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.


My hands shook as I stared at my phone screen, the cruel silence echoing in my ears. Six unanswered calls to Tom. Six desperate attempts to reach the man I thought I knew.


Each rejected ring felt like a slap across my face.


What if this had been an emergency? What if I had been dying? Would he have cared enough to pick up then, or would he have let me slip away without a second thought?


The questions burned through my mind like acid. Even if he was done with me, even if I meant absolutely nothing to him now, basic human decency should have compelled him to answer. Just once. Just long enough to ask if I was alright.


But there was nothing. Complete radio silence.


I bit down hard on my bottom lip, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill over. My vision blurred anyway, hot moisture pooling behind my eyes despite my best efforts.


Chapter 8 - Chapter 8 Breaking Point