Chapter 1

Five years after I married the unhinged billionaire heir, news suddenly broke of my reserved guardian, Kate Brown’s death.

The transatlantic call from his assistant came at five in the morning, London time:

“Ms. Fiona, Mr. Kate Brown has passed away. The Brown family is in chaos, and only you can return to take charge…”

It had been so long since I’d heard that name. I froze for a moment.

As the adopted daughter of a powerful family, I’d only done two rebellious things in my adolescence.

One was coaxing Kate into a reckless night with me when he was drunk.

The second was boarding a plane for an arranged marriage abroad, escaping before he sobered up.

From then on, the eighteen years Kate and I had spent relying on each other since the orphanage were cut all ties.

I never imagined I would return home five years later, only to attend the funeral of the man I once so obsessively loved.

At the funeral, a little boy in a black suit broke free from the people around him and threw himself into my arms.

When I picked him up, he wiped his tear-streaked face, sobbing uncontrollably:

“Mommy, you’re finally home!”

“They’re all mean. They only want Daddy’s inheritance and keep bullying me!”

Looking at the boy’s face, which was an eight-point resemblance to Kate’s, I remembered my first meeting with his father.