My Ex's Betrayal, My Mother's Ashes

I sacrificed my dream career for my fiancé, only to find him cheating with his older investor-a betrayal that led to my mother's death.

He reached a new level of cruelty when he dumped my mother's ashes in the trash and conspired to have my wedding dress disintegrate off my body at the altar.

I vanished for five years, building a new life with a new family, but now he's found us-and just saved my daughter's life to force his way back in.

Chapter 1

Amira Osborne POV:

The end of my world didn't arrive with a bang, but with the soft thud of a cardboard box on my doorstep.

It was a sleek, black box, the kind that held expensive things I' d never buy for myself. I bent down, my brows furrowing at the shipping label. The address was mine, the apartment I shared with my fiancé, Carter. But the name printed in crisp, elegant font was Francine Powers.

Before I could process the confusion, a silver convertible pulled up to the curb. Francine herself unfolded from the driver' s seat, all sharp angles and expensive perfume. She was Carter' s biggest potential investor, a venture capitalist in her late fifties with a reputation for being ruthless in the boardroom and, apparently, careless with her online shopping.

"Amira, darling, you' re a lifesaver," she called out, her voice smooth as aged whiskey. She gestured to the box. "That' s mine. Silly me, I must have put in the wrong address. Carter' s been helping me set up a new tech suite, and your address must have auto-filled. You know how it is."

I nodded, forcing a smile that felt tight on my face. "No problem, Francine."

She took the box, her perfectly manicured fingers brushing against mine. The interaction felt… off. It was a feeling I' d been having a lot lately, a low hum of anxiety I couldn' t quite place.

I shook it off as I walked back inside. Carter was on the verge of securing the funding that would save his startup. My job was to be supportive, not paranoid.

My phone buzzed on the kitchen counter. It was a notification from our joint bank account. My heart didn't just sink; it plummeted, a stone dropping into an icy abyss.

Transaction Alert: The Grand Corinth Hotel - $472.58. Minibar Purchase: Dom Pérignon, Silk Blindfold.

My breath hitched. We were supposed to be saving every penny for the wedding and for Carter' s business. A four-hundred-dollar hotel charge was unthinkable.

There was only one person who had access to that card besides me.

The string that had been holding me together for months finally snapped. It wasn't a loud, violent break, but a quiet, clean severing that left me feeling hollowed out.

I grabbed my keys, my hands shaking so badly I could barely fit the key into the ignition. The drive to the Grand Corinth was a blur of red lights and the frantic thumping