---- Chapter 1 Ihad just ended my phone call with my dad when a text message from my husband, Felix Cole, popped up. Felix: [Jasper won the gold prize in the art competition. I'm holding a celebration party for him tonight. Get everything ready.] Felix was the leader of the Reapers, a powerful local mafia. Every time he held a party, I would be so exhausted that I would feel like a zombie by the end of it. I needed to make sure our home was secure, prepare sufficient food and beverages, and send every guest home. I also needed to clean up the villa thoroughly after the party. I used to be willing to do so, thinking I was contributing to my family. However, I now understood that they did not care about anything I ---- did. Ihad decided to leave, but I would fulfill my duties as a wife and a mother before I went. When my son, Jasper, came home with Maeve Leighton, I was in the kitchen instructing the housekeepers to decant the wine, grill the steaks, arrange the tableware, and set up the party hall. Maeve praised me to Jasper, ''The cake your mom made is so beautiful. But look at me-I don't know anything." Jasper replied with disdain, "What's so great about this? Any housekeeper at home could do it. Ms. Leighton, you know archery, the law, and investment. You're also beautiful. My mom simply can't compare with you." His words pierced my heart like a sharp knife. He had no idea that I was the youngest daughter of financial tycoon, Anthony Shaw, and a top student at Harford University back in the day. While serving as the captain of the university cheerleading team, I also ---- took up three majors-neurosurgery, law, and financial management. My family was against my relationship with Felix, so I severed ties with them to marry Felix. I followed him to start a new life in a strange city, Maxic. I gave up the career I was pursuing as a surgeon, an offer to join the world's top law firm, and the position of financial director in the world's largest multinational group to start a family. I never expected my own son to despise me like this now. Maeve walked into the kitchen and said she wanted to learn how to bake a cake from me, but she accidentally knocked over the cake I had prepared. When Jasper found out that the cake was ruined, he rushed in and yelled at me, "You're really dumb. You can't even make a cake! My friends will be here soon, and I've already told them that I'd prepare a seven- layer cake to welcome them!" I looked at Maeve, but she just looked at me defiantly.