Chapter 1

My best friend, Chloe Carter, had been kept as a secret mistress by a mysterious billionaire. In just two years, she had undergone three abortions.

This time, she asked me to accompany her to the clinic again.

The moment I saw her, I couldn't help but snap:

"You were never a gold-digger, Chloe. Why are you willing to be some rich guy's dirty little secret?"

"If he really loved you, he would have married you by now. Why does he keep letting you get hurt?"

She stared at me, shaking her head with a bittersweet smile.

"You don't understand, Elena. He loves me. He just has a very dangerous identity... he has his reasons."

I let out a cold laugh. She actually believed the lies of a man like that?

"If you can't bring yourself to break up with him, I'll do it for you."

I snatched her phone, intending to send him a breakup text.

But my finger froze over her pinned chat.

The profile picture was someone I knew all too well.

It was my husband, the notorious mafia boss, Ethan Vance.

Looking at Chloe's face, which was practically glowing with love, my mind went completely blank. I didn't even know how to tell her the truth.

"Chloe... you're being played. He's already married."

Chloe blinked, looking confused as she took her phone back.

"That's impossible. Look at his Instagram. It's full of photos of me. And I've already met his family and friends."

My blood ran cold.

I tapped on his profile picture and scrolled through his followers. Sure enough, there were Ethan's closest associates and relatives. The list was even more complete than mine.

So... I had been added to his burner account this whole time?

Chloe kept babbling happily. "Oh, and by the way, I'm not actually getting an abortion today. Promise me you won't tell anyone!"

Her eyes sparkled, her cheeks flushing as she leaned in to whisper in my ear:

"Honestly, he's just too clingy. He's a beast in bed, and my body literally couldn't take it anymore. So I lied and said I was pregnant and needed an abortion just to get a month of rest. Otherwise, I'd seriously die in his bed."

"Yesterday, I didn't let him touch me, and he got so angry."

Her words blurred into static. A loud ringing filled my ears.

Yesterday.

Ethan had finally come home after three long months of absence.

All night, he had taken me with a raw, savage fury, over and over again.

I had endured the pain and submitted to his every whim, naively thinking he was just under too much pressure from his gang wars and needed comfort from his wife.

It turned out his mistress had rejected him, so he used me as a mere substitute to vent his frustration.

I had been married to Ethan Vance for five years, but no one knew.

All because he once told me: "The family turf wars are too dangerous right now, Elena. Keeping you as a hidden mistress in the shadows is the only way to keep you safe. Our marriage certificate must never be leaked."

And I, like a fool, believed him.

I obediently hid our marriage certificate in the deepest corner of my safe, telling everyone I only had a boyfriend.

Staring at Chloe's radiant, happy face, my voice trembled as I asked:

"What exactly are his 'reasons' for not marrying you?"

Chloe's face fell slightly. "His identity is complicated. He's a mafia boss. For the past two years, his rivals have been trying to assassinate him."

But she quickly cheered up again. "But last month, he told me he finally took care of his main rival. He already proposed to me. We're getting married in a month!"

My world spun. I dug my fingernails deep into my palms, the sharp pain barely keeping me grounded.

A month from now... was the anniversary of my daughter's death.

Yet he was going to hold a grand wedding for another woman on that exact day.