After Reading Her Mind, I Dumped My Cheating Husband and Married a Tycoon

At a high-society gala, Serena Hayes, heiress to the wealthiest family in the city, suddenly suffered a severe allergic reaction and collapsed. When she woke up, tears filled her eyes. In front of everyone, she accused my sister, Lucy, of being jealous of her and deliberately triggering the reaction. I was about to grab my husband, Adrian Lawson, and beg him to use his powerful connections to help my sister when a sweet, coy voice suddenly sounded in my head. [Evelyn Carter is such an idiot. She actually thinks Adrian will help her? While she was pregnant, he spent practically every night in my bed.] [And that stupid kid she carried for nine months? He follows me around all day, crying and begging me to be his mommy.] I felt as if I'd been struck by lightning. I stared at Adrian in disbelief. But he only looked at me coldly, his voice detached and blatantly biased. "Serena has always been delicate and prone to allergic reactions. The Carter family caused this, so they should pay the price." Even my son, Noah, who had always been so attached to me, pulled away and glared at me with disgust. "Serena is so nice! Mom and Auntie Lucy are the worst! You both deserve to die!" My heart went cold. I signed the divorce papers without hesitation and walked away with nothing. Six years later, at a prestigious business summit, Noah grabbed my sleeve so tightly his knuckles turned white. His voice trembled. "Mom?" I calmly pulled my arm free. "You've mistaken me for someone else." "My husband and son haven't arrived yet." Noah froze. All the color drained from his face. Chapter 1 The Summit Club had been completely cleared out for the day to welcome the newest rising star among the city's elite. I was the only person left sitting in a corner of the lobby. The manager was just about to ask me to leave when a group swept through the entrance, surrounding three people at the center like an entourage. I lifted my teacup. Then my eyes landed on the boy walking in with them, and a sharp pain stabbed through my chest. My biological son. Noah Lawson. Six years had passed. He had grown much taller, and the coldness in his eyes was almost identical to Adrian's. Beside him stood my ex-husband, Adrian Lawson. And Serena Hayes, the woman everyone now hailed as the newest darling of high society. Adrian's gaze swept over my plain, logo-free dress. The look in his eyes was exactly as I remembered. Condescending. Cold. "Evelyn Carter, how long are you planning to keep stalking us?" "Even if you work here serving tea and waiting tables, I still won't spare you a second glance." I set down my cup. Serena was barely hiding the smug curve of her lips. I said nothing. "You evil woman! What are you doing here?" Noah glared at me. "Are you here to bully my mom again?" I looked coldly at Adrian. Just like six years ago, he said nothing while our son hurled insults at me. He simply stood there and let the hatred grow. Serena chose that moment to pull Noah back. "Noah, don't say that." Her voice was soft and gentle. "Evelyn left the marriage with nothing. These past six years must have been very hard for her." Then she turned to me, her eyes full of innocent concern. "Evelyn, if you're really struggling that badly, I can ask Adrian to find you a job here as a cleaner." But at the same time, that sweet voice entered my mind again. And the thoughts behind it were vicious. [She really is hard to kill. Why didn't she die in the rain six years ago with that bastard in her belly?] [Whatever. She's nothing but a stray dog now. Even if she really works here as a waitress, I'll come by every day just to make her miserable.] [I want her to watch me spend her family's money, sleep with her husband, and make the stupid kid she gave birth to call me Mom every single day.] I listened to every filthy thought without changing expression. My fingers lightly brushed the flawless emerald bracelet around my wrist. For the first time, I almost wanted to laugh at how blind I had once been. Back then, I had willingly hidden everything I was capable of for Adrian. I poured every important connection, resource, and dollar the Carter family possessed into him. I had taken a man with an ordinary background and personally lifted him into the highest circles of society. I had thought our life would continue peacefully like that. Then Serena Hayes began appearing in our home more and more often. At a high-society gala, Serena deliberately ingested something she was allergic to and went into shock. When she woke up, she accused my sister Lucy of poisoning her. I begged Adrian to investigate. All he had to do was look into it properly, and the truth would come out. But even when I dropped to my knees and begged him, Adrian refused. Instead, he used his connections to have Lucy sent to prison. By the time they were done with her, she had been disfigured and permanently disabled. "Serena is physically fragile. Your sister was vicious enough to hurt her. The Carter family deserves everything that happened to them." Outside our estate, Serena had been nestled in his arms, tears still clinging to her face as if she had just survived something terrifying. But the triumphant voice I heard inside her head shattered every illusion I still had. [Your precious sister had both her legs broken. Your parents are either dead or injured. You really think I'm finished?] [Even my allergic reaction was fake. I paid off the doctor. And your idiot husband believed every word without even investigating.] [He personally became the knife I used to destroy your entire family.] Noah had clung to Serena's leg and called me a monster. "Serena's my mom now! She's so nice! How could your family be so cruel to her? You evil woman! You deserve to die!" That day, every word and every gesture felt like a blade driven straight into my chest. Lucy had both legs broken in prison. When my parents rushed there to see her, they were killed instantly in a car accident. And I? I was pregnant with my second child when Adrian threw me out. I hemorrhaged in the pouring rain and nearly died along with my baby. The memories brought every ounce of old hatred rushing back. When I remained silent, Noah stormed over and knocked the teacup from beside my hand. Scalding tea splashed across the back of my hand. My skin immediately turned red and swollen. "You evil woman! Are you deaf?" "Dad and I don't want to see you!" I steadied myself and calmly wiped the tea from my skin. When I still said nothing, Adrian seemed to take my silence for surrender. He pulled out a check and tossed it at my feet like he was giving money to a beggar. "One hundred thousand dollars." "Pick it up." "Then apologize to Serena and promise you'll never appear in front of Noah again." "If you behave, I might still let you scrape by in this city." I slowly rose to my feet. My heel came down squarely on the check. Then I lifted my eyes to his. My voice was ice-cold. "One cup of Imperial Reserve tea. Five million dollars." "You ruined my custom couture dress. Ten million." I gave him a faint smile. "That's fifteen million total." "Cash or card?" Chapter 2 Adrian was so furious he actually laughed. He looked at me as if I'd just told the most ridiculous joke in the world. "Fifteen million dollars? Evelyn Carter, have you completely lost your mind?" "Six years ago, you were thrown out like a stray. You should've died in that storm instead of crawling back here to embarrass yourself." Serena covered her mouth with a soft laugh. Then her vicious thoughts pierced my mind again. [Wouldn't it have been better if she'd died that night? She lost so much blood in the rain.] My chest seized. The metallic taste of blood rose in my throat. In an instant, the wounds from that night six years ago were ripped open all over again. I had been eight months pregnant when Adrian threw me out of the house in the middle of a torrential storm. My water broke. Then the bleeding started. The pain sent me crashing into the mud, every breath coming out ragged and wet. Through the rain, I watched Adrian's Maybach disappear down the road without slowing. All because Serena had called and told him she was afraid of thunder. Blood spread beneath me, washing red across the pavement. Then several men emerged from the rain. They carried thick wooden bats. "Ms. Hayes gave us orders." One of them looked down at my stomach. "That bastard in there doesn't get to survive." He raised the bat high. It came swinging down with a sharp rush of air. I curled around my stomach and squeezed my eyes shut. Then— A deafening crash tore through the storm. Tires screamed across the pavement. A black Rolls-Royce Phantom with extremely expensive plate burst through the rain and slammed straight into the man at the front of the group. He went flying. The doors opened. More than a dozen men in black suits poured out and overwhelmed the attackers within seconds. The sickening sound of bones breaking cut through the rain. Then the rear door of the Rolls-Royce opened. A pair of immaculate bespoke shoes stepped down beside the bloodstained water. Damian Hawthorne. Heir to one of the most powerful financial dynasties in the world. The kind of man whose family could move markets with a phone call. He stood beneath a black umbrella and looked down at me. "Evelyn Carter." His voice was calm. "Are you really willing to die in the mud like this?" Then he bent down and pulled me out of hell. I survived. My unborn child didn't. After emergency surgery, I woke in a hospital room to find Damian sitting beside the bed. He placed a plane ticket and a check on the table in front of me. "I happened to be there." "Take these and start over somewhere else." I didn't touch either of them. Instead, I yanked the IV from the back of my hand, stumbled out of bed, and dropped to my knees in front of him. "Mr. Hawthorne, I'm not leaving." I stared straight into his eyes. Every word tasted like blood. "Adrian may have taken over the Carter family's visible assets, but he doesn't have everything." "My family has overseas trusts worth billions." "And I still control a private network that connects some of the most powerful people in this country." "I'll give you access to all of it." I drew a breath. "In return, I want to become Mrs. Hawthorne." Damian's fingers, which had been slowly turning the signet ring on his hand, went still. A faint glimmer of approval crossed his dark eyes. "Evelyn Carter." "You're smarter than they gave you credit for." His lips curved slightly. "Deal." That day, he personally fastened an heirloom emerald bangle around my wrist. And he gave me far more than the protection I had asked for. He gave me a wedding that dominated society headlines for weeks. From that day forward, he kept me close and protected me from anyone who dared come near. On our wedding night, Damian brushed the tears from the corner of my eye. The love in his dark gaze was so intense he didn't even try to hide it. "Evelyn, the orphan your family sponsored ten years ago?" "That was me." His lips brushed gently over my scars. His touch was impossibly tender. "Mrs. Hawthorne, I'll help you settle every debt they owe the Carter family." His gaze darkened. "And the Lawsons?" "I'll put them beneath your feet." Chapter 3 Before I left the house, the three-year-old son Damian and I shared had planted a soft kiss on my cheek. "Mommy, bring Daddy home early, okay?" Just thinking about the little boy we both adored softened some of the chill in my eyes. At that moment, the custom watch around my wrist vibrated twice. An encrypted message from Damian appeared on the screen. [We have the evidence that can destroy Lawson Corporation's South District project. I'll be there in five minutes.] [Wait for me, sweetheart. I want to finish him myself.] A cold smile flickered across my face. I shut off the screen. Six years ago, Adrian had climbed to the top over the blood and ruin of the Carter family. Tonight, in front of the very people whose approval mattered most to him, Damian was going to make him give back everything he had taken, with interest. My gaze drifted toward the shadow behind one of the lobby columns. Marcus Miller, the elite bodyguard Damian had assigned to me, had already rested one hand on the collapsible baton at his waist. My silence only made Adrian think he had hit a nerve. His gaze dropped contemptuously to the priceless emerald bangle around my wrist. He scoffed. "You found some cheap glass knockoff somewhere and brought it here hoping to scam people?" "Evelyn, all these pathetic games, pretending you don't care, showing up wherever I am. Isn't this all just your way of trying to force me to take you back?" Serena immediately linked her arm through his. "Adrian, Evelyn probably just hasn't been able to survive on her own." She gave me a sympathetic look. "If she's willing to apologize, I'll personally cover the cost of that fake bracelet for her." At the same time, her greedy thoughts poured into my mind. [Why does that bracelet look so real?] [No way. It can't be genuine.] [I'll find a chance to take it from her later.] Noah pulled an ugly face at me and spat toward the floor. "Liar! You're broke! Dad would never want you back!" "You're not even worth one strand of my mom's hair!" The noise was beginning to irritate me. "Mr. Lawson, if you can't afford the fifteen million, take your mistress and your idiot son and get out of my way." I picked up my purse and turned to leave. "What the hell is that attitude?" Adrian finally lost his patience. He reached for my collar. "Get over here and apologize to Serena!" Crack. The sickening sound of bone giving way split the air. Adrian's hand was still inches from me when a dark figure moved between us and drove a vicious kick into his knee. Adrian grunted. His leg buckled, forcing him down onto one knee at my feet. Marcus stepped in front of me like a wall. "Mr. Lawson." His voice was flat. "You don't get to put your hands on Mrs. Hawthorne." Adrian's face twisted in pain. Cold sweat broke across his forehead as he stared at me in disbelief. "Evelyn Carter! You bitch! You hired someone to attack me?" Serena screamed and rushed toward him. Marcus's expression hardened. His hand snapped toward the baton at his waist. "Marcus." My voice stopped him. "Stand down." Crippling Adrian here would be far too easy. I didn't want him merely injured. I wanted him ruined tonight, in front of the entire circle of powerful people he had spent years trying to impress. Just then, the club manager came running over, drenched in sweat. "Mr. Lawson, please stop!" His voice shook with panic. "Mr. Hawthorne's private elevator is coming down now." "You need to get upstairs and wait in the penthouse suite. If tonight's multibillion-dollar financing deal falls apart, none of us will be able to answer for it!" At the mention of Damian Hawthorne, Adrian's anger vanished. A mixture of awe and excitement flashed across his face. He shot me one last vicious look. "Once I meet Mr. Hawthorne and close this financing deal, I'll come back and deal with you." Then he straightened his suit, grabbed Serena and Noah, and hurried toward the private elevator in the center of the lobby. The gold-trimmed elevator belonged exclusively to Damian. Among the city's elite, everyone knew the rule. Unless you were a Hawthorne, you didn't step inside. I calmly smoothed my skirt and followed them. Just as the doors were about to close, I reached out and stopped them. Then I stepped inside. The atmosphere in the elevator instantly tightened. Adrian stared at me. His pupils contracted. "Evelyn, have you lost your mind?!" "This is Mr. Hawthorne's private elevator!" "If you have a death wish, don't drag us into it!" "Get out!" Chapter 4 The tension inside the cramped elevator dropped to freezing. "Evelyn Carter! How dare you step into Mr. Hawthorne's private elevator?" Adrian was furious. "Where's security? Get this crazy woman out of here!" He reached for the emergency call button. Serena hid behind him, but her thoughts practically trembled with excitement. [Perfect. Once security beats her half to death and throws her out, I'll grab that emerald bangle off her wrist in the chaos!] Ding. The elevator shot straight to the top floor. The doors opened onto the Skyline Ballroom. Hundreds of the city's most powerful figures turned toward us at once. Adrian's expression changed instantly. He pulled out the black Hawthorne access card that marked him as an important business partner and pointed at me. "She doesn't have an invitation. She broke into Mr. Hawthorne's private elevator." He barked at security, "Throw her out the back and break her legs!" I remained where I was and calmly tapped Send on my watch. Several security guards in black suits strode toward us. Then they walked straight past me. Two of them seized Adrian's arms and wrenched them behind his back. "What the hell are you doing?" Adrian struggled violently. "You've got the wrong person!" "No, they don't." A cold voice cut through the ballroom. Ethan Blake, Damian's chief of staff, stepped through the crowd. He slapped a document against Adrian's chest. "Mr. Lawson, your Hawthorne access privileges have been revoked." Adrian's face went white. "Mr. Blake, what are you talking about? What about the financing for the South District project?" "Canceled." Ethan cut him off without expression. "And that's only the beginning." "As of one minute ago, every major line of credit available to Lawson Corporation has been frozen. Ten banks have simultaneously called in their loans." He looked Adrian directly in the eye. "You're bankrupt." The entire ballroom fell silent. Adrian looked as though he had been struck by lightning. With shaking hands, he pulled out his phone. The screen was flooded with alerts. Frozen assets. Canceled credit lines. Loan recalls. Payment demands. Ethan turned to the room. His voice carried clearly across the ballroom. "Mr. Hawthorne has issued an order." "Effective immediately, no company under the Hawthorne network will conduct business with Adrian Lawson or Lawson Corporation." "Anyone who chooses to bail him out will be treated as an enemy of the Hawthorne family." "That's impossible!" Adrian's knees nearly gave out. Then his bloodshot eyes locked onto me. "Evelyn Carter!" "This was you, wasn't it?" "You did this!" He lunged at me like a madman. Marcus kicked him squarely in the chest and sent him sprawling across the floor. Ethan immediately walked over to me and bowed deeply. "Mrs. Hawthorne." "Mr. Hawthorne will be here momentarily. I apologize for allowing you to be subjected to this." "Mrs. Hawthorne?" The title hit the room like a thunderclap. Adrian went completely still on the floor. His eyes widened in disbelief. Serena's face turned white as paper. [Impossible!] [This is impossible!] [How could Evelyn be Mrs. Hawthorne? What makes her worthy of him?] The next second, Serena shoved Noah aside without hesitation and scrambled to my feet. "Evelyn! I was wrong!" "It was all Adrian!" "He forced me into everything! He was the one who plotted against the Carter family six years ago!" "I was just someone he threatened and used!" Adrian stared at her in disbelief. "Serena, have you lost your mind? What the hell are you talking about?" I looked down at the two of them. I wasn't angry. I felt nothing but the cold indifference one might feel toward insects underfoot. "Adrian." I spoke slowly. "Do you want to survive this?" His whole body trembled. Then, as if I had just thrown him a lifeline, he nodded frantically. I ran my fingers lightly over the emerald bangle around my wrist. My voice was soft. Almost gentle. "Break Serena's legs." "Disfigure her face." "Do to her exactly what she did to my sister six years ago." I looked down at him. "If you leave her ruined, I might consider letting you walk out of here alive." A collective gasp swept through the ballroom. Serena screamed. "Adrian! You can't!" "I'm the woman you love!" Before she could finish, the hesitation in Adrian's eyes vanished. His expression twisted with vicious rage. He lunged at Serena, wrapped both hands around her throat, then snatched a wine bottle from the nearest table. He brought it down toward her face. "You bitch!" "This is all your fault!" "You ruined me!" Her scream tore through the ballroom. Glass shattered. Blood splattered across the floor. I watched their vicious struggle without expression. Then— Ding. Damian's private elevator opened once again. Damian Hawthorne stepped out in a perfectly tailored black suit. The entire atmosphere shifted the moment he entered. He didn't spare a glance for the shattered glass or the blood on the floor. His eyes went straight to me. He crossed the ballroom, pulled me into his arms, and held me close. "Sweetheart." His voice softened. "I'm sorry I'm late."