Chapter 1
After I recovered from cancer, my husband, Eiden Warrick, showed up, hand in hand with my best friend, to bring me home.
My parents held my sobbing son awkwardly and told me I could stay in the guest room.
My daughter, Callie Warrick, poured scalding water on me and screamed for me to get out of the house.
It wasn’t until I looked at the family portrait–where my face had already been replaced by another woman–that I finally realized: I no longer had a place in this home.
That was when my phone buzzed. It was a message from an old friend, a fellow cancer survivor who was also a mafia boss in Europe.
“My legs are disabled. I can’t be with a woman in that way. Are you sure you want to marry someone like me?”
“I’m sure,” I replied.
He texted, “Then tomorrow, I’ll come marry you.”
“Alright.”
Right after I hit send, the phone started buzzing like crazy.
I turned off the screen and didn’t even bother checking. That guy probably just spammed me with a bunch of emojis like fireworks and confetti.
Eiden glanced at the screen over my shoulder.
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I quickly put it away, rested my head on the table, and asked him, “Did you finish packing my stuff?”
His expression froze. He closed his eyes, then gripped my waist tightly like he was holding himself back.
“Honey, I already told you I’m divorcing Lillian. Stop acting like this. Lillian cried all night after hearing you were leaving…”
“No! I don’t want Mommy and Daddy to get divorced!”
Before he could finish, my daughter ran up and bit my wrist hard. Her eyes, which looked so much like mine, glared at me like a wild animal. She yanked my clothes and mumbled angrily, “I want Mommy Lillian! You’re a creepy bald weirdo! Get out!”
“Callie, stop hurting your mom,” my mother whispered from the side.
But she didn’t move an inch to pull the child away.
I gritted my teeth through the pain and shoved my daughter away, my wrist dripping with blood from her bite.
Callie wiped her lips and spat on the floor in disgust. “Yuck, gross! The cancer patient’s blood is dirty. If you eat it, you’ll get sick!”
Eiden quickly helped her rinse her mouth, scolding me harshly, “Are you just gonna stand there? She bit you, and you just let it happen? What if you passed your illness to her? What then?”
I opened my mouth, ready to explain that I had recovered, and cancer was not contagious, but I was too tired. My voice wouldn’t come out.
It was the same as the last time.
The day I came home, everyone treated me like I was dangerous. Eiden
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disinfected every cup, plate, chair, and spoon I touched–again and again.
One time, I accidentally scratched Lillian Naillon with my nail, and Callie poured hot water on my thigh. Then she cried, saying I hurt her mom on
purpose.
Eiden even scolded me for being vicious. Only Lillian fell to her knees, crying as she slapped herself in the face, saying it was her fault for stealing my family, and that it was fair if I hated her.
Still, everyone treated me like the problem. Now they’re even planning to give away the Patnick Woodworks, the company I started with my own hands, to Lillian as compensation.
It’s been a couple of months since I came back, and not once has anyone.
asked if the treatment was painful or how I managed living alone in a foreign country.
Thinking about that actually made me feel better.
If they hadn’t treated me so coldly back then, I wouldn’t have the heart to hurt them back.
The company’s patents are still in my hands. I can take back the shares. anytime I want.
When that happens, the Patnick Woodworks will still belong to me, and I’ll finally cut all ties with the Patnick family.
While I was lost in thought, Eiden suddenly yelled, “Margaret Patnick! What’s going on with you lately? You don’t even hear me when I talk. Are you ignoring me on purpose?”
He looked at me like he had made some huge sacrifice. “Since you insist on being with me, I’ll divorce Lillian and marry you again, as long as you
Chapter 1
stop causing problems for her…”
I cut him off and said. “No. I’m getting married.”
