaten lunch yet?"

He turned, poured a glass of warm water, and held it out to me, looking so very concerned.

I didn't take the water. I slowly straightened up. "Keep the five thousand for yourself.

"A thousand to buy tonics for your grandma, a thousand to buy formula for your kid."

"And keep the rest to buy yourself a pill to undo your regrets."

Lambert's face went livid.

"Doris, can't you be the least bit reasonable?"

"You've been so overbearing all these years, flying off the handle at the drop of a hat. I get worn out too. Have you ever once considered how I feel?"

I tugged at the corner of my mouth, but no smile would come.

Worn out?

Over these eight years, he'd slammed the table at investors and blown up at employees—and every single time, I was the one who smoothed things over and cleaned up after him.

Once, he threw an ashtray and accidentally hit a client. I was the one who carried tonics to the hospital and swallowed my pride to apologize.

My eyes burned and ached, but I forced it down, refusing to let the tears fall.

Denise choked back a sob and took a step forward.

"Manager Fox, please don't blame Mr. Barnes. It's all my fault, every bit of it. If you have to blame someone, blame me!"

She'd barely finished when the office door swung open.

Lambert's grandmother walked in carrying a thermos, beaming.

"Denise, dear, Grandma stewed chicken soup today. Drink it while it's hot and build yourself up."

From the very first day I met Lambert, this old woman had never once given me a kind look.

She griped that my hair was too long, that I was too capable, and most of all that after all these years with Lambert my belly still had nothing to show.

Lambert had been raised by his grandmother, and he was always telling me not to hold anything against an old lady.

The old woman's gaze landed on me, and her smile faded in an instant.

"So you're here too."

"Oh my, you've laid your makeup on awfully thick. That's bad for your skin."