Chapter 1
My husband, Michael Grant, was desperate to divorce me because the woman he truly loved was about to have his baby.
He filed for divorce on the grounds that our marriage had broken down beyond repair.
In court, he presented one piece of evidence after another.
We had slept in separate rooms for a year.
We had always kept our finances completely separate.
And, most importantly, he claimed that I had driven him into depression, and that if we didn't divorce, he would die.
When it was finally my turn to present my case, my lawyer was frantically preparing our evidence while I managed to turn everything around with just one sentence.
"Your Honor, I still love him," I said.
Michael's eyes went wide. "What the hell are you talking about? I cheated on you!"
I looked at him calmly. "It's okay. I can forgive you. The cheating doesn't matter as long as you're willing to come home."
Michael was yelling.
I wiped away my tears. "My love for you is my business. It has nothing to do with you, so you don't have to respond."
He was completely stunned. Even the judge was so moved by my declaration of love that he denied our divorce.
Meanwhile, the mistress was about to give birth.
*****
The court tossed out Michael's divorce petition, ruling that our marriage wasn't completely broken.
The moment the hearing ended, my lawyer and I high-fived.
Michael shot me a look I couldn't quite read.
But it definitely wasn't love.
He probably never imagined I'd dig my heels in so hard and wreck his dream of happily ever after with his soulmate.
He gave me a dirty look, didn't bother to throw any insults my way, and rushed out like he couldn't get away fast enough.
I grabbed the hand of my lawyer, Emily Jameson.
We exchanged a look.
"Olivia's had the baby," I said.
Our hearts were pounding, our hands shaking. This was the moment we'd been waiting for.
Now that Olivia had given birth, Michael was even more desperate to get rid of me.
But I wasn't letting go. I was dragging it out.
Either he'd break up with Olivia and come crawling back home, totally stuck with me, or he'd have to pay me a hefty divorce settlement.
Or he'd have to pay me a hefty divorce settlement.
But given how crazy he was about Olivia, the second option was way more likely.
That was exactly what Emily, and I were hoping for.
And we even had a best-case scenario in mind.
If Michael tried to calm Olivia down by putting on a fake wedding or playing house with her and calling themselves husband and wife, I could bust him for bigamy.
But pulling this off would be tough, unless they were head over heels for each other.
At that moment, I really wished they were crazy in love, so wild about each other they'd throw caution to the wind.
That way, I could snag all of Michael's assets and make a clean break.
Thinking about it, I let out a long sigh. "If only Michael was the kind of guy who'd risk it all for love."
Emily glanced at the case file and said, "If you keep wishing for it, maybe it'll come true."
We both couldn't help but laugh.
I looked at Emily. "Did you find out where Olivia had the baby?"
"Yeah, that super expensive private hospital downtown."
I couldn't help but snort.
Michael, who was always tightfisted with me, himself, and even his own parents, actually blew 30 thousand dollars a night so Olivia could stay in a fancy private hospital. Unbelievable.
Ever since he met his true love, the first thing he did was move out of our bedroom.
Then he insisted on splitting everything down the middle. Every dollar he made went straight to Olivia, not a cent for me.
Once Olivia got pregnant, Michael was nagging me for a divorce every other day. I'd seen at least seven or eight different divorce papers from him.
He even begged me to let him go.
He kept saying he had to make Olivia his wife.
But I wouldn't let him go.
It was not like I was the one with a kid on the side, so why should I be in a hurry?
By the time Olivia was in her third trimester, Michael was so desperate he had no choice but to file for divorce.
He thought he had it all figured out with his lawyer.
But he never saw my bombshell speech in court coming.
Honestly, just thinking about it made me feel so damn satisfied.
He totally got screwed over and couldn't do a thing about it.
*****
But that still didn't make up for all the crap I'd had to put up with these past few years.
Now that I'd decided to go all out, this was just the warm-up.
I sent Emily the money right away.
"Emily, we're just getting started. Remember what our endgame is," I said.
Emily grinned. "Make that scumbag pay until he's broke."
I nodded in agreement.
Once I found out which hospital Olivia gave birth in, when, and which postpartum center she was heading to, I started making my move.
I went to a candy shop and bought candy.
Then I bought put the candy into a pretty gift box.
On the very first day Olivia checked into that postpartum center, I showed up at her door.
When I arrived, Olivia was outside, holding her baby and making breast milk soap.
She was chatting with the other women, glowing with happiness and looking full of life.
"Your husband is so sweet, coming to see you every day. Mine just left me here and never bothers," one of the other moms said, clearly envious.
Olivia was rocking the stroller with one hand, holding the soap with the other, all while putting on this fake helpless act.
She sighed dramatically, "Honestly, I keep telling him I can handle everything myself. He doesn't need to come every single day, but he can't stop fussing over me."
As she spoke, she made sure to show off her massive diamond ring, flashing it around for everyone to see.
"He insisted on buying me something so expensive. I mean, after I lose the baby weight, I might not be able to wear it. He's so wasteful," she added.
She stretched out her hand, making sure everyone got a good look at the ring.
Honestly, she was practically waving it in front of everyone, like she wanted to make sure not a single person missed it.
The moms at the postpartum center all came from money, so they could see right through Olivia's flaunting.
But these women weren't born yesterday. Spotting her designer outfits and flashy jewelry, they figured getting in good with Olivia might give their husbands a leg up in business someday.
So everyone was busy buttering her up.
"Oh, you're so lucky. If my husband was as attentive and generous as yours, I'd probably have a whole bunch of kids for him," one of the moms said.
"Olivia, what does your husband do again? I remember you mentioned he works at Summit Financial Group, right? My husband's in the same line. Maybe we can set up a chat for them sometime?" another mom chimed in.
Olivia smiled and nodded.
Then she suddenly looked up and saw me.
I was holding a giftbox full of candy, with two bodyguards standing behind me.
As soon as our eyes met, she seemed to realize something and jumped up, trying to make a run for it.
I walked over and grabbed her, holding her in place.
"What's wrong?" I asked. "Don't you recognize me? "Where do you think you're going?"
Olivia kept her mouth shut, quietly slipping the ring off her finger and tucking it into her purse.
I reached out and grabbed her wrist, stopping her cold.
I said, "Wait a second. Isn't that the ring Michael gave me when we got married? No wonder I couldn't find it lately. So that's where it's been, huh? With you."
The shrewd women who'd been buttering Olivia up all went quiet, their eyes fixed on me.
Most of their families had dealt with mistresses before, or at least witnessed the drama firsthand. They were no strangers to this kind of scene.
Suddenly, their faces shifted.
I flashed them a smile. "Hey everyone, I'm Michael Grant's wife from Summit Financial Group. And this is Olivia Reed, my husband's true love. She just had his baby, so I'm here to celebrate. Come on, grab a candy and get in on the fun."
With that, I started handing out the candy.
A few of the quicker ones ate their candy right away.
"This tasted awful，" one of them blurted out.
They all looked at me, and I smiled. "Yep, because it's to celebrate the side chick's baby, after all."
As soon as I said that, a few people let out quiet, barely noticeable snickers.