Chapter 1

After six years with my billionaire boyfriend, Gabe Vance, he finally agreed to marry me.

But at our wedding, he ignored my protests and added my uninvited cousin, Sherry Sterling, on Snapchat.

From then on, they turned our home into a non-stop party zone every single night. Eventually, the party moved right into our bed.

Gabe wouldn't even let me leave the room. He forced me to stay and wait on them hand and foot.

I had to watch their bodies tangle together and then clean up the mess they left behind.

Sherry, the woman who had once destroyed my entire family, laughed with wicked triumph.

"I told you a loser like you didn't deserve to marry into old money," she sneered.

"But I guess I should thank you. Your husband belongs to me now."

I looked at the limp body of my little dog, the only family I had left, after Gabe's cruelty took its life.

I cried until I started laughing.

Gabe, after this, we're finally even.

1

"Quinn, get over here and help her get dressed."

I didn't move. I didn't even look at him.

The next second, a massive force slammed me onto the floor. My back hit the cold marble, and tears of agony instantly blurred my vision.

Gabe looked down at me, his face twisted in a look of pure disgust.

"Stop faking it. Have you forgotten how to be a decent wife? I work my ass off to provide for you. You're not here to just sit around."

"Sherry's not feeling well. Get her clothes on, now."

Work his ass off?

Gabe was shirtless, his firm chest covered in fresh red scratch marks. He had definitely been working, but it wasn't at the office.

He reached down and hauled me up by my arm. Ignoring my cry of pain, he threw me toward Sherry Sterling.

He saw the massive bruise forming on my back, but his eyes held nothing but annoyance.

I felt a bitter laugh bubble up in my throat as tears fell uncontrollably.

"Gabe, you can humiliate me all you want. Just please, don't make me serve Sherry."

The words were so pathetic they made me hate myself.

"Gabe, honey, don't be hard on Quinn. I'll just leave. I don't want to come between you two," Sherry said, her eyes downcast.

She looked like the picture of a victim.

Gabe's heart clearly broke for her. He pulled her into his arms, whispering sweet things while looking at me with a hatred I couldn't understand.

"Quinn, your parents' death had nothing to do with Sherry. Stop acting like a rabid dog, snapping at everyone."

"It was just their bad luck. They were the ones stupid enough to get trapped in that fire!"

I snapped my head up, staring at the man in front of me in pure disbelief.

This was my husband.

The man I had loved for ten years was dragging my dead parents through the mud for another woman.

My heart, which I thought was already numb, shattered all over again.

"Gabe! You know damn well Sherry started that fire!"

I screamed, my mind fracturing. I swung my hand, aiming right for Sherry's smug face.

SLAP―

The sound of the hit echoed through the bedroom.

I fell back onto the floor, clutching my stinging cheek. I looked up into Gabe's icy, murderous eyes.

"Quinn, you've gone too far."

I stared at him, trying to find a single trace of the boy who once loved me.

I found nothing.

Only Sherry, hiding behind Gabe's back, was looking at me like I was a stray dog―disgusted and mocking.

Bark!

A sharp bark broke the heavy silence.

Shadow, my small dog, lunged forward like a streak of black lightning. He sank his teeth into Sherry's calf and refused to let go.

Gabe didn't hesitate. He delivered a brutal kick right into Shadow's ribs.

"Sherry!"

He saw the deep wound on her leg, and his eyes turned blood-red with rage.

"If anything happens to her, I'll make sure you pay for it with your life!"

He scooped Sherry up in his arms and stormed out, slamming the door behind them.

I didn't care about Gabe's anger anymore. I scrambled on my hands and knees toward Shadow, checking his injuries.

The sound of the door slamming made me flinch violently.

I never thought Gabe and I would end up like this.