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.


"That depends on what you need," he replied, settling back in his chair. "If it's urgent, I can work on your system right now. Otherwise, I'm fine waiting until I get back to my place."


The words came out easy enough, but I caught the spark in his eyes. Owen was ready to dive deep if I gave him the green light. I checked my watch, those golden hands moving steadily toward a deadline I was actively choosing to ignore. The stack of shareholder reports on my desk demanded my signature before close of business. Every minute I stalled meant another ping from my assistant, another voicemail asking about those overdue files.


But none of that seemed to matter right now.


There was this persistent itch in the back of my mind, that instinct that had served me well over the years, telling me to set everything else aside. To prioritize this investigation instead.


Chapter 126 - Chapter 126 Had No Idea