Chapter 1

To raise money for my younger brother’s wedding, Grandma married me off to Ethan Bennett, an auto mechanic, for thirty thousand dollars.

People said the Bennetts had offered thirty thousand because that was all I was worth.

But Ethan treated me well after we got married. He often felt guilty about it.

“If I’d known how wonderful you were, I would’ve worked harder and given your family a hundred thousand.”

He handed over every cent he earned, determined to give me a good life.

To take some of the pressure off him, I worked two part-time jobs.

On his birthday, I took half a day off and bought him a used car with the money I’d saved.

But when I reached our front door, I heard a man in a tailored suit ask him:

“You still haven’t told her you’re the Bennett heir? It’s been two years. Haven’t you had enough of this game? What are you going to do when Olivia comes back?”

Ethan held a cigarette between his fingers and chuckled.

“She never went to college, and she’s got two leeches for a family. Thirty thousand was enough to make her devote her entire life to me. Why would I complicate things?”

“You should be asking what Olivia plans to do. If she can mess around with another man, why can’t I find a woman to settle down with? I’ll go home when she finally comes to her senses.”

The car keys in my palm felt hot enough to burn.

I remembered what Grandma had screamed through her tears three months earlier, when I cut ties with her.

“Your man has all that money, and he hasn’t told you! He’s already planning to dump you! Without us, you’re still nothing!”

But when you’ve grown up in the mud, even a little light can be enough to warm you for a lifetime.

If he wanted to leave, I would let him go.

Jason Cole stood with a helpless sigh.

“There’s no getting through to you. Fine. Do whatever you want. Just don’t let this blow up in your face!”

He stormed out, and I hurried into a corner of the stairwell to hide.

It took a long time to get my emotions under control and wait for the redness around my eyes to fade.

Then I picked up the cake, walked inside, and said to Ethan:

“Happy birthday!”

He was sitting on the couch, lost in thought. My voice snapped him out of it.

He immediately came over and took the things from my hands.

“Why’d you buy this? What a waste of money!”

“As long as you’re with me, I’m happy. Birthday or not.”

His voice was so gentle that tears stung my nose.

Growing up, my family had always treated me like an unwanted burden.

He was the first person who made me feel my existence mattered.

It was his birthday, but he pulled me over to the dining table.

“Same rules as always. You get all the wishes and all the cake!”

It was our little tradition. Since we got married, he’d let me make every one of his birthday wishes.

“There’s nothing else I need. But I want everything you wish for to come true.”

In the past, I’d always wished that Ethan would stay with me forever.

This time, before I could close my eyes, someone knocked on the door.

Ethan went to answer it. A tall, stunning woman stood outside.

“I sent Jason to talk to you. Wasn’t that enough to show you how I feel? Did you really have to make me swallow my pride and come here myself?”

There were tears in her eyes. When she saw me, she fell apart even more.

“You’re living in a place like this? For a woman like her?”

“A birthday? Since when is today your birthday?”

“Ethan Bennett, did you really put this much effort into an act just to get back at me?”

I looked at the words I’d written on the cake myself in chocolate sauce.

“Happy birthday to my beloved Ethan.”

My nose began to sting again.

I had never imagined this scene.

Even though I’d practically memorized the post on my phone exposing Ethan and Olivia Sinclair’s relationship.

I’d never thought I would actually meet her.

I stayed in my chair and said nothing.

Ethan glanced at me, then frowned at Olivia.

“What gives you the right to question me? If you want to throw a fit, do it somewhere else!”

The ruthless way he told her to leave sparked a little hope inside me.

Even when she rushed forward and overturned the cake on the table, I had no intention of fighting with her.

I heard her snap at me:

“Don’t you know your place? He doesn’t love you. He’s only with you because he was angry with me!”

“Your family sold you for thirty thousand. Any random gift he’s given me costs more than you do. If you know what’s good for you, leave. Do I really have to spell it out?”

For the first time, I found the courage to lift my head and look someone straight in the eyes.

“This is my home. You’re the one who needs to leave.”

When her palm struck my face, Ethan didn’t comfort me.

All I saw was him wrapping his arms around the hysterical Olivia. His expression hardened as he looked at me.

“Claire, that was out of line!”

He carried her outside without a single word of explanation.

The walls in our old building were thin. Even after they reached the ground floor, I could still hear him.

“You know I only got together with her because I was angry with you. Why are you taking her so seriously?”

I pretended I hadn’t heard.

I picked up the half of the cake that hadn’t been ruined and put a candle in it.

As the tears slipped down my face, I closed my eyes and made a wish.

“Even without Ethan Bennett, I want to live a good life.”