Chapter 1
Chapter 1
“Let’s get divorced! I mamed you only to fulfill my grandfather’s dying wish. The only woman I love is Sophie ”
“Julian, I love you. If I lose you,
I’ll die p>
“Then go ahead and diets
Caitlin Kensington jolted awake, her forehead damp with cold sweat She was gasping, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.
The room was enormous. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ.net
Everything in it–from the gilded ceiling to the marble floors–looked like something out of a palace p>
Staring at the unfamiliar surroundings, Caitlin froze for a moment. What was happening? Wasn’t she.. dead p>
Before she could make sense of it, a torrent of memories that didn’t belong to her crashed into her mind. Again and again, she saw a man’s eyes filled with nothing but disgust, and a woman kneeling on the floor, begging desperately not to be abandoned
It took nearly fifteen minutes before Caitlin could sort out what had happened.
No mistake about it.
She had come back to life.
The body she now occupied belonged to someone with the same name–Caitlin Kensington–a girl from a rural town with no family to speak of. Her parents were a mystery. As a newbom, she had been left on the side of the road and found by an old man who raised her as his own, though they shared no blood.
Six months ago, Caitlin had married into the illustrious Chandler family, one of the most powerful dynasties in Silverhaven. Overnight, the farm girl became a socialite–envied by women across the city.
But the story of how this ordinary girl married into wealth began a year earlier.
One year ago, the original Caitlin had seen Jarvis Chandler in the throes of a seizure, fallen into the river. She’d saved his life.X
Jarvis was struck–partly by Caitlin’s beauty, but more so by an odd sense that she would bring good fortune to whoever married her.
At the time, the Chandler Group was on the verge of financial collapse. Grateful to Caitlin for saving his life and desperate to rescue his family’s empire, Jarvis insisted that his grandson, Julian Chandler, marry her–even if the entire family objected
Against all odds, after Caitlin and Julian wed, the Chandler Group bounced back from the brink of ruin and began to thrive, growing stronger by the day
Julian, once the laughingstock of the social set, became the city’s most eligible rising star–a financial prodigy the press dubbed the “dark horse of the decade.2
But if Julian had looked down on Caitlin before, now that his status soared, he had even less patience for her. She had no pedigree, no fancy education, nothing that made her worthy of him–at least in his eyes.
Six months of marriage, and they still slept in separate beds. In fact, their relationship had never even been consummated.
A month ago, Jarvis died suddenly of a heart attack. Julian’s first love, Sophie Barrett, returned from abroad for the funeral. Eager to reunite with her, Julian kicked Caitlin aside and demanded a divorce. ”
Julian had only ever used Caitlin, but she’d given him her heart–loved him, sacrificed for him, begged him not to leave her. She even knelt and pleaded with Sophie to let Julian go.
But Sophie just smiled and said, “In love, the one who isn’t loved is the real outsider. ”
With nowhere else to turn, Caitlin told Julian that if he insisted on divorce, she’d rather die.
His answer? Cold, unfeeling: “Then go ahead and die. “ 2
Broken beyond repair, Caitlin swallowed an entire bottle of sleeping pills p>
But–2
Julian seemed to have forgotten something.
Caitlin wasn’t just a lucky charm. In the s shame K
short months she’d studied business under Jarvis, she had shown a genius that put even him to
The Chandler Group’s miraculous comeback? All thanks to Caitlin working tirelessly behind the scenes. She never claimed credit–always letting Julian bask in the spotlight.
Just a week ago, Caitlin had stayed up all night revising the Chandler Group’s bid for the Sylvester Group contract
Without Caitlin, the Chandler family would have been just another casualty of the cutthroat business world, and Julian would never have
made his name as the industry’s brightest stară
The truth was, Caitlin was the real dark horse of the decade.
BAM BAM BAM–I
Suddenly, a sharp knock shattered the silence.
* Caitlin I’m waming you–killing yourself isn’t the
Julian’s voice, cold and clipped, echoed through the door.
This marriage ends tomorrow, like it or not. End of story p>
To him, the Chandler Group was back on course, his reputation was secure, and Caitlin was no longer useful. Useless things away p>
From here on out, as far as Julian was concemed, he was all the Chandler Group needed.
get thrown
Caitlin frowned, moving to get out of bed. She glanced down and realized she was wearing only a pale gray
by sitk nightgown–thin enough to leave little to the imagination, her curves outlined beneath the fabric.
Well. Not a bad figure, she thought, a hint of a smile curving her lips. She rather liked