Chapter 1

The first year after our wedding, my husband went overseas for work and vanished at sea. They never even found his body.

For eight long years, I gritted my teeth and carried the weight of his entire family, taking care of his aging parents without a single complaint.

Until today. My in-laws showed up on my doorstep, dragging a seven-year-old boy between them.

"Lucas died young, and you're turning thirty soon," Martha announced casually. "We brought this boy for you to raise. He'll take care of you when you're old."

The kid was quick on his feet. He rushed over, threw his arms around my waist, and buried his face in my clothes.

"Mommy, I'll be really good! I promise!"

I shoved him off with all my strength, snatched the duffel bag of clothes from his hand, and hurled it out into the hallway!

The clothes scattered everywhere across the floor.

"If you insist on keeping him, then as of today, I'm done serving you two!"

Both of them froze, clearly not expecting me to push back so violently.

Martha's face fell, her lip curling into a sneer.

"We did this out of the goodness of our hearts! How could you say something so heartless?"

I held my ground, my voice cold as ice.

"If you want this child so badly, pack your bags and get out of my house right now!"

The second the words left my mouth, tears spilled down the boy’s cheeks. He let out a trembling whimper.

"Mommy, I can do laundry, I can cook, and I can sweep the floors... Please don't throw me out..."

He bit his trembling lower lip, his voice childish and sweet, staring up at me with big, watery eyes. It was a heartbreaking sight.

He was putting on a pathetic, obedient show—one that would break anyone’s heart. Anyone’s except mine.

Martha bent down to gather the clothes I’d tossed into the hall, gripping the boy’s hand tightly as she glared at me.

"Elena, I know you had a miscarriage! I know you still hold a grudge about having kids!"

"But Leo is different! He's polite and obedient. Having him around might actually heal that dark wound inside you!"

"Why are you fighting this so hard? Are you planning to remarry and have your own baby?"

"Right, you work with so many successful men at your firm. How could a woman like you ever handle being lonely?"

I let out a bitter, cold laugh, clinging to the last shred of my dignity.

"Martha, you're dreaming. If you and Arthur love him so much, take him back to your hometown and raise him yourselves. Let's part ways amicably."

Martha pointed a shaking finger at me, trembling with rage.

"Elena! How dare you talk to me like that! Have you forgotten what you promised my son?"

I hadn't forgotten.

How could I ever forget?

Eight years ago, Lucas went overseas for contract work, and a sudden shipwreck supposedly swallowed him whole.

When the news of his death arrived, I had been sitting at my desk, happily booking tickets for our delayed honeymoon.

The sheer grief shattered me on the spot. I was three months pregnant, and the shock caused a violent miscarriage.

My baby was gone. My husband was gone.

When I finally woke up in the hospital, they handed me the will Lucas wrote before every sea voyage.

Every single word was a plea—begging me to take care of his parents for the rest of their lives.

Without a second thought, I agreed.

I even signed a legally binding support agreement promising to care for them until they passed away.

Martha clutched her chest, acting as if I were the most ungrateful creature alive.

"You promised Lucas you'd support us until our dying day! You signed the contract in black and white! And now you're kicking us onto the street? What kind of monster are you?!"

"Look at this sweet, innocent little boy crying his eyes out! How can you be so damn cruel?"

Oh, he was sweet, all right. Too bad he was the bastard child of Lucas and his little mistress!

Three months ago, a massive sum of money from the account I set up for Martha was wired to an unfamiliar offshore bank account.

I asked a friend at work to dig into it, and what we found made my blood run cold:

My supposedly dead husband was alive and well overseas! And he had fathered a son with his side piece!

This little boy, Leo, was that very child.

My in-laws hadn't brought him here out of the goodness of their hearts. They brought him here because he was sick, and they wanted me to pay for his medical bills!

They saw me as nothing more than a personal ATM and a blood bag.

Well, since they had delivered him straight to my doorstep, I was going to lure Lucas right out into the open.

And then, I was going to throw him straight into a jail cell!

I stood firmly in the doorway, refusing to budge an inch.

"I remember the contract perfectly."

"If that kid doesn't leave, then you two leave. There is no negotiation here."

Arthur, who had stayed silent the whole time, suddenly grabbed the boy’s arm and tried to push his way inside.

"Leo stays today, no matter what! We already made the arrangements!"

I sneered and grabbed Leo’s other arm, violently yanking him back outside.

The boy burst into shrill, terrified wails.

"I bought this house with my own money! I paid every single cent! If I say strangers aren't allowed in, nobody steps foot inside!"

Panicking, Martha lunged forward and tried to pry my fingers off the kid.

"Why are you being so stubborn, you vicious little bitch?! We'll use our own pensions to raise him! We won't spend a dime of your precious money!"

"What's wrong with living in your house anyway? What's yours is ours!"

Listen to the sheer entitlement in her voice.

I had supported them for eight agonizing years. When the hell did my hard-earned assets become their property?

My mouth twitched in disgust, but I didn't let go.

I took a deep breath, swallowing the white-hot fury burning in my throat.

"Your pensions? How much do you two even get? You spend three to four thousand dollars of my money every single month! You think your tiny checks can cover his food, let alone his medical bills?"

"When the money runs out, you'll just come crawling back to bleed me dry again!"

Martha's face turned bright red with embarrassment.

Before I could say another word, Arthur swung his arm back and slapped me hard across the face!

Smack!

"Your parents dropped dead years ago! I was against Lucas marrying you from the very beginning!"

"If you ask me, you're a curse! You brought bad luck that got your own parents killed, and then you killed my Lucas too!”

“So what if we spend a little bit of your money? When did you turn into such a venomous snake?!"

Terrified by the violence, the boy began screaming in tears.

I held my burning cheek, staring at the neighbors who were already gathering in the hallway to gawk. My mind went completely blank.