Chapter 1

During the May Day holiday, I went back to my husband's hometown with him and our daughter. My nephew deliberately held her head underwater.

While my mother-in-law, Stella Carter sat nearby praising how strong he was.

I snapped and rushed over, kicking Stella and nephew to the ground. In an instant, the whole family turned on me, demanding about 3.3 million dollars for emotional distress and insisting I kneel and apologize to them both.

I smiled and called my security team.

*****

My name is Claire Simmons. I'm thirty-two, own three companies, and am worth well over 30 million dollars. But I didn't get rich overnight.

Before I turned twenty-five, I worked on assembly lines in Riverside City, waited tables, handed out flyers, and even got chased three blocks by city inspectors.

Later, I saved enough money to put myself through college, passed the CPA exam, and fought my way to where I am today.

Now I live in the most expensive neighborhood downtown, drive a six-figure car, and wear custom-made clothes. I look polished and successful, but nobody knows how much I suffered to get here.

Still, there was one thing even harder to bear than all that: my marriage.

My husband, David Carter, was three years older than me. He worked as a finance director at a midsize company and made about 170 thousand dollars a year. To outsiders, we looked like a perfect match.

Only I knew how twisted this marriage really was.

Before the May Day break, David said to me, “Claire, let's take Sophie back to my hometown for a visit. My mom misses her grandson.” He said “grandson,” not “granddaughter.”

My five-year-old daughter, Sophie Carter, was sweet, smart, and pretty as an angel, but in the Carter family, she had never been welcome simply because she was a girl.

I didn't want to go back. I really didn't. But lately Sophie had been asking me, “Mommy, how come other kids have grandpa and grandma, but I don't?”

I told her they lived back home.

And she asked, “Then why don't they ever come see me? Do they not like me?”

I couldn't bring myself to say yes.

So I agreed. I thought maybe one trip back would let Sophie meet her grandparents. Even if they were cold to her, at least she'd know she had grandparents too.

On May 1st, the three of us drove about 125 miles back to David's hometown, a village outside a small county town.

His parents lived in a three-story house in the village. They'd built it ten years ago for Frank's wedding, pouring everything they had into it.

Later, when David graduated college and got a city job, they decided their younger son had “made it” and no longer needed their help, so all their attention went to the older one.

David's older brother was Frank Carter. He ran a small grocery store in the county town, and his wife, Linda Carter, helped out there. They had an eight-year-old son, Henry Carter. In the Carter family, he was the precious little prince.

When we arrived, Stella was sunbathing in the yard. When she saw our car pull in, her face barely changed. She just said flatly, "You're here?" Then she called into the house, "Linda, Claire's here. Come give her a hand."

Linda came out with a smile. “Claire, you're here? Was the traffic bad? Come on in.” Then she glanced at Sophie. “Well, look at that. She's gotten so tall. She takes after her dad.”

Sophie hid behind me shyly and whispered, “Hello, Aunt Linda.”

Linda gave a distracted “Mm” and turned around to go back inside.

David carried in a bunch of bags while I followed with Sophie by the hand.

Only then did Stella stand up, walk over to him, and glance at what he was carrying with a faint smile. “Why'd you buy so much? What a waste of money.”

“It's not a waste, Mom. They're all your favorites,” David said with a grin.