Chapter 1

The Christmas lights outside were still blinking, but all I could see was Finnick Carson and his picture-perfect family of three.

I never would've imagined this.

The man who once promised to protect me for the rest of my life had turned around and built a family with someone else.

When I got back, I collapsed onto the couch, curling into myself as the sobs finally broke free.

We had been together for years and married for five, and I had always believed we would be together forever.

I knew how demanding his work was, so I never tried to limit his freedom. Even when friends told me they had seen him shopping with another woman, I had defended him without hesitation, insisting she was just a client.

In the end, every bit of trust I gave him came back to bite me.

I cried until my entire body felt drained, and it was only after the crushing pain in my chest slowly eased that I wiped my tears and forced myself to calm down.

Breaking down wouldn't help, and neither would crying. If I wanted justice, the only thing that mattered was the evidence in my hands.

I called a lawyer, and he got back to me quickly.

"Ms. Stafford, a single video isn't enough to make him walk away with nothing. If you want a better share of the assets and real leverage, you'll need more substantial evidence."

I held my phone and sighed, but I couldn't bring myself to say a word.

…

Early the next morning, I contacted the most reliable private investigator in the industry, and I gave him only one instruction.

I wanted to know everything about the other woman.

Three days later, when the report was placed in front of me, all I felt was a bitter sense of irony.

Her name was Yvonne Lane. She was a low-income student Finnick had sponsored years ago.

I had never met her, but I had genuinely felt sorry for her.

Every time I went through my closet, I would pick out clothes that were still in great condition, jewelry I had barely worn, and even designer bags clients had gifted me, asking Finnick to pass them along to her.

I had even joked with him that girls liked pretty things and that if she could use them, helping her out a little was the least I could do.

To me, she had always been just a girl who needed help, and I had never once been on guard around her.

Before all of this, it had never crossed my mind that Finnick would cheat, because he really had treated me well.

After we got married, he didn't want me to work so hard and told me he could provide for the family, urging me to simply enjoy life.

No matter where I went, he would call me multiple times to ask where I was, and I had always thought it was a sign that he cared about me.

I never imagined it was just his way of tracking my movements so he could hide his cheating. No wonder he managed to have a child with another woman without me noticing a thing.

At that moment, the private investigator sent over the full report.

On the day Yvonne graduated, she invited Finnick to her ceremony. That night, after they had been drinking, things went too far between them.

Not long after, she became pregnant, and once the child was born, Finnick fell for her completely. He bought her a house, got her settled, and promised her a future, and the three of them built a life that appeared full and happy.

I stared at that line for a long time before everything suddenly made sense.

No wonder Finnick told me Yvonne had found a good job right after she graduated and was financially independent, so she no longer needed me to send her anything.

Back then, I had even praised him for doing something kind and had genuinely felt happy for her, but now, I understood that Yvonne had landed herself a rich guy.

Naturally, she wouldn't care about the things I had given her.

In the photos, Yvonne wore top luxury brands, draped in jewelry worth millions of dollars, and lived in a mansion Finnick had bought for her.

Meanwhile, I, his legal wife, had spent Christmas Eve holding a seafood platter filled with allergens, like a complete joke.

A dull ache spread through my chest, but no tears came this time.

The love I thought I had and the marriage I believed in had all been a lie, and the man I had given everything to had worked with someone else to play me for a fool.

In that case, if what they wanted was their perfect little family, then I would give it to them.