I stood frozen in the doorway, my hand still gripping the brass doorknob as I stared at the scene before me. My wife, Seraphina Sterling—the woman I'd devoted three years of my life to—was tangled in our bed sheets with another man.
"Seraphina?" My voice came out as a pathetic whisper.
Neither of them rushed to cover themselves. Instead, Seraphina's red lips curled into a sneer as she brushed her blonde hair from her face. "You're home early."
The man beside her sat up, not bothering to hide his naked chest. I recognized him immediately—Gideon Blackwood, heir to one of Havenwood City's wealthiest families.
"So this is the famous live-in son-in-law," Gideon said with a chuckle, looking me up and down like I was something stuck to his shoe. "You didn't tell me he looked this... ordinary."
My hands trembled. Three years. Three years I'd spent in this house, enduring the sneers and whispers, the constant reminders that I was nothing but a charity case accepted into the Sterling family because Seraphina's grandfather had some bizarre notion that I'd bring good fortune.
"How long has this been going on?" I asked, my voice steadier than I expected.
Seraphina laughed, the sound like glass shattering in my chest. "Oh, Liam. Does it matter? Six months? A year? The only reason I married you was because Grandfather insisted. He's gone now, and frankly, so is my patience for playing house with a useless loser."
Each word hit like a physical blow. I'd spent three years trying to earn a place in this family, taking whatever scraps of affection Seraphina threw my way, convincing myself that someday she'd see my worth.
"You should see your face," Gideon mocked, sliding out of bed and pulling on his pants with deliberate slowness. "Did you really think someone like Seraphina would love someone like you? The Sterlings are aligning with the Blackwoods now, and soon, the Ashworths from Veridia City. You were just a temporary arrangement."
I took a step forward, anger finally breaking through my shock. "Get out of my bedroom."
Gideon's face darkened. "Your bedroom? Nothing in this house belongs to you, Knight. Not the bedroom, not the clothes on your back, and certainly not Seraphina."
He moved with unexpected speed, his fist connecting with my jaw before I could react. I stumbled backward, tasting blood.
"Gideon, not in the bedroom," Seraphina sighed, as if his violence was merely an inconvenience rather than an assault.
"You're right, darling," Gideon smiled at her before grabbing my collar. "Let's take this conversation downstairs."
I tried to fight back as he dragged me toward the staircase, but years of desk work had left me weak compared to his athletic build. Each step bumped painfully against my spine as he pulled me down.
At the bottom of the staircase stood Beatrice Sterling, my mother-in-law, her face a mask of cold disdain.
"I see you've met Gideon," she said, adjusting her pearl necklace. "We were planning to have this conversation more... civilly, but since you've discovered things on your own, I'll be direct. Your presence in this house is no longer required or wanted."
I pulled myself to my feet, wiping blood from my lip. "Just like that? Three years and you're throwing me out because a better prospect came along?"
"Better prospect?" Beatrice laughed. "The Blackwoods are old money, Liam. And through them, we have a chance at an alliance with the Ashworth family of Veridia City. You were never anything but a temporary indulgence of my father's superstitions."
Gideon shoved me toward the door. "Your things will be sent to whatever gutter you end up in. Consider yourself lucky we're not pressing charges for trespassing."
"Trespassing? This is my home!" I protested.
"Not anymore," Seraphina called from the top of the stairs, now wrapped in a silk robe. "The marriage is over, Liam. It never really began."
I looked at her—really looked at her—and realized I didn't recognize the coldness in her eyes. Had it always been there, hidden behind false smiles?
"Fine," I said, a strange calm washing over me. "I don't need anything from this house."
I turned and walked out, dignity the only possession I had left. The door slammed behind me with finality, cutting me off from the life I'd desperately tried to build.
The afternoon sun seemed too bright, too cheerful for the darkness consuming me. I made it halfway down the block before the pain in my ribs and the throbbing in my head became too much. I collapsed against a streetlight, sliding down to sit on the curb.
Three years. Three years of my life wasted loving someone who saw me as nothing. I'd been so grateful when William Sterling had arranged my marriage to Seraphina, thinking it was my chance to belong somewhere after growing up an orphan. Now I had nothing—no family, no home, no future.
Blood dripped from my split lip onto my shirt. I didn't bother wiping it away.
The sound of an approaching car barely registered until a sleek black Maybach stopped directly in front of me. The back door opened, and a woman stepped out.
Even through my pain-blurred vision, she was stunning—long raven hair, porcelain skin, and eyes that seemed to pierce right through me. She wore a tailored white suit that probably cost more than everything I'd ever owned.
"Liam Knight?" she asked, her voice cool and measured.
I nodded, too exhausted and humiliated to wonder how she knew my name.
"I'm Isabelle Ashworth," she said.
Ashworth. The name Beatrice had just mentioned—the powerful family from Veridia City.
"Have you come to gloat?" I asked bitterly.
Something flickered across her perfect features—was it pity? Disgust?
"I made a promise to my grandfather before he died," she said, reaching into her pocket. "He owed a debt to your father, though I don't understand why. He asked me to give you this when the time was right."
She crouched beside me, her expensive perfume enveloping me as she placed something around my neck—a jade pendant on a simple cord.
"This was supposed to be your birthright," she said, standing quickly as if eager to distance herself from me. "Though I must say, I expected more from the man my grandfather spoke of with such reverence."
I touched the pendant weakly. "My father? I never knew him."
Isabelle's eyes softened fractionally. "Neither did I. All I know is that my grandfather believed your bloodline was significant. Looking at you now..." She shook her head. "Perhaps he was mistaken."
She turned and walked back to her car, pausing only briefly at the door. "Goodbye, Liam Knight. I've fulfilled my obligation."
As the Maybach pulled away, I felt a strange warmth spreading from the pendant. I looked down to see my blood had smeared across its surface, and to my shock, the jade seemed to be absorbing it, glowing with an eerie green light.
The warmth intensified, becoming almost unbearable. The pendant melted, impossibly, seeping into my skin like liquid fire. A jolt of power shot through my body, and the world around me began to blur.
My last conscious thought was that whatever was happening to me now, my life would never be the same.