Chapter 1

The moment those words left my mouth, the thrill of revenge roared through me like wildfire. It tasted sweeter than I ever imagined.

Emilio Nolan blushed up to his ears. His entire body went rigid, and his pupils dilated.

"Harry, he..." he started, but I cut him off with a kiss.

The taste of alcohol mixed with the faint cedarwood scent that always clung to him, and I let it pull me under. I didn't want to hear whatever he was saying. I only wanted this moment of surrender to drown the pain that was threatening to shatter me.

That night was utter madness. I slept so deeply that I didn't stir until frantic knocking dragged me out of sleep the next morning.

My fiancé, Harry Nolan, stood outside with his new girlfriend. His face was twisted with rage as he shoved at the door that refused to open.

Panic flickered through me as I glanced at the empty space beside me. The sheets were already cold. At some point, Emilio had already slipped away.

I figured that men were all the same. They left the second they got what they wanted.

I pulled on a high-necked robe to cover the marks scattered across my neck and chest, went downstairs, and opened the door.

"Julia Hardin, who told you to change the lock?" Harry barked.

During the three months he had been missing, I had lived in constant fear, too terrified to sleep alone at night. It was his younger brother, Emilio, who had changed the lock so I could feel safe.

Now Harry was suddenly back. He shoved me aside with open contempt and dragged the girl into the house.

"Why are all my cards declined? Why is every account frozen?" he demanded.

That was the second thing he had spoken to me since he arrived. Anger and accusations were all he had for me. Not once did his eyes meet mine.

The girl beside him, Violet Pierce, looked at me with unrestrained mockery.

Harry and I had been together for seven years. Finally, he couldn't be bothered to pretend anymore.

I folded my arms, lifted my chin, and stared straight at him. "You disappeared for three months without a word, and you show up now with no explanation? Who is this woman, and why are you bringing her into the home we were supposed to share?"

I didn't spare his feelings. Yet I couldn't ignore the gleaming emerald bracelet on Violet's wrist. It was the heirloom Harry's mother had left specifically for the future lady of the Nolan family.

Harry had once told me, "Only the woman who becomes my wife deserves to wear this bracelet."

Yet he had randomly given it to one of his lovers. Clearly, it wasn't as precious as he had claimed.

Harry lounged on the sofa, pulled the girl into his lap, and smiled at me with deliberate provocation. "This is Violet Pierce—my new girlfriend. Julia, seven years is a long time. If you're not tired of it, I am. Being with you is boring, and the thought of marrying you feels like a prison sentence."

"Tired? Boring?" The words froze me in place.

Seven years ago, when I was adored by everyone, he had chased me desperately. He'd get anything for me, even if it meant he had to fly across the country.

The spoiled heir, who had never cooked a day in his life, would get up at dawn every morning to make me soup and breakfast.

He had treated me so well that my heart had no room for anyone else. And now he threw it all away with a single sentence.

"Girl," Violet sneered at me, "you're old. Past your prime. What man would want that? I'm young, pretty, and fertile. If Harry wants kids, I can give him as many as he wants. You'd be a geriatric pregnancy now. The child probably wouldn't even be healthy or smart."

So, that was what Harry had cared about all along.

But hadn't he said he would give up everything in the world for me? Hadn't he once whispered he wished the world would end so only the two of us would remain?