I was devoted to Tom Collin, a man whose ambition I once admired. I gave up my career, my future, my entire identity for him. I was the perfect wife while he built his empire. But when he reached the top, I became invisible.
Then I found him with her—his college ex, the woman who’d abandoned him when he had nothing. When I confronted him, the man I married vanished, replaced by a monster whose hands left bruises on my skin.
I was finally ready to leave. But I never got the chance. He left our five-year-old daughter, Joy, alone for his mistress. And in his absence, my baby was murdered.
I buried my child, and with her, the weak woman I used to be. In a haze of grief, I let a handsome stranger hold me for one night in Italy—a single moment of oblivion.
Five years later, I live for one purpose: Revenge. Tom Collin will pay for what he did. He has no idea the woman now standing before him. But my new boss… he might. The magnetic CEO of our rival company is the stranger from that night. And he doesn’t know he’s the father of my secret daughter.


Her final words hung in the air between us, and I released a breath that seemed to carry more weight than I expected. I pulled an office chair from the corner and positioned it directly across from her. For the first time since entering this room, the dynamic had shifted. I wasn't the CEO addressing an employee anymore. I was simply a man trying to bridge the gap she had carefully constructed around herself.


She had cracked open that protective shell just slightly, and that small progress meant everything to me. I had been working toward this moment for days. If she was willing to share even a fragment of her truth, then perhaps I could finally close the space that separated us.


Chapter 122 - Chapter 122 Best Friends Actually