“You’re the lady of this house. Don’t you know how to fight back? ” Ricky’s mother, Sharon, sneered at me across the dining table. Her daughter Eva giggled, adding, “She’s just a spoiled goodie-two-shoes, like a dead log.
Zero passion. Touching her disgusts me. ”
I stood there, my hands trembling at my sides. I’d been married into the Carter family for three months, and every day had been a different kind of hell.
They treated me like a servant, made me kneel for hours over their ridiculous “house rules,” and humiliated me at every turn. My husband, Ricky, had never touched me, preferring his mistress Emily, and the rest of the family only saw me as a pawn. That night, after cleaning up another mess they’d made, I finally broke. I found a number in my phone and dialed, my voice cracking.
“Help me. I don’t want to be pushed around anymore. ”
“Fine,” came the reply. “I’ll teach you how to play people and climb to the top.
The one in charge of the Carter family is your husband’s older brother, Vince Carter. The man you actually wanted to marry. ”
Vince Carter was Ricky’s half-brother, a ruthless and decisive man who had seized control of the Carter Group and turned the family into the top elite in Bluto. He’d been overseas for months, and his return was my only chance.
When Vince finally came back to the mansion, I cornered him. “I want to divorce Ricky. ”
He shook his head. “No.
Our two families are bound together. I’ll give your family an explanation for the wrongs you’ve suffered. But divorce? Absolutely not.
”
Anger surged through me. “Vince, you were the one who had this engagement with me. You were the one I originally wanted to marry. You rejected the marriage.
That’s why I ended up married to that scumbag Ricky. ” The words poured out before I could stop them. “Why? Why did you reject me?
”
Vince’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t answer. The next day, I overheard him on the phone in his study. “Mr. Carter, the Mason family has proposed a marriage alliance,” someone said.
“I have no plans to marry. Arrange it for Ricky instead,” Vince replied coolly. “The Masons only want an alliance with the Carters. They don’t care who she marries.
”
I felt the ground fall out from under me. I was nothing but a bargaining chip, a tool to be passed around. That was the moment I started to plan. With the help of a mysterious mentor who coached me through every step, I began to chip away at Vince’s defenses.
I cried at the right moments, showed vulnerability, and let him see the bruises Ricky left on me. When Ricky and Sharon bullied me again, Vince stepped in, shouting, “She is here as Ricky’s wife, not your maid. How many times have you hit her? ”
I sobbed.
“Over a dozen times. ”
Vince’s eyes went cold. He grabbed the list of house rules Sharon had forced on me and tore it apart. “Consider this a warning.
If it happens again, both of you get out of the manor. ”
But my uncle, Nate Mason, was pressuring me from another side. “Three months and zero progress,” he snarled. “Get into the Carter group within a month or I’ll cut off your dad’s ICU funds.
”
My father wasn’t even awake. Nate had taken over the Mason family, and the only leverage I had was the information I could feed him. He told me bluntly, “Sleep with Vince. It’s the only shortcut that works.
”
I was trapped between two families that both saw me as a tool. One night, Ricky came to my room, demanding my black card. “Give me the money. Emily’s waiting for that new designer bag.
”
“Ricky, I am your wife. You can’t spend my money on another woman. ”
He shoved me to the ground. “Cut the crap.
”
Vince found me crying in the hallway. “Ricky giving you trouble again? ” he asked. “When has he ever not?
”
He sighed. “Come on. Let’s have a drink. ”
I drank more than I should have.
The alcohol loosened my tongue. “Vince,” I slurred, “I’m hurting. Could you hold me? ”
He pulled away.
“Stop that. You’re drunk. ”
“Then kiss me, please. ”
“Jennifer, open your eyes and look clearly.
I’m Vince. ”
But I was already leaning in. I kissed him, and for a moment, he didn’t pull away. I felt a spark of triumph beneath the haze.
The next morning, I woke up in his bed, alone. He thought we’d slept together. I couldn’t correct him. My plan was working.
“Success,” I whispered to myself. I’d prepared a special love potion, a royal secret aphrodisiac, and laced his drink the night before. “Just one sniff and he’s hooked. ”
But when I tried to get closer, Vince pulled back.
“Jennifer, you’re crossing a line. ”
My mentor laughed in my ear. “He pulls back and you push forward. Love is a game of cat and mouse.
Now you need to tease him, play on his possessiveness. ”
I played my part perfectly. I ignored him, flirted with others, and pretended I was only interested in Ricky. When Ricky refused to even look at me, I went to Vince with tears in my eyes.
“Vince, could you give me a child? Help me get pregnant with Ricky’s baby? ”
Vince recoiled. “What?
”
“I’ve thought it through. If we want to secure both families’ interests, the best solution is for me and Ricky to have a baby. You’re the only one who can convince him. ”
Vince’s expression shifted.
“How can someone be this foolish, willing to suffer just to help others? ” He hesitated, then sighed. “I’ll try. ”
I handed him a room card.
“Please give this to Ricky. I want to be alone with him, help him develop some feelings for me. ”
Vince took it, and I saw something flicker in his eyes. He was conflicted, torn between what he felt and what he thought was right.
I knew he wouldn’t give the card to Ricky. That night, when Vince showed up at the hotel room himself, I wasn’t surprised. “Why are you here? ” I asked, feigning shock.
“I was going to tell you that he wouldn’t come,” he said, his voice low. “Then how do you explain this? ” I gestured to the bed. “You clearly refused to marry me.
”
He stepped closer. “I regret it. I thought I was a firm believer in no love. But whenever I face you, this belief just falls apart.
”
I let him kiss me. The next morning, I called my mentor. “He’s hooked. What now?
”
“Now you make him chase you,” she said. “Pull away. Make him work for it. ”
I did.
I avoided him, played cold, and watched him move back into the mansion, trying to get closer. But I was juggling too many lies. Ricky was getting suspicious, and Sharon and Eva were plotting against me. Then everything came crashing down.
My uncle Nate showed up at a family banquet with Emily, who claimed she was pregnant with Ricky’s child and begged me in front of everyone to give Ricky back to her. The whole room turned on me. “You poisonous woman,” Sharon screamed. “How dare you attack her in public?
”
I didn’t touch her. It was all staged. But I had Vince by my side. He countered every accusation with cold logic.
“Interesting,” he said to the reporters. “A pregnant woman wearing sky-high heels? Were you afraid you wouldn’t fake an injury dramatically enough when trying to frame my sister-in-law? ”
The reporters turned on Emily.
“You’re not even pregnant,” one of them shouted. “It was a bag of fake blood. ”
Emily snapped. “I wanted to climb up.
What’s wrong with that? ”
The room exploded. The plot had backfired, and I emerged as the victim. Sharon, Eva, and Ricky were confined to the house as punishment.
But my uncle was furious. “You failed,” he spat. “Three months and zero progress. Don’t forget, your dad’s life depends on my goodwill.
”
“My dad’s dead, isn’t he? ” I asked quietly. Nate’s eyes flickered. “Your father died the day he fell.
I faked those hospital photos to trick a fool like you. ”
The room spun. I had suspected, but hearing it was different. My father was gone.
The only family I had left was dead, killed by the man who now controlled everything. I went back to the mansion in a daze. Vince found me sitting on the floor, staring at nothing. “Jennifer,” he said softly.
“What happened? ”
“Vince, I have no home now. I have no father. ”
He knelt beside me.
“You have me. ”
I looked at him, my vision blurring. “Vince, what if I told you the drinking, the hotel key, the paternity test I sent behind your back—what if I told you it was all part of my careful plan? I calculated every move to use your power for myself.
Knowing that, would you still want me? ”
He didn’t hesitate. “I know. ”
“Then why did you let me use you?
”
“Because I love you,” he said. “Love doesn’t need solving. I’m just glad the power you wanted was mine to give. ”
I felt something inside me crack.
The wall I’d built to survive was crumbling. For the first time in months, I let myself be vulnerable. “All right, then. I’ll use your power to destroy Nate Mason.
”
Vince nodded. “Kill him. ”
I hesitated. “Yes.
”
But the stress was too much. My mind, already fractured, finally snapped. I started talking to myself, hearing another voice respond. My mentor, the woman who had guided me, was nothing but my second personality—an alter ego I’d created to survive the unbearable pain.
I tried to harm myself. Vince found me with a knife in my hand. “Jennifer, put the knife down. Leave everything to me.
”
“I need to kill him myself,” I sobbed. “I need to kill him. ”
Vince stayed with me through the dark days, even when I cut him in my madness. He held me, whispered that it would be okay, and refused to abandon me.
“You have DID,” he told me gently. “A second personality. It’s your brain’s way of protecting itself. ”
Eventually, the other voice inside me faded.
“True salvation isn’t a gift from the outside,” she said. “It’s the strength that comes from deep within yourself. Now you have the power to pull yourself out of the darkness. ”
I felt her go.
I was whole again, but grieving. “She was my best friend,” I told Vince. “Not my illness. ”
He cupped my face.
“And she told me, ‘My heart knows I can’t live without you. ’ Are you saying you’ll be with me? ”
“Yes,” I said. “Good.
I already have the ring. ”
But before marriage, I had one more thing to do. Nate Mason had to pay. I confronted him in his office, flanked by Vince and the law.
“You hurt my father, grabbed power, forced me into a marriage with that scumbag, and used spies to steal secrets. Today I’m here to see you off. ”
Nate laughed. “I really underestimated you.
My only mistake was showing mercy. I should have let you die with your father. ”
“Looks like you’re the one dying today,” I said. Vince’s men moved in.
“Nate Mason, you’re under arrest for attempted murder and theft of commercial secrets. ”
As the authorities dragged him away, I felt a weight lift. The Mason Group’s shareholders unanimously voted me in as the new CEO. It was finally back where it belonged.
The wedding was small but beautiful. Vince stood across from me, his eyes soft. “Before I met you, I thought I’d be alone forever. But when you appeared in my world, teary-eyed, I suddenly wanted to give you everything I have.
”
“You once said you had no home. Now I finally have the right to tell you with all my heart—let’s build a home together. ”
I smiled, feeling the tears slip down my cheeks. “Okay.
Let’s build a home that’s truly ours. ”
As the guests cheered, I looked at Vince, then inward at the woman who had carried me through the darkness. She was still there, just quieter now. I whispered, barely audible, “Thank you, my dear self, for saving me countless times and never wavering.
”
