Chapter 1

My newborn son was kidnapped, and the kidnappers immediately demanded a 3-million ransom.

My husband refused to pay that much to get our son back, yet he gladly spent 15 million to buy a mansion for his first love, Jessica Lane.

Just when I was losing all hope, my husband's rival, Charles Weston, showed up with two large boxes of cash.

He said if I agreed to divorce, he'd help me rescue my son.

I didn't hesitate and regarded him as a savior to me and my son.

But when my son turned three, I saw him calling Jessica "mom."

"Charles, I'm so grateful to you. You've done so much for me and my son. If you hadn't switched the kids, I wouldn't have known what I'd do," said Jessica.

"Jessica, as long as you're happy with him, I'd do anything. But don't spill the beans. If Helen Woods finds out the child isn't hers, she'll make a scene," replied Charles.

It turned out that my savior was the one who kidnapped my son.

Seeing the happy family nearby, I didn't hesitate to call the kidnapper.

I asked, "I've got a lucrative job for you. Are you interested?"

*****

After watching Jessica walk away with her son, Charles's assistant finally stepped over.

He asked, "Mr. Weston, tomorrow is the anniversary of that child's death. Should we do as always and ask a Thalorian priest to offer prayers for his spirit?"

Charles's smile stiffened, a look of regret crossing his face. He said, "Yeah, this was all my mistake. But at least Jessica and Samuel ended up together.

"As long as Jessica is happy, I don't care about anything else."

The assistant looked at Jessica, who was walking around like she owned the place, and let out a helpless sigh. "Jessica only cares about her kid and Samuel. You're nowhere in her heart. Why put yourself through all this?"

He added, "If Mrs. Weston ever learned the truth, it would absolutely destroy her."

Charles narrowed his eyes. "She's never going to find out. And even if she did, she wouldn't dare cause a scene. If it weren't for Jessica, Helen would never have had a shot at marrying into a family like mine."

At that moment, everything started spinning, and my legs felt like jelly.

Turning away, I missed a step and went crashing down the stairs.

My arm was all scraped up and covered in dark bruises.

I heard my son Ryan and Jessica arguing behind me.

Jessica had promised to ride bumper cars with Ryan but got bored and ditched him by himself in the car.

Ryan couldn't steer at all and almost drove straight off the track into the pond. He burst out crying.

"Go away. You're an evil woman," Ryan wailed.

Charles, usually soft-hearted toward Ryan, suddenly frowned and snapped, "Is that any way to talk to your mom? Wipe those tears and apologize to her."

Ryan broke down in tears, and it felt like my heart was being ripped apart.

I just wanted to rush over and pull him tight into my arms.

But Charles's words kept playing over and over in my head.

That wasn't really my son.

My real son had already been killed by Charles.

All for Jessica, he had masterminded this whole twisted operation.

The kidnapping, the ransom, the suitcases stuffed with cash—every bit of it was an act.

All of it was a total lie.

He took advantage of the chaos to swap out our kids, so Jessica's kid could take over my son's spot and live with Samuel.

But nobody saw it coming when everything went off the rails, and my real son ended up dead.

It was out of guilt that Charles had me raise Jessica's son as if he were my own.

In the end, we all went our separate ways.

He thought he had every move covered, but the one thing he never saw coming was me discovering the ugly truth.

Poor me. I actually treated him like my hero, and cared for Jessica's son as if he were my own for three whole years.

I don't know how long I wandered, but I finally staggered home.

When Charles saw me battered and bruised, he hurried over to check on me.

He asked, "How did you get hurt? Wasn't anyone with you when you went out?"

I lowered my eyes and said, "I tripped and fell on my way over to meet you."

He froze for a moment, but quickly wiped the panic off his face. "Didn't I tell you to take it easy? It's not every day I get the chance to play babysitter for you."

When Charles suggested taking the kid to the villa for a little getaway yesterday, I actually thought he was being thoughtful. I was even a bit excited about it.

But the real reason was just to make it easier for Jessica to hang out with her son. The whole thing was just a setup.

It turned out that they saw me, my feelings, and my gratitude as a big joke.