Chapter 1

The courtroom erupted.

Melanie Pattison took out several more photos and explained in a flat, matter-of-fact voice, "These are intimate maternity photos Benjamin and I took when I was pregnant with my son, Toby."

In the photo, Benjamin Rossel was down on one knee. Melanie's gauzy dress, so thin it was almost see-through, draped over his head as he kissed her belly.

"When Toby was born, Benjamin cleaned up my postpartum bleeding himself and washed the diapers. There's nothing sexier than a man who takes care of things."

My head burned. I was so dizzy I could barely stay on my feet.

The Benjamin that Melanie described was nothing like the man I remembered.

Once, when my period accidentally stained the sheets, he'd been so grossed out that he slept in the study that night.

Yet now, for another woman, he'd done all of this gladly.

Even in the photo of him washing diapers, a doting smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

It felt like a knife was slicing through my heart. I turned to Benjamin, who was sitting in the gallery, "Benjamin, what do you have to say for yourself?"

He frowned. "We're here today to help Melanie get her divorce, so don't make a scene right now. I'll explain everything to you later."

Those few flippant words sent a chill through me.

The paternity test couldn't have been clearer. The child was his. What was there to explain?

To help his "younger schoolmate" win this case, I'd turned down an offer worth nearly two million dollars in fees.

I'd poured three whole months into preparing, determined to win Melanie as much as I could.

I never imagined this case would be the start of my humiliation.

When the gavel came down, granting the divorce and awarding custody of the child to Melanie, her ex-husband flipped the table.

He cursed at Melanie, "You bitch! You cheated on me and made a fool out of me! You and your bastard son both deserve to die a miserable death!"

He clenched his fists and lunged at Melanie, but Benjamin had already shielded her behind him.

His jet-black eyes were filled with warning, "I suggest you watch your mouth."

Seeing that he couldn't get the better of Benjamin, Melanie's ex-husband took his anger out on me instead.

He kicked me hard in the stomach, "And you, Chelsea Mendler, you're a bitch too! You can't even keep your own husband in line, so he goes around messing with other women.

"They had a bastard son behind our backs, and you're still out here fighting her case for her. What a joke! Useless trash like you should die right along with them."

I fell to the floor. A searing pain in my stomach kept me from getting up.

Benjamin's face changed drastically. He was about to help me up when Melanie clutched her chest. "Benjamin, my heart's racing. I'm so scared."

He turned and scooped Melanie into his arms instead. "Chelsea, Melanie isn't feeling well. I'm going to take her to the hospital to get checked out. You go on home by yourself."

I watched his panicked figure hurry away, and even breathing began to hurt.

The next second, someone pointed at me and cried out, "Look at her! She's bleeding!"