Chapter 1

Three years after James Gibson sent her to Harbor City on assignment, Nina Walker called him for the very first time.

On the phone, she told him everything the doctor had just said about her mother’s condition.

Her mother, Megan Quinn, had developed a severe bloodstream infection. She was in critical condition, and her life could be in danger at any moment.

Nina had to return to Burgola City immediately.

But after hearing all of that, James barely reacted. His voice was cold when he said, “Nina Walker, you’re not a doctor.”

What he meant was obvious.

Even if she went back, there was nothing she could do.

Of course Nina knew she wasn’t a doctor. She knew she couldn’t save anyone.

But that was her mother.

When something like this happened, all she wanted was to be by her side.

So even though Nina had always obeyed James without question and had never once gone against him, she still gathered the courage to speak.

“I want to go back and be with her. Don’t worry. I’ll only take a few days off. It won’t affect my work.”

Maybe he hadn’t expected her to push back.

James went quiet for a moment on the other end of the line.

After all, Nina had never dared to say no to him before.

A few seconds later, he spoke again. This time, his voice was even colder.

“She’s not dead yet, is she?”

The words were so cruel that even Nina, who had long gotten used to his coldness, couldn’t accept them.

“You can’t say that!”

But James ignored her anger completely.

His voice was flat and impatient when he said, “Remember your place. You don’t have the right to speak to me like that.”

Just like every other time over the past three years, he didn’t care about her feelings.

He didn’t care what she thought.

He didn’t care about her at all.

They were supposed to be husband and wife, but they felt more like strangers.

Nina couldn’t understand it.

He had been the one who proposed marriage back then.

He had done it after she suffered that devastating blow.

Even after finding out she couldn’t have children, he had been the one who suggested they adopt a child.

A dull ache spread through her chest.

Nina swallowed the hurt and tried again.

“James, I’m begging you. I…”

“Enough.”

He cut her off before she could finish.

On the other end of the line, James sounded as if he had reached the limit of his patience.

“Nina, you know my temper. This matter is settled. If you want to go back to Burgola City, resign from Gibson Corporation first.”

Then he hung up without the slightest hesitation.

Nina listened to the dead tone on the line, her chest hurting so badly she could barely breathe.

In the three years since she had been sent to Harbor City, she had never taken a single day off.

She had poured all her time and energy into her work.

She hadn’t just helped Gibson Corporation establish a firm foothold in Harbor City. She had also developed several biotech patents and new technologies for the company.

Nina had thought that even if James didn’t care about their marriage, he would at least value her work.

Now, she realized she had been wrong.

In that case, she might as well resign.

She logged into the company system, filled out the form, and submitted her resignation request.

She completed the entire process in one go.

After that, Nina booked the earliest flight back to Burgola City.

At six the next morning, her plane landed in Burgola City.

When she arrived at the hospital, the doctor explained Megan’s condition in detail.

It was sudden acute leukemia, and the cause was still unknown.

Although her condition had been temporarily stabilized, it was still extremely serious. She would need chemotherapy, a transplant, and a series of follow-up treatments.

As for the cost, Nina would need to come up with at least four hundred thousand dollars.

Looking at Megan’s pale, frail figure on the hospital bed, Nina’s eyes stung.

The truth was, she wasn’t Megan and Eugene Walker’s biological daughter.

They had adopted her when she was little.

But all these years, Megan had treated her like her own child.

In Nina’s memories, Megan had always seemed to be suffering.

In the early years, she had worked herself to the bone to raise Nina.

Later, she had suffered because of Eugene’s gambling debts.

This time, she had only made it to the hospital because a neighbor happened to find her after she collapsed and called an ambulance.

Nina didn’t dare think about what might have happened if the neighbor hadn’t found her.

Because Megan was in a sterile isolation room, the doctor didn’t let Nina stay for long.

After going over a long list of precautions, he reminded her to start preparing the money.

After all, this illness couldn’t be treated without serious financial support.

Sitting on a bench in the hospital hallway, Nina roughly calculated how much she had saved over the past few years.

She had always lived frugally and wanted very little.

But because her salary had never been high, all her savings added up to only sixty thousand dollars.

Compared to four hundred thousand dollars, it was nowhere near enough.

Nina had no other way to get that much money.

After taking care of everything at the hospital, Nina took a cab to Lakeview Estates, the gated community where James’s mansion was located.

Aside from their wedding day, this was only the second time she had ever set foot on the property.

The housekeeper who answered the door didn’t recognize her, so she said she would have to check inside first.

Through a curtain of crystal beads, Nina heard bright laughter coming from inside the room.

One voice belonged to a woman.

The other belonged to a child.

Nina didn’t recognize the woman’s voice, but the child had to be the boy James had adopted, Liam Gibson.

The thought of the boy softened something in her chest.

He wasn’t her biological son, and she had never actually met him in person. She had only seen him in photos.

But on paper, she was still his mother.

Nina couldn’t help feeling a rush of tenderness toward him.

She was already thinking about buying him a few gifts later when the laughter inside suddenly stopped.

A moment later, the housekeeper came back and led her in.

The second Nina stepped into the living room, she saw three people sitting on the couch.

James was there, along with a beautifully dressed woman who carried herself with effortless elegance.

And beside them was Liam.

James was dressed in a dark suit with a matching tie. His hair was swept neatly back, showing off his sharp brows, intense eyes, and cold, striking features.

Every inch of him radiated the authority of a man used to being in control.

Three years had made him more mature.

They had also made him even more intimidating.

But when Nina walked in, he showed no intention of greeting her.

His gaze stayed on his phone, and he didn’t even lift his head.

Notifications kept popping up on his screen, but he didn’t bother reading them. He simply tapped approve all.

The woman beside him didn’t speak either.

She only looked Nina up and down with cold scrutiny.

There was no confusion in her eyes, which meant she knew exactly who Nina was.

Liam, who was sitting beside the woman, was the first to speak.

“Mommy, who is she? She looks so tacky, and she’s fat. Is she one of your and Daddy’s friends? Didn’t you always teach me that I should only make friends with people of a certain class? Why would you be friends with someone like her?”

Children’s words were often the most honest.

They were also the most hurtful.

Nina stood there, deeply embarrassed.

Over the past few years, work had consumed her life. She had pulled endless late nights, skipped meals, and eaten at irregular hours until her health started to suffer.

She had gained several dozen pounds compared to before.

But what shocked her even more was what Liam had just called the woman.

Mommy.

If he called that woman Mommy, then what was Nina?

Nina was about to speak when the woman beside Liam reacted first.

She stroked Liam’s head with gentle patience and said, “Liam, haven’t I told you before? I’m not your mommy. You’re supposed to call me Aunt Yvonne. She’s your mommy.”

As she spoke, she pointed at Nina.

Disgust immediately spread across Liam’s face.

He folded his arms high across his chest and said bossily, “Hmph! She’s not my mommy. I don’t want some ugly, fat old woman to be my mommy. Make her leave!”

The room instantly went stiff.

Yvonne made no attempt to smooth things over.

Instead, she looked at Nina with open provocation.

Nina was just about to respond when James, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke.

“Yvonne, take Liam upstairs.”

His tone was gentle.

He had never spoken to Nina that way.

Bitterness spread through her chest.

Only then did Nina finally understand.

The woman in front of her had to be James’s sister, Yvonne Gibson, the adopted daughter of the Gibson family.

When Nina and James got married, Yvonne hadn’t attended the wedding.

Nina had always known this woman existed, but she had never met her.

Now that she was seeing her in person, Nina realized Yvonne had an air very similar to James’s.

She was cold, distant, and untouchable.

But her looks were different.

In fact, she looked strikingly similar to Liam.

Yvonne obeyed James without hesitation.

She immediately took Liam upstairs.

Only after they were gone did James finally look at Nina.

For one brief second, their eyes met.

At that exact moment, Nina’s phone buzzed with a system notification.

Her resignation request had been approved.