Chapter 1At my brother-in-law's wedding reception, his new bride suddenly called me out in front of everyone.
"You and your husband have been living in his parents' mansion AND driving their Maybach. That's seriously messed up!"
"Let's settle this right NOW! Time to split everything up so you can stop leeching off them!"
The guests started whispering. My in-laws looked like they wanted to crawl under the table.
I took a slow sip of my drink. Then I smiled.
"Split things up? Perfect. I'm all for it."
What this pretty new bride didn't know was:
The mansion, the Maybach, AND that big fancy family company—
ALL BELONG TO ME.
Split things up? Oh, honey... you're going to be left with JACK SHIT.
...
The reception hall went dead silent.
Up on stage, Brynn looked pissed I wasn't freaking out like she'd planned.
She shoved aside my husband's younger brother, Rhett, and kept going, mic in hand.
"Wow, Sloane. I gotta hand it to you—you've got some nerve."
"We both married into this family. Everyone can see what you're doing. Don't think you can just blow me off!"
She turned to the crowd, pointing at me.
"You guys don't know the half of it. This woman lives in her in-laws' house and took the master bedroom. Does NOTHING. Just sits there like a princess.
Last time my mother-in-law tried cleaning her office, she didn't say thank you—she made her CRY!"
"Oh, and last month? My father-in-law fell and twisted his ankle. Did she care? Nope. Took the Maybach and LEFT. Left him on the floor!"
"At Apex Tech—that's the family business—she weaseled into a VP title. Shows up late, leaves early. When she's at her desk? Makeup. Snacks. Netflix. Makes her sister-in-law do everything!"
She glared at me, then at my husband Cade.
"Cade, say something! You gonna let your wife walk all over this family?"
Everyone stared at Cade.
Including me. I actually wanted to hear this.
When we got married, his family had nothing. Actually nothing.
Cade was the only one who went to college.
Rhett dropped out of middle school to work at a factory.
So did his sister Quinn. Their parents did construction.
Combined, they didn't make enough in a year to buy one pair of my shoes.
Over five years, I bought them a villa and luxury cars. Funded Apex Tech from scratch.
Taught them business. Used my connections for clients—everything.
They could play dumb for outsiders, but the family knew EXACTLY where it all came from.
Cade's face went tight. His knuckles turned white around his glass.
After a few seconds, like he'd made some decision, he turned to me.
"Sloane... she's not wrong. You were out of line."
"You're married to the oldest son. You should be setting an example. Show some respect."
"Stand up. Apologize to Mom, Dad, and Quinn. Pour them a drink. Then we move on."
My smile dropped.
Classic move—pretend to help while confirming every accusation. Make me the bad guy who needs to grovel.
Funny how he forgot our wedding night—
when he said I was his family's savior, that he'd die before letting me suffer.
Those promises expired, I guess.
I looked at his parents, at his sister Quinn, at the groom Rhett on stage.
That time I made his mom "cry"?
she ignored my warnings not to enter my office and threw away a hundred-million-dollar contract, thinking it was TRASH! So yeah, I raised my voice.
When his dad got hurt?
I immediately canceled a major meeting, called a private ambulance, stayed till he was in it. Then I left for my client.
Quinn? I paid for her to study abroad. Brought her into the company. Taught her everything.
Rhett? Every racing car, all his gear, the house and cash for his wedding—I paid for it ALL.
But now, with everyone staring at me like I'm guilty, not one of them would look at me.
Not one spoke up.
I felt cold. Done.
Meeting Cade's expectant stare, I laughed coldly.
"I didn't do shit wrong. I'm NOT apologizing to ANYONE."
Chapter 2
Cade wasn't expecting that. His face went dark.
"Sloane, this is my brother's wedding. Our family's big day."
His voice dropped. "Don't do this. Not today. Just... be reasonable."
I actually laughed.
Back when we were dating, he loved how I never backed down. Said I was like sunshine—bright and fearless.
Now?
Apparently standing up for myself made me "unreasonable."
Ten years. I'd loved this man for ten years.
And he turned out to be this fake. This selfish.
"Reasonable? Cade, who do you think GAVE your family this 'big day' to worry about?"
Before I could finish, he cut me off.
"Enough, Sloane. I've clearly been too easy on you!
"Fine. You want this? We're officially splitting from my parents. Right now!
"The villa, the car—they belong to Mom and Dad. You don't touch them anymore!
"And your shares in Apex? Hand them over. We're dividing everything. Today."
So that was it.
The whole point of this setup—they wanted my thirty percent stake in Apex.
When Cade said it, I saw the look in his family's eyes.
Cold. Hungry.
Like predators closing in.
Even though I was the one who'd changed their entire lives.
Any warmth I had left? Gone.
Ten years together. Five years married. All that love I'd given them? Fucking wasted.
I stared at him.
"Cade. You sure about this?"
Maybe he'd never seen me look at him like that before. His eyes flickered. Then he nodded hard.
"Even if you don't agree, it doesn't matter. I'm the oldest son, the legal owner and CEO of Apex. According to the original shareholder agreement, I have the right to handle your shares.
"Take the money and go. That's the most dignity you're getting.
"Otherwise? You'll walk away with nothing!"
He glanced at his assistant, who immediately came over with a folder and set it in front of me.
When I set up Apex, I knew about the loophole in the shareholder agreement.
Knew it could let Cade kick me out.
Didn't think he'd actually use it.
The document transferred all my Apex shares to Cade and his siblings—for free.
The villa in my name, the Maybach—also "gifted" to his parents.
There was even a clause saying I gave up any right to contest it, and that I'd never interfere with the family or the company again.
They'd planned this.
This wasn't some spur-of-the-moment thing from Brynn.
They'd been scheming, figuring out how to take everything.
Chapter 3
I flipped to the last page, set the folder down, and looked up at them one by one.
"You're all sure? You really want me to sign this?"
My mother-in-law spoke first. "Sloane, honey, this is how it should be. We didn't bring you into this family so you could hoard everything."
"Just sign it. We'll still be family. Everything will be fine."
My father-in-law nodded, coughing.
"Right. We're all family here. This stuff should belong to us anyway. Once you hand it over, you're still our daughter-in-law. No one's gonna say anything."
Quinn looked down, mumbling, "Just sign it. You're rich anyway. This stuff doesn't even matter to you. But it matters to us. We need it."
Rhett jumped in.
"Yeah, exactly. You've got plenty of money. Why do you even care? Just help us out. We'll remember what you did."
Brynn laughed, arms crossed.
"See? The whole family agrees. Stop acting high and mighty and just sign already!"
"Don't ruin my wedding!"
Finally, I looked back at Cade.
He softened his tone, like he was trying to coax me. Or threaten me.
"Sloane. Just sign it. You don't trust me after all this time?"
"If you really love me, prove it. Show me you're not with me for the family's money."
For their family's money?
I laughed.
So loving someone meant handing over everything, letting them take whatever they wanted,
then getting accused of being a gold digger.
"Cade, this stuff really doesn't mean much to me."
"But are you sure YOU can handle it?"
His face went cold. He thought I was mocking him.
"What's THAT supposed to mean? I run Apex. I've been closing deals for YEARS. You think we need you? We'll do just FINE without you. Better, even. Don't kid yourself."
"Okay."
I picked up the pen and signed my name.
I finished. Pen hit the table. I shoved the document across.
Brynn practically lunged for it, flipping through with this manic grin.
She practically shoved it at Rhett, clearly terrified I'd change my mind.
Cade's shoulders relaxed. He looked at me with this unreadable expression.
I didn't give him the chance to say anything.
"There. I signed it. You got what you wanted."
"From now on, whatever happens to your family has nothing to do with me."
I turned and walked straight out.
Once I was in my car, I pulled out my phone and called Lincoln, my dad's executive assistant.
"As of right now, Apex Tech has nothing to do with me anymore."
"Pull every resource connected to my family. All of it."
"I want that business miracle ripped apart. One month. Turn it into a joke."
Lincoln's voice was sharp. "Done. I'll handle it personally, Miss Hayes."
I hung up and stared at the Apex building.
Let the whole thing go up in flames.
