Chapter 1
When my attorney emailed me the divorce settlement agreement, she still tried to talk me out of walking away with nothing.
"Ms. Bennett, are you sure about this? You signed a prenup, but Mr. Brooks has always been generous. You could still ask for a fair settlement."
I gave a wry smile.
'Compensation? I don't need it.'
My family had never lacked money. Owen was all I had ever wanted. All I had asked for was a child of our own.
During our first year of marriage, Owen said he wanted more time for just the two of us and wasn't ready for children.
I thought that was reasonable. Most newlyweds wanted some time to themselves before starting a family, and I took his words as proof that he valued our marriage.
During our second year, his company expanded rapidly, and Owen spent most of his time traveling for work.
I knew he was busy, so I waited for his schedule to ease and for him to come home.
During our third year, we began trying to conceive.
The doctor said there was nothing wrong with Owen.
When I still couldn't get pregnant, I blamed myself. I tried every supplement, alternative treatment, and special diet I could find.
Owen repeatedly told me that not having children was no big deal. He even joked that he was lucky to have all my love to himself.
I had been foolish enough to believe that meant he loved me.
It wasn't until I found the vasectomy record and the child support agreement that I understood how thoroughly he had deceived me.
I shopped for baby supplies to prepare for the future, secretly hoping they might encourage Owen to try a little harder in bed.
Instead, he boxed everything up and told the housekeeper to throw it away. He said I had no business buying baby supplies when I wasn't even pregnant.
As far as Owen was concerned, Natalie was the only woman he wanted children with. Even after they separated, he had made sure no other woman could have one with him.
He could have told me before the wedding that he never intended to have another child. Instead, he watched me long for motherhood while his lie stole my chance to decide for myself whether to become a mother.
My chest tightened, but my voice remained calm when I answered.
"No. Leave it as written."
After ending the call, I met with my attorney and signed the papers.
When I returned to the villa and entered 0707 into the keypad, I suddenly remembered that Owen's username on the messaging app was nf0707.
He had told me that 0707 marked the date his company was founded, and I had believed him without question.
Only now did I realize that the letters were Natalie Foster's initials and the numbers were her birthday.
The realization took me back to the first day of our marriage, 4 years earlier.
I used my own birthday, 0101, for most of my passwords. Because it was so similar to the door code, I entered the wrong code several times and eventually changed the code to 0101.
When Owen came home, he couldn't get inside. He called me while I was working late and angrily demanded to know whether I had changed the code.
I patiently explained what had happened, but he hung up on me. By the time I got home that night, Owen had already changed the code back.
For the next week, Owen shut me out completely. He slept in the study, left before dawn, and ignored every message I sent.
Eventually, I broke down and apologized. Only then did he speak to me again, and he made me promise never to move or change anything in the house without his permission.
At the time, I thought he was upset because I had changed something in the home he had so carefully decorated.
Now I knew better. He and Natalie had decorated the place together.
In Owen's eyes, I had never truly been his wife. I was only Natalie's replacement.
A numb, aching sadness settled over me. Before the tears could fall, I finished packing and left the villa without looking back.
