During my divorce hearing, the judge ruled that I would leave the courtroom with nothing. My husband stood beside his mistress wearing a smug expression that made it obvious he thought he had already won. “We’ll see how you and that baby survive without me,” he sneered. I lowered my head and swallowed the humiliation, until the courtroom doors suddenly exploded open. A billionaire walked inside, his eyes locked directly on me. “Without you, my daughter and grandchild will live like royalty.” The smile vanished from my husband’s face instantly.

Across the room, Patrick leaned back in his fine leather chair with a look of supreme satisfaction spread across his handsome face. He wore a midnight-blue custom suit that probably cost more money than I had earned during my entire working life. He did not look like a man who was casually destroying his family, but rather like a dangerous predator enjoying a fresh victory.

Sitting directly behind him was Chloe, his twenty-three-year-old former executive assistant and now very public mistress. She was dressed in an elegant cream designer dress while clutching a small leather handbag in her lap. Patrick casually reached back and allowed his fingers to stroke her knee in plain view of everyone present. Chloe looked over at me with a soft expression of fake sympathy that barely hid her intense joy.

“This court session is officially adjourned,” the judge said as he gathered his papers and prepared to leave.

My exhausted court-appointed attorney patted my shoulder awkwardly and muttered a brief comment about ironclad contracts before hurrying out the side doors.

I remained completely frozen in my wooden chair.

How was I going to afford food for myself tonight?

How was I going to buy diapers and essential supplies for my baby?

Patrick stood up smoothly, buttoned his tailored jacket, and whispered something to his lead lawyer that made the whole legal team chuckle softly. Then he began walking toward my table with a casual stride.

He stopped right beside my chair.

“Well, Serena,” he whispered in a low voice meant only for me to hear. “I told you that you were absolutely nothing before you met me. Just a charity project I dressed up for fancy dinners, and now the judge has officially agreed with me.”

I stared down at my scuffed shoes and bit the inside of my cheek so hard that I tasted warm blood.

He leaned down very close until I could smell the expensive cologne I had purchased for his birthday two years ago.

“Let us see how you and your little bastard survive without access to my bank account,” he sneered under his breath. “I give you less than a week before you are sleeping in a cold alley and begging outside my corporate office.”

Then he stepped back, pulled Chloe tightly against his side by her waist, and smiled like a conqueror.

CHAPTER 5
09/10/2026

I squeezed my eyes shut.