Chapter 1

Rihanna POV

I remembered three things about the night my marriage went to shit. The rain, the sound of my son laughing, and the way my husband smiled at another woman.

Rain fell violently against the towering windows of the Sterling mansion as I stepped into the grand foyer, shaking water from my umbrella. The cold inside the house made me wrap my arms around myself, seeking heat from my own body.

For five years, I had called this place home. For five years, I had buried myself behind Edrian Sterling while the world praised him for miracles I created with my own hands.

I saved the Sterling Group from bankruptcy, rebuilt its reputation from the shadows, and gave up every piece of myself so my husband could stand at the top of New York’s business world like a king.

And all I ever wanted in return was a family.

I loosened the scarf around my neck and started toward the living room, exhausted from a doctor’s appointment I hadn’t even wanted to attend. Then I heard Ted laugh.

My lips almost curved automatically but then I heard a woman laughing softly after him.

Valerie Duval.

Even if I was in a coma, I'd recognize her voice anywhere.

My stomach tightened instantly. Valerie was supposed to be a potential investor for Sterling Group, but lately she had been spending far too much time around my husband.

But still, I never imagined this.

I stopped at the doorway, and the blood drained from my face.

Valerie sat comfortably on the velvet sofa in a bright pink silk dress that looked painfully out of place against the dark gray room. My four-year-old son sat on her lap while she ran her fingers through his curls like he was hers.

And beside them stood Edrian who was smiling. The worst part was that it was a smile I had not seen in years.

"Say it again, sweetie," Valerie said, her voice dripping with fake sweetness. "Call me Mommy. You can do it."

Ted looked confused, his small fingers twisting the fabric of his shirt. "Mommy?"

"Yes! Good boy!" Valerie giggled, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

Edrian chuckled, reaching down to pat Ted’s shoulder. "You see, Valerie? I told you he would get used to you quickly. He needs a real mother."

My heart shattered into a million sharp pieces right inside my chest. I felt a hot wave of anger take over my body which quickly replaced all the fatigue from my doctor's appointment. I slammed my purse onto the side table, the loud noise making all three of them jump.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" I screamed, marching straight into the room.

Ted’s face lit up instantly. “Mommy!”

Edrian’s warm smile instantly vanished, replaced by a look of total disgust. "Rihanna? What are you doing back so early? You were supposed to be at the clinic until five."

"Answer my freaking question!" I yelled, my eyes locked on Valerie, who was now pretending to look scared, shrinking back into the sofa cushions. "Get your hands off my son, Valerie! Right now!"

Edrian stepped in front of me, blocking my path. "Calm down, Rihanna. You are making a huge scene over nothing. You look like a crazy person right now."

"Nothing?" I looked at him, my vision blurring with hot tears. "She is trying to make our son call her Mommy! Right in front of you! And you are just standing there smiling! Edrian, I am your wife. This is my house. That is my baby!"

Valerie sighed loudly, rolling her big blue eyes. "Edrian, please. I was just playing with the little guy. She is always so sensitive and dramatic. It is really toxic for the child to see her act like this."

"Don't talk about my child!" I snapped, trying to push past Edrian.

"Rihanna, stop it!" Edrian barked, grabbing my wrists tightly. His brown eyes were completely cold, staring down at me like I was a piece of trash he wanted to throw away. "Look at yourself. You are crying, your hair is a mess, and you are screaming at a guest who is trying to help us. A nervous, unstable wife is a massive liability for my public image. The media is already looking for a scandal. I can't have you ruining our stock prices with your emotional meltdowns."

I stared at him, completely shocked. "Your public image? I spent five years building your so-called image! I wrote the financial plans, I fixed the debt, I gave up my entire life so you could be the king of New York business! And now you care more about stocks than your own wife?"

Edrian let go of my wrists with a shrug. "You did what any supportive wife should do. Don't act like you built this empire alone. I am the face of the company, Rihanna. Not you."

The sound of a heavy wooden cane hitting the marble floor makes us both turn around. Arthur Sterling, my father-in-law, walked into the room. His gray hair was perfectly parted, and his blue-steel eyes looked right through me.

"That is enough shouting," Arthur said, his deep voice filling the space. "Rihanna, I can hear your screaming from my study. It is vulgar."

"Father," Edrian said, stepping back. "She came home early and started attacking Valerie."

"I am not attacking anyone!" I said, trying to keep my voice steady, though I was trembling from head to toe. "I want this woman out of my house."

"This isn't your house anymore, Rihanna," Arthur said calmly. He reached into his expensive wool coat and pulled out a thick legal folder. He tossed it onto the glass coffee table right in front of me.

I looked down at the papers. The title on the front read: DIVORCE DECREE AND ASSET DISSOLUTION.

"What is this?" I whispered, looking from Arthur to Edrian. Edrian avoided my eyes, looking at his expensive watch instead.

"Those are your divorce papers," Arthur explained, leaning heavily on his silver-tipped cane. "You are being dismissed from this family. Edrian needs a real woman of high society by his side, someone like Valerie who can actually elevate our name. A girl from a normal, nameless background like yours was only temporary."

"We are married, Arthur!" I said, my voice cracking. "Edrian, tell him. We have a life together. We have Ted! What is he saying? Tell him that he can't make us do that. He… he has no right whatsoever to meddle in our marriage. Tell him!”

Edrian sighed, finally looking at me, but there was no love left in his face. "It is over, Rihanna. My father is right. We don't belong in the same world anymore. I need a wife who fits into the elite clubs of New York and London. You just don't have the class for it."

"But what about my shares?" I asked, my mind spinning as I thought about the company. "I own forty percent of the Sterling Group’s foundational stock. I earned that!"

Arthur let out a dry, cruel chuckle. "You don't own anything, child. Do you remember the medical papers you signed right after you gave birth to Ted? The ones you signed while you were heavily medicated for postpartum depression?"

I froze. My breath caught in my throat. I remembered being in the hospital room, exhausted, crying, and barely awake. Edrian had handed me a stack of papers, telling me it was just standard hospital consent forms.

"You made me sign away my rights?" I whispered asked, not wanting to believe this was real. But it was.

"Exactly," Arthur said with a smirk. "Those papers transferred all your intellectual property, your company shares, and your maternal custody rights to the Sterling trust. Legally, you are completely broke. You have no money, no shares, and you have no legal claim to the boy. Ted stays here with his father and his new mother."

"No!" I screamed, rushing toward Ted. I grabbed his small hand. "Ted, come with Mommy! We have to go!"

Valerie jumped up, pulling Ted back by his other arm. "Edrian! She is trying to steal the baby! She is crazy!"

Edrian rushed forward, throwing his weight between me and my son. He shoved me backward so hard I tripped over the edge of the rug and fell flat on the cold floor. Ted started crying, scared by the shouting, but Valerie quickly wrapped her arms around him, whispering into his ear.

"Get out of my house, Rihanna," Edrian said, his voice completely dark. "Don't make me call security to drag you out into the street. We are letting you walk away with your dignity. Take it and go."

I looked at my son, who was sobbing in Valerie’s arms. My heart broke, but inside the ruins, something else took over. A freezing, dark, unstoppable anger. The sadness died instantly, replaced by a cold fire.

It was almost comical the way my emotions were rapidly switching today.

I pushed myself up from the floor, standing up straight. I brushed the dust off my clothes, my movements perfectly slow and steady. I didn't shed a single tear.

I walked over to the coffee table, picked up the pen sitting next to the folder, and flipped to the last page. With a steady hand, I signed my name on the dotted line.

I dropped the pen onto the papers, making a sharp clacking sound.

I looked up at the three of them. I gave them a look so terrifyingly cold that Edrian actually stepped back, his jaw tightening.

"You think you won," I said, my voice completely flat, devoid of any emotion. "You think you took everything from me."

"Rihanna, don't start," Edrian muttered, looking nervous for the first time.

"Enjoy this house while you can, Edrian," I continued, ignoring him completely. "Enjoy the company I built for you. Because the next time I step foot inside this place, I am going to completely take apart your whole world. I will wipe the Sterling name off the face of this city."

Valerie laughed, though it sounded a bit shaky. "You are broke, you psycho. You have nothing."

"We will see," I said.

I didn't look back at my son, because I knew if I looked at him, I would break, and I needed to be strong to get him back.

I turned my back on them and walked out of the living room. I opened the heavy front doors of the mansion and stepped out into the dark night.