Chapter 1

As soon as I made sure the divorce papers had been signed, I quietly left Ethan Caldwell's study.

Then, I sent a text. "Come pick me up in a month."

Suddenly, Ethan, my husband, wrapped his arms around me from behind.

"Who are you texting?"

I quickly switched to his chat with Jennifer Harrington, one of his mistresses.

"Just confirming the departure time for the Derbin Isle trip with Jennifer."

On the screen was a message I'd typed, perfectly imitating his usual tone. "My dear, the flight is at nine o'clock. I will come pick you up myself."

For the past two years, whenever Ethan had too many conversations to keep up with, he'd hand me his phone and have me reply to his mistresses for him.

When people in our social circle found out, they liked to joke that I was the first woman in Harrowbough to cheat on herself.

After reading the message, Ethan nodded in satisfaction and casually ruffled my hair.

"Come with me on my skiing trip with Lydia."

I was about to refuse when he let out a sigh.

"You know Vivi's pregnant. When she called to tell me, Lina happened to overhear and assumed you were the one who was pregnant.

"Lydia's young, hot-tempered, and jealous. She's bound to take it out on you."

He said it as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world.

"I've already had my assistant prepare everything you'll need. Just let her vent for a while and tell her you lost the baby."

Even after going through so many abortions, a dull ache tightened in my chest at the thought of it.

Ethan's three mistresses might not have known about one another, but they all knew he had a wife.

And whenever there was a risk of one of his lies being exposed, he always pushed me forward to take the fall.

Once, Ethan took Lydia Bennett to an auction, then gave the evening's most valuable piece, a rare pink diamond necklace, to Vivian Sinclair instead.

To appease Lydia, Ethan offered her something else. The next day, private photos of me that one of my enemies had gotten hold of were put up as the headline item at another auction.

My mother was so devastated by the scandal that she suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. By the end of the night, we'd received 13 critical-condition notices.

Another time, Ethan was celebrating his first anniversary with Jennifer and completely forgot Vivian's birthday.

Vivian assumed I'd deliberately sabotaged it. At a party the next day, she publicly shoved me into a champagne tower.

The injuries left me with a permanent scar on the right side of my face.

Then there was the time Ethan got a matching tattoo with Lydia. Afraid someone might notice it, he dragged me along and made me get the same tattoo.

But when Jennifer saw it, she had someone drug me.

When I woke up, I discovered that phrases reading "Harrowbough's Must-Eat List" and "Enjoy" had been tattooed across my chest and thigh.

The entire ordeal had even been live-streamed to hundreds of thousands of viewers.

Feeling me tremble with despair, Ethan pulled me into his arms and gently patted my back. "Come on, Sienna. Help your husband just one more time.

"Remember when you asked me to find a sponsor for your TV show? I've already told my assistant that once this is over, I'll invest a million dollars."

I forced a smile but didn't bother reminding him why I'd asked for his help in the first place.

Because of everything his three mistresses had done to me, the network had already fired me and labeled me a liability.

I'd only begged Ethan to find a sponsor because I was desperate to save my job.

He'd promised to help me then, but he kept putting it off, again and again.

And now that I no longer needed it from him, he was finally offering it as compensation.

On the day of the ski trip, Ethan gave my hand a reassuring squeeze before we left.

"Don't worry. Once we get there, I'll check your safety gear myself. At worst, Lydia might trip you. You won't get seriously hurt."

I believed him.

Until Lydia skied up behind me.

She leaned close to my ear and whispered, "You really think Ethan checking your equipment himself means he loves you because you're pregnant? All I had to do was say I wanted it, and he gave me your safety gear instead."

Right after she said that, something slammed into me from behind.

I instantly lost my balance.

As the world spun around me and my vision began to fade, I realized there was blood oozing out of me. Then, everything went dark.