His Betrayal Created A Ruthless Queen

rt that landed on my desk. I was a prosecutor who had moved back to San

my husband on one knee, not proposing, but t

scarry the child I was secretly carrying. At the hospital, he publicly accused me o

on to be in the hosp

didn't just fade; it was murdered. He thought h

n he begged for a second chance, I brought in my childho

s," I said, my voice

pte

world found out about it: on a po

motion, a return to the city where I' d made my name. The real reason was to salvage the cold, empty marri

he case file was thin, a routine public disturbance, but t

1: Hilto

2: Cie

as, from the venomous comments on her flashy Instagram feed. She was his girlfriend, the influencer he fl

sickness I' d been carefully hid

blissfully unaware of the personal hell he had just handed me. "Hilton Austin and his flavor of the month, Ciera Rose,

They love these two. People are calling it a 'passionate lovers' quarre

gh. Passion was a country Hilton and I had never visited together. Our interactio

movement precise, controlled. I would not let my hands shake. I was Aleta Owen, Assis

eels clicking a steady, resolu

d. "Should I

xed on the hallway ahead. "

in glittering shards on the plush carpet. A half-empty bottle of Dom Péri

eyes were locked on the scene

my husband, w

ing the satin ribbon of a ballet flat around the slender ank

w a low, soothing hum I had never heard before. He looked up at her, his

han my monthly salary. He had probably bought it for her t

cate sound. "But you yelled at me,

tice the police officers in the room, or me, standing in the doorway like a ghost at their p

est, sucking all the light and air out of my world. This was the man I had loved since I was sixteen. The man

f another woman, begging for her forgiv

ish hope I had clung to for years, finally shattere

ething cold and h

them. "Mark," I said, my voice cutting throu

h had been so full of adoration for Cier

t are you d

looked at Mark. "Read them their rights. Arrest

"Aleta, it's H

I asked, my voice dangerously soft

hard and nodded

officer appro

st us? Hilty, do something! I can't be

mask of contempt. But he didn't argue. He knew that look in my eyes.

t to the venom in his eyes as he looked at me. "It's just

rances. I watched them go, my gaze lingering on Ciera's perfectly curated appearance-the baby-doll

cold it burned. I pressed a hand to my

h the one-way glass of the observation room as t

a detailed statement fro

ide. I knew his script. But Cier

? It's exhausting. Last night, he bought me a diamond necklace, just because I said I liked the way

tle rose. Isn't that cute? He says it's so I'm always with h

button to cut

eed to hea

le Law, who had a near-perfect conviction rate, who had given up a promising federal career to come back

members, and endured his family's cold scrutiny, all for the slim hope that the

new. He

sessive, all-consuming devotion I had just

in the darkness, a cold, clear thought took

time to