Chapter 1

1.

When five-year-old Leo screamed in the courtyard yet again, demanding Nora jump into the freezing swimming pool to fetch his action figure from the snow, she refused.

"Leo, you don't have to keep trying to make me sick. Don't worry. From now on, I won't disturb the happy life you have with your father and Aunt Ivy."

Leo’s young face was a perfect copy of Julian Thorne’s, with the same delicate features and that same inborn arrogance. He frowned. "Really?"

"Really. Mommy used to get jealous over nothing, making everyone miserable. Unlike Aunt Ivy. When your father and I see her, it's like seeing sunshine."

They all loved Ivy.

To prove it, Leo had done many things like this before.

The first time, he deliberately tore his private school application essay to shreds, forcing Nora to stay up all night piecing it together. The next day, she was struck down by a migraine and couldn't join them to watch the meteor shower at the Griffith Observatory.

The second time, he intentionally kicked his new football into a vicious dog's enclosure, insisting Nora retrieve it. A Rottweiler that hadn't been fed for two days bit her hand, requiring stitches and causing her to miss their family pottery class.

The third time, he deliberately stopped in the middle of a busy Manhattan intersection. As a truck sped towards them, Nora instinctively shoved her son to safety, but she ended up in the hospital with a fractured leg, missing his kindergarten's fair.

...

The last time he succeeded was when Leo cried that his silver locket was missing―a Thorne family heirloom. He demanded Nora go back to the mountain in Aspen to find it. After she finally found the locket in a blizzard, she discovered Julian’s convoy had already left. She nearly died of hypothermia in the Rocky Mountains before an emergency helicopter rescued her.

Late that night, Julian returned.

He was tall and slender, his dark, custom-tailored suit covered by a cashmere coat. One shoulder was damp with snow, but it didn't detract from his sharp, cold aura―the kind unique to Wall Street elites.

Julian's top-tier luxury car came with the largest of umbrellas, but he was still dusted with snow.

It was obvious why. As he helped Ivy out of the car, he had not only tilted the entire umbrella over her but had also wrapped his arm protectively around her.

He held her like she was a priceless, fragile treasure.

Looking at the photo Ivy had deliberately posted on social media―visible only to her―Nora could feel the deep, restrained love in the man's eyes, even through the screen.

They truly were a perfect match.

If only Julian wasn't her legal husband.

As Julian took off his coat, he casually tossed a bottle of prescription pills onto the marble countertop by the door.

"Here's your medicine. Since you have a fever, don't attend the birthday party tomorrow. I've already arranged for Ivy to take your place..."

He stopped mid-sentence as the crystal chandelier in the living room flickered on.

He saw Nora, her makeup perfect, her expression calm. His brow suddenly tightened. "You... you're not sick?"

Nora nodded, not missing the flicker of irritation in Julian’s eyes. "I thought you'd want me to be sick... but I've already spoken with Ivy. She will greet the guests tomorrow. The e-vites have already been sent out."

The invitations had been sent three days ago. The butler had accidentally projected a preview onto the living room screen, and the cover photo was of Julian, their son, and Ivy in Central Park.

Even the maids whispered amongst themselves, "The way Mr. Thorne looks at Miss Ivy is so full of love. They're standing so close, they look like a real couple. Not like the wedding photo in the master bedroom, where they look so distant, like they're signing a business deal."