Chapter 1

My 35th birthday was the most messed-up birthday of my entire life.

Normally, my son Henry Palmer was this ice prince who couldn't be bothered with me. But that day, I watched him get all sweet and call Sophie Grant "Mom" for like the seventeenth time.

And Sophie was just some broke college girl my husband Edward Palmer was helping through school.

Edward just laughed, running his mouth right in my face. "Sophie's gorgeous, and she's sweet. Henry likes her, and so do I.

"Nothing like you, Claire. You're old, and you have always had a bad temper."

I didn't give him a word. I went online and booked a flight out of the country.

Later on, Edward saw the divorce papers and the contract to get my patents back, all sitting in my lawyer's hands.

The veins on his forehead bulged.

He tried to backpedal. "I was just joking. Are you going to be this cruel? Henry is still waiting for you to show up to his graduation!"

I scoffed and shot back, "Didn't sound like a joke to me. Whoever Henry calls 'Mom' can go instead. I don't even want custody."

After that, I blocked Edward on everything. I didn't think twice.

My husband called me old in front of everyone. My ungrateful brat of a son called another woman "Mom". Fine by me. I was done with both of them.

*****

Henry and Edward were throwing me this big birthday dinner, so I blew off a multi-million dollar contract and rushed right over.

I got there and saw the cake was already cut. Henry was handing the biggest slice to Sophie, who was sitting there wearing a birthday crown.

Edward was busy snapping pictures of the two of them. He didn't even see me walk in.

A waiter walked over to me.

He pointed at Sophie and said, "Ma'am? Mrs. Palmer is celebrating her birthday with us tonight, and Mr. Palmer is covering the whole party. You can find your seat over there."

My throat went dry. I barely croaked, "Mrs. Palmer?"

Only then did Edward finally look over and see me.

Sophie gave me this fake, "oops" smile, all while snuggling right up against Edward's side.

She said, "Claire, this was all supposed to be for your birthday. But then Mr. Palmer found out it's my birthday today too, so he insisted I cut the cake.

"It's all my fault for chattering on. Please, don't be mad at him."

Before I could even open my mouth, Edward scoffed.

"Sophie, come on," he said. "You're family to us, you know. Stop talking like you're an outsider. What's the big deal? Someone had to cut the cake."

Henry finally sensed something was wrong and looked up.

My son had always been a total ice prince. That was the first time in my life I had ever heard him use that sweet, whiny voice.

He was saying, "Mom, what's going on? My friends are waiting to..."

The moment his eyes hit me, that sweet voice cut off flat.

He just stared at me and said, "What are you doing here?"

And just like that, the cold, distant Henry was back.

It felt like the air got punched out of my lungs.

Henry had always been cold.

His whole life, he'd never been even remotely nice to me, not even when he wanted money.

The only exception was when he wanted to make fun of my accent.

When I heard Henry had convinced Edward to throw me a birthday party, I actually thought my son was finally turning a new leaf. That was why I dropped everything and rushed over.

But now, seeing all this, I just felt empty inside.

My hands were cold and numb. I couldn't get a single word out.

Edward laughed, trying to brush the whole thing off. "Sophie, why don't you and Henry go back to your mobile game?"

Then, he turned to me.

"Claire, relax," he said. "Henry's just glued to his game. He misspoke.

"And honestly, Sophie's gorgeous, and she's sweet. It's normal for Henry to like her. Hell, I like her, too."

My head snapped up. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Edward, completely unfazed, just held out an invitation as if nothing had happened.

"It's the invitation for Henry's graduation," he said. "He wants to take Sophie.

"Look, Henry put a lot of work into this party for you, so just let him have this one thing, okay?"

"Besides, you're slammed with work, right? This works out perfectly. You don't even have to take the day off."

Just then, our friends started to arrive, walking right into this.

But Sophie just sidled up, clinging to Edward's arm.

"Oh, Mr. Palmer," she cooed, "I couldn't possibly go to Henry's graduation. It's just not my place. Please don't make me."

Henry stepped in front of her, like a bodyguard, and shot me a look.

He said, "What's the big deal, Sophie? She's busy with work. It'd be a big help to her if you went instead."

Before I could get a word out, Sophie looked down, pinching the fabric of her skirt like she was so conflicted.

"Henry, my clothes look... cheap, " she whispered. "I'll embarrass you if I show up."

Edward chuckled and slid a small jewelry box across the table.

"Don't be silly," he said. "Here, put this on. And tomorrow, I'll take you shopping for a whole new wardrobe."

She opened the box, and inside was a massive pink diamond ring.

I heard people all around us gasping with envy.

Edward looked right at me.

"Claire, that was actually your birthday present," he said, his voice casual. "But... Well, Sophie clearly needs it more. I'll get you something even better next time, I promise.

"It's all for Henry, right? So he's happy."

Sophie held the ring up, admiring it in the light. The look she shot me was pure, smug triumph.

"You know, Claire," she said, her voice dripping with fake sugar, "this pink diamond would look perfect with that bracelet you're wearing. Why don't you let me borrow it? So I can at least look the part."

I stared straight ahead, my face like stone. I wouldn't even look at her.

"Claire Bennett, what's wrong with you? Sophie's talking to you," Edward snapped, his voice sharp with annoyance.

Henry scowled. And without a word, he grabbed my arm and tore the bracelet right off my wrist.

A sharp pain shot through my wrist, and I was shaking all over as I tried to stop him.

My wrist was burning. I was trembling, trying to fight him. "Henry, stop! Your grandmother gave that to me. It's the Palmer family heirloom—it's for the daughter-in-law."

"It's the 21st century. Who gives a damn about heirlooms?" Edward spat, his voice cold. "Someone's gonna wear it."

He grabbed my shoulders and shoved me down hard against the table.

He wasn't finished. "Claire, if you weren't such an embarrassment, do you really think Henry would need to find someone else to play his mom at graduation?"

Sophie slipped on my bracelet and cut in with a sickeningly sweet voice. Edward's dark scowl vanished the second he looked at her, replaced by a warm smile.

"Mr. Palmer," she purred, "don't be mad at Claire. She's only this upset because she cares about you so much."

Then, she turned to me. "Claire, I promise I'll take good care of Henry. I'll treat him like he's my own son."

She stood there, all bright and smug, wearing the ring and bracelet that were supposed to be mine.

I had cake frosting smeared on my face. My collar was ripped open from the struggle. I was a total wreck.

All our friends were looking at each other, completely lost. They were forcing tight, awkward smiles.

Edward got up to make the rounds, but he ended up disappearing for a solid half hour.

When he came back, his lips were red and kiss-swollen, and I saw a bright smear of lipstick on his collar.

Sophie was trailing right behind him, her hair a mess and her clothes all rumpled.

He sat down and tried to slide his arm around my waist. I flinched away.

He froze for a second, then reached out and gently took my hand.

"Claire," he said, his voice low and reasonable. "Look, I know that bracelet meant a lot. It was wrong of us to take it, okay?

"But Henry's graduation is just a couple of days away. We don't have time to go pick out new jewelry for Sophie.

"Sophie and I are just trying to put Henry first. You're his mother. Why are you making this so difficult? Can't you just be the bigger person for him?"

Behind me, I could hear Henry and Sophie laughing and fooling around about something.

I just sat there, silently counting every time he called Sophie "Mom."

I stopped counting at seventeen.

It hit me that seventeen was probably the total number of times he'd called me "Mom" his entire life.

In that second, the last bit of fight in me dissolved. I felt completely hollow.

"Edward, I want a divorce," I said, my voice flat. "You keep Henry."