Episode 1
I was supposed to have it all. A house that gleamed under the sunlight, the kind of modern architecture people drool over in magazines. My cars weren't just vehicles—they were statements. And Lucas… Lucas was the perfect husband, at least on the surface. Polished, charming, with that dangerous edge I had once thought thrilling.
I remember the day it all started to crack. I was in my office, the glass walls giving me a full view of the city that bowed to my name. My empire wasn't small. I had businesses that spanned continents, and a network that kept rivals afraid to even whisper my name. I wasn't just a billionaire; I was untouchable. And yet… I felt empty. Lucas walked in, the way he always did—smile in place, eyes sharp. But that day, something was off.
It started with the whispers. A delivery boy, a casual remark from a friend, a vague rumor from someone who had no idea they were touching a live wire. "Lucas… has a child."
I laughed. Out loud. My laugh was sharp, metallic, echoing off the glass. "Impossible," I said, but the word stuck in my throat. I watched Lucas carefully. He didn't laugh. He didn't look guilty. He looked… calculated.
And then, like a storm breaking over calm waters, the truth hit me. The child existed. My husband had kept it a secret for years. Years. A bastard. His blood. A part of him that I would now have to nurture, protect… and own.
At that moment, I realized something crucial: the life I had meticulously built—the mansion, the cars, the wealth, the so-called respect—meant nothing. Not against betrayal. Not against deception. And certainly not against a child that symbolized everything I had lost.
I didn't cry. Not yet. Crying was for those who had no plan. I had one. I would survive. I would adapt. And I would make everyone pay—silently, elegantly, without mercy.
Raising this child was no longer a matter of love. It was strategy. Every decision, every move, every smile I gave Lucas would be calculated. I wasn't just Vanessa Hart, the billionaire. I was Vanessa Hart, the woman who controlled fear, who commanded loyalty, who could crush anyone in her path without ever lifting a hand.
And Lucas… Lucas would learn that betrayal comes at a price.
Because in my world, raising a child was no longer about motherhood—it was war.