Chapter 1

Everyone in my social circle knew I was a professional gold digger. I married Sean Howard for his money, plain and simple.

To him, I was just a convenient stand-in. To me, he was a walking ATM.

So, when his one true love, his stepsister, Emily Grant, finally returned from abroad, I knew my cue. I was supposed to step aside gracefully. But suddenly, I realized I didn't really want to let go.

After all, a sugar daddy who is both drop-dead gorgeous and insanely generous is hard to find.

Just as I was mentally drafting a shameless, tear-jerking speech to beg him to let me stay, I walked into our bedroom and caught Sean doing the unthinkable.

To appease Emily, he was using a tool to physically pry the main gemstone out of my mother's ring, the only keepsake I had left of her.

Sean caught the sudden shift in my expression. Clearly annoyed by the incoming drama, he whipped out his checkbook.

"Just name your price," he said coldly. "I'll pay you double."

When I stared into his indifferent eyes, reality slapped me awake.

"Fuck the feelings. Get your money up," I murmured.

I immediately tilted my head up, flashing him a cheeky grin.

"Make it triple. Deal?"

*****

Sean froze, clearly caught off guard.

Then, as if this merely confirmed everything he already believed about me, he let out a scoffing laugh and shook his head.

With a sharp flick of his expensive pen, he scrawled an even longer string of numbers across the checkbook, ripped it off with a crisp tear, and held it out to me.

"Two million dollars," Sean said flatly. "That battered old ring of yours is worth maybe two hundred grand at best. I'm giving you ten times its value. Is that enough?"

I had only ever seen that many zeros on a Monopoly board.

As I snatched the check from his fingers, my eyes crinkled into delighted little crescents.

"Enough! More than enough!"

Seeing me absolutely beaming, Emily stood off to the side, her fingers tightly clutching the old gem Sean had just pried out for her. She looked like she had swallowed a lemon.

This was not the reaction she had scripted in her head. She had come over today specifically to make me miserable.

She purposely gushed over how "pretty" the stone on my dressing table was, fully knowing Sean would rip it out of its setting just to make her smile.

She had fully expected me to walk in, catch them red-handed, and go completely ballistic like a bitter, hysterical wife. That way, she could play the fragile, terrified victim, making Sean despise me enough to finally kick me to the curb.

But Emily never anticipated that I could be bought off so easily.

Furious that her plan had backfired, she raised her voice, pointing an accusing finger at me.

"Anna Sanders, are you seriously this money-hungry?

"The housekeeper said that ring was your dead mother's only memento! If you can be this heartless about your own parents, how much could you possibly care about Sean? As for this cheap piece of trash..." Emily yelled, throwing her arm out. "Take it back!

"I wouldn't be caught dead touching something that belongs to a person like you. It's disgusting!"

The gemstone hit the floor by my feet, rolling a few times and picking up a web of tiny scratches.

Sean watched Emily's overly dramatic outburst, a barely noticeable frown touching his brow.

I didn't get mad. Instead, I calmly bent down, scooped the stone off the floor, and blew the dust off it.

"Ms. Grant," I said slowly, "there is one detail the housekeeper, Mary Watson, probably forgot to mention.

"The mother who gave me this was a child trafficker. And the very first kid she ever sold? That was me. Years later, when she saw I had finally made something of myself, she tried to sink her claws back into me.

"She spent a fortune buying this ring, begging me to acknowledge her as my mother again.

"I told her to go to hell, and then I called the cops. She was sentenced to death and executed years ago."

I slipped the scratched gemstone into my pocket and shot Emily a bright smile.

"So, trading a piece of garbage like that for two million dollars? That is the deal of a lifetime! But hey, since you don't want the stone either, I guess I just get to keep everything!

"Thanks so much, Ms. Grant!"

Emily choked, and her face turned a mottled shade of red.

I was absolutely living for her frustration, so I leaned fully into my role as the lady of the house to twist the knife.

"Ms. Grant, you just flew in today. You must be dealing with terrible jet lag. I had the staff prepare the guest bedroom for you. You should really go get some beauty sleep."

Then, I turned to Sean, letting my gaze drop to his lips before looking up through my lashes. My voice dropped to a sultry purr.

"Well, honey, I'm going to head back to our room.

"I'll be waiting for you in the master suite."

As I turned on my heel, I could practically hear Emily grinding her teeth into powder behind me.

Whatever.

I was a professional gold digger.

Her little tricks shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as my profession.