I sat in a corner after sending Layla to her assigned class. I didn't have to wait long before I spotted Maverick, Rosalia, and Jeremy.

Maverick had one arm wrapped around Rosalia's waist while he held Jeremy's hand with his free hand.

Irritation prickled within me when I saw the happy smile on his face.

"What? My son's spot was taken by someone else? What are you doing?" Maverick demanded furiously.

Before I could say a word, Layla suddenly ran into the room and hugged Maverick's leg ecstatically. "Daddy! Are you here to walk me to class? I'm so happy!"

Rosalia shot a confused look in Maverick's direction. "Who's this girl, honey?" she asked.

Maverick's expression twisted slightly before he kicked Layla aside like she was a piece of trash, causing her to stumble to the floor. "This girl must not have a father of her own, so she's just going around and calling any man she sees 'Daddy'."

Layla scraped her elbow when she fell to the ground, breaking the skin and drawing blood. She began sobbing quietly.

My heart felt like it was breaking as I swiftly helped her back to her feet.

I glared at Maverick furiously. My voice trembling, I shouted, "You're worse than a beast, Maverick! It's one thing for you to cheat on me, but how dare you not acknowledge Layla as your daughter?"

Drawn toward the sound of my raised voice, the other parents looked at us. Some of them knew who Maverick was and began whispering among themselves.

"Is Mrs. Gibson here to catch Mr. Gibson red-handed?"

Some of the parents looked at me with disdain in their eyes.

"The woman standing next to Mr. Gibson is the real Mrs. Gibson. She's the heiress of the Jones family, but she married Mr. Gibson out of love."

"The Jones family didn't approve of their marriage at first, but they finally acknowledged Mr. Gibson after he worked hard for many years. Apparently, the head of the Gibson family will be dropping by today to see his grandchild."

"Does that mean she's the mistress? I can't believe she even brought her illegitimate daughter with her to steal Mr. Gibson's son's spot."

"As expected, all mistresses are shameless to a fault. I can't believe she would do something so despicable."

"Look at her little bastard child. She looks so devious. I bet she's going to grow up to be a homewrecker too."

A bottle of water was thrown at my head.

The woman who threw the bottle shot a look of disdain at me before saying, "Mrs. Gibson is virtuous and capable. Everyone knows that she's been helping Mr. Gibson run the company for the past few years. You're nothing more than a lowly mistress. Do you really think that we'll be fooled by your lies?"

Layla's eyes were glistening with tears when she looked up at me and asked, "Why doesn't Daddy like me, Mommy? Am I really a bastard child?"

Fury and despair raged within me as I stared into Layla's terrified eyes.

It now made sense why Maverick had insisted that I become a housewife after I gave birth to Layla, using the excuse that my body was weak. I had been replaced by Rosalia a long time ago in his circle.

A chill spread through my limbs. I glared at Maverick with bloodshot eyes and said coldly, "I'm giving you one more chance, Maverick. Who's the real mistress?"

Maverick looked at the other parents apologetically and said, "She's actually my son's nanny. She's mentally unwell, so I hope you don't take her words to heart."

He then stared at me with a warning look in his eyes, saying, "Violet, if you continue to cause a commotion, I'll have no choice but to fire you!"

The tense expression on Rosalia's face softened a little when she heard Maverick's words. "So, this is the nanny that you've been talking about. How dare she steal Jeremy's spot for her own child? I'm guessing that this isn't her first time doing something so heinous. We should call the police to arrest her!"

The other parents voiced their agreement.

"We have to call the police. She'll only cause more trouble if we let her roam around freely."

"Just look at the skimpy way she's dressed today. I bet she wanted to seduce Mr. Gibson."

Maverick sighed loudly before saying, "I only hired her at the time because I pitied her for having to raise a child by herself. I didn't expect her to develop such lofty ambitions."

"Violet Bailey, you don't have to show up for work starting tomorrow," Maverick declared.

I looked at Maverick's icy expression as I listened to the other parents hurl a neverending barrage of insults at me. My heart ached so terribly that I found it hard to breathe.

Maverick and I had been childhood sweethearts. His parents passed away in an accident during his freshman year in university. To make it worse, he was saddled with a huge amount of debt, so he was forced to drop out.

I knew how important it was for Maverick to have a good education, so I dropped out as well and started working to pay for his tuition.

Maverick wanted to start his own business after he graduated, so we were forced to live in a small, cramped basement unit. To attract more clients to invest in his business, I discarded my reservations and wore skimpy dresses, working as a hostess and drinking with his potential business partners.

Eventually, I lost count of how many times I threw up.

Maverick's eyes were bloodshot when he hugged me tightly and swore that he would treat me right for the rest of my life.

He thought that Rosalia was the heiress of the richest family in the country. He had no idea that when I left for a "business trip" some time ago, I had actually gone to reunite with my family.

I was the real heiress, not Rosalia!

I grabbed my marriage certificate from my bag and brandished it.

"Maverick, no matter how stubbornly you deny the truth, you can't deny that I'm your lawfully wedded wife! Not only did you use our money to pay for your mistress' expenses, but you also had an illegitimate child with her.

"I'm going to file a lawsuit against you! When I'm done with you, you won't have a single penny to your name!"

The other parents began whispering among themselves as they studied the marriage certificate in my hand.

"Is that a real marriage certificate? Could she really be Mr. Gibson's real wife?"

"If so, Mr. Gibson's a terrible man."

However, Maverick wasn't flustered in the slightest even as he looked at the marriage certificate I was holding. He scoffed and said, "You're even more mentally unstable than I expected, Violet. Do you really think that you can become my wife just by forging a marriage certificate?"

He looked at a staff member who was standing nearby and said, "Bring me a laptop and a projector."

It didn't take long before Maverick pulled up another certificate on the projector.

I stared at the screen with wide eyes, my entire body shaking with disbelief.

The projector displayed a page on the Vital Records Office's website. It showed a certificate that proved Maverick and Rosalia had registered their marriage a few years ago.

"As expected, she really does have a loose screw. She's crazy enough to forge a marriage certificate!"

"How disgusting. She's willing to do anything to raise her status. Fortunately, Mr. Gibson was well-prepared."

Rosalia slapped me hard across the face, the sound ringing loudly through the air. She scoffed and asked, "How dare you come up with something so despicable just to climb your way up the social ladder?"

She then grabbed a stack of hundred-dollar bills from her bag and threw it in my face. "You love money, don't you? Take this and get out right now! If you try something like this again, I'll send you directly to the police station!"

The other parents began to praise Rosalia.

"Mrs. Gibson is such a kind person. She's willing to forgive the nanny even though she did something so terrible."

Layla rushed forward when she saw me being attacked, screaming, "Don't touch Mommy, you horrible person!"

Rosalia stumbled a few steps backward when Layla rammed into her.

Jeremy, who had been standing behind her, roughly shoved Layla to the floor and then kicked her. "You brat! How dare you hurt Mommy? I'm going to kill you!" he shouted, his words dripping with disdain.

Layla wrapped her arms around her little body when Jeremy kicked her stomach, whining in pain.

"Layla!"

My heart felt like it was breaking apart when I saw Jeremy hurting Layla. I grabbed him and shoved him aside.

"This evil lady hurt me, Daddy!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Hurry up and take revenge for me!"

Maverick slapped me hard across the face, causing my cheek to go numb. He then clamped his hands around my neck and hissed, "You shameless bitch! How dare you raise your hand on my only son? If anything happens to him, I'll make you pay with your life!"

My face turned ruddy from how hard Maverick was choking me, and I nearly suffocated. My consciousness began to fade as he squeezed tighter.

It was then that I was struck by the realization—he was really trying to kill me!

Tears streamed down my cheeks.

Maverick released his hold on me when the teardrops splattered on his skin, acting as though he had been burned.

My face was covered in tears and snot as I collapsed in a heap on the ground, looking utterly pathetic.

Layla was quivering as she curled up next to me. "I don't want to go to school anymore, Mommy," she mumbled. "This place is so scary!"

"Your grandpa will stand up for us when he shows up later, Layla," I murmured in a low, comforting voice.

Rosalia locked arms with Maverick affectionately. She was just about to say something when she heard me. A cruel glint flickered in her eyes.

"I just thought of something, Maverick. A madwoman with lofty ambitions like her will keep bothering us if we don't teach her a lesson she'll never forget. I don't want to give her more chances to disgust us time and time again."

The other parents nodded in agreement.

"You need to be harsher when dealing with a shameless woman like her. That's the only way she'll learn her lesson."

"You have to deal with the root of the problem. Mr. Gibson, for the sake of your family, you can't go easy on her."

Maverick nodded before pinning me with his cold gaze. "I hope that you'll live a proper life after learning your lesson today. Stop trying to take shortcuts."

Realizing that something was amiss, I said, "I've already called the police. What do you think you're doing?"

A group of bodyguards clad in black surrounded me.

Rosalia shot an icy look at me and said, "Strip her of her clothes and beat her to a pulp! Make sure she learns her lesson and never entertains the idea of being a mistress again!"

The bodyguards began to roughly pull at my clothes before raining down kicks and punches on me.

Layla was also caught in the chaos and took a few hits. She cried out pitifully as a smattering of bruises began to appear on her small, pale body.

Meanwhile, fresh blood ran down my face. When I heard Layla's cries, I powered through the pain and lunged at her, shielding her with my own body.

"I'm the real daughter of the Jones family, Maverick! You're going to regret it if you don't tell them to stop!"

Rosalia scoffed and said, "As expected, she really has lost her mind. How dare she claim that she's the real heiress of the Jones family when I'm standing right here?"

"Don't be angry, honey," Maverick said comfortingly while looking at her gently. "She's not worth it."

The other parents began insulting me as well.

"She must have lost her mind. How dare she claim to be the daughter of the richest man in the country?"

"A madwoman like her should be locked up in a mental asylum. There's no telling if she's going to lose it one day and start stabbing people with a knife. Better safe than sorry."

My consciousness began to turn hazy as I shielded Layla from the bodyguards' kicks and punches.

Rosalia's cold voice suddenly sounded in my ear as she hissed, "I've been looking for you for a long time. I didn't expect you to deliver yourself to me on a silver platter. I can only become the real heiress of the Jones family once you're dead!"

I immediately realized that Rosalia was trying to take advantage of the situation and kill me after learning my true identity.

"Help… Help me…" I mumbled weakly, reaching out toward Maverick.

But Maverick just stood there with an indifferent expression.

Hopelessness spread through me as I began to lose consciousness. I couldn't help but wonder if Layla and I were destined to die here today.

The thought filled me with resentment.

Right before I fainted, I heard Maverick say, "Mr. Jones, meet your grandson. Jeremy, say hi to your grandfather."

"Out of my way, you shameless bastards! How dare you raise your hands against my daughter? I won't let any of you off the hook!"

I struggled to open my eyes and met Dad's worried gaze. My grievance reached its peak as I choked out, "Dad, they tried to kill me."