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.


The moment those words escaped my mouth, I watched her entire demeanor crumble. Something flickered across her features, a crack in the composed facade she wore so effortlessly. 


Her mouth opened slightly, as if she might respond, but silence stretched between us instead. Her eyes drifted away from mine, distant and unreachable, like she had suddenly retreated into some private sanctuary where I couldn't follow.


The question gnawed at me. What I had asked seemed innocent enough, natural even. Inquiring about a child's father was hardly intrusive from my perspective. Yet there she sat, every muscle in her body tense, her entire posture screaming defense.


Chapter 116 - Chapter 116 Hidden Past Uncovered