The mother-in-law celebrated the mistress’s “grandson” and called the wife useless, never imagining that that very night debts, lies, and a

CHAPTER 1: The Shattered Reflection

“If you want to keep living in this house, you must resign from your job tomorrow and learn how to properly serve your husband.”

That was the very first thing I heard when I woke up with half of my skull feeling like it was burning in flames.

At first, I honestly thought I was trapped in some kind of horrible nightmare.

I had just arrived home from a high-stakes corporate dinner in Bethesda, where I had officially been appointed as the new regional sales director.

I had toasted with my business partners, received warm hugs from my hardworking team, and driven back home feeling completely exhausted yet incredibly proud.

But the cold reality hitting my skin proved that this was absolutely not a dream.

A heavy, calloused hand pressed my forehead firmly against the pillow while a high-pitched, metallic buzzing sound pierced directly into my ear.

When I finally forced my eyes open, I saw long strands of my dark hair falling onto the crisp white sheets as if someone had silently destroyed years of my personal life in a matter of seconds.

I let out a piercing scream that echoed off the bedroom walls.

The bedroom light suddenly flickered on with a blinding intensity that made me wince.

There stood Evelyn, my mother-in-law, holding her son’s electric razor with a look of twisted satisfaction on her face.

She was wearing her signature silk robe and had a gaze that chilled me right down to the bone.

Half of my hair lay scattered across the expensive Persian rug I had personally selected for this room.

“What on earth have you done to me?” I yelled, touching the jagged edges of my scalp with my trembling, shaking hands. “Have you completely lost your mind?”

“Do not you dare raise your voice at me, young lady,” she replied with a sneer.

“Decent, respectable women do not go out drinking with men late at night like some common party girl.

You have gotten way too big for your own britches because of that ridiculous job title.

Well, that phase is over now, because a proper wife stays at home where she belongs.”

For the past three years, I had single-handedly maintained this entire house.

I paid the heavy mortgage, the grocery bills, the electricity, the water, the insurance on my husband’s car, and even the expensive doctor’s appointments for his mother.

My husband, Patrick, earned very little and spent money like it was water, but in his mother’s distorted eyes, he was still the undisputed king of the castle.

I, on the other hand, was merely the daughter-in-law who was expected to keep her head down and her mouth shut.

The noise of the argument finally woke Patrick up from his deep slumber.