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.


My eyelids fluttered open, the harsh afternoon light stabbing through my vision like needles. Everything swam in and out of focus, shapes blurring together in a nauseating dance. My chest felt heavy, each breath a struggle as consciousness slowly returned to me.


The realization hit me like a cold wave. This wasn't the first time my body had betrayed me under stress. Years ago, I'd collapsed from exhaustion and woken up in a sterile hospital room, saved by a kind stranger who'd found me on the sidewalk. The doctor's warning still echoed in my memory: avoid excessive stress, don't push yourself beyond your limits.


But what other choice did I have? After everything Tom had put me through, after the lies and betrayal, how could anyone expect me to remain calm? Stress clung to me like a second skin, suffocating and inescapable.


A voice drifted through the fog in my head, distant and muffled.


Chapter 50 - Chapter 50 The Cruel Awakening