Chapter 1

For the sake of the story, I lived as a shadow designer for ten years to build Raphael’s jewelry empire.

But when my father suffered a massive heart attack and desperately needed a transfer, Raphael diverted our private medevac chopper just to find his first love’s lost Ragdoll cat.

Looking at his mistress’s Instagram post that read, "Even if the world ends, you’ll always find my cat," something inside me snapped.

Ten years of devotion, gone. I was done.

I would take my share of the wealth, tear his company down to the roots, and let that toxic couple rot in hell together.

The smell of bleach in the ER hallway was suffocating.

"Miss Windsor, your father’s heart attack is severe. This local hospital doesn't have the equipment to save him."

The doctor pushed the double doors open, speaking rapidly. "Where is the medevac helicopter? If he doesn't get transferred in the next fifteen minutes, his heart will fail!"

My knuckles turned white as I clutched my phone.

Half an hour ago, my husband, Raphael, had promised me on the phone that he would dispatch the R-H private medical chopper immediately. He swore it would land in fifteen minutes.

It had been forty minutes.

I dialed Raphael's number again. No answer.

Biting my lip, I called his executive assistant. It rang for a long time before he finally picked up.

"Where is the chopper?" I demanded, my voice shaking.

The assistant hesitated. "Ma'am... Mr. Raphael... he diverted the chopper to the Westside estate."

I froze. "The Westside estate? Why? My father is dying!"

"Miss Hailey's Ragdoll cat ran into the forest behind her villa." The assistant sounded guilty.

"Mr. Raphael said there are wild coyotes in the hills. He insisted the cat was in danger and ordered the chopper to use its thermal imaging cameras to search for it."

A loud buzzing echoed in my ears.

A human life was on the line. My father was fighting for his life in the ER, and Raphael had hijacked a life-saving medical chopper to search for a mistress's cat.

I slammed the phone down and opened Instagram.

The very first post on my feed was Hailey's, posted ten minutes ago.

In the photo, the R-H Medevac chopper was parked on her villa’s lawn. The searchlights made the grass look as bright as day. Raphael’s back was to the camera, cradling a fluffy Ragdoll cat in his arms.

The caption was sickeningly sweet: “Even if my world turns upside down, you’ll always find my cat. Thank you, my superhero.”

I stared at the screen, feeling utterly hollow.

For ten years, I worked behind the scenes, sketching designs until dawn, building Raphael’s name from nothing into a global jewelry giant.

I thought we were a team. I thought we loved each other.

But in the end, my father’s life didn't even weigh as much as a cat to him.

The red light above the ER door flashed ominously.

I took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. My eyes burned, but I didn't shed a single tear.

Crying over a scumbag was a waste of tears.

The pain and betrayal burned away, leaving nothing but absolute, icy clarity.

I walked over to the hallway window and called my best friend, Sophia, who also happened to be the city’s most ruthless divorce lawyer.

"Hey, Windsor! What's up?"

"I want a divorce," I said, my voice cold as ice. "Draft the papers."

Sophia went silent for two seconds. "What did Raphael do?"

"He diverted my dad’s emergency medical chopper to find Hailey's cat."

I heard a loud slam on the other end of the line.

"That absolute piece of trash!" Sophia cursed. "He’s a monster! Stay there, I'm coming to the hospital right now."

"No, don't come here. Start working on the assets," I said, staring out at the dark city skyline. "I want everything that belongs to me. I want his money, and I want to tear his company down to the ground."

"Good!" Sophia laughed coldly. "I've been waiting to hear you say that. I'll freeze his accounts and dig up his secrets. I’ll make sure he ends up broke."

I hung up and walked back to the ER doors.

"Doctor!" I called out to the nurse. "The chopper isn't coming."

"Call the best private ambulance immediately. Use whatever life-support medications we need. I don't care about the cost—just get my father to the city hospital safely!"