Introduction

I was scrolling through a local forum, a mindless habit, when a post titled "A Warning to a Woman in Tech" caught my eye.

It described two people plotting at a cafe I knew: a man complaining about his "tech executive" girlfriend, and a woman suggesting they "get her to relax" by putting something in her drink.

They wanted her money, her inheritance, planning to stage an "accident."

My fingers went cold, but the nausea passed-it was too generic. Then, the final detail: "The man... wore a very distinctive watch, a vintage chronograph with a dark green face."

My phone clattered to the floor. Not Liam. Not the watch I bought him for our anniversary.

The man who brought me soup when I was sick, who supported my career, who spoke of being my equal. He was a lie. All of it.

Every sweet gesture replayed, tainted, a calculated part of his long con. The anger, hot and sharp, consumed me.

Chloe Davies. Liam's old acquaintance, openly jealous of my success. I remembered him dismissing her, "Don't worry about her. You're the only one that matters to me."

I believed him. The realization hit like a physical blow: the man I loved, and the woman I distrusted, were partners in a plot to destroy me.

His parents, with their sickeningly sweet talk of "making it official," had been part of it too.

My father' s ironclad prenup-that was the wall he couldn't climb. It wasn' t just a legal document; it was the trigger. They wanted to ruin me, stage an "accident," for him to inherit.

The venomous greed took my breath away. They weren' t just after my money; they were after my life.

But they had miscalculated. They had no idea who they were dealing with.

Liam Parker wanted a war. I would give him one.