Chapter 2

The lawyer's words still hung in the air when the door burst open. Someone slammed through it hard.

"Skyler! You walking catastrophe!"

Tammy's eyes were bloodshot. She was Kip's mother. She drew her hand back and swung at my face with everything she had.

This life, I was ready. I stepped back, a cold smirk on my face.

Tammy had put too much force into it. The miss sent her crashing into a chair. She let out a sharp cry.

Pain didn't slow her down. She jammed a finger at my face and shrieked.

"Kip! Where is he? I'm asking you, where is my son!"

"How did I end up with such a useless daughter-in-law? If Kip misses this, if that thirty billion falls into someone else's hands, I will destroy you!"

Behind her, the usual pack of relatives who lived off her scraps crowded in.

They surrounded me. Spit flew from their mouths.

"You worthless screw-up. You can't even get your own man on the phone. If Kip blows this inheritance, we are not letting this go!"

I got it. They were panicking.

Tammy was never actually Mrs. Harrington. She was Warren's long-term companion. His first wife, Beckett's mother, came from old money and died young of illness. Tammy had Kip, but in the eyes of the law, she was never given the full rights of a wife.

That left her living her whole life inside a cage of insecurity and greed.

The younger son, Beckett, was the thorn in Tammy's and Kip's side from day one.

Insults were the light stuff. Beatings were the heavy stuff.

Eventually, they found a pretext to exile him to Europe, keeping him far from the Harrington inner circle.

And Warren Harrington, the group's founder, let Tammy live in that penthouse with Central Park views, but deep down, he never saw her as fit for the family name. He never married her.

Which meant the second Warren stopped breathing, if Kip didn't get the inheritance, Tammy would be thrown out on the street.

Tammy's eyes were wild with panic. "Are you deaf? Call that assistant of his! Tell him to drag Kip here right now!"

Coldly, I stared at her. I didn't argue. I did what I was told and dialed Zander.

He picked up fast this time. More laughter. More fireworks booming in the background.

"Skyler, can you just stop? Seriously."

Zander's voice dripped with condescension.

"Ever heard of personal space? Quit clinging to him like some psycho control freak. You want some hard truth? If you were my wife, I'd have put you in your place a long time ago. Know your role, Skyler. You're just a Harrington by name. You actually think you run the house? Kip doesn't give a damn about you. You can't even get him on the phone. Who do you think you're giving orders to?"

That arrogance. It actually made the whole room pause for a second.

I stayed ice-cold. I even slowed my words down on purpose.

"Zander, believe me or don't. Mr. Harrington is dying. He has a will. Kip and Beckett. The first one to his bedside gets the thirty-billion-dollar empire."

A sudden, strange silence on the other end.

Zander's voice shifted. Something odd crept in. "You... are you serious?"

Tammy lunged at the phone like it was a life raft. She sobbed with hysterical joy.

"It's true! It's all true! Just get Kip back here! Your auntie is begging you! It's thirty billion!"

"Oh... if it's true, then I'll go report to Kip right now." Zander's tone was slow, almost lazy.

Tammy let out a massive breath. She clutched her chest, muttering. "Thank God. As long as Kip gets back..."

A burst of wild laughter exploded from the phone.

Zander was laughing like he'd just heard the funniest joke on earth. He could barely breathe.

"Oh my god... Skyler, you really won't cry until you see the coffin, huh? I already told you, I see right through your little con. How are you still running this scam with your hired actors?"

He let out a smug huff.

"I'll tell you what. Kip said even if the President himself showed up tonight, nobody interrupts his time with my sister. Your pathetic little act is played out."

"Get lost. If you've got any brains left, you'll leave now. Kip's about to serve you divorce papers. He's only ever going to love my sister. I'm the future brother-in-law of the Harrington family. As for you, get ready to walk away with nothing and live off food stamps, you dumb bitch."

The call cut. Again. Brutally.

The wild joy on Tammy's face froze. Then it drained into a deathly pale mask.

I let my eyes redden. I looked completely devastated. Inside, I was made of ice.

Three years married to Kip. Three years breaking myself to secure his place in the Harrington empire.

How many sleepless nights fixing his business disasters? How many of his messes did I clean up?

And he turned around and used company funds to buy Ella private islands. Yachts.

He actually had the nerve to tell me, "Skyler, you already have the title of Mrs. Harrington. Ella has nothing. What's wrong with me spending a little cash to make it up to her?"

And Tammy, with her dismissive little wave. "Every man has his fun. As long as Kip still comes home, why do you care what he does outside?"

Right.

Kip believed his great love was sacred.

In that case, this astronomical fortune? He could kiss it goodbye too.