Chapter 1

Last year, my husband Nolan Hart's first love, Summer Castellano, returned from abroad. She brought with her a boy whose features bore an uncanny resemblance to Nolan.

I fought with him bitterly over this, nearly tearing our home apart.

He only told me coldly that the boy was a child born from his sperm donation years ago. There was nothing between him and Summer. He told me not to use my filthy mind to make assumptions about their pure relationship.

For the sake of this family and the sake of giving my son, Finn Hart, a complete childhood, I endured it. But they only became more brazen.

Nolan pulled strings to get Summer into the bomb disposal unit. Summer even enrolled her son Wyatt in the same elite preschool as Finn.

Every day at pickup, she would shoot me a smug look.

I glanced at Finn's innocent face beside me. I couldn't let him witness the horror that might unfold next.

I handed him over to my mother, who had just rushed over after hearing the news. "Mom, take Finn home. I'll come back once I've handled this."

I jumped down from the command vehicle and rushed toward the unfinished building. Just as I reached the base of the building, I ran into Nolan and Summer scrambling down in a panicked escape.

A deafening explosion shook the entire building violently. My face drained of color, and my body went limp. I stared at the sea of flames, unable to speak.

Nolan, however, walked over with a calm expression.

"Brielle, Summer's operation was flawless. The criminals who planted the bombs were too cunning. They used a double-decoy detonation system.

"What's done is done. I hope you won't hold any grudge against Summer. And don't twist this into something it's not with that paranoid mind of yours."

I nodded slowly, my voice hoarse. "Fine. Of course, I won't pursue this."

Nolan looked satisfied.

Summer, standing to the side, clutched her chest and let out a shaky laugh, still reeling from the shock. Her tone dripped with condescending approval.

"You're being very gracious about this, Brielle."

Nolan let out a disdainful snort and said in a voice only the three of us could hear, "How would she dare not be? She can't leave me.

"It's just her kid who died. Want to bet that even if her parents died today, she still wouldn't dare hold me accountable?"

I suppressed the towering rage and nausea churning inside me and pointed at the building.

"Even though the bomb exploded, Wyatt might not be…

"You should go back up and check. See if there's still a chance…"

Before I could finish, Summer let out a piercing shriek. "What are you talking about? That's your son up there, not my Wyatt!

"How dare you curse my son! Your son is the one who died, Brielle! Why are you dragging mine into this?

"My son has nothing to do with this. Don't you dare curse him!"