Chapter 1

I woke up to find myself as the discarded wife of a wealthy family.

My name was Charlotte Winters, and I was twenty-five years old.

But the woman in the mirror had fine lines at the corners of her eyes and slightly sagging cheeks.

This was freaking crazy.

Just yesterday, I stayed up late at my office, and today I'd become a middle-aged woman. I couldn't believe it.

With trembling hands, I picked up the divorce papers on the table.

The document was filled with dense clauses, and the last line bore the signature, Edward Sterling.

Edward was my college crush and a senior.

After graduation, we went our separate ways. I vaguely remembered him leaving the country to inherit his family business.

I never thought that twenty years later, I would actually marry him.

So I must be forty-five now.

But now, he wanted a divorce.

The agreement clearly stated that the house, the car, and the company shares all belonged to him.

I was left with nothing.

*****

"You're awake?" A deep, icy voice came from the doorway, like it had been dipped in ice.

I spun around and saw a man leaning casually against the doorframe.

He wore a perfectly tailored black suit that showed off his tall build and broad shoulders.

Time seemed to favor him; aside from a few sharp lines at the corners of his eyes that gave him a mature, striking look, he was even more attractive than before.

Holy crap. Even after all these years, he was still stupidly handsome.

He was Edward, the upperclassman I had a massive crush on all through college.

But now, the way he looked at me was like I was nothing but trash cluttering up his space.

He strode in, dropped a document onto the dressing table in front of me with a sharp, crisp smack.

"Sign it," Edward said, his tone icy and final. There was zero room for discussion.

I glanced down. It was still the divorce papers.

My mind was a total mess. Here I was, a twenty-five-year-old soul stuck in a forty-five-year-old body, having to go through a bizarre divorce with the college heartthrob from twenty years ago, and I had no clue why.

This was freaking crazy.

I licked my dry lips, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "Why?"

Edward looked at me like I'd just told the world's biggest joke, a mocking smirk tugging at his lips.

"Charlotte, how long are you going to keep up this act?

"Come on, you know exactly what you did," he sneered.

I was speechless. Yesterday, I was drowning in crappy paperwork at the office, and being grateful when my boss bought me a cup of coffee.

I looked at him blankly. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

He scoffed, then leaned in, planting his hands firmly on the dressing table, boxing me in between him and the mirror.

The rich scent of cedar mixed with a faint trace of tobacco filled the air, invading my senses.

His face was so close, I could see the open disgust in those intense eyes of his.

"For twenty years, you've been mooching off me, living under my roof, wearing what I bought, leeching off me like some parasite.

"I used to think you were just an idiot, but now I see you're greedy too.

"How dare you mess with the company's projects?

I was completely confused about what he said.

I couldn't make sense of any of it, so I instinctively protested, "I didn't."

"You didn't?" Edward straightened up, clearly unwilling to waste another word, and pointed at the agreement.

"I'm giving you your last bit of dignity. Don't make me regret it.

"Sign it and leave my house," he said.

He turned and walked out, not a trace of hesitation.

I stared at his cold, unhesitating back as he left, and a wave of fury exploded inside me.

Fuck the so-called campus crush. Fuck twenty years of this bullshit. I was twenty-five, in my prime. I wouldn't have to take this crap.

I grabbed the divorce papers off the table and yelled at his retreating back, "Edward, don't you dare walk away from me."

He froze for a second, but never looked back.

"I'm not signing this. This marriage isn't over," I yelled."

I'd be homeless after getting divorced. I needed to figure out what the hell was going on first.

The silence was suffocating.

After a few seconds, he slowly turned around, his eyes stormy with something I couldn't understand. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," I shot back, my chin raised defiantly, locking eyes with him. "I'm not signing anything until I know exactly what's going on."

He gave me a deep, unreadable look, and the complexity in his eyes sent a chill down my spine.

Then, without saying another word, he turned and strode out.

The heavy door slammed shut, the sound hitting my chaotic heart like a sledgehammer.