Chapter 1

When my brother Ethan --- the one born with a congenital heart defect --- was beaten half to death by his enemies and left on my doorstep with a broken leg, something shifted inside me.

I suddenly found it in my heart to forgive my husband, Nathan.

Forgive him for bringing his sickly childhood sweetheart, Chloe, into our home.

After all, a devoted wife should always try to understand her husband's feelings.

With tears in my eyes, I helped Ethan into the guest room, cleaned his wounds myself, and applied the medicine with the kind of gentleness you'd use on something irreplaceable.

I took care of his every need with my own hands, stayed up through the night for him, and even played the piano piece Nathan loved most.

I stopped caring about Nathan and Chloe's flirting. I stopped losing my mind over their closeness.

But Nathan was the one who lost his mind.

He backed me into a corner, eyes bloodshot, voice trembling.

"Nina, what the hell do you think you're doing? He's a broke, broken-down nobody!"

I reached up and touched his face, smiling with all the innocence I could muster.

"Honey, I'm just doing what you taught me."

"Learning how to be a good person. Someone who values the people they love."

"Or are you saying your first love gets to live under our roof, but the person who matters most to me has to sleep on the street?"