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.


A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I sank onto the couch, the crushing weight of my circumstances settling over me like a suffocating blanket. "I honestly don't know what to do anymore, Eden," I whispered, my voice barely audible in the quiet room. "I'm trapped between two impossible choices. I can't abandon Joy to face this alone, but I also can't just pretend everything's fine and do nothing about the mess we're in."


My fingers pressed against my temples, trying to ease the relentless pounding in my head. The exhaustion went deeper than physical tiredness - it was soul-deep weariness that made every breath feel like effort. "I know you'd let us crash here indefinitely because that's who you are, but I refuse to impose on your life forever, Eden. You deserve to live your own life without my drama taking over everything." The words tasted bitter but necessary. "And we both know I'm right, even if you're too kind to say it."


Chapter 25 - Chapter 25 School Day Revelation