Chapter 1

Serena’s POV

I thought I was planning a wonderful surprise for my daughter for her tenth birthday. I didn’t know I was the one about to get surprised.

It was Thursday evening, and her phone was carefully tucked away in my room to be released to her on the weekend, so when a phone lit up with a message under her pillow, my brows pulled into a deep frown.

I picked up the luxurious iPad, immediately catching sight of a message from a familiar number.

[Dad: My angel, can you try to distract Mommy some more? Miss Celeste and I still need to do something at the penthouse.]

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Celeste? Our daughter’s etiquette teacher? What business would she have with my husband?

I gulped and scrolled back through their chats to the most recent one.

It was a week ago, hours before we returned from our trip to our private island.

[Dad: The pilot called to say he was coming to you with the jet. What happened, baby?]

[Alessia: Daddy, I’m afraid I can’t stall Mom anymore. Will Miss Celeste still be at home when we return? I’ve missed you both.]

I blinked fast, my body stiffening. My daughter had constantly brought up excuses as to why we should continue the two-month-long vacation until I finally had enough and refused to bow to her tantrums.

[Dad: Oh no, baby. I haven’t had enough of Miss Celeste yet. Tell her you want to add an extra week.]

[Alessia: I tried, but Mommy keeps insisting we must return. She didn’t even care when I threatened to never eat or talk to her. I’m sorry, Daddy.]

[Dad: Don’t beat yourself up, darling. We’ll plan another trip soon. This time, only for Mommy, so we can stay back with Miss Celeste, okay?]

My throat clogged as I kept scrolling through the messages.

[Alessia: Yes, Daddy. Or she could stay home and we come here. Mommy is too boring. Miss Celeste is fun to be around. She lets me use my phone whenever I want, eat candy before dinner, and she never says no to ice cream and candy.]

I pinched my skin, my chest tightening as I read what felt like a horrifying prank.

[Alessia: She took my phone, saying we should have quality time together. Thankfully, I had this phone you gave me, or I won’t know how to talk to you.]

The gift in my hand dropped to the floor, and I followed suit, my knees unable to hold my body up.

My husband, whom I loved with all my being, was having an affair… and my daughter was covering up for him?

“Mommy! Where are you, Mommy?” Alessia’s voice rang through the house.

My body stilled. No, I couldn’t let her know I had found out just yet.

With shaky hands, I placed the phone back where I’d seen it and picked up the gift from the floor.

Right then, Alessia walked into her room. Seeing me, she froze, eyes wide open.

“Mommy. What are you doing here?”

I forced a smile onto my face. “Nothing, baby. I just… wanted to give your gift.”

Her lips stretched into a smile so wide it looked like it was the best day of her life.

“Yayy! Mommy, let me see.”

Her excitement made my mind blank.

Her grandparents had taken her for a birthday dinner, as she hated grand parties, and I wasn’t expecting her for another two hours.

“Why not freshen up first?” I managed to squeeze out. “By the time you’re out, it’ll be ready.”

“Sure, Mommy. You’re the best. I love you so much,” she cheered and ran off into the bathroom.

The dam in my eyes burst, my body trembling as I sat on the bed. Minutes later, my tears finally dried up. I turned, seeing a bottle of perfume on her shelf. My hands grabbed it before my mind could think.

Vanilla-scented perfume.

Alessia was allergic to anything vanilla, so why was this here? Could someone have planted it to hurt her?

All thoughts of the messages ran out of my head as goosebumps crept up my skin. If someone was trying to harm my daughter, I would make them regret being born.

I marched toward the door, heading to have the maids investigated, when the bathroom door opened and Alessia stepped out. I smelled it before she even got close.

Vanilla filled the air. So strongly that for someone with an allergy, it would be enough to cause death.

I ran toward her, holding her arms with panic in my eyes.

“Alessia, are you okay? We need to get you to a hos—”

My words got stuck in my throat. The smell… it was coming from her body, and she was… fine?

I glanced at her and back at the bottle of perfume. Following my gaze, she froze.

“Alessia, didn’t you say you were allergic to vanilla?”

She scratched the back of her head and wrinkled her nose.

“I didn’t say I was allergic, Mom. I just said I hated it. But Miss Celeste always smelled so beautiful, and when I asked what she used, she got me this bottle. It’s nice, right, Mom? And it doesn’t give me any allergies.”

Miss Celeste. Again.

My hands dropped from her body. I stood rooted to the spot, unable to move.

For four months, I had rid the house of everything vanilla, going as far as checking the maids’ bathrooms because Alessia and Nicolas had told me she had a terrible allergic reaction to vanilla. I had even changed my perfume just to make sure my daughter was okay.

“Mommy, are you okay? You look pale.” Alessia’s voice pulled me out of my daze.

I nodded shakily and pointed to her bed.

“Your gift is there. I have to do something. Go to bed soon.”

I ran out of the room as fast as my trembling legs could carry me. When I got to my room, I closed the door and clutched my chest.

This… it could just be nothing, right?

There was no way my daughter and her dad had something going on with her etiquette teacher. Celeste had a boyfriend. Nicolas himself has told me so.

And we had been together for twenty years, from when we’d first met as kids to this day. I trusted Nicolas with all my heart. He wouldn’t hurt me.

I pulled out my phone, typing Celeste’s name into the Instagram search bar. She loved flaunting everything on social media, so I was certain I would see her boyfriend posted.

A few pictures and videos popped up, the most recent one being a video from two hours back.

[The caption read: Celebrating my favorite girl with the most important man in my heart. #familyforever#]

See. I knew it was nothing. She had a boy—

The camera tilted, revealing a man leaning forward to light candles on a birthday cake.

My stomach dropped. I didn’t see his face, but I could recognize the ring and watch he was wearing even in a dark room.

Beside him, smiling brightly in matching pajamas, was a little girl wearing the same clothes Alessia had returned with.