Chapter 2

Back then, Yvonne ran a dog food factory. My mother-in-law, a massive dog lover, used to buy all her dog food there.

Yvonne had always been polite and well-mannered around us. I never would have pegged her as the type to knowingly screw around with a married man and tear a family apart.

I didn't waste my breath. Reaching out, I ripped the heirloom locket right off her neck.

The chain snapped, leaving an angry red welt across her pale skin. She clutched her neck with a pained frown. "Ow!"

"This locket is mine," I snapped. "Push your luck again, and see just how nice I'll be next time."

I didn't actually want to waste my time causing a scene with her. When a man cheated, the blame fell squarely on him.

Yvonne's expression twisted into wounded indignation, her voice rising. "I only showed you respect for the sake of Shawn. He gave me that locket, so you'd better give it back."

"Besides, Shawn and I are together now. This is our daughter, Chloe Payne," she added. "I've always believed women shouldn't make things harder for each other. That's why I've always told Shawn to treat you better."

I scoffed at how effortlessly she flipped the script. She'd done the sleaziest thing imaginable but still managed to sound completely self-righteous.

She took her daughter from the maid and thrust her toward me.

"Sweetie, say hi to Aunt Summer," she instructed, every word deliberate.

She wore a smug look, playing the gracious bigger person. The subtext was glaring—if I didn't play along, it just proved I was petty.

Little Chloe looked up at me with innocent eyes and piped up, "Hi, Aunt Summer."

Fury flared in my chest, but I wasn't about to take it out on an innocent kid. Ignoring Yvonne entirely, I spun on my heel and walked off.

Suddenly, Yvonne lunged and grabbed my arm. The second I yanked my sleeve out of her grip, she threw herself to the ground with the kid, making it look like I had shoved her.

She let out a dramatic gasp of pain, and Chloe immediately burst out crying.

Within seconds, a crowd of onlookers swarmed us, hurling accusations without a clue what had actually happened.

"How could you push a mother holding a kid?" someone yelled.

"That woman is vicious! Whatever the issue is, she shouldn't take it out on a kid."

My face went stone-cold. I pointed a finger straight at Yvonne, who was still milking the victim act on the ground.

"She's a homewrecker who opened her legs for my husband and ruined my family," I snapped. "And I didn't push her. She threw herself down to put on a show. It's just a cheap trick to claw her way into my place."

With that, I turned and walked away without looking back.

…

Less than half an hour later, my phone was blowing up with calls from Shawn. Clearly, Yvonne had already run crying to him.

I ignored his calls, so he resorted to spamming my inbox with texts.

"When did you leave the island? Why didn't you wait for me to pick you up?

"You went too far today. What happened between Yvonne and me is on me. If you want to blame someone, blame me.

"Where are you right now? Let me come pick you up so our family can sit down and talk through this properly.

"Honey, I need you to know that no matter how many kids Yvonne and I have, you will always be the most important person in my life. My love for you has never changed."

His words made my stomach churn with disgust.

The truth was, the moment I set foot back in Marovelle, I had already retained a lawyer to go after him.

Just then, a notification pinged on my screen. Another $50 million loan had just been disbursed.

Over the past three years, Shawn had been using my personal information, colluding with corrupt bank insiders to siphon off a total of one billion dollars in loans behind my back.

My lawyer had already traced the paper trail—every single cent ended up in Yvonne's bank accounts.

While I was away, he'd showered Yvonne with money like there was no tomorrow. Luxury cars, sprawling estates—he even dropped astronomical sums at high-end auctions, outbidding everyone just to make her smile.

Back when we first arrived on the island, I had tested him. I called him, faking a sob. "Shawn, Tommy has a high fever. He's so sick, and there's no medicine here. Please wire me some cash so I can get him to a hospital."

He'd just brushed me off with an empty reassurance. "Boys are tougher than you think, honey. Just wipe him down with cold water to break the fever. To be honest, I'm practically living on instant noodles right now. I seriously don't have a single penny to spare."