Chapter 1

1

On our eighth wedding anniversary, my husband sent me a puppy as a gift.

Instead of a thank-you note, I sent him divorce papers the moment I was discharged from the ICU.

Sienna, my husband's little plaything, gripped my hand and sobbed.

"Mrs. Miller, it was all my idea. Please don't be angry with Jace over such a small thing."

Jace Miller gently wiped away her tears, then turned to me with a deep frown.

"Don't be so childish, Jane. You're thirty years old. Why are you picking a fight with a young girl?"

I watched the two of them clinging to each other, turned around, and boarded a flight out of the country.

I didn't see Jace again until a month later.

%%%

When I finally returned home, Jace was sitting on the sofa, his brow furrowed.

A thick layer of dust covered the table, and the potted plants in the living room had withered to death.

"Running away from home? Do you still think you're an eighteen-year-old girl?"

"If I hadn't come back today, were you planning to stay out forever? You need to remember that you're thirty."

I had been traveling abroad for a month, and Jace had only just noticed I was gone.

He thought I was just throwing a tantrum to force him to come home.

He kept emphasizing my age, reminding me that I no longer had the luxury of being reckless.

But I was no longer the Jane Rivers who lived only for him.

I didn't bother answering. I just kept packing my things.

Jace let out a cold snort and tossed a box toward me like it was charity.

"Fine. Sienna didn't mean it. Since you don't like dogs, I bought you another gift. See if you like it."

Inside the box was a diamond necklace.

It was a popular, mass-produced style. It was obvious he had just picked something random to shut me up.

When we were first married, no matter how busy he was, he would spend hours picking gifts that suited my taste.

Now, he just threw money at the problem to get rid of me.

I didn't even give it a second look. I continued stuffing clothes into my suitcase.

"When are you free to go to the courthouse? I want this divorce finalized as soon as possible."

After all, Jace was so busy that he let his mistress pick out his anniversary gift.

The only way this divorce would happen was if I worked around his schedule.

Jace pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly thinking I was still just being moody.

"It was just a dog, Jane. Sienna didn't know you hated them. Is it really worth being this petty? It's been a month, and you're still bitter."

Sienna Brooks was five years younger than Jace and had followed him around since they were kids.

They were childhood sweethearts who grew up together. After graduation, she even became his personal assistant.

They were inseparable. Everyone in their circle called them the golden couple, a match made in heaven.

I used to argue with Jace about her, but his only response was that I was overthinking.

"She's like a sister to me," he would say.

But what kind of "sister" stays in the same hotel room on business trips?

What kind of "sister" can call him away from his wife at any hour of the night?

Eventually, I realized the truth. Sienna only had this much power because Jace allowed it.

When I didn't respond, Jace assumed the matter was settled. He asked about Leo's parent-teacher conference.

I looked at him blankly and shook my head.

Leo was seven years old, and I had never been allowed to attend a single conference.

In fact, it had been about six weeks since I had even seen my son.

After I gave birth to Leo, the Miller family took him away.

They claimed they needed to groom the heir properly and didn't want him "tainted" by my lower-class influence.

I had cried, screamed, and even knelt on the floor to beg them, but it changed nothing.

I only saw Leo a few times a year. Naturally, he wasn't close to me at all.

Jace's voice dripped with irritation.

"Never mind. I'll ask Sienna. Instead of running away, you should spend more time worrying about your son. Leo is closer to Sienna than his own mother."

Of course he was.

I wasn't allowed to visit the Miller estate whenever I wanted, but Sienna was a regular guest.

The Miller elders practically wanted her to move in, and they trusted her with Leo completely.

I curled my lip into a cold smile. "Then it's perfect. If we divorce, Sienna can finally be Leo's mother officially."

Jace's aura turned icy as he slammed his glass onto the table.

"Jane, stop looking for trouble. Don't expect me to come crawling back to coax you. A thirty-year-old woman acting this dramatic is just pathetic."

"Besides, you're pregnant. Do you really want to―"

I cut him off before he could finish.

"It's gone."

I added calmly, "I forgot to tell you. I lost the baby a month ago."