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.


Eden pulled into our driveway with deliberate slowness, her hands gripping the steering wheel as she brought the car to a stop. The engine's rumble faded into complete silence, leaving nothing but the weight of unspoken words hanging between us. Through the windshield, I stared at our front door - the same entrance I'd walked through countless times before. Yet somehow, it looked different now. Foreign. Like I was seeing it through the eyes of a stranger.


A trembling breath escaped my lips, and Eden immediately picked up on it.


"Listen," she said, shifting to face me with concern etched across her features, "don't push yourself too hard right now. The last thing you need is another trip to the hospital. Joy needs her mother."


I managed a nod, though anxiety still constricted my chest like a vice. "You're right," I whispered, fumbling with my seatbelt until it clicked free.


Chapter 11 - Chapter 11 Sharp Crack Echoes