Chapter 1

After the banquet for our tenth anniversary ended, Richard Hayes suddenly said, "Let's get divorced." He pointed at the rumpled bed in the master bedroom and smiled cruelly. "She's been sleeping here the last few days. She's so soft and pliant, I ended up catching real feelings."

I collapsed onto the floor, my mind going completely blank from the pain. But Richard still wasn't done twisting the knife. "I finally get Simon now," he said. "Sophia really is a lot more fun than you."

Simon Hart was my first love, long dead, and Sophia Young was my vicious stepsister. Seven years ago, they joined forces and swallowed up my grandfather's inheritance. When I was left out on the streets, Richard was the one who took me in.

But now even he had willingly become that woman's lackey.

"Why?" Why today of all days? Today was the celebration for Richard's company going public, and also the tenth anniversary of the day we met. To get him here, I'd pulled countless all-nighters, drunk myself into gastric bleeding, and played the doormat at one investor dinner after another.

Richard looked down at me and let out a soft laugh. "Is that all it takes to break you?" He picked up the remote and hit play. Surveillance footage from the master bedroom began playing on the TV.

On the screen, Richard had Sophia pinned beneath him. She teased, "Rich, today's your tenth anniversary with my sister. You really want to waste your energy on me?"

"An anniversary doesn't mean shit. When she comes back tonight and sees the bed all messed up, do you think she'll end up on her knees crying like a dog again, just like she did seven years ago?"

Sophia burst into giggles. "I bet she won't even be able to cry. My dear sister is the best at acting all high and mighty. Bet all she'll do is ask you why."

"Sure. If I win, you're putting on that nurse outfit tonight." The video cut off abruptly, and every drop of blood in my body seemed to turn to ice.

Seven years ago, it had been just like this too. My grandfather had just passed away, and I came rushing home from the hospital with red, swollen eyes. The moment I pushed open the door, I saw Simon, the man I'd loved for four years, tangled up with my stepsister Sophia on the couch.

Clothes were scattered all over the floor.

Sophia sat on Simon's lap, shaking with laughter. "Sis, don't look at us like that. Grandpa's will has already been changed. The company and the house are mine now. As for Simon, he thinks I'm way more fun than you. You're so stiff and boring. Who could put up with that?"

That day, I had crumpled to the floor just like this. I cried and asked Simon why. What I got back was his impatient shove, and then I was thrown out of my own home with nothing. At my lowest, Richard found me in the pouring rain and took me home.

He dried my hair and swore, "Claire Lee, as long as I'm here, nobody gets to bully you again." For ten years, I believed him. I worked myself to the bone helping him build his business, dragging a startup on the brink of bankruptcy all the way to an IPO.

I looked at Richard and suddenly let out a sharp, broken laugh. He frowned. "What are you laughing at? Are you crazy?" A flash of disgust crossed his eyes as he yanked open a drawer and flung a thick stack of documents at my face. The top pages read Divorce Agreement and Voluntary Waiver of Equity. "Sign them. Then pack your things and get out."

I didn't even look at the papers. I just stared him straight in the eye. "Richard Hayes, do you even have a heart? The company went public because I landed the first VC round. I practically begged every member of the core tech team to join. And for this family, for you, I even went under the knife and lost part of my reproductive system..."

"And now you're kicking me out with nothing?"

Three years ago, the company was fighting for its life. To land contracts, I drank with clients until my stomach perforated and I ended up with a severe pelvic infection. In the end, one ovary and one fallopian tube had to be removed.

The doctor said it would be very hard for me to ever get pregnant.

Back then, Richard knelt by my hospital bed, crying and slapping himself, saying that even if we never had children, I was the only woman he wanted in this life.

And now? "Don't weaponize the past against me!" Richard kicked over the floor lamp beside him. It crashed with a loud bang, glass shattering across the floor. "You think I'm grateful to you? Claire Lee, I hate that holier-than-thou martyr act of yours, like you gave up everything for me!"

He bore down on me, his eyes bloodshot. "Every time I look at you, I feel like some pathetic kept man. What do people at the company say? They say Mr. Hayes only made it because of his wife. They say without Claire Lee, Richard Hayes would be nobody. I've had enough of that school-disciplinarian act of yours!"

He jabbed a finger at my face, spitting as he shouted, "Look at yourself. No makeup, dressed like some old nun, and all you ever care about is work. Do you even look like a woman anymore? Are you even half as gentle and considerate as Sophia?"

"And most importantly..." Richard lowered his voice, a vicious smile curling across his mouth. "Simon dumped you once already. You're nothing but used goods, somebody else's castoff. I'm worth billions now, so why should I keep trash another man already threw away?"

At last, my tears broke loose. I ground the words out through clenched teeth. "So not only did you cheat on me, you deliberately picked Sophia, the one person who ruined my life back then?"

"Yeah," Richard said without a hint of shame. "If I wanted to disgust you, of course I'd choose the one person who could hurt you the most. Only by grinding you completely under my heel can I feel like I truly beat Simon."

I screamed myself hoarse, "I won't sign! This company is my blood and sweat. I'd rather smash it to pieces and feed it to stray dogs than leave it to the two of you."

"That's not up to you!" Richard seized me by the collar and dragged me toward the door like I was garbage. "Won't sign? Fine. Then get your broke ass out there and beg on the street!"