Chapter 1

I had just turned twenty-five. My loving husband, Alex, had prepared a surprise birthday party for me. After four years of marriage, I truly believed he was deeply in love with me.

I had just excused myself to go to the bathroom while everyone was busy with the party. I wanted to freshen up and come back to thank Alex properly. Maybe even tell him that this was the happiest I had felt in a long time.

I took my time fixing a stray strand of hair, touching up my lipstick. But when I stepped out of the bathroom and turned toward the hallway, I froze. Alex’s voice. I couldn’t see him yet, but he was just around the corner.

“Don’t worry, my love… Sasha,” he said. “Soon we’ll be together.”

My breath caught. Sasha? His ex-girlfriend who left him six years ago to chase her career?

“We’ll have to let Lindsey take the drink tonight,” he continued. “Then, when she wakes up next to that guy, everyone will think that she cheated. And then–boom–divorce. No suspicion.”

The air left my lungs all at once.

“I can’t file for divorce out of nowhere, Sasha. Our parents would interfere. But if they think she cheated—if they walk in and find her with some guy in bed? It’s guaranteed. They’ll blame her. I’ll get the shares, and you and I can finally be together.”

I couldn’t hear the voice on the other end, but Alex laughed lightly.

“Of course you’re the only one I love. Marrying her was never about love—it was for the deal. The merger. She was convenient. That’s all.”

I stumbled back, hand pressed to my chest. My heart was beating too fast.

Convenient? My mind spun, dragging me back five years ago.

Alex and I had met not long after his ex, Sasha, moved abroad. It started as a business arrangement—two wealthy families sealing an alliance. But then he’d been so gentle, so attentive. He made me feel safe. He’d hold my hand at dinners. He’d bring me flowers just because. I thought it had grown into something real.

I believed it had.

But now? I was nothing more than a pawn.

And the birthday party I thought was a sign of love? He called it nothing. Just a final gesture to mask the betrayal he was planning behind the scenes.

“I just want to get tonight over with,” he said, sighing. “The cake, the toasts—once she takes the drink, we’re done. We can spend the rest of the night together.”

That was the moment something inside me broke.

I stepped away from the hallway and pulled out my phone with shaking hands. My thumb hovered over the contact list before finally pressing the call under one name: My lawyer.

He picked up on the second ring. “Ms. Hale? Is everything alright?”

I steadied my voice. “I want to file for divorce.”

There was silence. “I’m sorry? Are you sure about this? From everything I know, Mr. Alex has always been in love with you.”

“I’m sure,” I interrupted. “And I know about our prenup. I know one party can’t file unless the other is proven to have cheated.”

“Yes, that’s correct,” he said cautiously.

“I’ll provide the evidence,” I said coldly. “And I want everything removed. Every tie to him and his family—cut. I want my identification erased from anything linked to the Hale name. No phone number. No address. No trace.”

“I understand,” he said softly. “I’ll begin preparing the paperwork. I’ll need your signature and…”

“I’ll come by tomorrow,” I whispered. “Thank you.”

I ended the call, standing there in the dark hallway, the sound of distant music and laughter muffled like it belonged to someone else’s life.