Chapter 1

Ethan's message came in while Lucas and I were having breakfast across from each other.

Ethan Harrington was the man I'd chosen to cheat with. Young, full of heat, eager and obedient where it counted. My phone buzzed a few times on the table, which earned me a glance from the man across from me.

I unlocked the screen and his messages flew in one after another.

"When are you divorcing him?"

"Baby, you promised you'd own up to us. You said you'd give me a real place in your life."

"I don't want to do this in the shadows anymore. I want to be with you out in the open."

The string of messages made me wince. I scrolled all the way down and found a photo attached at the bottom. He was still sleepy, just out of bed.

His robe hung half-open, the ridges of his abs catching the light in a way that could've stopped traffic. The sheer pull of it hit me before I could brace for it.

Heat crawled up my face. I caught Lucas's eyes flicking toward me and quickly killed the screen, bowing my head over my bowl and avoiding his gaze.

Lucas didn't bother to press it. He set down his own bowl and said, unhurried, "Seraphina is flying in today. My parents and I are taking her to the welcome-home dinner tonight."

"It's a family dinner. You don't need to come. No reason to make her uncomfortable."

The words family dinner stung more than I wanted to admit.

Seraphina and I were the kind of pair you only read about in novels. The real daughter and the switched-in daughter. Except she, the fake, had sunk her roots in long before I ever stepped foot in that house. Not blood, but closer than blood.

A few tears from her and my own parents would look at me with disgust.

To keep her happy, I wasn't allowed to carry the Ashford name. I wasn't even allowed inside the Ashford estate. I was shelved somewhere out of sight, like something they were embarrassed to keep.

Naturally, dinners like tonight weren't something an "outsider" like me was expected to attend.

Still, Lucas's words left me speechless. What exactly did Seraphina have to be upset about?

My parents had always taken her side. So had my husband. Every one of them, every time.

Not that I cared enough to bicker. My head was already somewhere else. If Seraphina was back, then maybe, finally, I could divorce Lucas.

The realization made me jump up. I called after him, about to say something, but he cut me off, brow knitted in irritation.

"Whatever it is, it can wait until I'm back. Don't make me late for the airport."

The door slammed shut hard enough to rattle. I swallowed whatever I was going to say.

Fine. Seraphina was back now. Even if I didn't bring it up, Lucas would. I'd sat in this cage for years. One more day wasn't going to kill me.

Right on cue, my phone chimed. A new message, humming with innuendo.

"No shoot today. Want to come over, baby?"

This time the photo was of his bare chest, rising and tight. Between that and my mood, the low-simmering frustration in my chest burned off in an instant.

I grabbed my phone and walked straight out the door.