Chapter 1
Growing up in a rich family full of drama and surrounded by scheming women, I learned a harsh truth at just five years old: every so-called innocent girl out there was just begging for a reality check.
After eighteen years of sharpening my claws, I wiped out all my dad's flings and made sure my half-siblings knew their place.
I thought I could finally kick back and live the good life as a high-society wife.
But on my wedding day, I realized that the drama ran deep in my in-laws' family too.
My mother-in-law, Joselyn, gentle as a bunny, was getting pushed around by Giovanni Brooks' old flame, Zoe Doyle, and her eyes were rimmed with tears.
I raised an eyebrow and cracked my knuckles.
It looked like I couldn't retire my skills just yet.
Fine, time for me to step up and play another round.
Let me show you what happened when a real player entered the game and taught everyone how it was done.
My name was Mariana Harrington.
I was the one who specialized in taking down two-faced schemers.
I was born into a rich family, but I've basically turned into a walking manual for spotting and handling two-faced schemers.
It was all thanks to my rich, womanizing father.
He had been married six times, and the number of women he had dated was honestly impossible to count.
My mom was his first wife, a soft-spoken southern lady.
When I was five, a two-faced schemer in a white dress showed up at our door, looking for trouble.
She claimed she was pregnant with my dad's kid.
She said my mom was past her prime and clueless about romance, didn't even know how to please a man.
She said this family would be hers sooner or later.
My mom had a heart attack right then and there, and she was gone before the ambulance even arrived.
That woman just stood at the door, a smug smile on her face, like she'd just won the game.
From that day on, I learned two things.
First, two-faced schemers were the nastiest creatures on the planet.
Second, when it came to dealing with them, I couldn't afford to go easy.
For eighteen years, I had been honing my skills in spotting and taking down two-faced schemers.
The second woman my dad brought home actually tried to slip me some poison.
So I swapped out all her makeup for allergens, and her face ballooned up for three months straight.
The third woman pretended to be pregnant, hoping to snag a spot in the family.
I brought in a PI and busted her for faking it. She was just hiding a silicone pad in her dress.
The fourth one was all about playing the victim, faking depression just to milk everyone's sympathy.
I "accidentally" switched out her antidepressants for plain old vitamins, and suddenly she was bursting with energy, hitting the mall for luxury handbags.
The fifth one tried to win everyone over by acting like the perfect housewife, hoping to become my stepmom.
I set her up to "accidentally" run into my dad and the sixth woman at a hotel, and she went from sweet to furious in a split second, like she was starring in her own drama.
As for number six?
She took off overseas so fast, she never showed her face around here again.
My half-siblings? Oh, they all got schooled by me, no exceptions.
Trying to steal my brother's inheritance?
Good luck getting past my "two-faced schemer defense system."
My home was finally drama-free. No two-faced schemer would dare pop up anywhere around here.
I even found myself missing the thrill of those adrenaline-fueled days.
That was, until my wedding day.
I married Spencer Brooks, the only son of the Brooks family.
The Brooks family was all about culture and education. Giovanni was a university professor, and Joselyn was a piano teacher.
Everything seemed simple and clean, nothing like the mess I grew up in.
The wedding was held at the Hilton, and the place was swarming with guests.
I was wearing a custom-made wedding dress worth a million bucks, with Giovanni on my arm, making my way toward Spencer.
Spencer was rocking a white suit, grinning like a fool.
"You look gorgeous," he whispered.
"You're not so bad yourself," I replied with a smile.
As we exchanged rings, I noticed Joselyn's eyes looked a bit teary.
Giovanni was gently patting her back, being super gentle with her.
They really looked like a loving couple.
The wedding was going perfectly, right up until the toasting ceremony.
That was when a woman in a champagne dress glided into the banquet hall.
She looked about fifty, but honestly, she was stunning for her age, impeccably put together, with that mature kind of allure you just couldn't ignore.
The slit in her qipao was cut just right, elegant, but with just enough of a tease to turn heads.
She headed straight for the main table without missing a beat.
"Giovanni, congratulations," she said.
Her voice was dripping with honey, velvety and almost cloyingly sweet.
Giovanni froze on the spot.
His wine glass trembled in his hand, and a splash of red wine stained the white tablecloth.
"Zoe? What are you doing here?" Giovanni blurted out.
"Come on, how could I possibly skip my old classmate's son's wedding?" Zoe said.
Then she shot a look right at Joselyn.
"Joselyn, it's been ages, and you're still exactly the same," she added.
That was a pretty slick line.
Depending on how you took it, she was either saying Joselyn hadn't aged a day, or that she hadn't matured one bit.
Joselyn's face drained of all color in an instant.
Her hands quivered, barely able to hold steady.
"Zoe, thank you for coming," Joselyn managed.
She sounded so timid, it was like she wished she could disappear right then and there.
Zoe slipped a gift envelope from her purse.
"Just a little something for the newlyweds. Wishing you a long and happy marriage," she said.
As she handed the gift to Spencer, her fingers just happened to graze the back of his hand.
I narrowed my eyes.