Chapter 1
I'd barely set foot off the plane before some girl threw coffee straight in my face, her eyes blazing with anger as she stared me down.
She said, "If you ever mess with my mom again, next time I'll splash you with acid."
I was pissed, just about to ask if she had the wrong person, but she wasn't done yet.
She continued, "Don't you feel ashamed? So you think you can hang onto my dad for dear life and refuse to divorce, and my mom just has to suck it up?
"I'm nothing like my mom. She's way too nice for her own good. From here on out, it's war between us.
"You think I'll just live my whole life branded as an illegitimate child? No way!"
I wiped coffee off my face and smacked her across the cheek, sneering, "My husband's got plenty of illegitimate kids out there. Who do you think you are?"
She got even more pissed and snapped, "Just wait. My dad cares about me more than anything. I'll make sure you two split up for good."
Not long after, my husband actually texted me: [Please, can we just get divorced? I feel so sorry for her and our daughter all these years.]
[There's nothing left between us. What's the point of you clinging on like this?]
I shot back without hesitation: [If you walk away with nothing, we can get divorced right now.]
He went silent.
He wanted both love and the family fortune. How greedy.
So he wanted to chase after love for the rest of his life? Good for him.
But as for me, there was only one thing that mattered now. I'd fight tooth and nail to guard everything we built from the ground up. That fortune belonged to my children, and no one else.
*****
When I got home, I immediately noticed my daughter Olivia's red, puffy eyes. She'd clearly been crying.
I quickly set down my bags and wrapped my arm around her, worry written all over my face. "Olivia, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
She tried so hard to hold back her tears, but in the end, she just couldn't. Her eyes filled with tears as she choked out, "Mom, just get divorced. I don't want you trapped in this mess anymore. I just want you to be happy from now on.
"I don't want you to hold yourself back because of me.
"Forget about the family fortune. Your happiness matters most to me. I've got a healthy body. I can take care of myself."
My nose burned, and my heart kept aching.
How could my kid always be so mature?
I looked her straight in the eye. "I'm not suffering, Olivia. Let me guess, did that woman's daughter give you a hard time?
"Olivia, I know some folks need love to be happy, but that's never been my thing. Honestly, all I care about these days is the family fortune.
"It's not just for you, it's also about protecting everything I've worked my tail off for all these years."
At first, I was crushed, and I couldn't let it go. Andrew had begged me for forgiveness over and over, swearing it'd never happen again.
But he'd just never gonna change. All these years, I'd found out about five affairs and five illegitimate kids he'd had behind my back.
There was no feeling left between us. I'd already made up my mind—no way am I letting him walk off with half of what was mine. Every single bit of it belonged to Olivia and nobody else.
Olivia kept trying to talk me into it.
It wasn't until I saw the swollen, red handprint on her face that it clicked—she'd been slapped.
"Who did this to you? Who?" I demanded, my voice shaking with anger.
Her tears streamed down even harder as she ducked her head for ages before finally mumbling, "Dad."
"He wanted me to convince you to get divorced. I talked back, and he got pissed and slapped me," she choked out.
I stood there stunned for a moment, but the next instant, it felt like pure fury was ripping through my chest, scorching hotter every second.
I grabbed my keys and tore down the road straight to Shaw Group. When I got there, I booted the conference room door wide open—still gripping that heavy fire extinguisher like I was ready for war.
The people in the middle of their meeting nearly fell out of their seats, jaws slack with shock at my sudden entrance.
Andrew just stared at me, his brow furrowed, completely frozen and helpless to stop me. Before anyone could move, I slammed that fire extinguisher down and obliterated his laptop right there on the conference table.
The crash was deafening.
The executives sat frozen in shock, holding their breath, not daring to make a single sound.
Then I slapped him hard across the face.
I shouted, "How dare you hit my daughter for your illegitimate child?
"Don't you understand? Olivia is everything to me! I've never so much as laid a finger on her—not once, ever since she was born.
"You crusty old bastard—how dare you touch my girl? I'm gonna beat you to death!"
I dug my sharp nails straight across his cheek, leaving a nasty trail of bloody scratches for everyone to see.
He shoved me hard, veins bulging on his forehead as he spat out his warning, "You crazy bitch. Touch me again and I swear I won't go easy on you!"
I snorted and kept yanking his hair, scratching at his face with no intention of stopping.
As if I'd ever be scared of this crusty old bastard.
After I caught him cheating fifteen years ago, I started training in martial arts and street fighting, just so I'd be ready to throw down if it ever came to it.
If those employees hadn't jumped in to hold me back, that bastard would be on a stretcher headed straight to the ER right now.