Chapter 1

My sister-in-law, Chloe Rivers, was getting married. On the way to pick up groceries for dinner, I decided to buy a lottery ticket.

Little did I know, when the numbers were drawn, I’d hit the jackpot—$20 million!

I had imagined living a dream life with my family, but then my husband, Brad, decided he wanted a divorce.

I raised my thumb and held back my excitement. “Well, isn’t this just perfect? A double blessing!”

After thirty failed blind dates, Chloe finally found her "Prince Charming," Ethan Montgomery.

Everyone in the family was thrilled about the news.

Mrs. Margaret Rivers, my mother-in-law, invited Chloe and her new fiancé over for dinner.

"Sophia, here’s two hundred bucks. Go to the store and buy something you young folks like to eat," she said, slipping the cash into my hand.

On the way to the store, I casually bought a lottery ticket.

When I got home, I put the groceries in the kitchen and noticed that neither Mrs. Rivers nor Brad were in the living room.

I started putting away the groceries, and soon enough, I heard the front door open.

It must’ve been Brad and his mom coming back.

"Brad, make sure Sophia doesn’t find out about the $75,000, or she’ll make a scene!" Mrs. Rivers said as she changed her shoes.

"Relax, Mom. The money is safely tucked away in my personal account. Sophia has no clue it even exists!" Brad said, carelessly tossing his shoes around.

"Good! With that $75,000, Chloe can marry into her new family with confidence. No one will push her around, and I can finally stop worrying," Mrs. Rivers said smugly while sipping her water.

I stood there, frozen in the kitchen, gripping the spatula.

$75,000? Where did that come from? And it’s for Chloe’s dowry?

As far as I knew, Mrs. Rivers worked at a factory, making about $4,000 a month, with plenty of expenses to cover.

Brad had always told me that between the house, the wedding, and other expenses, the Rivers family was financially drained.

When we got married, I didn’t even keep the $20,000 dowry my parents gave me—I handed it back to Brad’s family to help them out.

So how in the world did they save up $75,000 in just three years?

My thoughts raced like wildfire.

I had thought marrying into the Rivers family made me one of them. But now, it was clear: the real family was just Mrs. Rivers, Brad, and Chloe. I was nothing more than a foolish housekeeper.

Mrs. Rivers would toss me a few hundred bucks here and there, and I thought she was being generous. Turns out, compared to Chloe, I was nothing.

She was practically treating me like a beggar, throwing me scraps.

By now, the food in the pan had dried up and started to burn, but I hadn’t even noticed.

"When did you get back?" Brad opened the kitchen door and was startled to see me standing there.

My thoughts snapped back to reality, and I glanced at him. "I… I’ve been home for about ten minutes…"

Brad rushed over, taking the spatula from my hand. "What were you doing? The food’s burning!"

I quickly grabbed a bowl, poured some water into it, and dumped it in the pan. "Oh… I was just thinking about whether the store owner overcharged me for the groceries."

I made up an excuse, hoping to cover my tracks.

Brad gave me a suspicious look. "You didn’t hear anything after you got home, did you?"

His gaze felt like it was trying to pierce through me.

I played dumb, staring back at him with confusion. "Hear what?"

"You came in so quietly. I didn’t even hear you."

Brad’s expression softened, and he smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I went out to get your favorite—durian. Just got back."

He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

It was then I noticed the giant durian in his hand.

Suddenly, I felt repulsed by the durian—and his kiss. Not because I liked durian, but because Chloe did. This family was exhausting.