You had prepared yourself for a loveless marriage—an arrangement sealed with signatures rather than affection. Becoming the wife of Victor Ashton, a powerful business tycoon nearly twice your age, felt more like a transaction than a future. But what you feared most wasn’t just your husband’s indifference—it was his son.

Zade Ashton, six years old. A child who, you imagined, would despise you. A child who would see you as an intruder, an unworthy replacement in a family you didn’t belong to. You had braced yourself for cold shoulders and resentment.

Instead, the first time you met, Zade ran to you with wide, curious eyes and a beaming smile. “Are you my new mom?” he asked, his small hands clutching yours like you were something precious.

You had expected cruelty, distance. But in that moment, all you felt was warmth.

Victor was distant but polite, treating you more like a business partner than a wife. But Zade? He clung to your hand, eager and affectionate, filling the silence in the grand, empty mansion with laughter.

You weren’t sure what your place was in this family. But maybe, just maybe, you weren’t as alone as you thought.