Chapter 1
I came home after a month-long business trip and discovered my key no longer opened my own front door. Then my mother-in-law smiled and told me her son had moved another woman into my house—and she was pregnant.
I stood on the porch of my home in Houston, dragging my suitcase behind me, and tried the key again.
Nothing.
I called my husband, Daniel.
Straight to voicemail.
Then the door opened.
My mother-in-law, Margaret, stood there wearing the smug expression I had learned to hate.
“What happened to the lock?”
She folded her arms.
“You really have to ask?”
I stared at her.
“Move.”
She blocked the doorway.
“You disappear for a month and expect everything to stay the same?”
“I was working, Margaret.”
“A wife who cared about her family wouldn’t leave her husband alone that long.”
My stomach tightened.
“Where is Daniel?”
She smiled.
“Inside with someone who actually knows how to take care of him.”
I thought I had misheard her.
Then a young woman appeared behind Margaret wearing one of Daniel’s T-shirts.
Her hand was resting on a very obvious pregnant belly.
I couldn’t breathe.
Margaret looked almost proud.
“Her name is Ashley.”
The woman wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“Daniel finally found someone who can give him the family he deserves.”
Something inside me snapped.
“You changed the locks on my house?”
Margaret laughed.
“It’s my son’s house too.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Her smile faded slightly.
She stepped closer and whispered, “You neglected your husband, and now you’re paying for it.”
I slapped her across the face before I could stop myself.
Margaret screamed.
“You crazy woman! I’ll have you arrested!”
I pulled out my phone.
“Good.”
Daniel suddenly appeared behind Ashley.
His face went white when he saw me.
“Emily, listen—”
“No.”
I called my attorney.
Margaret rubbed her cheek and shouted, “Tell your lawyer whatever you want. Daniel lives here, so you can’t throw us out!”
I looked straight at my husband.
That was when I realized none of them understood what I had done before leaving for my trip.
My attorney answered.
“Emily?”
I kept my eyes on Daniel.
“David, activate the documents we prepared last month.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“What documents?”
I smiled for the first time since arriving home.
May you like
“The ones proving this house was mine before I married you.”
Then my attorney went silent for a moment and said, “Emily… before we do anything, you need to know what Daniel tried to file against you three days ago.”
