Chapter 1

For seven years, I was the secret wife of tech billionaire Ethan Richardson, the ghostwriter of his success. I sacrificed everything for him, only to be discarded for my own protégée after he forced me through five abortions.

I rebuilt my life from the ashes, finally finding peace.

But at our ten-year reunion, Ethan reappeared. He saw my five-year-old daughter, Mia, and a terrifying obsession ignited in his eyes, convinced she was the child I had hidden from him.

His madness escalated until he kidnapped her, luring me to an abandoned warehouse with a chilling threat.

"Come alone if you want to see our daughter again."

How could this man, who left me to miscarry our last child alone in a hospital, now dare to call himself a father?

He offered me a twisted deal: our 'family' back together, in exchange for my daughter's life.

But he made one fatal mistake.

He never bothered to find out who my new husband was.

Chapter 1

I used to believe love was a silent promise, whispered in the dark, secured by shared burdens. For seven years, my life was a distorted echo of that belief, stretched thin across Ethan Richardson' s ambitions. I was his secret, his confidante, his unpaid strategist. I was everything to him, except the one thing that mattered: his public face.

My name is Alize Hall. Everyone at the ten-year college reunion saw me as the quiet girl who faded into the background. Some remembered how I used to follow Ethan around like a shadow, always ready to lend an ear, offer a suggestion, or simply be there. They saw the public Ethan-the charismatic, brilliant founder of 'Innovate Tech,' a man whose name was synonymous with success. They saw the confident smile, the witty banter, the tailored suits that screamed 'billionaire on the rise.'

They didn't see the real Ethan.

They didn't see the man who, behind closed doors, called me his wife. The man who, for years, shared my bed, my dreams, my very breath. The man who made me believe that our secret was a testament to our unique, unbreakable bond, a sacred trust that set us apart from the shallow world of public display. He told me our love was too profound for fanfare, too real for societal labels. I clung to those words, even as they choked the life out of my own aspirations.

I gave him my youth, my ideas, my unwavering support. I sacrificed my own budding career in marketing, convinced that his success was our success. I was the architect of his early campaigns, the ghostwriter of his eloquent speeches, the quiet force behind his meteoric rise. While he basked in the limelight, I toiled in the shadows, fueled by a love I now realize was nothing more than an addiction.

"Alize? Is that really you?" A voice, thick with nostalgia and a hint of surprise, cut through the low hum of conversation.

It was Sarah, one of my old sorority sisters. Her eyes widened, scanning my simple black dress and modest pearl earrings. I knew what she was looking for. The glow. The confidence. The outward signs of success that my peers now flaunted. She found none of it.

"Sarah. It's good to see you," I said, my voice calmer than I felt.

"Wow, you look... different," she blurted out, then quickly tried to recover. "I mean, still beautiful, of course! But softer. More... subdued."

I forced a small smile. Subdued. That was one word for it. Broken might have been more accurate, five years ago.

"Life happens," I offered vaguely, picking up a flute of champagne from a passing tray. The bubbles tickled my nose, a fleeting sensation in the dull ache of my memory.

"So, what about Ethan?" Sarah leaned in, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "He's here, you know. Still single, I hear. You two used to be inseparable. A lot of people thought you were endgame."

My grip tightened on the glass. Still single. The irony was a bitter taste on my tongue.

"He's quite the catch now, isn't he?" another classmate chimed in, overhearing. "Billion-dollar company. Just bought that estate in Malibu. You should go talk to him, Alize. Reclaim your man!"

A cold laugh bubbled up in my throat, but I swallowed it. Reclaim my man. They had no idea. He was never my man, not in any way that truly mattered.

Just then, a commotion erupted near the entrance. The conversations died down, replaced by a ripple of excitement. Everyone turned.

Ethan. He strode in, a force of nature even in a casual setting. His aura was magnetic, his smile practiced and dazzling. He wore a dark, impeccably tailored suit that hugged his broad shoulders, his dark hair artfully disheveled. He was taller, broader, more refined than I remembered, if such a thing was possible. He was everything the magazines said he was: successful, charming, utterly captivating.

Our eyes met across the room. Just for a fraction of a second. His smile faltered. His eyes, once so familiar, now held a flicker of something I couldn't quite decipher. Surprise? Discomfort? Recognition?

He started to walk towards me, his gaze locked on mine. The crowd parted for him like the Red Sea. My throat tightened. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. I had built a new life, brick by painful brick. I had buried the ghost of that Ethan.

"Alize," he said, his voice a low, familiar rumble that sent shivers down my spine, not of pleasure, but of old fear. He reached out, as if to touch my arm.

I flinched back, my hand instinctively going to my chest. "Don't," I warned, my voice a quiet hiss. "Don't you dare touch me."

His hand dropped, a muscle visibly ticking in his jaw. His perfectly composed facade cracked, just for a moment. He looked... hurt. Good. He deserved it.

A sudden gasp from a waitress. A tray of champagne flutes crashed to the floor, spraying golden liquid and crystal shards everywhere. The noise cut through the tension, making everyone jump.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Richardson!" The young waitress stammered, frantically beginning to pick up the pieces.

Ethan ignored her. His eyes were still fixed on me, a predatory glint slowly replacing the fleeting hurt. "Still so dramatic, Alize," he sneered, his voice barely audible above the rising chatter as people tried to pretend nothing had happened.

"Still so pathetic, Ethan," I retorted, matching his low tone, my teeth clenched. I took a deliberate step back, putting distance between us. The scent of his expensive cologne was too close, too suffocating.

He watched me, his gaze intense, that flicker of raw emotion returning. His jaw worked, his eyes dark pools of something unreadable. He seemed to shrink, just infinitesimally, beneath my contempt. It was a victory, small and insignificant, but a victory nonetheless.

"Let me take you home, Alize," he said, his voice surprisingly soft, almost pleading. "It's getting late. And it looks like it might rain." He gestured vaguely towards the large arched windows, where dark clouds were indeed gathering.

I almost scoffed. Rain. He was trying to use the weather as an excuse? My mind flashed to all the times he'd used similar flimsy pretexts to manipulate me. The sky could be falling, and I still wouldn't let him near me.

The thought of walking home in the rain, my simple dress probably sticking to me, was unappealing. But the thought of another second in his presence was a hundred times worse.

"No, thank you," I said flatly. "I can manage."

He sighed, a theatrical puff of air. "Don't be stubborn. What, are you still holding a grudge about the settlement? We can discuss it. I could still offer you something, you know. I know you never took anything back then."

My stomach churned. Settlement. Something. Did he think money could erase the years of emotional violence? Did he think a few paltry dollars could compensate for the pain of five forced abortions? For the countless nights I cried myself to sleep, believing his lies about "not being ready" while my body was ravaged by his carelessness?

I glanced down at my dress. A smudge of champagne, brown and sticky, had splattered across the hem when the tray fell. A minor annoyance, but enough to distract me from the sudden rush of nausea.

"That's not necessary," I said, my voice sharper than I intended. He wouldn't understand. He never understood anything that wasn't about him. I remembered the perfectly polished cars he used to drive-a different model every year, as if his growing wealth demanded new toys. He was probably on his fifth or sixth luxury vehicle by now.

"I'll take a taxi, Ethan. Or an Uber. I have options now, remember?" I forced a smile, one that didn't reach my eyes. "Unlike before."

He watched me, a flicker of something akin to pity in his gaze. "Alize," he said, his voice laced with a strange mixture of concern and exasperation. "You don't have to be like this. We can talk."

"Ethan!" A sweet, almost childish voice trilled from behind him.

My head snapped up. No, it couldn't be. Not here. Not now.

All eyes in the room turned to the new arrival. A young woman, impossibly slender, with long, honey-blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders. She wore a sleek, form-fitting business dress in a vibrant sapphire blue, accentuating her figure. Her heels clicked confidently on the polished floor. She looked like she'd stepped straight out of a corporate fashion magazine-polished, ambitious, and utterly at ease in her carefully constructed image.

Whispers rippled through the room. "Who is that?" "Isn't that Jenna Hodge? From Innovate Tech?"

I didn't need to look at her to know it was her. The scent of her cloyingly sweet perfume, the high-pitched giggle, the way she moved with an almost deliberate grace. I recognized it all. My former protégée. The woman who had, quite literally, stolen my life.

I turned back to the champagne stain on my dress, pretending to be deeply engrossed in picking at it. My stomach was growling, a pathetic protest. I hadn't eaten properly all day, too nervous about this reunion, too aware that I might run into him.

"Alize! Oh my goodness, Alize Hall!" Jenna exclaimed, her voice dripping with an exaggerated enthusiasm that grated on my nerves. She rushed forward, grabbing my arm. Her touch was like ice. "I can't believe it's you! Ethan darling, look! It's Alize!"

She looked at Ethan, then back at me, a knowing smirk playing on her lips. "I didn't expect to see you here, Alize. I thought you'd... moved on." Her words were sweet, but her eyes were sharp, assessing.

I calmly, deliberately, pulled my arm free from her grasp. "I did," I said, my voice flat. "Move on, that is."

Someone from the crowd, a nosy classmate, piped up, "Jenna, dear, who are you?"

Ethan, regaining his composure, wrapped an arm around Jenna's waist, pulling her closer. His smile returned, wide and radiant. "Everyone," he announced, his voice booming with forced cheerfulness. "This is Jenna. My fiancée."

The words hit me like a physical blow, even though I had known this was coming. Fiancée. He was finally making it public. The woman he'd chosen over me, the woman he'd paraded around while I was his dirty little secret. The woman he' d gotten pregnant.

Ten years. A decade of my life, my love, my unwavering faith in him. All for this. For a public announcement to a room full of strangers and old acquaintances. My heart, which I thought had long since turned to stone, felt a fresh, agonizing crack. All my sacrifices, all my silent suffering, all the times I swallowed my pride and accepted his excuses-it all condensed into one humiliating, public punchline.

A moment of stunned silence hung in the air, then a polite smattering of applause, quickly followed by a chorus of congratulations. Everyone swarmed around Ethan and Jenna, offering their well wishes, their faces beaming. Jenna giggled, pressing herself against Ethan, her hand resting delicately on his chest. She looked up at him, her eyes shining with mock adoration, like a prize won.

"Thank you, everyone!" Jenna said, her voice filled with a manufactured humility. "Ethan and I are so thrilled. We're going to have a small, intimate wedding very soon, just family and close friends." She raised a glass of sparkling water, holding it aloft. "To new beginnings!"

She was a natural. She worked the room, effortlessly charming everyone, basking in the glow of Ethan's reflected glory. She spun tales of their whirlwind romance, their shared vision, their undeniable chemistry. It was a performance I had seen countless times, but never with such a bitter sting.

Then, her eyes found mine again, sharp and calculating. She detached herself from Ethan, strolling towards me, a triumphant smirk on her face. "You know, Alize," she said, her voice dropping to a theatrical whisper, but loud enough for a few curious ears to catch. "Ethan mentioned you used to have a crush on him back in college. Isn't that right?"

I stood frozen, my eyes fixed on the champagne stain, my throat raw. The world seemed to tilt on its axis. Did she really just say that?

A few people nearby shifted uncomfortably, avoiding my gaze. They knew my history with Ethan, or at least, the public version of it. The quiet girl, the supportive friend. The unspoken tension between us.

"Alize?" Jenna pressed, a saccharine smile plastered on her face. "No need to be shy. It's a long time ago, right? And look at us now!" She gestured between herself and Ethan, who was now subtly watching our interaction.

A kind-hearted classmate, bless her heart, stepped in. "Oh, Jenna, don't be silly! Alize was always such a good friend to Ethan. Just like a sister, really."

Jenna chuckled, a brittle sound. "Of course, a sister. How sweet." She reached out, patting my shoulder, then quickly retreated to Ethan's side. "Anyway, Alize, I'm sure you're thrilled for us." She leaned into Ethan, who gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Ethan always said you were very supportive."

The words were a hammer blow. Supportive. After everything. After seven years of my life, my career, my body. After being his secret wife, his silent partner, his personal abortion clinic.

I scoffed, a dry, bitter sound that startled even myself. I finally looked up, my eyes locking onto Ethan's. His face was a mask of placid indifference, but I saw the flicker of unease in his eyes. He knew. He always knew how to twist the knife.

"Supportive?" I repeated, my voice barely a whisper, yet it cut through the murmuring crowd like a razor. "Oh, Ethan. You really are a master of understatement, aren't you?" I took a slow, deliberate sip of my champagne, savoring the bitter bubbles. My gaze swept across the bewildered faces of my former classmates, then settled back on Ethan, whose jaw had now tightened. "For the record," I said, my voice gaining strength, "Ethan and I were married."