Chapter 1

I went against my adoptive parents, paid three hundred thousand dollars out of my own pocket, to marry James Carter, and even gave him a son.

When our son, Lucas Carter, turned two, he needed surgery for colic. During the pre-operation tests, the doctors discovered he had syphilis.

James's first reaction was to accuse me of cheating and somehow passing syphilis on to our child.

With complete certainty, he said, "It's definitely not my fault. If it's not me, then it has to be you."

That asshole James then took it up a notch and said something worse.

He snapped, "So that's where all the money you gave me to start my business came from, huh? Was it from those other men you were fooling around with?"

I was so pissed that I slapped him right across the face.

What James didn't know was that before I met him, I was the adopted daughter of another family. Later, my real parents found me and brought me back home.

When I left, they handed me a bank card loaded with four million dollars.

While I was at the hospital with Lucas for his check-up, my mother, Emma Lane, called and told me James was talking trash about me in the family group chat.

After Lucas's check-up, I finally got a chance to see what James had posted, and my mind went blank.

He went out of his way to tag my parents.

The message read: [You raised a great daughter. She gave Lucas syphilis.

[I always wondered where all that money came from since Vivian never worked. It turns out that she's been hooking up with other men behind my back.]

My three siblings and their kids were all in the group chat, too.

My cousin, Grace Lane, jumped in with a passive-aggressive tone, "Vivian is not that kind of person, right? But who knows?"

My uncle, Ethan Lane, acting all high and mighty, asked my father to keep me in line. If he couldn't, I wouldn't be allowed to come back to the family.

I was so furious that my hands were shaking.

I called James and demanded, "Why did you go around trashing me in the group chat? What makes you so sure I'm the one who gave Lucas Syphilis?"

James said, hammering the point in, "It's definitely not my fault. If it's not me, who else do you think it could be?"

"First off, you don't have any proof. Even if you did, blasting me in the family group chat like that is messed up," I snapped.

"My mother says she's going to tell your parents about all this. She thinks it's best to put it out there in your family group chat, so your whole family can see what kind of person you are," James sneered.

It was his mother, Evelyn Carter, again.

I'd heard that excuse from him so many times these past two years. I was sick of it.

Two years ago, when I was pregnant, James brought Evelyn here, claiming she'd help me out.

But I didn't get a shred of care from her. If anything, I was the one taking care of her. One time, I wanted some soup, but she insisted on making a stew, no matter what I said.

I tried bringing it up to James, but he never listened to me. He did whatever Evelyn wanted.

"James, what do you get from smearing my name like this? What do you actually gain?" I yelled.

I was screaming at him, my voice shaking with anger.

He stammered, "I-I do whatever Evelyn says."

I did my best to hold it together and snapped, "I'm Lucas's mother, after all. Even if you don't give a damn about me, can't you at least think about him?"

But what James said next made my heart freeze over.

James sneered, "Who knows if he's mine?"

I was so pissed that I nearly hurled my phone across the room.

No wonder he claimed he had work this morning and bailed on taking me and Lucas to the hospital.

This was a first. He'd never acted like this before.

Back then, no matter what was happening, we were always his top priority.

Even if he were away on a business trip, he'd always arrange a car for me whenever I needed to go out.

But this time, he didn't lift a finger.