Chapter 2

Dominic appeared behind her in a bathrobe.

For a moment, he froze. I saw something flash across his face — guilt, maybe. Or fear. It disappeared in a second.

"Vivienne. You should have called."

Five years. Five years of sacrifice, and that was what he said to me.

The woman — I still didn't know her name — wrapped her arm around Dominic's waist. She tilted her head and looked at me with a pitying smile.

"Babe, is this the one who abandoned her kids?"

My blood went cold.

"I didn't abandon anyone. Dominic asked me to—"

"Vivienne." Dominic's voice was flat. "This isn't a good time. Chloe and I are taking the kids to brunch."

Chloe.

Her name was Chloe.

"Dominic, those are my children. I have every right to—"

"Your children?" Chloe laughed, covering her mouth with a manicured hand. "Lily calls me Mommy. Lucas made me a Mother's Day card. Where were you for five years?"

Each word was a knife.

I looked past them into the hallway. The walls had been repainted. My grandmother's antique mirror was gone. Family photos I had framed — our wedding, the twins' birth, my parents — had been replaced with photos of Chloe and Dominic.

My home had been erased.

"I want to see my children," I said. My voice broke despite myself.

Dominic stepped forward, lowering his voice. "Vivienne, don't make a scene. The kids don't need this confusion. You've been gone for five years. You can't just show up and—"

"I was gone because YOU asked me to go!" My composure shattered. "Every cent you spent — the renovations, the cars, her clothes — came from MY work!"

Chloe's expression shifted. She looked at Dominic with wide eyes.

"Babe, she's scaring me."

Dominic's jaw tightened. He pulled out his phone.

"If you don't leave, I'm calling the police."

"On me? At MY house?"

"This house is under my name now," Dominic said coldly. "You signed the property transfer three years ago for the tax restructuring. Remember?"

I felt the ground tilt beneath me.

The tax documents. He had sent me a stack of papers during the Kyoto expansion, saying the accountant needed signatures for tax optimization. I signed them between meetings, trusting him completely.

He had transferred my grandmother's brownstone into his name.

I stood on the doorstep of my own home, and I was the trespasser.

"Dominic... you wouldn't."

He said nothing.

Chloe smiled. She actually smiled. Then she shut the door in my face.

I stood there for eleven minutes. I know because I watched every second tick by on my phone. Then the door opened again. Not Dominic. Not Chloe.

Two private security guards.

"Ma'am, you need to leave the premises."

"This is my house. I—"

One of them grabbed my arm. Hard.

"Ma'am, we've been authorized to use necessary force."

They dragged me down the steps. My heel caught on the last stair, and I fell onto the sidewalk. My knees hit concrete. My palms scraped raw.

Neighbors were watching from their windows.

Nobody came to help.

I looked up and saw Chloe watching from the second-floor window — my bedroom window — holding a coffee mug, smiling down at me like I was entertainment.

That was the moment I stopped crying.

That was the moment something inside me went quiet and cold.

My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.

"Stay away from my family. Next time, I won't be so nice. — Chloe"

She had my number. Dominic had given her my number.