Chapter 1

Noah, usually his father’s shadow, had insisted all week that he only wanted me to take him camping. His reason? He wanted to learn "real survival skills," implying his dad would just baby him with glamping.

My husband, Liam Vance, immediately feigned a heart attack.

"Hey, buddy, you’re ditching the old man?" He scooped our seven-year-old up, rubbing his designer stubble against Noah’s cheek. "Or is it that you only love Mom now? I’m starting to get jealous here."

Noah giggled, squirming in his arms.

Liam set him down and turned to me, his eyes crinkling with that familiar, indulgent resignation. "Looks like I’m the third wheel. You guys go bond. I’ll hold down the fort."

Despite the playful complaints, the speed with which he shoved the sleeping bags into the trunk was suspicious.

He even double-checked the gas tank unprompted, acting like a pit crew chief terrified we might miss our start time.

"It works out, actually. A major client from Chicago is flying in," he said, slamming the trunk. "You guys go have an adventure. I’ll bring home the bacon. Don't keep the little man waiting."

For the entire week, he hadn't made a single attempt to join us. Just a vibrating eagerness to see taillights.

At the time, I didn't overthink it. I assumed he just wanted a quiet weekend—scotch, cigars, and silence.

I didn't realize the truth until the phone call.

It was late Saturday. The campfire was dead. My phone buzzed against the folding table, the screen lighting up the dark: Liam.

When I answered, the background was dead silent. "Hey, babe. You guys asleep? I just checked in."

"Just got Noah down." I stepped away from the tent, lowering my voice. "Why so late?"

"Flight delayed. I’m absolutely wrecked," Liam sighed, dropping into that specific, boyish whine he used for sympathy. "Room’s huge and empty. Looking at this king bed, I actually miss you guys."

"Go get some rest."

"Can't. Meeting the client downstairs in ten. Probably gonna pull an all-nighter," he said, tempo increasing. "Just checking in so you wouldn't worry. If I go radio silent, it's because I'm swamped."

"Okay. Don't drink too much."

"I know. Love you."

"Love you too."

I heard the heavy clatter of the phone hitting a hard surface. I was about to tap the red button on my screen when I noticed the call timer was still ticking.

He thought he’d hung up. He hadn’t.

A second later, a woman’s voice drifted clearly through the speaker—crisp, young, and amused.

"Nice performance, Mr. Vance. I almost bought the 'absolutely wrecked' line myself. Does an audience make lying harder... or easier?"

My grip tightened until my knuckles popped.

It was Simone.

The scholarship student I had sponsored for three years. The girl who had sat in my living room in frayed jeans, eyes wide, saying, "Mrs. Vance, I just want to use my education to rewrite my future."

Liam’s voice returned, but the husbandly fatigue was gone. Replaced by a loose, arrogant baritone.

"Pressure just makes it exciting, doesn't it?"

The distinct click-hiss of a lighter. A long exhale.

"Besides," he chuckled darkly, "if I didn't make the call, how would I prove I was 'working late'?"

"You're terrible," Simone drawled, her voice dropping into a lazy, intimate register. "Even calculating your own son into this. Noah looked so happy leaving. How’d you get that clingy kid to bail on you?"

"Simple. That vintage Death Star Lego set." Liam sounded bored, discussing a transaction.

"The kid’s like his mother; easy to bribe if you know the currency. A little sugar, and they don't care if Daddy is meeting a client or a lover. See? He happily dragged his mom to the woods to clear the house for us."

Bile rose in my throat, hot and acidic.

Noah hadn’t suddenly matured. He hadn’t wanted to learn survival skills. He had been bought off by his father, turned into an unwitting accomplice in his own family's destruction.

"If your perfect wife only knew..." Simone giggled. "Her charity project, wearing her silk robe, drinking her vintage Cab."

"Shh. Don't talk about her." Liam cut her off, his voice trembling with a jagged excitement. "Don't you think this is hotter? Last week she was telling me how 'pure' and 'hardworking' you are. She has no idea."

"I am hardworking," Simone purred. "I'm just focusing my studies on how to keep you happy in bed."

Then came the wet, sickening sounds of skin on skin.

A moment later, the noises stopped as Simone seemed to push him away. Her tone shifted, becoming sharper. "But seriously, Liam. When does this sneaking around end? I’m tired of being the dirty little secret."

Silence stretched on the line.

"Babe, don't kill the vibe," Liam said, his voice cooling. "You know the rules. Divorce is off the table."

"Why? She's just a housewife now. What are you afraid of?"

"Evelyn is the anchor. She gives me the stable home, the image. I need that base. But you..." Liam’s voice dropped, thick with lust. "You make me feel the rush. You make me feel like the Liam Vance from college—untouchable."

"I get it," Simone scoffed. "You want the boring safety of the wife and the thrill of the mistress. You want both."

"Is that a problem? She handles the stability; you handle making me feel alive. Why can't I have both?"

Both.

I sat frozen on the cheap camping chair, blood draining from my face.

I never thought Liam, the "wild horse" of our university days, would break his tether in middle age.

Back in college, we were mortal enemies. He was the Business School playboy; I was the "nun" of the Jewelry Design department, obsessed only with my sketches. 

We traded insults in the cafeteria daily until sophomore year, when frat guys cornered me in the studio.

Liam, who usually rolled his eyes at me, was the first through the door. He threw a punch that broke the lead guy's nose.

"Watch your mouth," he had snarled, wiping blood from his lip, looking like a guard dog. "Nobody bullies her but me."

After that, the notorious womanizer deleted his contacts. He cut his hair. He followed me like a shadow.

When my parents divorced over my father’s affair, I tried to push Liam away. "Men are all the same. Leopards don't change spots."

Liam had grabbed my shoulders under the moonlight, eyes wet. "Evelyn, look at me. I’m retiring the jersey. From now on, I only want to be trouble with you."

I believed him. I believed I was the exception, the one woman special enough to make him drop anchor.

A year into our marriage, I almost bled out giving birth to Noah. Liam knelt on the hospital floor, sobbing, bargaining with God to take ten years off his life if I survived.

When his company was just a startup, he held my hands—rough from polishing gems—and begged, "Evelyn, I need you to hold down the fort. Manage the family. Once we’re stable, you go back to being a queen."

For that promise, I locked my Tiffany awards and precision carving tools in storage.

I dulled my edges. I learned to cook. I went from a genius designer to a supportive wife.

Friends told me, "Evelyn, you're amazing. You actually tamed Liam."

I thought I had.

I even started the scholarship fund to help ambitious girls like Simone, terrified I would lose touch with the world outside my kitchen.

How ironic. I paid for the education of the woman destroying my marriage.

The man who claimed he’d "retired the jersey" had simply gotten bored of the sidelines. He missed the game.

He hadn't changed. He had just taken a nap.

Disgust washed over me, potent enough to make me retch. I gripped the phone, listening to my husband betray me. I wanted to scream. I wanted to burn their world down.

But I couldn't wake Noah.

I clamped a hand over my mouth, swallowing the breakdown, forcing the sobs back into my chest until my ribs ached. I couldn't wake Noah. I couldn't let him see his mother shatter.

So I sat there. rigid as a statue, while the fire turned to ash and the cold wind dried my tears.

Dawn was bruising the sky purple when my phone buzzed again.

A text from Isabella. My college roommate, and now the Creative Director for Maison Étoile in Paris.

[Evelyn. Short version: The brand is launching an independent Haute Couture atelier. The board saw your old portfolio. They don't want a newbie; they want you as Chief Designer. 18-month contract, full creative control, Paris. I know it’s been forever, but this throne is yours. Don't let your talent rot in the suburbs. Say yes.]