“Six weeks before the wedding, he locked the door for his mother while she tried to rob me, not knowing I had already prepared for betrayal.”

CHAPTER 2

Before that afternoon, I thought I was being generous.

I thought helping Ethan through a rough season proved I loved him.

His startup had been “almost profitable” for two years. Every investor meeting was supposed to change everything. Every product launch was delayed because of “market timing.” Every month, he needed just a little help until the next round of funding came through.

At first, I covered dinner.

Then rent.

Then legal fees.

Then a private consultant he claimed would save the company.

By the time I was four months pregnant, I had spent more money keeping Ethan’s dream alive than he had earned from it.

Still, I told myself marriage meant partnership.

Margaret loved that word.

“Partnership,” she would say while sending me invoices. “Family. Future. Legacy.”

She had a way of making selfishness sound elegant.

The wedding was supposed to be small. I wanted a garden ceremony, close friends, simple food, and a quiet promise in front of people who actually loved us.

Margaret turned it into a social event.

Imported orchids.

Crystal rentals.

A designer cake.

A luxury seafood menu I never asked for.

Every time I said no, Ethan acted wounded.

“People are watching us, Ava,” he would say. “You don’t understand what reputation means.”

But I understood reputation very well.

I had built a digital marketing agency from nothing. I had handled payroll when I could barely pay myself. I had worked nights while other people slept. I had earned every dollar in my accounts.

That was why I finally refused.

“I’ve already spent eighty thousand dollars,” I told them in Margaret’s living room. “I’m not draining my savings or my company account for orchids and lobster.”