Chapter 2The Grave of the Son You Traded for Her

The chapel had a parking lot, but I always chose to park at the base and walk the eight thousand stone steps down. By the time I reached the bottom, my tears were usually dried.

I reached for the car door when my phone rang—an unfamiliar number.

The voice on the other end was too familiar.

“Maddie, even if you won’t see me, you have to let me see my son!”

I hung up immediately, blocking that number, too.

For five years, Grant Montgomery has not existed in my life. I had been fine.

I drove to my office. As I walked into my space, my assistant, Chloe, looked distressed.

“Maddie, the partner we’ve been working with for months suddenly terminated the contract.”

I looked up. “Why? Our product quality and pricing were competitive.”

Chloe frowned. “I pressed them. They hinted that we… might have offended the owner of the Montgomery Group.”

Grant’s methods for crushing people hadn’t changed much over the years.

Chloe chewed her lip. “But we don’t compete with them. Why would he target us?”

I set my pen down and gave her the simple, quiet answer. “Because he’s my ex-husband.”

Chloe’s eyes widened instantly, her mouth gaping.

“He’s… that ex-husband? The one in the rumors who was with the salesgirl?”

She instantly clapped a hand over her mouth, mortified. “Maddie, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

I waved a hand dismissively. “It’s fine. It’s all history.”

Chloe still looked ashamed. “I honestly thought those rumors were fabricated. You’re so successful, so amazing. How could he possibly betray you?”

Years ago, everyone thought that. Even I did.

But the truth proved that no vow is unbreakable.

I called Chelsea back. Based on my plans, this would likely be my last chance to see them before leaving town. I wanted to gather my old roommates one last time.

That evening, the six of us squeezed into a booth. We ordered a case of beer, determined to drink until dawn.

After the third round, the conversation loosened. Chelsea picked up her bottle, hesitating before she spoke.

“Maddie, there’s something I never told you.”

“Grant kept calling me, trying to get me to set up a meeting. He said—”

She didn’t finish. Olivia slammed her bottle down with a loud thud.

“To hell with him! Grant Montgomery is a pathetic, ungrateful parasite!”

Chelsea shot her a look, trying to quiet her, worried about upsetting me. But Olivia was too heated.

“I want to say it! If the Stones hadn’t raised him, he’d be a charity case! And if your mom and dad hadn’t cleared his parents’ name, he wouldn’t have a name to begin with!”

“Then he turns around and destroys your life? That man deserves to be hit by a bus!” Olivia’s eyes were bloodshot. “Maddie, you’re too damn forgiving! How can you be so calm after what he did?”

I smiled sadly. “It’s not forgiveness, Liv. It’s indifference.”

Grant was indeed a bastard, but I had to admit, he was also a genius entrepreneur. When my parents finally cleared his family name, he was already twenty-five. But his parents’ business empire was already dust. The Montgomery Group was entirely his own creation.

And I had been his fiercest soldier.

Thinking back to those early startup days, the rush of building something was still exhilarating. For one huge contract he coveted, I drank with a room full of powerful, aged men until I had a stomach bleed. To land a key project, I once stayed awake for four nights straight preparing a proposal.

I was so consumed by his ambition, his dream, that I practically slept at the office.

I was too busy to even notice when he started sleeping with her.