Chapter 1

On the day of my wedding to William Thompson, Silicon Valley’s golden boy, his college classmate Grace Young got into a car crash.

He was about to throw down his wedding band and run out when I grabbed his hand, hard.

I leaned in and whispered that if he walked out that door, my family would instantly pull our venture capital funding from his tech startup.

If we finished the ceremony today, the funding would go through.

If he dared to leave, I would have him kicked out of his CEO seat by tomorrow morning.

With a face of pure ice, he forced himself to stand by my side and finish the ceremony. But right after, news came from the hospital—Grace hadn’t survived.

William didn’t say a single word. Three months later, he took me to a private charity gala at a vineyard in Napa Valley.

The moment I turned my back, he drugged my champagne and handed me over to his corrupt business partner, Mark Vance.

Mark took compromising photos and videos of me and sent them straight to William. William just sat on the plush leather sofa in the VIP lounge, laughing.

"She’s the one who forced me to marry her," he sneered. "This is her karma."

"Call the press. Tell them she cheated on me, got blackmailed, and died in a tragic accident."

As my consciousness faded, the brutal truth finally hit me. William hated me. He blamed me for taking away his chance to save his precious Grace.

When I opened my eyes again, William was holding the diamond wedding band, about to slide it onto my finger.

I smiled.

I turned my head, pulled out my phone, and called Arthur Blackwood. I asked him if he wanted to be my groom instead.

...