Chapter 1

The Summit Club had been completely cleared out for the day to welcome the newest rising star among the city's elite.

I was the only person left sitting in a corner of the lobby.

The manager was just about to ask me to leave when a group swept through the entrance, surrounding three people at the center like an entourage.

I lifted my teacup.

Then my eyes landed on the boy walking in with them, and a sharp pain stabbed through my chest.

My biological son.

Noah Lawson.

Six years had passed.

He had grown much taller, and the coldness in his eyes was almost identical to Adrian's.

Beside him stood my ex-husband, Adrian Lawson.

And Serena Hayes, the woman everyone now hailed as the newest darling of high society.

Adrian's gaze swept over my plain, logo-free dress.

The look in his eyes was exactly as I remembered.

Condescending.

Cold.

"Evelyn Carter, how long are you planning to keep stalking us?"

"Even if you work here serving tea and waiting tables, I still won't spare you a second glance."

I set down my cup.

Serena was barely hiding the smug curve of her lips.

I said nothing.

"You evil woman! What are you doing here?"

Noah glared at me.

"Are you here to bully my mom again?"

I looked coldly at Adrian.

Just like six years ago, he said nothing while our son hurled insults at me.

He simply stood there and let the hatred grow.

Serena chose that moment to pull Noah back.

"Noah, don't say that."

Her voice was soft and gentle.

"Evelyn left the marriage with nothing. These past six years must have been very hard for her."

Then she turned to me, her eyes full of innocent concern.

"Evelyn, if you're really struggling that badly, I can ask Adrian to find you a job here as a cleaner."

But at the same time, that sweet voice entered my mind again.

And the thoughts behind it were vicious.

[She really is hard to kill. Why didn't she die in the rain six years ago with that bastard in her belly?]

[Whatever. She's nothing but a stray dog now. Even if she really works here as a waitress, I'll come by every day just to make her miserable.]

[I want her to watch me spend her family's money, sleep with her husband, and make the stupid kid she gave birth to call me Mom every single day.]

I listened to every filthy thought without changing expression.

My fingers lightly brushed the flawless emerald bracelet around my wrist.

For the first time, I almost wanted to laugh at how blind I had once been.

Back then, I had willingly hidden everything I was capable of for Adrian.

I poured every important connection, resource, and dollar the Carter family possessed into him.

I had taken a man with an ordinary background and personally lifted him into the highest circles of society.

I had thought our life would continue peacefully like that.

Then Serena Hayes began appearing in our home more and more often.

At a high-society gala, Serena deliberately ingested something she was allergic to and went into shock.

When she woke up, she accused my sister Lucy of poisoning her.

I begged Adrian to investigate.

All he had to do was look into it properly, and the truth would come out.

But even when I dropped to my knees and begged him, Adrian refused.

Instead, he used his connections to have Lucy sent to prison.

By the time they were done with her, she had been disfigured and permanently disabled.

"Serena is physically fragile. Your sister was vicious enough to hurt her. The Carter family deserves everything that happened to them."

Outside our estate, Serena had been nestled in his arms, tears still clinging to her face as if she had just survived something terrifying.

But the triumphant voice I heard inside her head shattered every illusion I still had.

[Your precious sister had both her legs broken. Your parents are either dead or injured. You really think I'm finished?]

[Even my allergic reaction was fake. I paid off the doctor. And your idiot husband believed every word without even investigating.]

[He personally became the knife I used to destroy your entire family.]

Noah had clung to Serena's leg and called me a monster.

"Serena's my mom now! She's so nice! How could your family be so cruel to her? You evil woman! You deserve to die!"

That day, every word and every gesture felt like a blade driven straight into my chest.

Lucy had both legs broken in prison.

When my parents rushed there to see her, they were killed instantly in a car accident.

And I?

I was pregnant with my second child when Adrian threw me out.

I hemorrhaged in the pouring rain and nearly died along with my baby.

The memories brought every ounce of old hatred rushing back.

When I remained silent, Noah stormed over and knocked the teacup from beside my hand.

Scalding tea splashed across the back of my hand.

My skin immediately turned red and swollen.

"You evil woman! Are you deaf?"

"Dad and I don't want to see you!"

I steadied myself and calmly wiped the tea from my skin.

When I still said nothing, Adrian seemed to take my silence for surrender.

He pulled out a check and tossed it at my feet like he was giving money to a beggar.

"One hundred thousand dollars."

"Pick it up."

"Then apologize to Serena and promise you'll never appear in front of Noah again."

"If you behave, I might still let you scrape by in this city."

I slowly rose to my feet.

My heel came down squarely on the check.

Then I lifted my eyes to his.

My voice was ice-cold.

"One cup of Imperial Reserve tea. Five million dollars."

"You ruined my custom couture dress. Ten million."

I gave him a faint smile.

"That's fifteen million total."

"Cash or card?"