Chapter 1

I opened social media, and the first thing I saw was Olivia Field's new post.

[Still can't believe I just bought my first very own apartment!]

In the photo, she was holding up the paperwork, smiling as if she had won the lottery.

The comment that burned the most was from my fiancé, Nigel Cross.

[Congrats! You're amazing!]

I actually laughed.

I had spent five years in this field without a single vacation day.

The second before my mother was wheeled into surgery, I was still answering client emails.

At my lowest, I sat in a hospital chair with an IV in my arm, negotiating over video call.

People saw how hard I worked. But they didn't see that I was holding my whole family together alone.

After my mother got sick, my younger siblings' tuition, the rent, and the bills for our small 900-square-foot apartment all landed on me.

The medical bills, costing tens of thousands, almost crushed me.

I drank at client dinners until my stomach bled. I fainted in the office more than once.

Nigel knew all of it.

When I worked past midnight and couldn't get a ride home, he picked me up.

When I came back drunk and exhausted, he carried me to bed.

When clients made impossible demands, he helped me figure out a way through.

And still, when I needed that money more than air, he stabbed me in the back.

He knew losing my mother was my worst fear.

But he still handed over the deal I nearly killed myself for to Olivia.

In his mind, she was alone in this city and deserved a home.

But what about me?

I was drowning in debt and about to lose the only parent I had left.

The tears came before I could stop them.

My phone rang. It was the doctor.

"I'm sorry. We did everything we could. Your mother has stopped breathing. If the surgery had happened sooner, there might've been a chance."

The world went quiet.

After that, I moved like a machine, moving through my mother's funeral arrangements on autopilot.

Nigel called. I looked at the screen and let it ring.

Suddenly, he was so eager to find me.

The moment I walked into the office building, he was there, blocking my way.

"Where have you been? You never take time off."

There was a hint of anger and unease in his voice, as though he was afraid I was slipping out of his control.