Chapter 1

I wandered aimlessly along the street like a soulless puppet.

Across the square, the massive LED screen blared headlines about Ian Tost and Cece Yates’ scandal in a relentless rotation.

[Underworld Prince’s Affair with Bodyguard, Million-Dollar Private Island Gift for Mistress]

Looking at the photos of them coiled together on a yacht deck felt like a knife entering my heart. I could barely breathe.

Moments after, Ian came striding out of the hospital after me. He draped his coat over my shoulders. His voice was as gentle as ever as he said, “Don’t believe the tabloids, my dear. Cece and I were only putting on a show so no one would see you as my vulnerability and kidnap you again.”

The conversation I had overheard outside that ward came flooding back to my mind. I shook uncontrollably.

If it was just an act, why would Ian hurt my family just to get even for Cece?

I stared at Ian with despair written all over my face. “Ian, my brother is dead.”

My own husband had murdered my brother, Michael Kazinsky!

The pain of betrayal pierced my heart like a white-hot dagger. It was unbearable. Ian, meanwhile, continued acting like a devoted lover by pulling me into his arms.

His tone was nonchalant. It sounded like the deceased was just an insignificant stranger. “It’s okay, Mira. You have me.”

At that moment, my heart shattered beyond repair.

Not long after, Cece, who was impeccably dressed, came after us.

The moment she arrived, she slipped her arm through Ian’s arm like it was something she had always done. “Ian, the doctor said I’m injured and need plenty of rest. Anyway, I’m moving into your place. You have to take care of me!”

“Okay, okay. Taking care of one is the same as taking care of two. This is good, actually. You can keep Mira company.”

With that, Ian affectionately stroked the tip of Cece’s nose.

I numbly watched them flirt. Two months ago, after a prenatal checkup, I came home to find ninety-nine women of every conceivable type in my house.

Ian had said these female bodyguards were sent by the Tost family as human shields to better protect me and my baby. He said I could deal with them however I wished if I did not like them.

So, I immediately sent all of them away.

Two days later, I was kidnapped. Cece showed up and saved me.

The kidnappers had only drawn a shallow cut on her arm, but Ian’s face instantly darkened. He was beside himself with worry and summoned the nation’s top medical specialists on the spot.

After that, to comfort Cece, Ian left me, his pregnant wife, behind and took her on a vacation to the Maldives. They left their footprints all over the world.

When they returned from their trip, Beatrix Kazinsky, my mother, who had been perfectly healthy, suddenly suffered a stroke and ended up in a coma. Michael, who had made it to the finals of a piano competition, died on the spot in an accident at the venue.

I was so overwhelmed by the string of tragedies that I nearly miscarried.

If I had not heard it myself today, I might never have connected everything that happened to my family to Ian.

The man who used to treat me like I was the center of his world had killed my family just to get even for Cece, someone he called a human shield!

It was ironic.