Chapter 1After My Husband Had Her Steal My Identity

The call came from my fund manager in Switzerland. He was informing me that the beneficiary on my trust fund had been changed and that I needed to come in to sign off on the new paperwork.

I froze, the phone feeling cold against my ear as my mind struggled to catch up.

That trust fund was my inheritance from my father. My name, and my name alone, was on it. How could the beneficiary possibly be changed?

I immediately called my husband, Brian. His voice was a warm, reassuring balm over the phone. “It’s probably just a scam, Eleanor. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh,” I said, my tone deceptively light. “They must be pretty committed scammers, then. They even managed to bribe our family’s long-time fund manager.”

Brian’s voice hitched for a fraction of a second before he laughed it off. “These new AI voice scams are getting crazy sophisticated, you know? They can mimic anyone. Just ignore it for now. I’ll handle it when I get back to the States.”

I smiled and agreed. The moment we hung up, I was already drafting a text to my legal team, telling them to prepare the divorce papers.

Brian seemed to have forgotten.

My phone is protected by a military-grade firewall. No scam call is getting through.

* * *

After hanging up, I sent a concise text to my assistant.

【Find Brian’s current location. And find out who he changed my fund’s beneficiary to.】

That series of trust funds was worth billions. It was the bedrock of my family’s legacy, the source of my own power.

When my assistant sent back the location, I booked the first flight out.

As I approached the hotel, I could hear the staff whispering amongst themselves.

“I’m so jealous of Mrs. Croft. It’s only their third anniversary, and Mr. Croft bought out the entire auction for that jewelry set!”

“That’s not all! I heard he just added another three hundred million to her fund!”

My heart sank. A leaden weight settled in my stomach. Today was indeed my anniversary with Brian.

But it wasn’t our third. It was our seventh.

He was cheating on me. And he was trying to give my inheritance to his mistress.

I took a step toward the grand ballroom, ready to confront him, but a uniformed attendant immediately blocked my path.

“Whoa, whoa, who do you think you are? This is a private event, you can’t just walk in here.” His eyes raked over my simple, understated casual wear. “Dressed like you just rolled out of bed… You think this is the place for you? Get lost before you ruin the atmosphere for Mrs. Croft’s anniversary party.”

I glanced down at my clothes. It was true, I was dressed for comfort, not for a gala. For years, I had been the woman behind Brian, the invisible force propelling his success. I only ever stepped into the public eye when his company faced a crisis I needed to personally resolve.

Normally, I would have calmly explained the misunderstanding.

But right now, all I felt was a cold, simmering rage. A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

“I am Mrs. Croft.”

The attendants erupted in laughter, one of them doubling over as if I’d told the funniest joke in the world.

“You? Mrs. Croft? If Mr. Croft heard you say that, he’d die laughing!”

One of them poked the sleeve of my jacket, his tone dripping with contempt. “Is anything you’re wearing worth more than twenty bucks? And you have the nerve to call yourself Mrs. Croft? You must be desperate for a payday.”

In my thirty years of life, no one had ever dared to speak to me this way.

I was about to respond when a soft, feminine voice cut through the air.

“What’s going on here?”

I looked up. A woman in a stunning, champagne-colored mermaid gown was gliding toward us. The portly attendant who had been mocking me instantly transformed, his face crinkling into a fawning smile.

“Miss Reed! What are you doing out here? Please, go back inside and rest. Don’t tire yourself out.”

He then shot me a venomous glare. “We’re just dealing with some trash who wandered in. Dressed like she buys her clothes at a flea market and claiming to be Mrs. Croft. Shameless, trying to crash the party.” He turned his head and spat on the ground near my feet, the disdain in his eyes palpable. “Open your damn eyes and look! This is the woman Mr. Croft adores. The real Mrs. Croft!”

He jabbed a thumb in my direction. “And you… you’re nothing. Why don’t you go find a puddle and take a good long look at your pathetic self before you dare utter her name again?”

Mia Reed?

Wasn’t she the scholarship student Brian was sponsoring?

He’d told me her story years ago—parents passed away, brilliant student but couldn’t afford tuition. He’d convinced me to help fund her entire four-year degree. I even pulled some strings to get her a comfortable administrative job at his company after she graduated.

But how could she be Mrs. Croft?

Just then, another text from my assistant lit up my screen.

【Ms. Levinson, Brian Croft transferred the beneficiary status of your trust to a woman named Mia Reed.】

The world seemed to tilt on its axis. It all clicked into place.

I walked slowly toward Mia Reed, a cold smile playing on my lips.

“If you’re Mrs. Croft,” I said, my voice dangerously low, “then I’d like to know… who am I?”