Chapter 1

The day before our wedding anniversary, I happened to see a reminder text come through on my wife's phone.

"Ms. Pruitt, tomorrow is your scheduled IVF appointment with your husband, Rufus Henson. Please arrive within your booking window."

I froze.

Rufus was my wife's childhood sweetheart.

And Rowena Pruitt and I had never booked any IVF.

Just then the bathroom door opened, and I set the phone back where it had been without thinking.

She picked it up, glanced at the screen, and turned to me with an apologetic look.

"Babe, something urgent just came up at the office. I have to travel for it. I don't think I can be with you tomorrow."

"Don't worry, once I'm free I'll make it up to you."

Then she left me standing there and settled into an animated conversation with someone in the bedroom.

At the same time, Rufus posted on his social media feed: a photo of an IVF appointment notice, and a pair of hands clasped together.

On one of those hands was the anniversary ring I'd given Rowena.

The caption read: "She may not be able to conceive naturally, but as long as there's enough love, she'll find a way."

I saved the image, then sent my lawyer a message.

"Draw up a divorce agreement for me."

1.

When I went back into the bedroom, Rowena was sitting at her vanity, texting Rufus.

I came in. She didn't look at me.

"Go to sleep first. I still have work messages to deal with."

I lifted my head.

The vanity mirror threw back her chat with Rufus.

"Rowena, tomorrow's the IVF day. I'm so excited. I'm finally going to have a child of my own."

A faint smile touched her face.

"Rufus, I know you never wanted to marry, but I promised you I'd give you a child."

"It just never happened naturally. If the IVF takes, at least your wish comes true."

"Still, your husband's going to be pretty upset about this, isn't he? He was always against us being too close before."

Rowena gave a cold laugh.

"Don't worry about him. Three years of marriage and he's lived off me the whole time. Everything he has today is thanks to me. He should count himself lucky I haven't divorced him already."

"If he finds out, I'll just come clean. And if he dares object, he'll have no one to blame but himself."

Reading it, a chill spread through me.

Three years married, and it was true, I'd never gone out to work.

But what Rowena didn't know

was that every time she left the house, I stayed home going over investment deals.

And that before we married, I already owned a state-level publicly listed company.

That once my parents were gone, the Fortune 500 company under their name would pass to me as well.

Back when Rowena couldn't raise capital for her startup, it was I who arranged the people who invested in it.

The reason I'd never told her any of this

was because of a request my grandfather made before he passed.

He said that if I ever married Rowena, I should keep my identity to myself for five years.

Because five years is long enough to see a person clearly.

In his eyes, Rowena was not someone I could lay everything bare to.

At first I refused, but with his time running out, I had no choice but to agree.

So when we married, my parents attended the wedding only as ordinary working people.

To this day, Rowena still thinks I'm nobody in particular.

But I hadn't been idle.

Because I loved her, every time Rowena came home I'd have the desserts she liked ready.

The housework done.

I even had warm water waiting for her feet on time, so she'd feel what a home was supposed to feel like.

And now, just over three years into the marriage, my grandfather's words had come true.

What's more, judging by the line on Rufus's feed,

this IVF wasn't some spur-of-the-moment thing.

They'd been carrying on together for a long time. Rowena had long wanted to give him a child,

and it was only because she kept failing to conceive that they'd turned to IVF.

Which meant Rowena had betrayed me long ago.

The two of them had slept together more times than I could count.