Chapter 1

I was a nobody orphan from a humble background, but my husband, Ethan Sterling, was the heir to one of America's wealthiest old-money families.

He defied his entire family to marry me. But as I lay on the operating table, about to give birth, he stood before me, embracing Iris, putting on a show in front of everyone.

Because Iris donated bone marrow to save his mother's life. The night before her own engagement, her fiancé betrayed her, and the trauma wiped her memory clean. Now the only thing she knew for certain was that Ethan Sterling was her husband.

Ethan promised me it was all an act. Just repaying the debt for his mother's life. Once Iris recovered, he'd walk away from her immediately.

……

Ethan's lips parted, but for a long moment, no words came.

Iris peeked out from behind him, her eyes glittering.

"Honey, I only came to warn her — she can't use that baby as leverage against you. I've said what I needed to say. Let's go."

I watched them walk away hand in hand, fingers intertwined, and the pain in my chest was so sharp it felt like something was being carved out of me.

Then the pain went numb. I could barely feel anything at all.

"I... I'll wait for you outside," Ethan whispered near my ear.

I wanted to grab his hand. I wanted him to stay with me through this, to be there for the moment our baby came into the world. But—

All Ethan left me was the sight of his back as he walked away, his arm draped over Iris's shoulder.

Tears slid from the corners of my eyes.

My heart clenched with a pain I couldn't control.

I labored for a full day and night. When natural delivery failed, they switched to a C-section. Finally, at dawn, my daughter arrived — a beautiful, healthy little girl.

The moment I saw her, every ounce of pain seemed to vanish.

I was so sure that when they wheeled me out, Ethan would be the first person I'd see. After all, he'd promised me before he left.

I even pushed through the pain to lift my phone, ready to capture the moment he saw us and broke down in tears of joy. But—

There was no one outside the delivery room.

The nurse called Ethan's name again and again. No answer.

The pity in her eyes hit me before the pain did.

A warm rush of blood pooled between my legs.

The nurse's face went white.

She screamed for a doctor.

I didn't even get a chance to look at the baby in her arms. My whole body went cold, as if I'd been plunged into ice water.

I gripped the nurse's hand with whatever strength I had left.

"Please... call my husband."

I woke up three days later.

The nurse exhaled with visible relief when she saw my eyes open.

"You're lucky to be alive. Postpartum hemorrhage. They had to transfuse nearly three-quarters of your total blood volume."

I looked around the room.

The nurse's expression turned apologetic. "I kept calling your husband's phone. No one ever picked up. Finally... a woman answered. She said she was at a prenatal checkup and her husband didn't have time to take calls."

I couldn't tell anymore whether it was my body or my heart that hurt. Everything was numb. I was shaking from the cold.

The nurse, afraid my emotions would set off another crisis, quickly brought my daughter over. "Don't upset yourself. You still have your baby."

I didn't even have the strength to touch her tiny face. But seeing her there — pink and soft and perfect — something inside me went quiet.

The nurse laid her gently beside me.

In that moment, I breathed in the sweet, milky scent of her skin.

Everything that had happened with Ethan fell away.

When I went to settle the hospital bill before discharge, I discovered that every single one of my bank cards had been frozen.

I called the bank. They told me Iris had done it — with Ethan's approval. It was meant to teach me a lesson. To make me behave.

I stared at the itemized bill, my chest tight with pain.

My best friend Claire was furious. She wanted to call Iris right then and there and tear into her.

I stopped her.

"Iris has Ethan behind her. You can't win that fight. Just lend me enough for now. Once I've recovered, I'll find work."

Claire paid my hospital bill, her face full of heartbreak on my behalf.

What I didn't expect was what waited for me at the apartment — the home Ethan and I had shared.

When I entered the passcode, the screen told me it was wrong.

When I tried the fingerprint lock, it told me my print didn't exist.

My blood ran cold.

On a hunch, I typed in Iris's birthday.

The door opened.

The bitterness flooded through me all at once.

So I didn't even have the right to come home anymore.

I dragged myself inside. The apartment had been completely redecorated.

The paintings I'd chosen had been replaced with glamour portraits of Iris. The custom photo frame I'd made by hand — one of us together — had been tossed in the trash.

In the master bedroom, the first thing I saw was a silk negligee draped across the bed. Not mine.

And strands of long hair on the pillow — the same shade as Iris's.

A bitter smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

I tried to gather my things, only to find they'd been shoved into plastic bags and thrown in a corner.

Fighting through the pain, I called Ethan.

The phone rang for what felt like a century.

He finally picked up.

"Babe, I'm with Iris for her last round of treatment. The doctor says if this session goes well, she'll make a full recovery. Then I can come back to you and the baby, and we can finally start our life together — just the three of us."

I was about to speak when my eyes fell on something at the foot of the bed.

An opened condom wrapper, carelessly discarded.

In that moment, my heart didn't just break.

It shattered.

"Ethan, I want a divorce."