Chapter 1

To get pregnant, I gave up a career my peers all envied. The day I finally conceived, my husband brought his mistress home to live with us.

He shoved me into the table without a second thought.

Nana Mae fell trying to protect me—her head cracking against the marble floor.

"Call an ambulance!" Blood soaked through my hands. My abdomen tore with pain.

"Sienna's too fragile. She can't handle the sight of blood." He scooped up his mistress and walked out, leaving the two of us on the floor.

"You can't leave this bed—it could hurt the baby." I ignored the doctor's warning and stayed at Nana Mae's bedside anyway.

Ten minutes earlier, she'd posted on Instagram: a tiny band-aid on her hand, his fingers wrapped around hers.

——

Lennox's POV

"Three years. I was finally pregnant."

I stared at the two red lines on the pregnancy test in my hand, tears welling up in my eyes.

My husband, Declan Vance, and I had been sweethearts for four years in college and married for three.

I had only been working for a year after graduation when Declan's mother forced me to quit my job to prepare for pregnancy, claiming that "the Vance family needs an heir."

The nasty rumors about me being "barren" nearly suffocated me.

So, I quit my job.

But the last time I found out I was pregnant, Declan's mother immediately moved in to monitor my every move. She confiscated my phone and cut off all my social life.

That suffocating control left me depressed all day, which ultimately led to a miscarriage.

Just as I was hesitating about whether to tell them this time, a knock on the door startled me.

I quickly shoved the pregnancy test into my pajama pocket, thinking it was her coming for another surprise inspection.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open with trembling hands.

"Nana Mae?!" I blurted out in shock.

Standing outside wasn't my mean mother-in-law, but Nana Mae, who had come all the way from the countryside in Georgia.

She was wearing that faded floral dress, looking completely at a loss in front of the smart video doorbell on the wall.

Seeing her hunched figure, my nose instantly stung with unshed tears.

Shortly after I was born, my dad passed away in an accident, and my mom abandoned me and ran away overnight.

It was Nana Mae who raised me by doing laundry for others.

I studied so desperately hard just so I could bring her to the big city to live a good life.

But she never wanted to leave her home.

"Lennox, the young security guard downstairs helped me press the elevator button." Nana Mae's eyes lit up when she saw me.

"Nana Mae, what are you doing here?" I quickly grabbed her hand. "It's a long way from Georgia to here."

"I took the bus," she said, awkwardly patting the hem of her clothes.

"The bus?" I looked at her, my heart aching. "That must have taken over twenty hours!"

"Come in quickly, I'll get you a glass of water."

I turned to go to the kitchen to pour some water. When I came back with the glass, I found Nana Mae still standing in the exact same spot.

She was carefully sizing up the Manhattan penthouse.

She didn't even dare to step on the rug in front of her, too embarrassed to even take a seat.

"Nana Mae, have a seat." I walked over and gently guided her to sit on the sofa.

Before she could even take a sip of water, the apartment doorbell rang.

I went to open the door. It was Declan.

Hearing the commotion, Nana Mae immediately stood up from the sofa again.

But he didn't come back alone.

Clinging to his arm was Sienna, wearing a burgundy silk slip dress and stepping in twelve-centimeter red-bottomed heels.

"Declan, this rug of yours is so beautiful. It feels like stepping on clouds," Sienna said coquettishly, her high heels stepping mercilessly onto the pristine white rug, leaving two dirty prints behind.

Declan didn't even look at me, let alone notice the helpless Nana Mae.

"If you like it, I'll have someone install one in your apartment tomorrow." He looked down and smiled tenderly at Sienna.

"Declan, Nana Mae is here."

Declan finally looked up, his gaze sweeping over Nana Mae's dusty, worn-out leather shoes.

"Why didn't you tell me in advance?" he frowned, his voice full of disgust. "Showing up in my living room looking like a refugee... People might think I've gone bankrupt."

Nana Mae shrank back in fear, accidentally dropping the patchwork quilt she was holding onto the floor.

"Eww, what is this garbage? Why does it smell like mold?" Sienna intentionally stepped back, the heel of her shoe stomping right onto the quilt.

"Don't touch the quilt Nana Mae made for me!" I rushed forward, shoving Sienna's leg away and clutching the quilt tightly in my arms.

Sienna took the opportunity to fall into Declan's arms.

"Declan, I didn't see it clearly... why did Lennox push me?"

Declan immediately shielded Sienna behind him, glaring at me coldly.

"Lennox, are you crazy? Sienna almost fell at the construction site today while looking at the blueprints. I brought her back to rest, and this is how you act as the hostess?"

Looking at his self-righteous face, I found it utterly ridiculous.

"Looking at blueprints at the site?" My eyes were red, my voice trembling.

"That design that made Sienna famous—I stayed up for three nights straight to draw it for her! Declan, have you forgotten?!"

"It's just a piece of ragged cloth. Why have you become so unreasonable?" Declan interrupted me impatiently.

"Pushing someone over such a trivial thing? Apologize!"

"She's the one who should apologize!"

"You're insane."

Declan tightened his arm around Sienna and turned toward the guest room.

"Sienna is startled. She'll sleep in the guest room tonight. You'd better clean up your trash."

The guest room door slammed shut.

I stood frozen in place, trembling all over.

"Lennox, sweetheart..."

From that dusty old cloth bag, Nana Mae carefully brought out a slightly crushed piece of Southern pecan pie.

"Happy birthday."

I reached out with a trembling hand.

Today was my birthday.

Declan forgot, and even I had forgotten.

Only Nana Mae, all the way out in the countryside, remembered. She took a twenty-hour bus ride just to bring me a piece of pecan pie.

I took a bite, and the familiar taste made my tears stream down uncontrollably.

"Don't cry, sweetheart." Nana Mae pulled me into her arms tenderly, patting my back gently. "If you like it, I'll make you another one tomorrow."

Leaning on Nana Mae's warm shoulder, I closed my eyes, endless bitterness surging in my heart.

Back then, I studied desperately under a desk lamp late into the night, just so I could make it out of a small town and into Columbia University's architecture program.

I longed to shine so brightly, yet for Declan, I gritted my teeth and gave up my career, burying all my talent and dignity in this gilded cage.

Lennox, you can't keep living like this.