To the Morrison family, I was merely the inconvenient, pregnant ex-wife—a woman to be tolerated, mocked, and eventually discarded

Chapter 1: The Water on the Persian Rug

To the Morrison family, I was merely the inconvenient, pregnant ex-wife—a woman to be tolerated, mocked, and eventually discarded.

They had spent their lives climbing the corporate ladder of a billion-dollar empire, never suspecting that the woman they humiliated at their Sunday dinner table was the very person who held the keys to their entire existence.

Ice water dripped from my hair onto the polished floor, then pooled over the expensive Persian rug beneath my feet. I recognized that rug. I had approved its purchase years ago during a budget review, back when they still smiled at me in public and called me family behind closed doors.

Diane Morrison set the empty bucket down with a satisfied smirk, as if she had finally scrubbed away a stain.

Brendan, my ex-husband, watched from his chair with detached amusement, his designer shirt untouched, his expression calm and cruel.