I was devoted to Tom Collin, a man whose ambition I once admired. I gave up my career, my future, my entire identity for him. I was the perfect wife while he built his empire. But when he reached the top, I became invisible.
Then I found him with her—his college ex, the woman who’d abandoned him when he had nothing. When I confronted him, the man I married vanished, replaced by a monster whose hands left bruises on my skin.
I was finally ready to leave. But I never got the chance. He left our five-year-old daughter, Joy, alone for his mistress. And in his absence, my baby was murdered.
I buried my child, and with her, the weak woman I used to be. In a haze of grief, I let a handsome stranger hold me for one night in Italy—a single moment of oblivion.
Five years later, I live for one purpose: Revenge. Tom Collin will pay for what he did. He has no idea the woman now standing before him. But my new boss… he might. The magnetic CEO of our rival company is the stranger from that night. And he doesn’t know he’s the father of my secret daughter.


The hardwood floor felt cold against my body as I remained sprawled where I had fallen. Above me, Tom towered like a stranger wearing my husband's face. His chest rose and fell from the exertion of striking me, yet his eyes held nothing. No shock at what he had done. No horror at crossing a line we could never uncross. Just emptiness that chilled me more than the floor beneath me.


Part of me searched desperately for some sign that this wasn't really him. When I had slapped him moments earlier, the regret had crashed over me instantly. My hand had stung, my heart had plummeted, and shame had flooded through me before he could even react. But looking up at him now, I saw none of that human response. No flicker of remorse. No recognition that he had just raised his hand to his wife.


Chapter 14 - Chapter 14 The Final Blow