In the three years I date Colin Blanchard, he tests me 99 times.

On the 100th time, he sends me to a jock's bed following his secretary's suggestion. This time, I do not resist. I sleep with the jock seven times in one night.

Colin berates me for being shameless. He quickly marries his secretary, Chelsea Wright, and deliberately waves their marriage certificate in front of me to provoke me.

He taunts, "Tammy, you were just one step away from becoming Mrs. Blanchard. It is your own fault for not holding on. Now it is too late to regret it."

Chelsea wraps her arm around him affectionately and says, "Thanks to you, I am able to a wonderful man like Colin. But now that you have lost your chastity and have been dumped by Colin, I am afraid no one in Baywich would want to marry you."

What a coincidence. I happened to have registered my marriage just the day before. My husband, Jeremiah Atkinson, is the richest man.

Five years later, I take my daughter to a piano competition. By chance, I run into Colin again.

Seeing my plain clothes, he comes over to mock me. "Tammy, did you come here today just to see me because you knew I would be here? Stop dreaming. Even if you abandon your burdensome child in front of me today, you are no longer worthy of being with me."

I ignore him.

In my heart, I am feeling anxious because Jeremiah is still nowhere to be seen. Our daughter is about to perform!

"Mommy, the performance is about to start. We need to check in first," Violet said.

My heart instantly melted at Violet's soft and sweet voice.

Just as I was about to take her over, Colin Blanchard blocked my way and looked at Violet with utter disdain.

"So, this is the child you had out of wedlock with that broke-ass jock. Just as expected, she looks as shabby and poor as her father. Tammy, you must regret these past five years, don't you?

"Chelsea is covered head to toe in luxury goods now. I give her one million dollars per month for living expenses. If you'd passed the final test back then, you'd be married to me now."

I shielded Violet and warned Colin coldly, "Move aside."

But he simply let out a contemptuous laugh and said, "Ella Blanchard—the daughter I had with Chelsea Wright—has been learning piano since she was little. So, she's bound to take first place today.

"Dressed like that, you look worse than our housekeeper. I bet your daughter learned piano from an online tutorial. I suggest you save yourself the embarrassment!"

With a cold expression, I took Violet's hand and pushed Colin aside.

"Are you deaf or something? I told you to move aside."

The moment I said that, a socialite suddenly barged in and snatched Violet from my grasp. Then, she slapped her hard twice.

"You little brat! How dare you steal my daughter's dress?"

The dress Violet was wearing was a unique piece I'd designed myself and sewn stitch by stitch with my own hands. So, how could it be something she stole?

The socialite kept cursing while slapping Violet across the face and body.

"You little wretch. You stole my daughter's dress at school and made her so sad that she cried all night. And now you have the nerve to cry?"

When I saw Violet crying her eyes out, I flew into a rage and rushed over to rescue her.

But Colin's bodyguards stopped me.

By then, I finally got a clear look at the socialite's face.

It was none other than Chelsea, the very woman who had married Colin five years ago.

The moment Chelsea spotted me, she let out a mocking laugh.

"Well, well, who do we have here? Tammy Delgado, you couldn't become Colin's wife five years ago, so now you've followed him here to beg for his forgiveness? Well, let me tell you—it's too late. His heart belongs only to me now!"

Colin deliberately kissed Chelsea in front of me. "You're worth more than a thousand women put together."

I ignored the repulsive couple, as my only concern was Violet.

She was less than ten feet away, yet I was pinned down by the bodyguards. All I could do was helplessly watch her cry out for me.

Just then, Violet suddenly grabbed her collar and struggled to choke out a few words, "Mommy, I feel awful."

Then, she collapsed to the ground without warning.

She had congenital asthma and was having an attack after being provoked by Chelsea. Her face instantly turned crimson from the strain.

My eyes turned bloodshot as I roared in fury, "Let go of me! Let me go get her inhaler from my bag! My daughter has asthma. If she doesn't get her inhaler, she'll die!"

Chelsea laughed disdainfully and said, "This is what she gets for stealing Ella's dress! So what if she dies? Maybe that's best for a sickly little thing like her. Here's 500 thousand dollars. Consider it payment for the brat's life. Drag her away, strip her clothes off, and teach her a proper lesson!"

"Touch her and you're dead!" I roared.

The bodyguards had me completely pinned down; I couldn't move an inch. Still, I shot them a look that could kill.

Everyone present was stunned.

But the next second, Chelsea slapped me hard across the face.

"Even if we add your miserable life to the tab, we Blanchards can still cover it. So what's there to even say about your little brat's life? You still want to fight me? Fine. Go ahead and call that jock over.

"Oh, wait. That's right—He was just a gigolo I hired for 1,000 dollars for you. That lowlife took the money and ran, so why would he care about you and your daughter?"

Chelsea laughed smugly and called over her daughter.

"Ella, however this little brat has been bullying you, you go ahead and pay her back. Don't you worry. Even if you beat her to death, Daddy and Mommy will cover for you."

"Okay, Mommy. I'm gonna beat her to a pulp!"

Ella had the same cruel look on her face as Chelsea. She aimed the sharp tip of her shoe at Violet's back and stomped down hard.

Violet, curled up on the ground, twisted her face in pain and hugged her small body even tighter.

"My clothes are not for the likes of you to wear, you little brat!"

My eyes, burning with fury, were locked on Chelsea and Ella.

"Violet is the daughter of Jeremiah Atkinson, the richest man in the country! If anything happens to her, ten generations of you Blanchards still wouldn't be able to afford the consequences!"

The moment I finished speaking, Chelsea spat a thick glob of phlegm onto my face and smirked contemptuously.

"She looks exactly like the gigolo, and you're telling me she's Jeremiah's daughter? Tammy, do you think we're blind?"

A few yards away, Violet convulsed a couple of times and then suddenly went still.

My heart seized instantly. Glaring viciously at Colin, I said, "Violet really is Jeremiah's daughter. Isn't your family still waiting for an investment from the Atkinson family? If something happens to her, you'll be ruined by tomorrow!"

Colin furrowed his brow and said with disgust, "So, you've been digging into me this whole time. Tammy, you make me sick. You're the one who cheated first, and now that you're flat broke, you're trying to scheme your way into winning me back?"

Chelsea kicked the back of my knee, forcing me to kneel. "Seducing Colin and teaching your daughter to steal dresses—Tammy, do you think I'm dead? What are you all standing around for? Strip that little brat's clothes off!"

At Chelsea's command, the bodyguards immediately moved to act.

Violet's dress was torn into strips and thrown to the ground. Even the crown on her head was stomped out of shape by Ella.

Not a single person on site helped us. Instead, they all took pleasure in our misery.

"Serves them right. They've got some nerve stealing from the Blanchard family. Everyone knows Mrs. Blanchard isn't someone to mess with."

"Last time, some clueless college girl tried to seduce Mr. Blanchard. When Mrs. Blanchard found out, she stripped her naked that same night and threw her onto Bar Street. By morning, the girl had gone insane."

Chelsea looked at the naked Violet triumphantly. "She's not bad-looking. Don't you think crippling her now would count as a good deed?"

With a casual wave of her hand, the bodyguards reached for Violet's arm.

Rage burned in my chest, and my eyes turned red.

"If any of you lay another hand on her, you'll regret it! I can prove she's Jeremiah's daughter!"

Chelsea scoffed and slammed her high heel down on my hand.

The sound of bones breaking echoed in the air.

While I howled in agony, she just said contemptuously, "You honestly think you've got what it takes to be the wife of the richest man in the world? A pathetic pauper like you only deserves to be trampled under my feet."

The pain of my finger bones breaking made my whole body tremble. I glared at her with nothing but hatred.

"I have Jeremiah's number in my phone. Call him, and you'll know if it's true!"

Chelsea was about to retort, but Colin sent someone to search my bag for the phone.

Chelsea stormed over angrily. "Honey, Tammy is obviously lying to you. How can you believe her?"

"I have Jeremiah's number. It was given to me by a joint venture partner. We'll know once we compare the numbers."

Colin took out his phone and scrolled to Jeremiah's number. After comparing the two different sets of numbers, Chelsea gave a cold laugh.

"I knew it. How could that little brat possibly be Jeremiah's daughter? You hussy! How dare you lie to me?"

Chelsea strode over and kicked me hard in the gut. She put all her strength into that kick, and it hurt so badly that I coughed up blood.

"This is what you get for lying to me!"

I swallowed the blood in my mouth and looked at Colin. "Jeremiah has two numbers—one for public use, one private. Call the other one, and you'll know."

Someone in the crowd egged him on. "Mr. Blanchard, what are you afraid of? Just call and shut this liar up for good!"

Amid the crowd's goading, Colin reluctantly dialed the number.

Chelsea whispered in his ear," Honey, you've never met Jeremiah, right? How will you even tell if it's really him?"

Colin snorted disdainfully. "A broke loser like Tammy could never catch Jeremiah's eye. I'm just going through the motions so people don't think we're bullying the weak."

Just as he finished speaking, the call connected.

Jeremiah's voice came through. "Tammy, there's traffic. I'll be there soon."

Colin recognized immediately that it was the jock. Enraged, he smashed the phone.

"Tammy, how dare you play me? How could he be Jeremiah when he's clearly the gigolo we hired to test you!"

Before I could even speak, I watched my phone shatter into pieces.

My only hope was gone. Only then did fear begin to set in.

Violet was going to die from her asthma attack if things continued like this.

"He really is Jeremiah. Colin, use your phone to call him back. He really is!"

Chelsea grabbed me and slapped me twice more. My face instantly swelled up.

"You lying snake! You're just trying to make Jeremiah hate Colin so that our deal with the Atkinson family falls through tomorrow."

Colin kicked me in the chest, and I nearly blacked out from the pain.

Just then, Violet weakly opened her eyes and saw me being attacked. She reached out her hand toward me.

"Don't bully my mommy," she choked out.

My heart twisted into a knot. I hadn't cried through all the abuse, but now the tears wouldn't stop falling.

"Monsters! You're all monsters!"

Colin strode over to me triumphantly and lifted my chin.

"You got any more tricks left?"

I stared coldly at him, wishing I could tear him apart.

"Colin, you will regret everything you've done. Jeremiah posted a photo of Violet on Instagram the day before yesterday. Compare it, and you'll know the truth."

Colin sneered contemptuously and grabbed my hair hard. "I'll give you one last chance just to shut you up for good."

With that, he opened Jeremiah's Instagram on his phone.

A frown appeared on his forehead.

Just as I'd said, Jeremiah had indeed posted a photo of Violet. But her face was blurred out in the picture.

"You must be joking! How dare you screw with me!"

Colin slammed his phone into my forehead, and blood immediately gushed out.

This was the only photo that Jeremiah, the whipped excuse for a father, reluctantly posted, and only because Violet asked him to. It might have saved Violet from this ordeal, but instead, it led to another dead end.

Desperate and powerless, I gave up all resistance.

Just then, Chelsea found Violet's inhaler in my bag and waved it smugly.

"You want me to save your daughter? Fine. Take off your clothes. One piece of clothing for one puff of the inhaler."