Chapter 1

I had just opened my eyes when I saw a little girl timidly leaning on my knee, saying:

"Mom, I'm hungry."

Looking at this face that resembled Lucas Gray's, I was instantly overjoyed.

After all, my lifelong dream was to form a small family of three with him.

Before I could rejoice for two seconds, I turned my head and saw our wedding photo shattered on the ground!

I called Lucas:

"Honey! There's been a break-in!"

The next second, I heard a woman's coquettish laughter from the other end of the line.

And then, Lucas's voice, cold as ice:

"Lily Johnson, what new trick are you trying to pull? Even if you died, I wouldn't come back!!"

Before he could finish speaking, the phone was abruptly hung up.

My heart was instantly filled with a whirlwind of emotions.

It wasn't long ago that Lucas was holding me, crying non-stop because he had finally married me.

In the blink of an eye, he was now holding another woman and wishing me dead?!

I didn't understand what had happened in these ten years, so I turned to look at the little girl standing beside me, looking confused.

The little girl was smart. In just two or three minutes, she had figured out that I wasn't the mother who had been by her side all along.

She calmly walked up to me, her big round eyes looking straight at me as she asked:

"When did you come from?"

"Ten years ago."

"Are you my mom?"

I didn't know how to answer, so I gently smoothed her hair:

"Ten years ago, I had just married your dad. You weren't born yet. You can think of me as your new mom."

"My name is Emily, I'm seven years old. Can you make me some noodles?"

She pulled me to the kitchen.

Faced with a fridge full of vegetables, I felt a bit lost.

After all, I had never cooked before.

After getting together with Lucas, he had created a special menu just for me.

He had hand-drawn every dish I loved.

"As long as I'm by your side, I'll never let you eat takeout. I guarantee it won't be long before I've kept you healthy and happy!"

But Emily clutched her stomach and mumbled:

"Mom's a great chef. She always makes everything I love to eat."

Looking at the shattered wedding photo on the ground and remembering the woman's laughter on the phone, I suddenly realized that the love I had once been so proud of had finally crumbled.

I fiddled with my phone for a while, and an hour later, I finally managed to order takeout for the girl.

Seeing me sitting aside, lost in thought, Emily took the initiative to hand me her phone.

On the screen was the surveillance video from last night.

In the footage, I was sitting on the sofa from 6 PM, waiting until midnight.

Lucas finally came home, drunk.

Ridiculously, he had a pair of black stockings tied around his waist.

"You went to see her again, didn't you? What's so good about her? Don't forget who gave you everything you have today! If it weren't for my uncle, do you think you'd be where you are now?!"

He pushed me to the ground before I could finish speaking.

A slap landed on my face.

"A useless woman who can't even give birth to a son, you have the nerve to bring this up? Don't think I don't know about you and that uncle of yours who's not even related by blood. If you didn't have two cents to your name, I would have kicked you out long ago!!"

"Lily, I've put up with you this long already, that's more than enough face for you! If you have any brains left, wait until I bring Zoe here, do your job as a housekeeper, and to the outside world, you'll still be the glorious Mrs. Gray!"

"Lucas, if you don't love me, why did you risk your life to save me when I was cornered in that alley back then?"

I asked him, my voice hoarse.