Josie looked absolutely bedraggled as she lay sprawled among the shrubs, covered in dirt. She'd never expect Rowan, the timid young man who'd only listened to his mother, to have been reformed by me.

Now, Rowan was better known as a capricious tyrant in the business world. And it had only been days ago when his once-persnickety, wealthy mother slipped an emerald bracelet onto my wrist. It was a family heirloom.

She'd then pointed at Rowan as she leveled her threat on him, "You're no son of mine if you upset Laura, you hear me?"

Crawling out from the shrubs lining the landscaped yard, Josie wiped the dirt from her face. The determination in her eyes burned even brighter. "I see. All of them are playing hard to get, huh? I'd like to see how they'd fight over me at the party tomorrow!"

I quietly commended her for her spirit, then mentally lit a few candles for her in prayer.

The next evening, the Sonnenfeld residence shone like a beacon. The Sonnenfelds had invited half the city's socialites and big names to create a buzz around Josie's grand return.

Josie wore a bespoke, couture dress that cleverly hid the swell of her baby bump. She wore a ruby around her neck, basking in the overwhelming attention and praise of her friends and relatives.

"What a lucky young lady Josie is! Those three eligible bachelors are still hung up on her even though she was away for three years!"

"Lucky, indeed! I heard Mr. Lowry of Kingsgrove; Mr. Shaw, the tech upstart; and the infamous Mr. Gallagher will be here tonight!"

"Three men fighting over a woman? That's the stuff of novels!"

I was wearing an old, nondescript sweater and holding up a plate by the corner of the buffet counter, courtesy of Mom's arrangement.

Josie made a point of approaching me with a champagne flute, eyeing me down her nose. "Goodness, Laura, why the plain outfit? Oh, right. I forgot Mom cut you off. Don't be sad, though.

"After I've taken my pick, you can take yours from the remaining two men. You don't have to stand on ceremony with me."

I swallowed a bite of the black forest cake and fixed Josie with a genuine look of concern. "Did you forget your medication today, Josie?"

Josie scowled. She was about to snap back when two neat rows of bodyguards clad in black pushed open the heavy, ornate doors of the villa.

Zane strolled in from the left. His gaze, once unfocused and full of nonchalance, now held the contempt of an apex predator.

Benjamin took the center spot, bringing with him the powerful presence of an industrial capitalist.

On the right was Rowan, his eyes dangerous and cold, like a lone wolf that would snap the neck of its prey at any given moment.

The three top-tier moguls whose paths normally didn't cross had appeared at the same time!

Mom and Dad were practically vibrating with excitement.

Josie was even more thrilled, and it showed on her face. "They're here! They came for me, after all!"

Straightening up so that her baby bump stuck out, she put on her coyest smile. She held up her skirts and walked toward the trio like a queen greeting her knights.

Josie approached Zane first, her voice as sickeningly sweet as raw honey. "Looks like you've finally grown up, Zane. I'll overlook your past fecklessness and give you the chance to be a good father."

Zane stopped in his tracks. When he lowered his gaze to Josie's protruding tummy, his brows knitted tightly together. "Where did this filth come from? Guards! There's a pregnant hustler here. Get rid of her before her filth rubs off on my fiancee!"

Josie's smile faltered. All the color drained from her face. Thinking Zane had an aversion toward her baby, she quickly turned to Benjamin, who stood in the center. "Benjamin, now that you're finally in my league—"

"Have you come up with the 12 million dollars I asked for?" Benjamin didn't so much as look at her, and instead had his assistant toss a thick stack of documents at Mom and Dad's feet. "If not, move. You're keeping me from peeling shrimp for my fiancee."

Panic finally set in for Josie. She backed up a step in disbelief, then lunged for Rowan, whom she thought was the easiest to manipulate.

"Rowan, I'm home! Your mother used to adore me, remember? You must—"

There was a click, and an eerie blue flame shot up from the lighter in Rowan's hand.

"Bring up my mother again, and I'll pull out your tongue tonight." Rowan's voice was soft, but no less intimidating. "And go away. You're blocking my view of my wife."

Mom and Dad watched in disbelief as the three moguls, who'd never seen eye to eye, moved in sync through the crowd. They made a beeline toward the corner of the room where I was quietly eating cake.

A second ago, the three of them had been cold and expressionless. Now, their indifference and aloofness vanished as they surrounded me, greeting me with matching expressions of grievance, "Honey…"

A pin-drop silence filled the room.

Mom and Dad's belief system was shattered at that moment. The former pointed at me, her lips quivering. She looked like she was about to say something, but after a while, words eluded her. "No, this is impossible!"

Josie had completely lost her mind. A screech escaped her as she threw herself forward, a scowl twisting her delicately made-up face. She leveled an angry finger at me and yelled, "She's nothing! She's just a bumpkin who was brought back here on a whim! She's only my replacement!

"Moguls like you shouldn't turn on one another because of a shabby nobody like her! She can't possibly satisfy the three of you at once! The three of you must choose one of us now!"

Turn on one another? I swallowed the last bite of my cake and rubbed the space between my brows in exasperation.

Zane scoffed, eyeing Josie as one might a fool. He fished out his phone and linked it to the projection screen in the dinner hall through Bluetooth.

The interface for a WhatsApp group chat named "Happy Family" was immediately projected on the large screen. Pulled up on the page was a jam-packed weekly roster.

"Who said anything about turning on each other?" Zane lifted his chin, arrogance dripping from his tone. "I've got Mondays and Fridays with Laura. What are you going to do about it?"

Benjamin adjusted his gold-framed glasses and produced a document that bore an official letterhead and seal. "Before we came, we signed and had a top-tier legal team notarize an agreement to peacefully co-exist and share all our assets as a family.

"As long as Laura doesn't throw us out, we've got our week with her planned down to the day. We won't hijack each other's shifts or fight for Laura's attention."

Rowan stared at me like a territorial, emotionally wounded puppy. He grabbed me by the waist and snuggled against me. "It's Wednesday, which means it's my turn to pick you up from work, honey.

"These two broke the rule by showing up here and getting in my way. You'll dock their allowance, won't you?"

A deathly hush swept across the room.

Josie's dream of choosing her lover from a trio of moguls was shattered, taking the form of a nightmare where they'd rather come together in peace to become my lovers instead. She swayed on her feet, then collapsed on the ground in a heap.

"This is madness… You've all gone mad!"

Zane and Benjamin were about to fight Rowan for the right to drive me home tonight when a loud bang cut through the air.

A Jeep with an army license plate had driven through the wall, dragging gunpowder smoke and mud through the living room as it lurched haphazardly into the dining hall.

A man in a combat uniform leaped out of the car, sweeping his sharp gaze over the crowd until he locked in on the trio and me.

In a voice like thunder, he exploded, "What the hell are you guys fighting about? It's my turn to drive Laura home today! I was on a mission, braving bullets at the border, while you three fuckers turned my weekend shifts into Sunday shifts!

"Which of you changed the roster? Come on, let's take it outside!"

The man's long strides ate up the distance between us, his presence heavy and intimidating. However, he was about a foot away from me when he greeted me in a coy, almost forlorn tone, "I made it back, honey. Did you miss me?"

Josie, who was still on the ground, got a good look at the newcomer's face and felt her legs turn into jelly. She even wet herself on the expensive woven rug. "W-What are you doing here? Aren't you—"