Chapter 1

I had just picked up medicine for my feverish son from the hospital. The moment I pushed open the front door, I heard sharp, mocking laughter coming from the living room.

"Eat this! This is imported dog food, hundreds of dollars per pound---more expensive than the meat you country bumpkins eat for Christmas! Don't be ungrateful!"

My heart sank. Without even changing my shoes, I rushed into the living room.

The scene before me made my blood boil. My mind exploded with a deafening buzz.

Eleanor---Ethan Sterling's mother---was curled up on the cold marble floor. She had just undergone heart bypass surgery, and her face was as pale as paper, her entire body trembling.

And Melissa Snow, the so-called "premium nanny" Ethan Sterling had hired at great expense, was wearing my silk nightgown, one foot planted on Eleanor's shoulder, forcing a dog bowl toward her mouth. The bowl was filled with soggy, foul-smelling leftover dog food.

"Melissa! What the hell are you doing!"

I lunged forward like a madwoman and knocked the dog bowl from her hands.

The rancid dog food splattered all over Melissa.

She shrieked and jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, jabbing her finger at my nose and cursing.

"Are you insane, Grace? How dare you splash me!"

Melissa disgustedly brushed at her clothes, then shot a contemptuous glance at Eleanor on the floor.

"What am I doing? I'm teaching your broke-ass mom some manners! Ethan said I'm in charge of this house. You country people are covered in germs. I was doing her a favor by making her lick the bowl clean!"

I trembled with rage, my nails digging into my palms.

She thought Eleanor was my mother.