Chapter 1
My husband was cutting my birthday cake while everyone sang—then his mistress walked into our house, smashed that same cake into my face, and announced she was pregnant with his baby.
It was my thirty-fifth birthday at our home outside Nashville.
My husband, Daniel, had invited our closest friends and family.
For once, everything felt perfect.
Daniel wrapped his arm around me and whispered, “Make a wish.”
Before I could blow out the candles, the front door opened.
A woman I had never seen walked straight into the living room.
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
“Lauren? What are you doing here?”
She didn’t answer him.
She walked toward me, grabbed my birthday cake with both hands, and slammed it into my face.
Everyone screamed.
I stumbled backward, wiping frosting from my eyes.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Lauren pointed at Daniel.
“Ask your husband.”
Daniel grabbed her arm.
“Get out.”
She ripped herself free.
“No. She deserves to know.”
Then Lauren placed one hand over her stomach.
“I’m pregnant.”
The room went completely silent.
I looked at Daniel.
He couldn’t meet my eyes.
Lauren smiled at me.
“And yes, it’s his.”
My mother dropped her glass.
I turned toward my husband.
“Tell me she’s lying.”
Daniel whispered, “Sarah, I can explain.”
Lauren laughed.
“Explain the hotel rooms too.”
My chest tightened.
Then she pulled several ultrasound photos from her purse and threw them onto the table.
Daniel suddenly looked terrified.
But he wasn’t looking at the ultrasound.
He was staring at one particular photo underneath it.
I picked it up before he could reach me.
It wasn’t an ultrasound.
It was a photograph of Daniel standing outside a courthouse with Lauren and another man.
On the back was yesterday’s date.
“What is this?”
Lauren’s confidence vanished.
Daniel grabbed for the picture.
I stepped away.
Then my father, who had been silent all night, walked across the room and took one look at it.
His face changed instantly.
“Sarah,” he said quietly, “that man standing beside your husband is the attorney who handled your inheritance.”
Daniel went pale.
My father looked directly at him.
May you like
“What did you do with my daughter’s money?”
And before Daniel could answer, Lauren whispered, “She doesn’t know about the second marriage, does she?”
