When my husband fell seriously ill, I finally had a reason to step into his office after seven years of marriage. All I wanted was to ask for his sick leave. Instead, the receptionist froze, eyes widening as she studied my face. “The man you’re talking about… he owns this company. Our boss and his wife arrive and leave together every day. Unless… you’re not his wife.” In that second, my world cracked open.

My palm connected with Genevieve’s cheek in a crack that echoed around the lobby and sent a jolt up my arm. The sound was sharp and clean, the kind of sound that announces a turning point.

Time seemed to stop. The receptionist froze halfway to standing. An employee halfway through the lobby turned to stone.

Genevieve staggered a step and clutched her face, her eyes going wet with disbelief as much as pain.

Then she found her voice.

“Steven!” she cried, her words trembling perfectly. “She hit me! It hurts!”

If she’d wanted to remind him which role to play, she couldn’t have chosen better words.

Steven reacted instantly.

He shoved me hard enough that my back slammed into the corner of the reception desk. Pain shot through my lower spine. I tried to catch my balance, but he grabbed my shoulders and pushed again.

“Sunny, are you crazy?” he shouted in my face. “What is wrong with you?”

The world tilted. My head hit the corner of a marble side table with a sickening, dull thud. White-hot pain exploded at the base of my skull and radiated outward in a blinding flash.

I gasped, reaching instinctively for the back of my head. My fingers came away wet and warm.

Blood.