Chapter 1

The day I found out my daughter's biological mother was my husband's first love, Lena Young, I left the divorce papers behind and walked out.

Before leaving, I commented on their happy family photo in his Moments.

[Go ahead and divorce me. I'll get out of your way.]

One minute later, my husband, lan Sharp called. "Sharon, even if Cindy isn't your daughter, can't you just raise her anyway? You're disgusting."

I hunged up with a cold laugh. What did your family's mess have to do with me?

But then he panicked.

*****

The day I got the DNA test results for my daughter and me was also our eighth wedding anniversary.

I rubbed my face, still too scared to open the envelope.

It wasn't until Ian texted me.

[Sharon, I'm not coming home tonight. My account's empty. Send me some cash.]

That's when it hit me.

I gently opened the DNA test results. It showed that the girl I'd called my daughter for five years was actually the child of his first love, Lena Young.

My own baby had died years ago, back on that stormy night.

When she was born, she was so weak she had to stay in the incubator, and the hospital told us to prepare for the worst.

I'd already braced myself for the worst, but Ian told me our baby had pulled through.

But I never knew that the healthy, lively baby I brought home wasn't really mine at all.

The baby I brought home wasn't even mine—it had been swapped behind my back.

I closed my eyes.

Turned out, when you were truly heartbroken, you became so calm it's almost unsettling.

It felt like everything had been set up from the start, but my head was still pounding.

If I hadn't happened to catch Ian and Lena cheating, I'd probably still be clueless, raising their child for them.

Just then, my phone rang again.

It was Ian.

[Did you see my message? Hurry up and send me the money.]

I let out a bitter laugh.

So he only remembered me when he broke from fooling around with Lena? What, did I have "sucker" written on my forehead?

I ignored him, grabbed my packed suitcase, and left the divorce papers on the table, ready to walk out.

Before leaving, I checked Ian's social media.

Sure enough, there was a photo of him, Lena, and Cindy at the amusement park.

He really had some nerve, flaunting it all before we were even divorced. Just how much of a doormat had I been all these years to let him get away with this?

With that thought, I left a comment under his post.

[Go ahead and divorce me. I'll get out of your way.

[Now you won't have to sneak around anymore. It's better for Cindy to be raised by her real parents anyway.]

A minute later, Ian called, all fired up and ready to blame me.

"Sharon, what the hell did you post on your social media? Do you even realize how people are going to talk about me now?"

I was completely speechless.

You could do something this disgusting, but you couldn't handle a few comments?

I couldn't hold back—I burst out laughing.

"Ian, am I saying anything that's not true? You know perfectly well whose kid Cindy is.

"I left the divorce papers at home for you. Just sign them and it's done."

He was stunned, his voice full of disbelief.

"Are you really going to divorce me?"

"Yeah."

"Sharon, don't you have any conscience? Cindy is your daughter. Who told you such nonsense? Why are you trying to embarrass me like this?"

After eight years of marriage, I was finally seeing just how thick-skinned Ian really was—his ability to lie with a straight face was honestly impressive.

I said, my voice rough with emotion.

"Ian, I had a DNA test run between Cindy and Lena."

He went quiet for a moment, then snapped, his voice full of irritation.

"Sharon, even if Cindy isn't your real daughter, can't you just keep raising her? How could you be so heartless?"

Ian's words felt like a punch to the gut.

Even though I already knew about all the dirty stuff between him and Lena, hearing Ian actually admit it himself still stung.

I couldn't stop myself from feeling miserable—pathetic, really.

Eight years... What was I to Ian all this time?

I used to picture a thousand times how Ian would react if I ever exposed his dirty secrets.

I thought he'd beg me to forgive him, admit he was in the wrong.

But I never imagined he'd be so shameless, acting like it was perfectly reasonable for me to play the fool while he cheated.

It hurt like hell.

Any last shred of hope I had for Ian vanished in that moment.

Come on, we were all grown-ups here. Nothing was too much for me to take.

With that thought, I hunged up with a cold laugh. 'Why should I care about your family?'

I used to think I could just leave Ian and end things peacefully, but now I saw that would be way too easy on him—and way too unfair to me.

Every single thing he had done to screw me over, he was going to pay for it.