CHAPTER ONE: THE WEDDING GUESTS WHO STOLE MY LIFE

The rain outside didn't matter. 

All Avery Vance cared about was the wedding invitation shaking in her hand.

It was for the wedding of the year. 

The groom was Jasper Vance, a rich and powerful tech businessman. 

The bride was Chloe Winters, his secretary.

And Avery? Avery was the woman who had spent the last seven years doing Jasper's laundry, raising his twin kids, and waiting for a husband who never even looked at her. She was his wife.

 Or so she thought.

Avery pushed through the doors of the ballroom. 

She wore an old jacket and worn sneakers, completely different from the guests in fancy dresses and suits.

Her hair was wet from the storm.

But her eyes stayed locked on the front of the room.

There he was. Jasper. 

His face was hard, and his body was stiff. 

He looked cold and proud, just like the powerful billionaire everyone feared.

Next to him stood Chloe, in a white dress that cost more than most people make in a year.

But what really broke Avery's heart wasn't her husband. It was the two seven-year-olds standing behind the bride.

Her twins.

Her son, Leo, wore a tiny tuxedo. He stood with his shoulders straight, copying his father's cold and proud attitude.

Her daughter, Nina, wore a pink dress and nervously picked apart a white rose. Her eyes were red from crying, and she looked around the room like she wanted to run.

"Jasper!" Avery's voice broke through the music.

The music stopped instantly. 

The music suddenly stopped.

Hundreds of people turned to look at her.

Jasper didn't even flinch. He slowly turned toward her.

His dark eyes moved over her cheap clothes.

There was no guilt on his face.

Only annoyance.

"Avery," he said calmly. "You're making a scene. Leave."

Avery walked down the red carpet.

Her legs were shaking, but she kept her eyes on him.

"Avery? That's all you have to say to your wife?"

Her voice shook with anger.

"We've been married for seven years, Jasper! 

You can't marry her I'm your wife!"

The guests began whispering even louder.

Before Jasper could answer, an older woman stepped forward from the front row.

It was Victoria Vance, Avery's mother-in-law.

Victoria's silver hair was perfectly tied back. Her lips curled into a cruel smile.

She folded her arms.

"Wife?" Victoria said. "Don't make yourself important, Avery."

"You were nothing more than a charity case we accepted because of a mistake seven years ago. You ruined my son's chance to marry a proper woman."

She looked Avery up and down.

"Just look at yourself. You look like a beggar."

"I don't care what you think of me, Victoria!"

Tears finally rolled down Avery's cheeks.

She pointed toward Jasper.

"This is illegal, Jasper! You can't marry someone while you're still married to me! I'll call the police!"

Chloe stepped closer to Jasper and hid partly behind him.

She made her lips shake and forced tears into her eyes.

"Avery... please don't do this."

Her voice sounded weak and innocent.

"Jasper and I love each other. You've known for months that your marriage was over."

"Shut up!" Avery shouted.

"Don't talk to Auntie Chloe like that!"

The voice did not come from Jasper.

It came from Leo.

Avery froze.

She looked at her son.

Leo stepped in front of Chloe as if he were protecting her.

His face was angry.

His expression looked just like his father's.

But the worst part was his eyes.

There was no love in them.

Only anger.

"You're always crying and embarrassing us," Leo shouted, his voice echoing through the quiet room. 

"Grandma said you're poor and uneducated! Auntie Chloe buys me expensive video games and helps Dad with his company. She belongs here."

He pointed at Avery.

"You don't. Go away!"

Avery felt as if someone had punched her in the chest.

She took a small step backward.

For seven years, she had given up her dreams, her health, and almost everything she had to raise this boy.

And now he looked at her as if she meant nothing.

"Leo..." Avery whispered.

Her heart hurt.

"I'm your mother."

Leo's face stayed cold.

"Auntie Chloe is going to be my new mom."

He turned away from her.

"No!"

A small voice suddenly cried out.

"Mommy!"

Nina ran away from the altar.

Her basket of flowers fell to the floor.

She rushed down the steps and wrapped both arms around Avery's waist.

She buried her face against Avery's jacket and began to cry.

"Mommy, don't leave me!" Nina begged.

"Please take me with you! I don't want to stay here!"

Avery dropped to her knees and pulled her daughter into her arms.

She held Nina tightly.

Her daughter was the only person in that room who still wanted her.

Jasper sighed.

He sounded bored.

He reached inside his suit and pulled out a white piece of paper.

Then he walked toward Avery.

He dropped the paper onto the floor.

"Read it," he said.

Still holding Nina, Avery looked down.

Her eyes moved across the words at the top.

OFFICIAL DECREE OF DIVORCE.

Her heart stopped.

Then she saw her name at the bottom.

Her signature.

It looked exactly like her handwriting.

Beside it was an ink mark from her right thumb.

The document was dated six months earlier.

"No..."

Avery's voice became a whisper.

Her eyes grew wide.

"This is a lie. I never signed this. I've never seen this paper before!"

Jasper's jaw tightened.

"Your signature is right there."

His voice was cold.

"The court already approved the divorce. Six months ago, you stopped being my wife."

He stared at her.

"You have no rights to the Vance family estate."

"You have no rights to my money or property."

Avery's mind suddenly went back six months.

She remembered that night.

She had barely slept because Nina was sick with a high fever.

Leo had walked into her room with a clipboard.

"Dad is too busy," he had said. "Can you sign my school field-trip paper?"

Avery had been too tired to think.

She had signed the paper in the dark.

Leo had also told her to press her thumb onto an ink pad because his teacher needed it.

Avery's blood ran cold.

They planned this.

She finally understood.

My own son helped Grandma trick me into giving up my life.

Victoria suddenly laughed.

It was a soft but cruel laugh.

"Security," she said. "Remove this woman from the building."

She pointed at Avery.

"She's disturbing a private family celebration."

Two large security guards walked toward Avery.

One of them grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't touch her!" Nina screamed.

She kicked the guard's leg.

But the guard easily moved her aside.

Jasper watched and said nothing.

He simply turned back toward Chloe and the altar.

He fixed his shirt cuffs as if nothing had happened.

As if Avery meant nothing.

As if she were just a piece of dirt he wanted removed.

"Let me go!" Avery cried.

The guards pulled her toward the doors.

She tried to hold on to Nina, but their hands were separated.

Then the guards pushed Avery through the doors.

She was thrown back into the cold, heavy rain.

The doors slammed shut behind her.

Avery fell to her knees on the wet ground.

The rain quickly soaked her clothes.

But she could not feel the cold.

She felt empty.

Seven years of her life were gone.

Her son hated her.

Her marriage was over.

Her dignity had been destroyed in front of hundreds of people.

Then the glass door opened slightly.

A small figure slipped outside.

It was Nina.

Her pink dress was completely wet.

She ran straight to Avery and climbed into her lap.

"Mommy," Nina cried.

She used her little hands to wipe the tears and rain from Avery's face.

"Don't cry."

Nina hugged her.

"I don't want the big house. I don't want the money."

She looked into her mother's eyes.

"I just want you."

Her voice broke.

"Let's go home."

Avery stared at her daughter.

Nina's eyes were full of love.

Something inside Avery changed.

The pain in her chest did not disappear.

It became something stronger.

Something sharp and dangerous.

For seven years, Avery had allowed the Vance family to control her life.

She had stayed quiet.

She had hidden her past.

She had forgotten who she really was.

Before she became Jasper's unwanted wife, Avery had been different.

She had been a genius.

At university, she was known as one of the best hackers and computer programmers.

She had created research that helped build the technology behind Jasper's billion-dollar company.

And Jasper had forgotten one very important thing.

His empire had been built using her ideas.

Avery hugged Nina tightly.

Then she slowly stood up.

She turned her back on the ballroom.

"We're going home, Nina."

Her voice was no longer shaking.

It was calm.

Certain.

"And we're never looking back."

Jasper Vance thought he had taken everything from her.

Her marriage.

Her money.

Her family.

Her dignity.

But he had forgotten one thing.

His empire had been built on Avery's stolen genius.

And now...

She was coming to take it all back.