Chapter 1

I rolled down the window and casually tossed the drink bag into the trash can beside the road.

Carter Freeman slammed on the brakes. Without a care for the traffic around us, he pulled over and rushed toward the trash can.

Before he got out, I caught the vicious look he shot me and the curse he mouthed under his breath.

Carter was a germaphobe. Watching him dig through a filthy trash can with his bare hands made my stomach turn.

I slid into the driver’s seat. Behind me, I could still hear him shouting, “Do you have any idea how wasteful that is?”

A man whose blood sugar had been through the roof for years from endless business dinners was suddenly concerned about me throwing away his sugary iced coffee.

I stepped on the gas pedal, and his voice vanished behind the car.

When Carter reached home, he was not nearly as furious as I had expected. Instead, he tried to smooth things over. “Come on, honey. Stop being mad. You ditched me on the side of the road today, so let us call it even.”

I ignored him and continued admiring the custom designer gown my best friend had sent me.

When he noticed my attitude, Carter could barely contain his temper.

“Nancy, have you looked at yourself lately? You have gotten old and ugly.”

In ten years of marriage, I had never heard anything so cruel come out of Carter’s mouth.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror. He was not entirely wrong. The past few years had taken their toll. Between flying across the country and overseas for my father’s treatments, I had been physically and emotionally drained. Somewhere along the way, I had stopped caring about maintaining my beauty. Standing next to Carter, who was always impeccably dressed, I looked far older than my age.

Still, I was not about to let him have the last word. “Right. Which is why you are chasing younger women now.”

Carter frowned. “Don’t drag that poor girl into this. I’m just saying you should take better care of yourself. You can’t go around looking like somebody’s middle-aged aunt. Have you even seen the things you wear these days?”

I had not even mentioned anyone by name, yet he immediately knew exactly who I was talking about.

“Well, I’m sure I’m not as pretty as the new receptionist.” My temper was rising too.

Was sleeping with someone the only proof of infidelity? Was it really innocent for a husband to admire a younger woman’s looks and enjoy the attention she was giving him?

“Nancy, I’ve spent years bending over backward for your family. I’ve poured everything I have into this company. I don’t expect your gratitude. I only ask that you stop making things harder for me. I get tired too. I need a break.”

‘Oh, really?’ I thought.

Running someone else’s company and calling all the shots must be exhausting indeed. What a hypocrite.

“How about I return to the office and help you out tomorrow, then?” I tested the waters with the question.

Carter smiled. I could see clearly in that smile the contempt and derision he held for me. Yet his voice remained impossibly tender.

“That’s not necessary, honey. You’ve spent the last eight years taking care of your dad. The company has changed so much since then. There’s a lot you would not understand anymore. Besides, isn’t it better to let me make the money and support you? I’m just an employee working for your family. You’re the boss. I’ll always be your loyal employee.”

Some boss. At this rate, I was about to become a figurehead with no authority left at all.

I had my father to thank for all of this.

Back then, he had insisted on finding me a husband to run the business because he believed a woman could never truly inherit the family empire.

Then, he insisted that I marry Carter. His reasoning was that we shared the same last name. Keeping the company in the hands of another Freeman was no different from keeping it in the family.

Carter was brilliant, but he came from nothing. My father was convinced that made him the perfect son-in-law.

Carter, however, did the opposite of what one might expect. He did not pursue me relentlessly. He did not act like a man who had just won the lottery.

Instead, he seemed overwhelmed by the opportunity. He spent three days camped outside our estate and emphasized that he was grateful for my father’s confidence in him. He said it was perfectly understandable if I was not interested, but he promised he would spend the rest of his life supporting me and helping the company however he could.

I found myself seeing him in a different light. Eventually, I accepted his presence in my life. In the years that followed, I fell completely in love with him.

Less than two years after we got married, my father suffered a massive stroke and slipped into a coma. He never woke up.

At first, Carter seemed genuinely worried. Over the years, concern had slowly turned into anticipation. He was waiting for my father to finally pass away. When that happened, the entire Freeman Group would belong to him.

Unfortunately for Carter, my father had always had contingency plans.