Chapter 1

Alex Sutton's breakup with his ex-girlfriend, Emily Lane, was a total disaster.

She slapped him in front of everyone and called him a loser and a broke-ass.

At that moment, I was sitting at the next table, sipping my coffee, and honestly, all she cared about was money.

She was mad that Alex couldn't come up with 62 thousand dollars for the wedding gift, and he couldn't afford to buy a house and put her name on the property ownership certificate.

So, as a local from Riverside City, owning several rental properties and not caring about the wedding gift, I made my move.

I went over and offered to start a relationship with him. After that, Alex and I got married.

With his smarts, well-received education and my financial backing, he rose to become Mr. Sutton, the boss, in only seven years, and his company was worth over 100 million dollars.

But today, while I was holding my baby and feeding her, Alex's secretary suddenly sent me a message, which was that Alex had hired his ex-girlfriend as his secretary's assistant.

Knowing the news, I froze for a second and then texted Alex.

[So I heard you hired Emily as your secretary. She slapped you in front of everyone and treated you like crap, and now you're bending over backwards to hire her?]

Yeah, I know I sounded cold and harsh, but honestly, I've been annoyed about this for too long.

At the very beginning, I was drawn to Alex for his looks, brains, and impressive education. But after we got married, he turned out to be a real family guy—always giving me the emotional support I needed, and never losing his temper.

Over time, my feelings for him shifted. What started as a partnership for marriage became something real. I fell for him, not only as his wife, but as someone who truly loved him.

But as I was falling for Alex without realizing it, something happened at last year's company party. He got overjoyed and became way too drunk.

When we got home, he kept grabbing my hand and kept asking me, "Emily, did you see that? After you dumped me, I became a boss. Even if you got down on your knees and begged, you'd never have me back."

After he finished, still drunk, he burst into tears. His shoulders were trembling, like a kid who's been denied his treat.

He was the guy who kissed me every morning, who texted me every day saying, "Honey, I miss you so much."

The guy who, after we made love, would lie on top of me, holding me tight, saying he never wanted to let go, and that he could die right there with me.

But it was not until then that I realized that he never loved me, not even once.

That was the first time I ever felt what real jealousy was like. But divorce? I couldn't do it.

I owned 49% of Alex's company.

And honestly, divorcing over his dumb ex who had nothing to do with us at all was ridiculous.

Besides, I was the kind of person who always had to get what I wanted.

So I started planning all kinds of ways to make Alex fall for me.

I took him on a honeymoon overseas, consulted a couples' intimacy specialist, and spiced up our marriage with playful and intimate moments.

Even though I was scared of having kids and didn't want to have a baby so soon, I made the decision to get pregnant for him.

But I never thought I'd go through all that, ending up pregnant, and now I had already given birth to the baby.

And before I could finish my postpartum recovery, Alex went and brought that woman into the company as his secretary.

It was almost ridiculous, but my chest still burned with a thousand tiny stabs of pain.

As soon as Alex saw my WhatsApp message, he replied right away: [It was a coincidence. Ms. Carter's assistant went on maternity leave, so I had to find someone new.

[Emily topped both the written test and the interview. You know I never mix business with personal matters. If she's qualified, I'll hire her.

[You're still in your postpartum recovery. Focus on getting better. Why waste your energy on someone who doesn't matter? Don't let it affect your health.

[Oh, and if you're awake, send me a photo of our daughter. I want to see her.]

Staring at Alex's WhatsApp message, for a moment, I actually believed him.

But the next second, I realized that he was dodging the issue.

My chest trembled again and I texted him: [If you want to see your daughter, then fire Emily. Do that, and I'll send you our daughter's photo.]

But after I sent that message, Alex went silent.

It wasn't until 4 p.m. that he finally replied. [Sorry, I was in a meeting.]

Tears streamed down my face.

I was in my postpartum recovery, so my emotions were all over the place. But more than that, it was my sixth sense as a woman.

Something in my gut told me that things between Alex and me were about to change, all because of Emily.

Even though I felt like my chest was about to explode, I still sent a message to the human resources department at Alex's company, with tears in my eyes: [Send me Emily Lane's resume and personal info.]