Chapter 1

On my wedding day, Julian Sterling left me stranded at the Ashcroft Chapel altar and eloped to the Municipal Courthouse to marry his long-time love, Vivienne Vance.

I stood frozen in front of a hundred guests. The bouquet slipped from my shaking hands as humiliation burned through every inch of me.

That was when his younger brother stepped forward, laced his fingers through mine, and finished the ceremony in Julian's place. He pulled me out of the most helpless, soul-crushing moment of my life.

For two years after we said "I do," Tristan Sterling doted on me like I was the center of his universe. He was gentle, attentive, and perfect in every way. I truly, stupidly believed he loved me.

That was until my seven-month prenatal checkup. I pressed my ear to the exam room door and heard every word of his conversation with my doctor.

"Mr. Sterling, are you dead set on giving this baby to Ms. Vance? It's unbelievably cruel to your wife."

Tristan's voice dropped. It was cold and hollow, like he was discussing a piece of furniture rather than a child.

"It's just a baby. We'll tell her it was stillborn, and she'll never know the difference. I married her because Vivienne can't carry a child. The Sterling family fortune needs an heir, after all."

I bit down on my lip so hard I tasted blood. Hot tears burned behind my eyes, threatening to spill.

Two years of soft smiles, late-night cuddles, and whispered promises—all a lie. Tristan never loved me. Not even a little.

Fine. If that was the game he wanted to play, I would walk away. I'd let him have his messed-up little love triangle with his brother and his precious Vivienne. I was done being their pawn.

...

"But Mr. Sterling, Ms. Mercer has been your wife for two years. You're the ones building a life together, not you and Ms. Vance." The doctor paused. His tone was gentle but urgent, as if he were begging Tristan to see reason. "I can see how much this baby means to her. If you tell her it's stillborn, it will break her. Can you really live with that on your conscience?"

Tristan went quiet for a long, heavy moment. Then he sighed, his voice thick with a longing that curdled my stomach.

"I just wish she was Vivienne."

For a second, my brain short-circuited. I couldn't wrap my head around what I had just heard.

His rough, hoarse voice came again, heavy with a regret that wasn't for me.

"Vivienne will be devastated if she doesn't have this baby. If one of us has to hurt, it won't be her. I'll make it up to Rose. I'll dote on her twice as much for the rest of our lives to make this right. Isn't that enough?"

That final, arrogant question left the doctor with nothing else to say.

A bitter, twisted smile pulled at my lips. I stood frozen outside the door. The metallic tang of blood filled my mouth from where I had bitten clean through my cheek.

He would rather shatter my entire world than let Vivienne feel even a flicker of disappointment. Grief curdled into white-hot rage, and my jaw clenched so tight that my teeth ached.

Well played, Tristan Sterling. Two years of marriage, two years of pretending to love me.

Now I saw it clearly. When he stepped up to marry me two years ago after Julian abandoned me at the altar, it had never been an act of kindness. It was a carefully plotted scheme from the very start.

I remembered the day after the wedding, standing outside the Municipal Courthouse. I had told him, "The ceremony is over. If you only did this to clean up Julian's mess, you can walk away now. I won't hold it against you."

He had grabbed my wrist then, grinning with that bright, sunlit smile that made my stupid heart flutter.

"Rosalie Mercer, how cruel can you be? I just married you, and you're already trying to kick me to the curb? Not a chance in hell."

He was the one who chose to marry me that day. And I, desperate to get back at Julian, hadn't hesitated for a second to sign the marriage license with him.

I thought I had won. I thought I had perfectly humiliated Julian when Tristan and I walked back into the Sterling Family Estate as husband and wife. I had seen the panic and the unfiltered shock on Julian's face. It was impossible for him to hide.

He even stormed into my office later with red eyes, begging me to leave Tristan and file for divorce. But back then, I was blinded by rage and the lie of Tristan's affection. I had smiled, sharp and mocking, and said to Julian, "Now, now, brother-in-law. Tristan and I are in love. You wouldn't try to break us apart, would you?"

Now I realized I had been nothing but a joke to both of them. Julian leaving me to marry Vivienne, Tristan marrying me in his place—they had probably planned the whole thing together.

I was just a pawn, a fool they had toyed with from the very beginning.