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.


I remained frozen at the top of the staircase, my fingers digging into the polished banister until my knuckles blanched white. Through the expansive windows, I watched Sienna shuffle back inside, her arms now empty of the suitcases she'd been carrying moments before. She avoided meeting my gaze, offering only a brief, submissive nod before scurrying toward the kitchen like a mouse seeking shelter.


The silence that followed felt suffocating.


My eyes stayed locked on that front door, willing it to open. Any second now, she'd realize her mistake. Any moment, Camilla would come rushing back through that entrance, cheeks burning with embarrassment, those familiar pleading eyes begging for forgiveness the way they always did when she knew she'd pushed too far.


The seconds stretched into minutes. The door remained closed. Only the steady rhythm of the grandfather clock in the living room marked the passing time.


Chapter 18 - Chapter 18 She Really Left