Chapter 1

Everyone in New York believed Sean Foster and I were the model high-society couple.

Little did they know, this marriage had been a farce from start to finish—nothing more than a shield for Sean to protect his ex-girlfriend.

Not only did Sean trick me into signing a divorce agreement, but he also had AI generate explicit, compromising photos of me.

He planned to broadcast those photos on our third wedding anniversary, utterly destroying my reputation.

What Sean didn't know, however, was that the video played that day would be footage of him cheating with his ex.

Olivia's POV

My twenty-sixth birthday happened to fall on a Saturday.

Sean said he had to work overtime at the office and wouldn't be back until late.

In the afternoon, carrying a cake I had baked myself, I went to Foster Group to surprise him and pick him up after work.

When I arrived, the company was completely deserted. No employees were working overtime.

I walked all the way to the CEO's office. The door was slightly ajar, and laughter drifted out from inside.

I recognized the voices of Sean's three friends.

Just as I was about to push the door open, I heard Tyler Vance ask:

"Sean, Vivian's flight lands tonight. How are you planning to deal with Olivia? Today is her birthday, isn't it?"

My hand froze on the handle.

Deal with me?

And who was Vivian?

Tyler was always polite and respectful whenever he saw me. I never imagined he had such an attitude behind my back.

So, I stood outside the door without moving.

Before Sean could speak, Justin Miller chimed in. He had always been loose-lipped.

"Does that even need answering? A birthday is nothing compared to picking up Vivian! Vivian is his first love. What is Olivia Vance? An arranged wife with zero feelings attached. Right, Sean?"

Sean seemed momentarily stunned by the remark.

He didn't answer. Instead, he looked down at his phone and tapped away.

A second later, my phone lit up with a text from Sean:

[Something came up with work tonight. I'll make up your birthday another day. Sorry.]

Snap. A string snapped inside my chest.

So this Vivian was his first love.

And I, his wife, was merely a tool in an arranged marriage to preserve family interests.

Three years of tenderness and consideration had all been an act.

Yet before we married, I had specifically asked him if there was an ex-girlfriend he couldn't let go of.

I refused to marry a man whose heart wasn't completely clear.

Back then, he had held my hand and said with absolute certainty that there was no one.

He lied to me!

Tears splashed onto my phone screen, blurring the words into watery streaks.

Before I could wipe them away, Tyler spoke again from inside the office.

"We've all seen it these past few years. Sean flies overseas every single month to see Vivian."

"Last year, Sean spent his birthday with Vivian, and Valentine's Day this year too. Three months ago on Vivian's birthday, Sean walked away from contracts worth hundreds of millions. If Vivian so much as sneezes abroad, Sean drops board meetings just to fly halfway across the world to take care of her!"

Travis Cross sighed heavily.

"Ah! If Sean's mother hadn't opposed it back then and forced Sean and Vivian to break up, Olivia Vance wouldn't even be in the picture! Sean and Vivian really had it rough!"

"Exactly!" Justin Miller snapped, his anger flaring. "Letting Olivia Vance occupy the nest for all these years makes me sick just looking at her! If she weren't a Vance, and if the Vance family weren't someone we can't afford to mess with, I wouldn't even bother talking to her!"

Travis asked again, "Vivian is staying for good this time, right? Sean, what are you actually planning to do about Olivia? The Vance family isn't to be trifled with."

Sean didn't say a word.

Outside the door, my head buzzed.

But Sean was the one who pursued me first!

He pursued me relentlessly for a whole year, sending flowers to my doorstep every single day and waiting downstairs after work every evening before I finally agreed.

Now, in the mouths of these people, I had become the homewrecker who came between Sean and his ex-girlfriend?

I was the one who had been deceived, yet I was the one bearing the blame.

They twisted black and white so shamelessly, standing on their moral high ground.

I clenched my phone tightly.

Sean stood with his back to the door, silent for a long time. I couldn't see his face or guess what he was thinking.

Finally, he spoke. "Vivian is pregnant."

"What?" Tyler was the first to gasp in shock. "Since when?"

"Three months ago, on her birthday."

Sean seemed to reminisce. "She wouldn't let me wear protection, said it felt uncomfortable, and I agreed. A few days ago, she told me she's pregnant, which is why she decided to return."

Justin slapped his thigh, beaming. "Oh man! Congratulations, Sean!"

Tyler gave a thumbs-up. "Impressive, Sean! One shot, one hit!"

Travis didn't laugh. "Then you really have to handle Olivia properly. But Sean, I think Olivia genuinely loves you. If she refuses to divorce, what will you and Vivian do?"

"Olivia loves me deeply. She won't agree to a divorce."

This time, Sean didn't hesitate. His tone was full of confidence and certainty.

"So a few days ago, I tricked her into signing the divorce agreement. It's sitting in the safe right now. She still has no idea."

A tremor ran through my entire body. I swayed, leaning against the wall just to keep myself from collapsing.

I remembered. A few nights ago, I had waited for him on the sofa until I was half-asleep.

When Sean came home, he brought a document for me to sign.

He claimed he was buying an oceanfront villa as my birthday present and needed my signature.

I trusted him, so I signed without even glancing at it.

The birthday present I believed in was actually a divorce agreement!

Sean Foster, you really are ruthless!

Hearing this, Justin immediately slammed the desk in approval. "Brilliant, Sean! Absolutely genius!"

Travis, however, frowned with concern. "Sean, you tricked her into signing a divorce agreement. Aren't you afraid of retaliation from the Vance family? Foster Group and Vance Group still have ongoing joint ventures, don't they?"

Before Sean could speak, Tyler smiled and answered for him.

"Travis, do you really think Sean doesn't have a Plan B? Isn't their third wedding anniversary next month? Sean is throwing a massive celebration. Invitations have already been sent to half the business elite in New York! The media has been booked too!"

Justin was confused. "If you're getting divorced, why celebrate the third anniversary?"

"Travis, you're just too soft-hearted!"

Tyler continued.

"When the time comes, the romantic video reel playing on the banquet screen will be swapped with explicit photos of Olivia Vance with other men. Of course, Sean had someone generate them using AI. But once they're shown, who at the venue could immediately tell real from fake? To minimize the fallout, the Vance family will have no choice but to swallow this bitter pill and push through a quiet divorce to bury the scandal. Otherwise, if it blows up, no matter the truth, Olivia Vance will be the only one ruined!"

Travis fell silent. "Sean, isn't that... a bit too cruel?"

Sean lit a cigarette and said nothing.

After a long pause, as the cigarette burned down to the filter, he seemed to make up his mind. "That's how high-society marriages work. If she's outplayed, she just has to accept defeat."

I clenched my fists until my nails dug deep into my palms.

We had known each other for five years and been married for three. The outside world regarded us as the pinnacle of an arranged marriage, claiming Mr. Foster kept his wife at the very center of his heart.

Even my best friend Savannah Bell often teased me, saying I had broken the curse that arranged marriages lacked true love.

And I had given him my whole heart without reservation, securing numerous projects for Foster Group and looking after every detail of his life.

Yet the man I believed to be a perfect husband had plotted against me to this extent!

There was no need to stay in a marriage this rotten.

And for a man whose heart was this foul, there was no need to show any mercy.

Since he tricked me into signing the divorce agreement, I would beat him at his own game.

I wiped away my tears and quietly slipped away from the executive floor.

Passing a trash can, I tossed the cake inside without a second thought.

I got into my car and drove straight back to the hillside villa where we lived after our wedding.

Once there, I headed straight for the safe in the second-floor study.