Chapter 1

I had been divorced for four days when my ex-husband, Adam Harris, showed up at my five-million-dollar mansion with eleven members of his extended family.

They thought I had left with nothing and would be begging and crying.

I stood at the entrance, watching their smug, arrogant expressions.

Adam took out a key and was about to unlock the door.

But the door slowly opened on its own. It was neither him nor me.

In an instant, all twelve of them froze. What they saw was a house full of police officers.

*****

Cold white light poured out from inside, casting a lifeless glow over every greedy face at the door.

Adam's hand with the key stopped midair. His confident smirk froze and turned into a ridiculous look of shock.

His mother, Mary Harris, still had her mouth open. The victory speech she had been ready to deliver got stuck in her throat and came out as a strangled, broken sound instead.

Behind them, the so-called relatives, uncles, aunts, cousins, and nieces, all the people who had come to enjoy my downfall, now looked completely hollow, as if all expression had been drained from their faces.

The air went completely silent.

The lead officer, Frank Miller, scanned the group of uninvited guests with a sharp gaze and asked in a steady voice, "Who called the police?"

"I did," I said, stepping out from behind them. My voice was quiet, but clear enough to be heard by everyone.

All eyes immediately turned to me, filled with shock, resentment, and confusion all at once.

Adam's lips trembled as if he wanted to speak, but no words came out.

Mary was the first to break the silence. She slipped straight into her usual tantrum.

"Officers, arrest her."

She dropped her weight as if to sit on the floor, but a young officer beside her reacted quickly and grabbed her arm, stopping her mid-motion.

"Don't move. If you have something to say, say it properly."

Mary flailed her arms wildly in the air, her shrill voice cutting through the quiet hallway.

"This is my son's house, my son's property.

"That shameless woman divorced my son, and now she wants to take everything for herself.

"We, the Harris family, came here to take back what belongs to us. That's only right.

"And she actually called the police on us. Where's the justice in that?"

Her wailing echoed down the corridor, and doors along the hallway began to crack open. Countless eyes watched from the shadows.

I felt my blood turn cold, inch by inch, as the last trace of warmth inside me was drained by her disgraceful performance.

"Ms. Harris."

I spoke, cutting her off.

"Are you certain this is your son's house?"

My calm tone only seemed to provoke her further.

"Of course I am. My son worked his ass off to buy this place. His name is on it. And you, you ungrateful woman, still trying to deny it?"

As soon as she finished, I took a document folder out of my bag, moving without haste.

I pulled out the deed and held it up for Frank to see.

"Officer, this is the deed. The registered owner is me, Emily Lane.

"This is my premarital property, purchased in full. I have bank records to prove it."

Then I took out another document.

"This is the divorce agreement between Mr. Harris and me. It clearly states that all premarital assets remain with their original owners. He voluntarily gave up any claim to division and left the marriage with nothing."

My voice, steady behind my thin-rimmed glasses, sounded even colder and sharper.

Frank took the documents, checked them carefully, then looked at Adam with a probing gaze.

Adam's face shifted from red to pale, then from pale to ashen.

His throat bobbed, but he could not get a single word out.

Mary still refused to back down.

"Fake. It has to be fake. How could a woman like her afford a house like this?

"Officers, don't believe her."

I looked at her coldly.

"Whether I can afford this house has nothing to do with you.

"But you and your son brought all these people here and tried to force your way into my private residence. That is already a violation of the law."

Frank's expression turned serious.

"What you are doing constitutes unlawful trespass and disturbing public order.

"Leave immediately, or we will proceed with arrests.

"Everyone, take out your identification. We need to register your information."

The word "arrest" hit Mary and the group she had brought like a bucket of ice water.

They finally realized this was not a family argument at home. The police were not going to smooth things over.

Under the mixed looks of sympathy and disdain from the neighbors, the entire family slunk away like beaten dogs, escorted out of the complex by the officers.

Even at the entrance, Mary was still unwilling to let it go. She turned back and pointed in my direction, shouting insults.

"Emily, you bring nothing but bad luck. You ungrateful wretch.

"Our Harris family supported you for three years, and you could not even give us a child.

"No wonder my son divorced you. A woman like you deserves to be alone for the rest of her life.

"You will get what is coming to you."

Her sharp, venomous curses cut through the air and drove straight into my ears.

I shut the door, sealing off the noise and the watching eyes outside.

The spine I had kept rigid until now suddenly gave way.

Leaning against the cold door, my body began to tremble uncontrollably, and a chill rose from my feet all the way to the top of my head.

Three years.

For three years, I spun through this house like a top.

I handled every chore and took care of the daily needs of his entire family.

Starting from the second month of our marriage, my salary card was in Mary's hands, under the pretense that she was "helping me save money."

When Adam's brother, Jacob Harris, wanted to buy a car, Adam broke into my drawer in the middle of the night and stole the hundred thousand dollars I had set aside for my father, Robert Lane's surgery.

That was the last straw.

I asked for a divorce.

Adam dropped to his knees and begged me, slapping himself and saying he had only made a momentary mistake.

Mary pointed at me and scolded me for being unreasonable, saying, "We're family. Why are you drawing lines between us?"

I looked at their ugly expressions and felt wave after wave of nausea.

The living room felt hollow, filled only with the sound of my own breathing.

I raised my head and looked at the expensive crystal chandelier on the ceiling, the one I had chosen myself.

Tears finally slipped down, carrying all the grief and anger I had held inside.

But the dampness faded quickly.

I slowly straightened up and walked to the window, looking down at the group still lingering below.

The emotions in my eyes shifted, the initial grief and fury gradually cooling, settling into a cold, unyielding stillness.

Adam. Mary.

You think this is the end?

No.

This is only the beginning.