Chapter 1

When I married Bentley, the Gordon family had just gone bankrupt.

For him, I worked my ass off during the day and spent my nights running a street stall.

I never once regretted it because I believed that better days were coming.

Yesterday, Bentley's company went public. We hugged and cried, thinking our hardships were finally over.

But today, I froze in front of my little food cart, staring at my phone as the trending livestream flashed across the screen:

Bentley, in a crisp suit, confidently telling reporters how he single-handedly fulfilled the family's wager agreement and was about to take over as CEO of the family conglomerate.

And standing beside him was Mollie Roberts, the "junior" Bentley claimed had worked alongside him for years.

*****

I drifted home in a daze.

My seven-year-old son was messing around on a custom piano, and when he heard me come in, he turned and gave me a frosty stare.

"Mom, you really have no shame. You'll do anything for money," Stephen Gordon said. "Dad already told me everything. You failed, so you can't come back to the Gordon family with us."

The son who used to cling to me and beg for attention was now looking at me like I was a total stranger, saying words that felt like knives to my heart.

But then he turned back to the piano, handling it with care, as if it was his most treasured possession.

I'd scrimped and saved for a whole year, just to get that custom piano made for him.

It all felt so absurd.

"Stephen, what did you just say?" I managed.

I could hardly believe how shaky and raw my own voice sounded.

Stephen just gave me a cold, dismissive look. "I said you have no shame. All you care about is money!

"All my friends' moms are well-groomed, stylish, and always smell amazing. But you? You're out there selling food outside my school after work. It's humiliating, and you always smell like cooking oil. It's honestly gross!

"Dad said Mrs. Gordon could never be someone as sloppy and greedy as you. I don't want a mom who's so shameless!"

The room was dead silent, except for the soft, random notes of the piano.

I stood there, my blood running cold, my body frozen stiff.

For eight years, I put my pride aside and braved the shame of selling food on the street, working myself to the bone just to keep us afloat.

I scrimped on everything, even new clothes and makeup, so I could save every last cent. No matter how exhausted I was, I never complained to them, not once.

All that effort, all those sacrifices... and in the end, I was left with nothing but helplessness.

And yet, in their eyes, all they saw was someone "sloppy," "money-hungry," and "shameless."

Anger and disappointment crashed over me all at once.

I took a few steps forward, reaching out to grab Stephen's little hands that were making all that racket on the piano keys.

But he shoved me away, hard.

"Don't you dare touch my piano! If you break it, even if you worked your food stall for a whole month, you still couldn't afford to fix it!" he snapped.

His piano? Did he even know that I saved up for this piano, bit by bit, selling those egg wraps he always looked down on?

I'd only managed to pay off the final payment today.

I took a deep breath, hoping to have a real conversation with him.

But before I could even start, all I felt was bone-deep exhaustion.

Forget it. Why waste energy arguing with a kid?

The one who really owes me an explanation is the person who turned my whole life upside down.

Just then, my phone started ringing.

"Darling." I stared at the name on the screen, and suddenly it felt like a stranger was calling me.

Bentley's voice came through, cold and emotionless, like a barrage of icy rain.

"You saw the news, right?" he said. "The divorce papers are in the study. Sign them. Mollie will come by to pick them up soon. And you should start packing. This place isn't your home anymore."

He was about to keep ordering me around, acting all high and mighty.

But I cut him off before he could say another word. "Don't you owe me an explanation?"

He paused for a moment, then gave a mocking laugh. "Anastasia Harvey, have you been running that food stall so long you've lost your mind? Let me spell it out for you.

"Everything that happened before was just part of a challenge I made with my family. If I could start a family and build a business on my own, without any help from them, I'd be appointed CEO of the Gordon Group.

"You were just cast as my 'wife' for this challenge, and because you were so undignified, the Gordon Group's assessment team all agreed you weren't good enough. From now on, you have nothing to do with the Gordon Group."

At this point, his harsh tone suddenly mellowed out. "As for Mollie, she's the ideal future Mrs. Gordon Group, my true wife from now on."

After that whole speech of his, his words made me so sick I was literally speechless.

"Undignified? Funny how you didn't mind being 'undignified' when you took the startup money I scraped together for you, huh?" I finally shot back.