Chapter 4

Years ago, everyone envied the endless luxury I married into.

But I never married Tristan for money. I married him for love.

Yet all that glamour turned out to be nothing more than a gorgeous gown crawling with lice.

Less than two years into our marriage, Tristan completely discarded his wedding vows. His roster of mistresses could stretch across the Atlantic.

After one breakdown, I confronted him, screaming through tears:

"You promised you would love me for the rest of your life! Why are there always more women?!"

"Babe, forever is a long time. A man needs excitement."

"Don't worry. You're the one I love most. I will never let any of them threaten your place."

"The one he loved most?"

Back when my father nearly assaulted me, everyone treated me like a plague.

Chloe had rallied our classmates to ostracize me, stuffing snakes and toads into my locker.

Neighbors slammed their doors in my face, calling me a little temptress who seduced her own father.

My grandmother thought I had brought shame upon the family and threw me into a frozen lake shed in the dead of winter, nearly freezing me to death and permanently damaging my body.

Tristan was the only one who didn't look down on me.

He was the one who pulled me out and rushed me to the hospital.

When the doctors told me I would likely never be able to conceive, I sat in the hospital bed weeping uncontrollably. Tristan wiped my tears away, over and over.

"Evelyn, it doesn't matter if we don't have kids. Even without children, I will love you for the rest of my life."

Looking back now, how foolish was I to believe a man's promise of "forever"?

The scene Eleanor made was so massive that it alerted the hospital director.

Fearing a PR disaster, the director told me to take the rest of the day off and go home.

Walking along the windy street, the biting early spring chill made me shiver.

Suddenly, my phone buzzed.

"Mrs. Vance, because the payment was cut off, the emergency resuscitation for your mother was delayed. She... she just passed away."

I spun around and sprinted toward the hospital like a madwoman.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," the attending doctor said, looking at me with deep pity.

Kneeling by the hospital bed, I took my mother’s hand. It was cold. Ice cold.

Just like my heart.

I had done everything Tristan asked. I had apologized to Chloe! Why did he still cut off my mother's life support funds?!

I dialed Tristan's number, blind with rage.

"Tristan Hayes! Why did you stop my mother's medical payments?!"

"Oh, that? I must’ve forgotten to tell the accountant to restore it," Tristan replied nonchalantly over the receiver.

"A one-day pause wouldn't kill anyone."

"Tristan was busy tucking me in last night and forgot. Evelyn, you aren't mad at me, are you?"

Chloe’s sickeningly sweet voice sliced straight through my heart like a dagger.

A wail tore from my throat, raw and bloody like a dying bird.

"Tristan Hayes, you killed my mother!"

With Mom gone, I had nothing left tying me to this world.

I walked out of the hospital, the signed divorce papers clutched in my hand, my stride firmer than it had ever been.

"Tristan, sign the papers."