Chapter 1
That night, my son spiked a high fever when my husband was at his first love's daughter's birthday party.
The next day, I calmly asked for a divorce.
He frowned. "You're really doing this over nothing?
"Fine—but you leave with nothing."
I replied just as calmly, "Okay."
*****
Lucas Grant looked up at me, caught off guard by how quickly I agreed.
"Rachel, are you sure? Walking away with nothing means no money, no house—and no custody of our son."
His eyes were cold. His words, colder.
"I know," I said. "Let's just get it done."
My calm clearly pissed him off, but he didn't try to change my mind. "Courthouse. Tomorrow morning. Eight o'clock."
Getting married had been a rollercoaster. Getting divorced was a breeze.
I stared at the papers in my hand and posted: [Happy divorce!]
Lots of people liked it—including Lucas' first love, Vivian Summers.
When I went back for my things, I heard Lucas and Vivian talking.
She kept apologizing, saying it was her fault for calling a married man.
Lucas brushed it off. "It's not on you. Don't let it get to you."
When I walked in, Vivian's eyes widened for a second before she smiled. "Rachel, you're back. Let me make you dinner."
Lucas didn't even look up from his paperwork.
My gaze was sharp as I said, "We're not close, so it's Ms. Evans. And just because Lucas and I are divorced doesn't give you the right to play house here.
"If you want my spot, you'd better marry him first.
"But let's be honest, the Grant family will never accept you."
As soon as I finished, Vivian went pale.
No wonder she'd been the most popular girl back in college. Even now, she still had that delicate, damsel-in-distress thing going on.
Vivian flinched. "Ms. Evans, I think you misunderstood—"
I waved her off. "You know what you meant."
Lucas frowned. "Rachel, this has nothing to do with Vivian. Don't be so harsh on her."
I couldn't help but smirk.
Lucas and Vivian had been the golden couple in college—everyone knew them.
When some guys harassed Vivian, Lucas hunted them down that same night and beat them bloody.
Later, they ambushed him and tried to run him over.
Lucas spent a year in the hospital recovering.
After that, the Grant family wanted nothing to do with Vivian.
While Lucas was still laid up, Vivian married some school bully who'd been obsessed with her. They had a daughter together.
For seven years, she put up with him beating her every other day. Finally, she filed for divorce.
But his family had connections, and a year later, the divorce still hadn't gone through.
That's when she came back to Lucas.
The first time Vivian called happened to be our son Andy's birthday.
Lucas told him, "Andy, wait for me. Dad will be back to cut the cake, I promise."
Because of that promise, Andy sat at the table all night.
Every time he heard a noise at the door, his head would snap up, eyes bright with hope—only to slump in disappointment when it wasn't his dad.
Once it started, it never stopped.
Ever since Vivian came back, Lucas had kept breaking his promises to Andy.
He'd promised to take Andy to the amusement park that weekend, but when Vivian called, he just ruffled Andy's hair and walked out.
The summer trip he'd promised? Canceled the second Vivian needed him.
He even said he'd go to Andy's parent-teacher meeting, but thanks to Vivian, Andy got humiliated in front of his entire class.
I argued. I fought. Nothing worked.
If anything, it just pushed Lucas further away.
Lucas' mom came to me. "Lucas is a good man. He'd never do anything to hurt you or Andy. As long as you're his wife, he'll never abandon you."
I nodded. She was right. That was one of the reasons I gave up custody.
Lucas could walk away guilt-free because he knew I'd always be there for our son.
But now that I was gone? Could he still drop everything for Vivian without a second thought?
Three days later, the internet exploded with gossip about a homewrecker crashing the scene and calling out the wife.
Vivian's face was out there, and people who recognized her wasted no time digging up all her dirt.
[Wasn't she the untouchable campus queen? Now she's just a homewrecker.]
[His wife is right here, and this woman's already rushing to fill the role. Shameless!]
[Can't stand these phony bitches. So gross!]
[Homewreckers deserve hell.]
[Agreed.]
[Same.]
The whole internet turned on Vivian.
I figured the backlash would make her lie low, but instead, she finally got her divorce finalized.
Apparently, her ex-husband's family were big shots who couldn't stand being associated with a woman like Vivian anymore. They pushed him to divorce her immediately.
Vivian got greedy and demanded half of everything.
Her ex's family submitted the video I'd posted as evidence in court. The judge ruled she'd committed adultery and ordered her to leave with nothing.
Her ex's family was old-school—obsessed with having sons—so they flat-out refused custody of her daughter Chloe Summers.