Prologue.

Madeline's POV

I stand in front of the window of my office. I look over this city. The sun is busy setting. I love this city. It was my home for seven years. That is how long it took me to build up a restaurant group. We specialise in making pasties, and our desserts are genuinely exceptional. The last seven years were not easy for me. However, my life was not easy overall. Ever since I was a child, I was born into hatred. The day I was born, my mother died, and my father could never forgive me. Sean, my brother, who is a year older than I, is everything to him. I was only a disappointment to my father. Not only did I murder my mother, according to my father. I begged my father to send me to culinary school. And he did it to get rid of me and get me out of the house. My father was the head of the biggest restaurant group, and his only competition was the Michael's family. The restaurant groups were called Bella and Rosa. Both were named after the wives of the CEOs. When I returned home from culinary school. I wanted to become the head chef in one of my father's restaurants. I wanted to be a pastry chef in one of the Bella coffee shops.

My father promised me that I could become a chef if I married Roman Michaels. The marriage will combine the two restaurant groups, and they will no longer compete with each other. I did as my father asked, but it was all lies! Roman never wanted to marry me. He never loved me. Roman was always in love with Celest, his high school sweetheart. After marrying Roman, I wanted to go and work as a chef, but my father informed me that I would be a housewife and a good wife to Roman. For six months, Roman treated me like a maid. After six months, he came home one day, and I was surprised to see him home during the middle of the day. He told me that it is over. He wanted a divorce. He and his lawyers forced me to sign all the papers and everything, leaving me with nothing. I had nowhere to go, and I did not even have a penny in my pocket. I went home, but my father chased me away, telling me that I was not even good enough to keep my husband. Of course, he did not care that Michael and I were divorced. My father got what he wanted. The new restaurant group was called Bella Rosa. Sean and Michael were running it.

I still remember that night. It was the worst day of my life. I had nowhere to go. So, I slept in my car. Crying and cold, lying in the back seat of my car. I didn't know what the next day would bring. I did not know that my fortune was going to turn the next day. I woke up the next morning, went to a public restroom and washed myself as well as I could. I put on new clothing and was about to go and ask for a job at a fast food restaurant when my phone rang. It was my grandfather's lawyers. They asked me to come to their office. I was curious because my father had always been searching for my grandfather's will. He could never find it, and he could never lay his hands on the money. My grandfather was quite wealthy. I went into their office, and the lawyer told them that I am the only heir to my grandfather's fortune. That is where my luck changed. Well, there was one minor incident that I would rather not think about. However, this is my story, and I have to think about it.

Mary, my best friend, and I got drunk that night. We were celebrating my good fortune. That is where I met Logan Stevens again after not seeing him since school. He is about two years older than I. He is also one of my brother's friends and a billionaire playboy. Well, we ended up in bed that night. I don't know how it happened, as I don't remember much of that night. However, I remember the following morning when he kicked me out of his apartment and told me never to bother him again, because he was furious that I could sleep with him while I was married to one of his best friends.

I tried to explain to him that I was divorced, but he did not want to listen to me and told me to get lost. Not many people knew I had divorced Roman at that stage. I did not care about Logan. He could go to hell for all I care. He even accused me of being a gold digger and that I slept with him because he was wealthier than Roman, and I must be looking for a richer man. He told me to never come near him or bother him again. Aside from being a little ashamed about what happened the night before, I had nothing to be embarrassed about, and if he asked me, I would have told him I do not want his money as I have money of my own. I told him to go to hell and walked out of his life for good. I did not know that I was walking out of the room with a package that morning. Nine months later, my babies were born, Connor and Carmen. I never bothered their father, as he had asked me not to. I was a virgin. Roman never touched me because he was never in love with me. And the only woman he wanted was Celest.

Now it is seven years later, and my children are six years old. I am returning to New York. I am ready to play the games that people play when competing against each other in business. I can only smile because I feel proud. My restaurant here in Houston has been awarded three Michelin Stars. Something my father always wanted, but could never get. I am Bella Rosa's biggest competition, and they cannot compete with me because they are so outdated. I am ready to take revenge. After all, the saying goes that revenge is a dish served cold.