Chapter 1

I was shopping at the mall with my mother when my husband, Milton Morton, suddenly sent me nine intimate, nude photos.

"Babe, I miss you."

I was about to tease him for being inappropriate when the final photo loaded.

A woman lay sprawled beside a hot spring, her hair matted to her face with blood. Her clothes were torn, and her exposed skin was covered in dark purple bruises.

The smile froze on my face.

Before I could process what I was seeing, the final photo was unsent.

A message from Milton immediately popped up.

"Wrong photo. Don't worry about it."

I gripped my phone, about to call him, when an unknown number rang first.

It was Genevieve Chavez, Milton's secretary.

Her voice was sweet, almost playful, but the arrogance underneath it was unmistakable.

"Gayle Simmons, you saw the photo, didn't you? Your mother had the nerve to come to the Morton estate and pick a fight with me. This is what she got for it."

"The moment she walked in, she demanded to know who I was and told me to get out. What? You couldn't keep your own husband, so you sent your mother to fight your battles for you?"

She gave a soft laugh.

"Milton told me himself that I have every right to be here."

For a moment, I couldn't speak.

Then I slowly lifted my head.

My mother was standing just a few feet away, perfectly fine, trying on a designer dress in front of the mirror.

Without saying a word, I opened the screenshot I had taken before Milton deleted the photo and zoomed in.

There, just below the woman's ear, was a familiar mole.

My breath caught.

That wasn't my mother.

It was Milton's mother.

I called Milton immediately.

The moment he answered, he let out an impatient snort.

"Gayle Simmons, have you lost your mind? Genevieve's still upset. Tell your mother to go apologize to her, and I'll convince Genevieve not to pursue this any further."

My fingers tightened around the phone.

I stared at the battered woman in the screenshot, then at my mother standing safely across from me.

And suddenly, everything became painfully clear.

Milton wasn't just cheating on me.

He had given Genevieve enough confidence to attack a woman she believed was my mother.

And even after believing my mother had been beaten bloody, his first reaction was still to defend his mistress and demand an apology from the victim.

I slowly lowered the phone, a cold smile forming on my lips.

Since Milton was so determined to protect Genevieve, I wasn't going to ruin the surprise for him.

……

Milton listened, and there wasn't a trace of fear in his voice.

"Gayle Simmons, I'll be honest with you. Genevieve and I have been together for three years now."

"Three years ago, while you were lying on that operating table, I was actually with her in an ocean-view suite, watching the stars."

The knuckles gripping my phone went white, inch by inch.

Three years ago, I was in a car accident, close to death, needing surgery immediately, and at that critical moment I couldn't reach Milton.

He said he was in the middle of a make-or-break deal and couldn't get away.

I believed him. I signed the surgical consent form alone and went into the operating room.

So it turned out that night he wasn't killing himself over work. He was in the Maldives, watching the stars with another woman.

Something sour churned up in my stomach. I clenched my teeth.

"Milton, your cheating is a fact, but Mom is really in danger right now. If you don't get her to a hospital, you'll regret it."

"Regret it?" Milton scoffed. "Gayle Simmons, let me tell you, I've wanted to do this for a long time."

"Last time your mom came marching into my office and set a humidifier on my desk, and it triggered Genevieve's allergic rhinitis right there on the spot."

"What, does she think my company is her turf too? Should I expect her to sit down in my chair next and start running the place?"

My whole body went rigid, and the anger surged up.

"My mom did that for you—"

"For me? Or to satisfy that pathetic little need of hers to control everything?" Milton sneered, his voice ice cold. "You and your mother both know exactly what it is. You're just leaning on some old favor from years ago, aren't you?"

"She taught me for a few years, cooked me a few meals, and now she thinks she gets to ride my neck and boss me around for the rest of my life?"

I clenched my fists so hard my nails almost dug into my palms.

My mom was his high school teacher. She taught him for three whole years. Back when his business failed and he was buried in debt, out on the streets, it was my mom who took him home off a curb late one night.

She treated him like her own son. She knew he was allergic to dust, that every change of season he'd cough all night and couldn't sleep.

So she quietly used her own retirement savings to buy the best humidifier there was, carried it all the way to his office, and, afraid he'd feel he owed her, set it down and left without a word.

But now, in Milton's mouth, this old woman who'd treated him like her own son had become some boundary-crossing, small-minded social climber who deserved to be put in her place.

"Enough! Milton!" I was shaking all over, my voice forced out through my teeth. "If you don't like that humidifier, you could have just said so to her face. There's no need to smile at her and stab her behind her back! And there's certainly no need to let Genevieve lay a hand on her!"

Milton's laugh was full of contempt.

"Gayle Simmons, the old bag disrespected Genevieve. So Genevieve knocked her around a little, so what? She had it coming, all of it!"

"I don't have time to go back and forth with you over this nonsense. You're wasting the time I'm spending planning my mother's welcome dinner."

With that, Milton hung up.

I gripped the phone hard, and the screen flashed. Genevieve was calling on video.

"Gayle Simmons." Genevieve's face was pure triumph. "Talking to Milton is useless. Even if I beat your mom to death today, he won't blame me."

"You wouldn't dare!" I ground out through my teeth.

"What wouldn't I dare?" She looked down at the woman curled up on the floor, her face covered in blood, and swung her leg into a kick.

"Ah, ah—"

The woman on the ground let out a raw, hoarse cry, her wailing coming in broken bursts, her whole body rolling half over from the force of it.

Genevieve's voice was mocking.

"Gayle Simmons, I'd suggest you hurry back, or you might not make it in time to see your mom one last time."

I stared hard at the necklace that had slipped out from around the woman's neck.

It was the birthday gift I'd given my mother-in-law the year I got married. I was sure now. That was Milton's mother.

Listening to the wailing on the phone grow fainter and fainter, fury burned through me.

"Genevieve, you're going to regret what you've done today!"

"I'll never regret it." Genevieve looked completely indifferent, pleased with herself. "After all, Milton signed off on all of it. He's hated your mom for a long time. I just did the thing he never got around to doing."

Genevieve curled her lips. "If anything, instead of worrying about me, you should be worrying about whether Milton's going to throw you out on the street."

The call ended.

I stood where I was, every limb of me shaking.

A long while later, I saw a new post from Milton.

"My mother returns from London today. A dinner will be held this evening at the hot-spring resort. Friends, honor us with your presence as we welcome her home."

Genevieve liked it in an instant, leaving a bright red heart.

In the end, I gently tapped a like too, then wrote three words in the comments: "Can't wait either."

Milton had been separated from his family as a child. His mother was someone he'd found again the year we got engaged, and he treasured her beyond words.

If he knew that the face he'd kicked into a bloody pulp with his own doing was the very mother he'd been longing to welcome home—

I gave a small smile, then booked the earliest flight.

Before long the plane landed, and I was standing at the entrance of the hot-spring resort.