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 shifted my attention to the window, watching the afternoon light paint amber streaks across the hospital floor. The question hung in the air between us, heavy with implications I wasn't ready to face. My thoughts felt jumbled, like puzzle pieces scattered across a table with no clear picture emerging.


"First thing I need to do is get back to Joy," I said quietly, my voice barely above a whisper. "She's all that keeps me grounded right now."


Eden gave a small nod but pressed forward with the gentleness of someone walking through a minefield.


"What about Tom?" The words came out carefully measured.


I exhaled slowly, my head falling back against the pillow. "Honestly, Eden? I have no idea. The damage he's done... it goes deeper than anything I thought possible."


Chapter 10 - Chapter 10 The Reckoning