The Billionaire Widow's Redemption

For three years, my husband Carter Hancock had erectile dysfunction. Or so he told me. I was the one who pulled him from a fiery car crash, and this marriage was his promise to cherish the hands that saved him.

But tonight, I overheard him with my sister-in-law, Jodie. He confessed his condition was a lie to avoid touching me, and that he' d always loved her. Our marriage was just a sham to appease his grandfather.

The betrayals kept coming. He claimed she was the one who saved him. He abandoned me during a landslide to rescue her. When I woke up in the hospital with broken ribs, he asked me to donate skin from my leg to fix a scratch on her face.

He wanted to mutilate my body for the woman who stole my life, the woman carrying his secret child. My love was a burden, my sacrifice a joke they laughed about behind closed doors.

Then I found the final, soul-crushing truth: our marriage certificate was a fake. I was never his wife, just a placeholder.

That night, I picked up my phone and called the one person he' d warned me away from.

"Alex," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I need to leave. Can you meet me in Europe?"

Chapter 1

HAZEL POV:

I found out my marriage was over the same way the rest of the world did: on a news alert. But the lie had been living in my house for three years.

For one thousand and ninety-five days, my husband, Carter Hancock, had erectile dysfunction. Or so he told me. It was a condition that only existed within the walls of our bedroom, a cruelty reserved only for me.

Tonight was the 1096th day. I'd seen the doctor's report I wasn't supposed to see. Carter was perfectly healthy. The lie was a wall he had built between us, and tonight, I was going to tear it down.

I stood outside his study, my hand raised to knock, when I heard voices from inside. A woman's soft laugh, followed by Carter's low murmur. It was Jodie, my sister-in-law.

"Honestly, Carter, how much longer do you have to pretend with her? I can't stand seeing you two together," Jodie said, her voice dripping with the familiar disdain she saved just for me.

My hand froze in mid-air. My heart started to pound against my ribs, a frantic, trapped bird.

"Just a little longer, my love," Carter's voice was a gentle caress, a tone he had never used with me. "Grandfather is still watching. He feels he owes you for saving my life from the crash. This marriage to Hazel is just a show to keep him happy, to keep you in the family."

The world tilted. My breath caught in my throat. She saved him? No. That wasn't right. I was the one who pulled him from the fiery wreckage of his Ferrari. I was the one whose hands were scarred from the shattered