Chapter 1

"Dad, when is that awful woman leaving? I don't want to call her Mom anymore. I want my real mom."

Those were the words from the son I had raised for five years.

Clutching my first-place trophy from the Paris International Jewelry Design Competition, I stood at the entrance of my own living room, watching my husband embrace another woman.

"Once she finishes all your designs for next season and helps you truly establish yourself in New York, I'll send her away."

He kissed the woman's fingertips.

"Seraphina is nothing more than a useful tool. A free nanny."

The trophy slipped from my grasp.

That dull thud shattered all the dreams of the past five years.

He never loved me.

I wiped away my tears and dialed a number I had not dared to call in five years.

"I want to come home."

They thought I was a helpless orphan.

They did not know that Jasper Clarke, the elder brother of the powerful Clarke family in Los Angeles, had been waiting for that call for five long years.

Seraphina POV

The plane landed in New York, a biting chill seeping through the early autumn night air.

I clutched the first-place trophy from the Paris International Jewelry Design Competition, my heart full of joy as I pushed open the door to our mansion in the exclusive hillside community.

I had intentionally changed my flight, ending my trip fifteen hours early, just to surprise Ethan Thorne. After half a month apart, longing had grown like a wild vine, burning me. It wrapped around every breath I took.

The living room was brightly lit, but it wasn't the quiet I had expected.

"Dad, when is that mean lady leaving? I don't want to call her Mom anymore. I want my real mom."

The innocent child's voice hit me like a dull, heavy hammer.

That was Leo, the son I had raised for five years.

Five years ago, Ethan brought baby Leo home, covered in blood, his eyes red-rimmed. He told me Leo was the last living relative of a close friend who had died in a tragic accident.

My heart ached for Ethan, and even more for the crying infant in his arms. I took the child without hesitation and raised him as my own.

For five years, I spent countless sleepless nights when Leo had asthma attacks. To care for him, I even put my jewelry design career, the thing I loved most, on hold for a time.

But now, this child I had poured my heart into was calling me an awful woman?

I froze in the shadow of the doorway, my gaze fixed on the center of the living room, past the open door.

On the leather sofa, Ethan had a slender, beautiful woman in his arms. Leo was nestled in her lap. They looked so happy.

"Soon," Ethan's voice was low, tinged with a tenderness I'd never heard directed at me. "Once she finishes all your designs for next season and helps you truly establish yourself in New York, I'll send her away."

The woman chuckled softly, her fair fingers stroking Ethan's stern face. "Ethan, is there truly no affection left for Seraphina? She did raise the child for five years and created designs for me all this time. People will call you heartless if this gets out."

"Elara, you're my only priority." Ethan took her hand, kissed it, his voice resolute and cruel. "Seraphina is nothing more than a useful tool. A free nanny. If you hadn't insisted on going to Paris for advanced studies back then, how would she ever have taken the position of Mrs. Thorne?"

The trophy slipped from my grasp.

With a dull thud, the pure gold trophy hit the thick, handmade rug, rolled twice, and bumped against the edge of the table.

That faint sound, in the dead silence of the living room, exploded like thunder.

All three on the sofa turned their heads at once.

A fleeting look of surprise flickered in Ethan's eyes, but it vanished instantly, replaced by chilling composure and indifference.

He released Elara, calmly stood up, and straightened the hem of his custom-tailored suit, as if the dirty betrayal he'd been caught in was an insignificant matter.

"Weren't you supposed to be on tomorrow afternoon's flight?" His tone was flat, even carrying a hint of annoyance at being disturbed.

I trembled all over, my nails digging into my palms. The sharp pain barely held onto my wavering sanity.

"So, Leo isn't the orphan of a good friend at all, but your and Elara's biological son?" I stared into Ethan's deep eyes, my voice hoarse as if I'd swallowed coarse sand.