Chapter 1

I was pregnant, but so was my husband's mistress. And she was carrying twins, a boy and a girl.

My mother-in-law, Margaret Shaw, threw a check for one billion dollars at me. "Take the money and get lost. Don't get in the way of me holding my twin grandchildren."

I calmly signed the divorce agreement.

They thought I was walking away with nothing, the biggest loser in this whole mess.

But on the day my ex-husband got remarried, I sent four paternity test results from Capitol City.

*****

I was pregnant.

After three years of marriage, Charles Grant and I were finally going to have a child of our own.

As the car pulled out of the hospital, the sunlight outside was almost blinding, but somehow, the whole world felt gentle and warm.

But the moment I pushed open the door to our home, that gentle illusion was shattered.

Charles's mom Margaret was seated at the head of the sofa, her face dark and stormy.

Charles sat at her side, in a lower seat, his head bowed, expression hidden from view.

My heart sank.

"Margaret, Charles, what's wrong?" I asked as I changed my shoes.

Margaret glanced up at me.

"You're back just in time, Sophia," she said, her voice icy and devoid of warmth.

"Let's talk."

Charles kept his head down.

I gripped the pregnancy test results so tightly that the sharp corners bit into my palm, sending a dull ache through my hand.

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked.

Margaret grabbed another document from under the coffee table and threw it onto the table in front of me.

It was an ultrasound report, and right there for everyone to see were two tiny gestational sacs.

My eyes widened in shock.

"She's pregnant," Margaret said, her voice dripping with cruel satisfaction.

"Twins, a boy and a girl."

She?

Who?

My mind went completely blank, like I'd been hit by a bolt of lightning. All my thoughts just vanished.

I looked at Charles, desperately searching his face for any sign of denial or guilt.

But he just bowed his head even lower, his silence saying everything.

A woman I'd never even seen before was pregnant with his twin boy and girl.

I felt my blood run cold, starting from my fingertips and spreading through my whole body.

All those nights he came home late, the shirts that smelled of strange perfume, the calls I couldn't explain, now I finally knew why.

I was such a fool.

"Sophia, the Grant family can't go without an heir, especially with such a lucky omen," Margaret's voice cut through my thoughts, dragging me back from the depths of despair.

She pulled out a check and a document from her purse, then slid them over to me.

It was the divorce agreement.

"This check is for one billion dollars. It's more than enough to keep you comfortable for the rest of your life," she said.

Her tone was like she was dismissing a beggar, or just conducting a cold business transaction.

"Sign the papers, take the money, and get lost," she said.

"Don't get in the way of me holding my twin grandchildren."

One billion dollars.

Get lost.

Twin grandchildren.

Every single word was like a poisoned blade, stabbing straight into my heart.

I stared at the long string of zeros on that check, and the irony of it all hit me like a punch to the gut.

Three years of marriage, three years of love, and in the end, it was all worth nothing but a cold string of numbers.

I looked at Charles, slow and steady.

"Is this what you want too?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, but every word carried the weight of the world.

He finally looked up, but his eyes darted away, unable to meet mine.

"Sophia, Mom's just thinking about what's best for the Grant family," he said.

"Let's just part ways peacefully."

What a joke. For the Grant family's sake.

And "part ways peacefully"?

He couldn't even bring himself to say sorry.

I almost laughed at myself; at how naive and foolish I'd been.

All those sweet words, all those tender nights together, now it all just felt like one big joke.

It turned out, as his so-called wife, I was just someone to help him please his mother and secure his spot in the family.

Once he had his golden goose, I was just the useless one taking up space, so of course I was the one getting kicked to the curb.

Margaret's patience was wearing thin as I just stood there, not moving.

She snapped, "Sophia, don't act like you don't know what's good for you. With your family background, marrying into the Grant family was the best thing that could ever happen to you.

"You haven't even managed to get pregnant all these years. I've been sick of you for a long time.

"Now that someone else can give the Grant family twins, you're just sitting here doing nothing, like a useless placeholder. What's the point of you?

"And honestly, even if you are pregnant, I bet it's just some useless one anyway."

Her words were like filthy sewage, splashed right in my face.

The pregnancy test results in my hand were damp with sweat, crumpled and wrinkled from how tightly I'd been holding them.

I gently placed a hand on my still-flat stomach.

A tiny life was quietly taking root inside me.

It was my child.

I couldn't let myself fall apart.

I couldn't let my child see me like this, so broken and defeated.

A strange strength rose up from deep inside me, keeping me from falling apart.

I forced my tears back, clamping down on the hatred and despair churning in my chest.

I lifted my head, meeting Margaret's scornful gaze, then shot a glance at Charles, who still couldn't bring himself to look at me.

This man, this family, they were nothing but a gilded cage. I used to think this was where I belonged, but now I realized I was just their caged canary, kept around for show.

And now they didn't even want me in their gilded cage anymore.

Alright then.

I slowly unclenched my fist and slipped the crumpled pregnancy test results into my pocket.

Then I picked up the pen from the table.

The sound of the pen hitting the paper was especially clear in the dead-silent living room.

I signed my name, stroke by stroke, calm and steady.

Sophia Bennett.