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.


Tom's voice sliced through the funeral home like a blade, each word calculated to wound. "I suggest you pick up those papers and sign them today. From this moment forward, we're done. There's no reason for me to maintain any contact with you. I only kept your number because of Joy, but since she's gone, I never want to see your face again."


His words crashed into me with the force of a wrecking ball. My lungs seized, forgetting how to draw breath. My hands clenched into fists at my sides as I stared at the polished floor, unable to meet his gaze. The coldness in his tone told me this wasn't just rage talking. Every syllable was deliberate, final.


The silence that followed felt suffocating. I could sense every pair of eyes in the room focused on us, drinking in our private devastation like it was entertainment. The other mourners had abandoned any pretense of politeness, openly staring at the drama unfolding before them.


Chapter 47 - Chapter 47 Knees Hit the Ground