chapter 1— The Wife He Never Wanted

Chapter 1 — The Wife He Never Wanted

The steady sound of Kate’s knife echoed through the kitchen.

Chop.

Chop.

Chop.

Carrots. onions. bell peppers, cut with skill born from years of practice. But her chest felt tight, hollow, like something was missing.

Laughter floated in from the living room.

Kate didn’t have to turn around to know whose laughter it was.

Mason’s.

Deep, strong. powerful and pleasant .

It was a sound she rarely heard directed at her.To everyone else it was common but to her it was a luxury .

Mason sat on the couch, relaxed in a way he never was around her. Elena—small, bright-eyed, and full of life—was perched on his lap, her tiny fingers tugging playfully at his expensive wristwatch.

“You’re going to break it,” Mason said, but there was laughter in his voice, not annoyance. he didn't care if she broke it, he was just buy another one .

Elena giggled. “Daddy, buy me a pink one!”

Mason chuckled. “Anything you want, princess.”

Kate swallowed.

Elena’s laughter filled house again, and Kate felt the familiar butterflies in her chest. Mason leaned down, pressing a kiss to their daughter’s forehead, his expression soft—gentle in a way that made Kate’s heart twist painfully.

He loved Elena, completely and without a doubt.

Their daughter was the center of his universe. The only thing that mattered to him. The only one he never saw as beneath him.

Kate was grateful for that. Truly. Seeing Mason love their child eased some of the wounds his coldness left behind. Elena deserved every bit of that affection .

But watching him like this still hurt. watching him and knowing to him she would always be the wife he never wanted.

Kate turned back to the counter, as she wiped her hands on a kitchen towel. She told herself she was used to this. Told herself it didn’t matter.

She had been invisible long before she became his wife.

Her mind went back, as it often did in moments like this, back to where it all began.

Kate hadn’t always lived in a mansion.

She had been an orphan—young, frightened, and carrying everything she owned in a small, bag when she first stepped into the Mason family estate. She remembered clinging to the edge of the doorway, afraid to breathe too loudly, afraid someone would change their mind and send her away.

But they hadn’t.

The Mason family had given her a roof over her head after her parent's died, an education, stability. Officially, she worked as a helper. Unofficially, they treated her like their own. They praised her diligence, trusted her with their secrets, defended her when others looked down on her.

They loved her.

That love had meant everything to a girl who had grown up with nothing.

Everyone in that house cared for her.

Everyone… except Mason.

She had fallen for him quietly, foolishly, at an age when love felt like destiny rather than danger. Mason was older, confident, always surrounded by people. He carried himself like the world belonged to him—and one day, it would.

Kate watched him never daring to hope for more. She knew her place. She was grateful. She was careful.

And Mason never noticed her at all.

Because his heart already belonged to someone else.

Ellie.

His childhood sweetheart. The woman everyone knew he would marry one day. Kate had seen them together—laughing,kissing whispering and sharing glances that said forever. Ellie was beautiful, confident, born into a world Kate could never belong to, she was his class, the one who truly deserved mason.

Kate never hated her.

She simply accepted the truth: Mason would never be hers.

Then Ellie left unexpectedly.

She chose another man—someone of lower status, someone without the Mason name or wealth or fame and walked away without regret. The humiliation shook the family. The gossip was merciless.

And Mason broke.

That night was fresh into Kate’s memory.

He came home drunk, angry, drowning in betrayal. She should have walked away. Should have left him alone. But she didn’t.

She stayed.

And that single mistake destroyed everything.

Kate’s hands slowed as the memories tightened around her heart.

She never planned it. Never schemed. Never dreamed of trapping him with elena. She had loved him too long, too deeply—and when he reached for her in his brokenness, she didn’t say no She was naive and stupid.

Weeks later, two lines appeared on a pregnancy test, it was positive.

Kate remembered sitting on the bathroom floor, staring at it in disbelief, She hadn’t cried. She had been too numb for that.

When the truth came out, the Mason family saw it as salvation.

A way to bury Ellie’s betrayal. A way to preserve their reputation. And since they already loved Kate, the decision was swift.

They forced Mason to marry her.

He never forgave her.

From the moment he sobered up, his hatred was unmistakable. He accused her of manipulation, of greed, of seducing him for money. No explanation ever mattered. And no tears ever soften his heart.

The wedding was quiet. Cold, everyone present could sense his coldness towards her if they looked hard enough

Kate stood beside him in white, knowing she was marrying a man who despised her and she did it anyway.

When Elena was born, everything changed—and nothing did.

Mason smiled again. He laughed again. He lived again.

But not because of Kate.

Their daughter became his entire world. He adored Elena more than anything else in the world . He protected her, spoiled her, planned his entire life around her happiness.

Kate watched from the shadows, grateful and heartbroken all at once.

As Elena grew, Kate disappeared.

She cooked. She cleaned. She obeyed.

Mason treated her like a servant in his house, like a reminder of a past he wished never happened. He spoke to her only when necessary, his words were harsh as if to remind her that she was just a maid

Still, Kate endured it all.

Because love made her hopeful.

Because she believed—foolishly—that one day, he might see her. That he might realize she was more than a mistake.

Kate held on.

Because love made her stupid. And hope made her weak, because she felt one day he might see her love for him.

Then, after three long years, something shifted.

Mason started talking to her.

Not yelling. Not accusing. Just… talking.

He asked about Elena’s school. Commented on dinner positivity. Even thanked her once.

Kate clung to those moments like treasures, letting hope where it had no right to exist. She dared to imagine a future where she wasn’t hated. Where she mattered.

She was happy.

For the first time since becoming his wife, she allowed herself to believe, convincing herself that maybe—just maybe—he was beginning to see her as more than a mistake.

For the first time in years, she was truly satisfied at the feeling that all she endured was finally paying off

Until the day Ellie came knocking on their door.

And everything Kate had built in her heart collapsed all over again.

Then a sharp knock at the front door broke into her thought.

Kate froze, knife midair.

her heart dropped into her stomach.

Somehow, she already knew who it was

And when the door opened…