Chapter 1

I couldn't take my eyes off the phone screen.

Just ten minutes earlier, Sonya Slade had complained to me on WhatsApp.

"Honey, the bus smells awful. It reeks of sweat, and the AC is broken. I'm dizzy and nauseous. I really miss our car."

I had been in a meeting when I saw her message. I felt terrible for her and even blamed myself for not arranging a driver in advance.

I had been beating myself up over nothing, while she had another man in her arms.

I closed my eyes and tried to push down the ache in my chest.

Once I calmed down, I called my assistant and asked him to check Sonya's recent spending.

Maybe she had gotten too comfortable with the life I had given her, and she had started thinking she could get away with things she shouldn't.

Seven years earlier, Sonya had been so poor she couldn't even afford her college tuition.

I was the eldest son of the Latham family, while she came from a poor family. Sonya only made it through college because I paid for her education.

Back then, she had stood before me in a faded shirt, her gaze clear and determined. She swore to spend the rest of her life repaying me.

I supposed she was keeping that promise after all.

She was repaying me with lies and betrayal, using my money to support another man.

I opened the social media profile of my neighbor, Simon Hunt.

That selfie was still there.

One of our mutual friends commented, "Wait, is something going on between you two?"

Simon replied with a shy emoji. "She's just my older sister who takes good care of me."

An older sister?

I laughed in disbelief.

Sonya was an only child. How had she suddenly acquired a younger brother?

"Mr. Latham."

My assistant, Carter Price, knocked and entered with a stack of documents. He took one look at my grim expression and spoke cautiously.

"I have the credit card records you told me to look into."

I took the documents, drew a deep breath, and opened the file.

Sonya had always been fiercely proud.

In three years of marriage, she had never once used the unlimited credit card I had given her.

She had looked at me with quiet defiance.

"Mitchell, I want to make it on my own. I don't want people thinking I married you for money."

Back then, I was deeply moved by her words. I had even defended her pride in front of my dad and given her a general manager position at one of Latham Group's subsidiaries.

But last month, that supposedly untouched credit card had racked up one shocking charge after another.

The transactions took place in Harborton between the 16th and 18th of the previous month.

The 16th was my birthday.

I had planned to spend my birthday in Harborton, but Sonya had told me an urgent project at work was in trouble. She claimed she had to handle it herself, and there was no way she could get away.

She hugged me then, looking full of regret. "Honey, I'm sorry. I can't spend your birthday with you this year. Once things settle down at work, I'll make it up to you. I promise."

That night, I sat alone at home with a melting birthday cake, waiting until midnight.

In the end, all Sonya sent me was a WhatsApp message.

[I just finished work, and I'm exhausted. Happy birthday, honey. I'm sorry.]

"Mr. Latham…"

Carter glanced at my increasingly dark expression and lowered his voice.

"There's something else. Mr. Hunt was in Harborton last month, too. He posted quite a few updates, and his location tags line up almost perfectly with the places Ms. Slade used the credit card."

I closed the file and shut my eyes.

When I opened them again, my gaze had hardened.

"Get in touch with a private investigator," I said calmly.

"I want solid proof that Sonya is cheating on me. Get every piece of evidence you can, and make it as detailed as possible.

"One more thing."

I paused and looked down at the diamond ring on my left ring finger.

Sonya had bought it with her first month's salary. It cost only a few hundred dollars, but I had worn it for three whole years.

"Tell the legal team to draw up a divorce agreement."