Chapter 1"I'm bored. Let's break up."
Six years ago, Danielle Griffin, the eldest daughter of the Griffin family, tossed out those words and walked away without looking back. She dumped Jonathan Mitchell, who was dead broke at the time, and married Oscar Peterson, the mayor's son.
Six years later, the Griffin family went bankrupt. Danielle was trapped in an abusive marriage with Oscar and finally decided to file for divorce. At her lowest point, bruised and humiliated, she ran into Jonathan again.
A café.
Danielle sat by the floor-to-ceiling window, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, checking her watch over and over.
She had an appointment with her divorce attorney today, but for some reason, he still hadn't shown up past their agreed time. Just as she was about to call him, the café door opened and a tall man walked in.
He was dressed in a gray three-piece suit, a black shirt, and a striped tie. His presence was polished and commanding.
From the moment he entered, several female baristas couldn't help glancing his way. A face with bone structure that sharp was rare in real life unless you were in the entertainment industry.
Others were stunned by how handsome he was.
Danielle was stunned because she was scared out of her mind.
The man who walked in was Jonathan. Her first love. The man she had dumped six years ago with a single sentence: "I'm bored of sleeping with you."
Six years apart, and Jonathan looked like a completely different person.
The Jonathan she remembered always wore white linen shirts, gentle and clean, like the friendly guy next door. The man in front of her now had lost every trace of that softness. His features were sharper, more severe, his gaze cold and aggressive, like a predator that had learned how to hunt.
Danielle's heart slammed wildly against her ribs. She hurriedly lowered the brim of her cap, silently praying that Jonathan wouldn't see her.
Oscar had hit her just yesterday. Her face was still covered in bruises. She didn't want Jonathan to see her like this. She would rather be remembered as the arrogant, heartless woman who dumped him than let him see how utterly defeated she had been in her marriage.
But the universe had other plans.
Jonathan walked straight to her table, pulled out the chair across from her, and sat down calmly.
"Sorry. Traffic," he said.
Danielle froze.
Who was Jonathan here to meet? Had he taken the wrong seat?
"Sir," she said without lifting her head. The cap and sunglasses hid most of her face. She deliberately tightened her voice, forcing a different tone. "I think you've mistaken me for someone else. This seat isn't yours."
"Miss Griffin," Jonathan said coolly. "Stop pretending. I'd recognize you anywhere."
Miss Griffin.
Danielle stiffened.
Ever since the Griffin family went bankrupt, no one had called her that. It used to be Jonathan's favorite way to address her. Back when they were together, he would hold her tightly, his voice hoarse and breathless, murmuring her name over and over in her ear.
"Miss Griffin, can I come in now?"
"Miss Griffin, do you still want it?"
"Miss Griffin, say you love me."
Those intimate, possessive memories surged back all at once.
But today, when "Miss Griffin" came from Jonathan's lips, there was no trace of desire left. Only open, undisguised hatred.
"Sir, I'm not the person you're looking for," Danielle insisted. "Please leave this seat. The person I'm meeting will be here soon."
"Reynolds won't be coming," Jonathan said as he ordered a coffee, his tone unhurried. "Your divorce case will be handled by me from now on."
Danielle snapped her head up.
"Why? I had an appointment with him."
"Finally decided to look at me?"
She paused.
Behind the dark lenses, Jonathan's gaze was calm and unreadable, carrying the effortless authority of someone used to being in control.
She pressed on. "Why isn't Mr. Reynolds coming?"
"Reynolds violated professional conduct multiple times. He was dismissed by his firm today."
"I spoke to him just last night, and today he's disbarred? You expect me to believe that's a coincidence?" Danielle stared at him. "Jonathan, you did this on purpose, didn't you?"
"Why would I?" he scoffed. "To see you?"
"Danielle, do you really think I still have feelings for you?"
She wasn't delusional enough to think that.
She knew Jonathan hated her. No man would pine after the woman who crushed his pride.
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
"I meant you probably came just to watch me make a fool of myself."
"At least you're self-aware," he replied flatly.
He admitted it.
Even though Danielle had expected it, hearing him say it out loud still sent a dull ache spreading through her chest.
Her six years in the Peterson family had been nothing but misery. A strained marriage. In-laws who never accepted her. After the Griffin family collapsed, the Petersons treated her with even less respect. Her life had been a slow, grinding humiliation. The pride that once belonged to Miss Griffin had been worn down to nothing.
Plenty of people wanted to see her suffer.
But if anyone truly had the right to watch her fall, it was Jonathan.
"If you want to see me at my worst," she said quietly, "then I'll give you the full show."
Danielle took off her sunglasses and baseball cap.
She wasn't wearing any makeup. Her pale skin looked like a blank canvas, making the redness on her forehead and the dark bruising at the corner of her eye painfully obvious.
The moment Jonathan saw her injuries, his expression darkened. His fingers tightened around the coffee cup, veins standing out on the back of his hand.
That bastard Oscar.
"Enjoying the view?" Danielle's voice trembled. "If it's not enough, I can explain. This scar on my forehead was from an ashtray. The bruise here was from—"
"That's enough. Shut up," Jonathan snapped.
It felt like something sharp had pierced his chest, the pain spreading uncontrollably.
"This was your choice," he said harshly. "You brought this on yourself."
"Yes," Danielle said softly. "It was my choice. I deserve all of it. And now that you've seen how badly I turned out, you can finally let it go."
Her eyes burned as she looked at him.
"What happened back then was my fault. I'm sorry. From now on, we're even."
She grabbed her sunglasses and cap and fled the café as if running for her life.
Jonathan remained seated, his eyes fixed on her retreating figure. Emotions surged inside him like a rising tide, threatening to drown him at any second.
His phone rang.
"Jonathan, where are you?"
"Meeting a client."
"You just got back to the States. What client?" The person on the other end paused, then reacted. "Wait. Don't tell me you took over Reynolds' divorce case. Come on. You're the head of a law firm. Since when do you take petty little cases like that?"
Jonathan ignored the comment.
"Do me a favor."
"What?"
"Look into Oscar Peterson. Every detail."
Chapter 2
Danielle staggered out of the café, her legs barely holding her up.
For six years, the name Jonathan had been tucked away in the deepest, most guarded corner of her heart. The pain of their breakup back then had been so intense that she never once imagined they would meet again.
And now that they had, without warning, her emotions were in complete chaos.
Her phone rang.
Tiffany's soft, sweet voice instantly calmed her racing thoughts.
"Mommy, when are you coming back?"
"Soon, sweetheart. Mommy's on her way."
Danielle returned to Riverton Heights, to the house of her best friend, Taylor Vincent.
Last night, after Oscar beat her and then disappeared, the police were unable to locate him. Afraid he would come back and hurt her and Tiffany again, Danielle had fled the Peterson family home overnight with her daughter and sought refuge with Taylor.
After the Griffin family went bankrupt, nearly all of Danielle's former friends had vanished. Only Taylor remained the same. One phone call was all it took for her to open her door.
The moment Danielle walked in, Tiffany ran straight into her arms.
"Mommy!"
"Baby." Danielle crouched down, about to kiss her daughter's forehead, but she froze when she looked at Tiffany's face.
It looked seven or eight parts like Jonathan's.
When Tiffany was younger, people constantly praised her looks, saying she'd inherited Danielle's beauty. Danielle had always thought so too. It wasn't until she saw Jonathan again today that she suddenly realized Tiffany was growing more and more like him.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Tiffany asked.
"Nothing." Danielle masked her emotions. "Did Tiffany behave herself while staying at Aunt Taylor's?"
"I did, I did," Tiffany nodded eagerly. "I even helped water the little plants!"
Taylor walked out of the bathroom just then. "She was an angel. So, Danielle, what did the lawyer say?"
Danielle shot Taylor a look and led Tiffany into the bedroom first, handing her a quiet book.
"Tiffany, play by yourself for a bit. Mommy and Aunt Taylor need to talk, okay? I'll come check on you soon."
"Okay."
Quiet books were Tiffany's favorite. She could role-play on her own for a long time.
Danielle returned to the living room, where Taylor had already prepared a plate of fruit. Sitting down, Danielle told her everything that had happened at the café, including running into Jonathan.
"What?" Taylor nearly jumped. "You're saying Jonathan is handling your divorce case? He's the head of Harrington Pierce LLP. He'd take a tiny divorce case like this?"
"Head of Harrington Pierce LLP?"
"You didn't know?" Taylor pulled up an interview on her phone. "Look. Jonathan is the CEO of Harrington Pierce LLP now. You've heard of them, right?"
"That top-tier international law firm?"
"Yes. That one. Rumor has it they have over thirty offices worldwide, more than two thousand attorneys, and annual revenue over a billion dollars."
Danielle glanced at the article and finally understood. The poor boy from back then was now a powerhouse in one of the most prestigious firms in the legal world.
No wonder. Every movement, every glance of his now carried the refined authority of wealth and success.
How the tables have turned.
"Danielle," Taylor said carefully, "do you think he still has feelings for you?"
"Of course not. He just came to watch me fall apart."
"Come on. With Jonathan's status now, his time is worth a fortune. If he didn't still care, would he really take time out of his day just to watch you crash and burn?"
"I'm married. I have a child. With his position, he could have any woman he wants. Why would he still be hung up on me?"
"Danielle," Taylor hesitated, then said softly, "I've always wanted to ask. What really happened back then? You liked Jonathan so much, chased him for so long before you finally got together. Why did you suddenly dump him and marry a scumbag like Oscar?"
Danielle fell silent.
That was all so long ago. Digging it back up now felt pointless.
"Forget it." Seeing her reluctance, Taylor didn't push further and quickly changed the subject. "What are you planning to do next?"
"Find another lawyer," Danielle said quietly. "No matter what, I need to get this divorce finalized first."
Chapter 3
Danielle didn't sleep at all.
She already had too much weighing on her mind, and Jonathan's sudden reappearance only made it worse. Around three or four in the morning, she drifted off briefly, only to be jolted awake by her alarm soon after.
She turned it off and went straight to the bathroom to wash up and put on makeup, carefully concealing her injuries. Once she was ready, she went to wake Tiffany.
"Mommy," Tiffany asked curiously, "why have you been wearing a hat and sunglasses all the time lately?"
"Because Mommy had a cosmetic treatment," Danielle said gently. "The doctor said I need to keep my face completely covered so it can heal faster."
The night Oscar assaulted her, Tiffany had already been asleep and hadn't seen anything. Danielle was grateful for that. If she could help it, she wanted her daughter to never experience something so traumatic.
"But Mommy is already pretty," Tiffany said, wrapping her arms around Danielle's neck. "To Tiffany, you're the most beautiful mommy in the world."
Warmth spread through Danielle's chest.
Tiffany had always been sweet and thoughtful. Her birth had healed Danielle's shattered heart. After pushing her into darkness so cruelly, God had softened and given her Tiffany as redemption.
"Thank you for the compliment, sweetheart," Danielle said softly. "In Mommy's heart, you're the most beautiful baby too. Now let's get ready for preschool, okay?"
"Okay."
Danielle kissed her daughter and helped her change and wash up.
After breakfast, the two chatted as they waited for the elevator in the hallway.
The moment the elevator doors opened, Danielle froze.
Jonathan was standing inside.
He was dressed in a perfectly tailored dark gray suit. The crisp white collar of his shirt framed his sharp jawline. He wasn't doing anything at all, yet a steady, commanding presence radiated from him.
Danielle instinctively tightened her grip on Tiffany's shoulder.
Why was Jonathan here?
Did he live in this building too?
No. That couldn't be it. While Taylor's apartment had been positioned as an upper-middle-class residence when it first opened, the building was old now, and the facilities were dated. With Jonathan's current status and wealth, he would certainly have better options.
Their eyes met briefly.
Jonathan glanced at Danielle for a split second, his gaze sliding away almost immediately.
"Mommy, aren't we going in?" Tiffany looked up at her.
"Y-Yes." Danielle steadied herself.
She led Tiffany into the elevator. The car was spacious, but Danielle deliberately guided Tiffany into the farthest corner from Jonathan, shielding her daughter's face with her own body.
The elevator descended. The numbers ticked down slowly, each second stretching unbearably long.
Danielle even found herself breathing more carefully.
But in truth, Jonathan never once looked at Tiffany.
Of course he didn't. He despised her. Why would he pay attention to her child?
Just as Danielle finally relaxed, the rainbow-colored bouncy ball Tiffany was playing with slipped from her hands and rolled straight to Jonathan's feet.
"Mommy, my rainbow ball. My rainbow ball fell!"
Danielle went silent.
Of course it did.
Tiffany reached out from behind Danielle's makeshift human shield, trying to grab it, but she couldn't reach.
Jonathan glanced down, bent over, picked up the ball, and handed it back to Tiffany.
Danielle watched as his large hand brushed against Tiffany's small one, cold sweat breaking out instantly.
Even their hands looked alike.
"Thank you, mister," Tiffany said with a sweet smile.
Jonathan nodded once, expression blank, almost mechanical.
Tiffany was about to say something else when Danielle quickly covered her mouth.
Finally, the elevator reached the first floor. The soft ding sounded like salvation.
Jonathan stood closer to the front. Since he was heading to the underground garage, he didn't move. Danielle wrapped an arm around Tiffany, sidestepped past him, and rushed out of the elevator as if escaping.
The doors slid shut and continued downward.
Tiffany looked back once before asking quietly, "Mommy, was that uncle in the elevator a bad person?"
"Why would you think that?" Danielle asked.
"Because you kept blocking me, and your hand was all sweaty."
Only then did Danielle realize her daughter had sensed her tension.
"No, Tiffany. That uncle isn't a bad person," she said gently. "But he's a stranger. Mommy told you before, we need to keep a little distance from strangers, right?"
"Yes. But if he was just a normal stranger," Tiffany tilted her head, "why were you so nervous, Mommy?"
