It was the day of my return. The city was talking about the birthday party my husband was throwing for me. He was a lawyer.

But the night before the big day, a message popped up on my husband's cell phone. 'It's been five years. I've been waiting for far too long.'

My husband pushed me away, though his face was smeared with guilt. "I'm sorry, honey. The GM wants me on a last-minute work trip. I can't make it in time for your birthday."

He left without even missing a beat. I opened up the GPS app and watched the red dot move away. That was him. I got an Uber and tailed him right away.

His GM was me. I just got the job, and I approved his leave for my birthday. And then he told me, in my face, that I assigned him on a last-minute work trip when I did no such thing.

It was midnight. And I was going to find out who this man was meeting at this witching hour.

Cheating Husband

The dot stopped at Hotel Streamside. I told the driver to speed up, and before I even got close, the explosion of confetti thundered in my ears.

I approached the scene. The whole place was raining confetti, and it blurred the guests' faces. A pair of waiters were pushing a cake that was taller than an adult toward the center of the party.

"Happy birthday, honey! Here's to our fifth anniversary!"

My heart sank. I knew that voice. Salazar Solomon's. My husband's. And he was calling the woman in his arms his wife.

Fifth anniversary. That was supposed to be us! And then the confetti finished raining. I saw the face of the woman he was holding. My breath hitched. Yvonne Riverstein, the daughter of my family's nanny. What was she doing here?

The crowd was eager to please them.

"I've been hearing stories about your wife, Mr. Solomon. You love her a lot, they say. And she's the heiress of the Sheffields? My, she certainly looks the part."

"Yeah, childhood friends, too. You guys are made for each other!"

Yvonne was not the heiress to the Sheffields. I did not have any sisters out there. Yes, she was Salazar's childhood friend, because her mother used to be the Solomons' nanny.

However, they fired her because Salazar took a liking to Yvonne. My family took them in when they had nowhere else to go.

My kindness, curse it, told me to get Yvonne a job at the law firm. It was only an errand girl job, but she was well paid. Then, I had to leave the city for a couple of weeks. Then, my whole world had changed. Yvonne became the heiress to my family and was Salazar's wife—or so everyone believed.

"Thanks to Ms. Sheffield, Solomon and Co.'s gotten its hands on many cases. Millions of dollars of them."

"You're a lucky man, Mr. Solomon!"

Salazar and Yvonne shared a blissful smile. They were just like the perfect couple from a romance novel. I was just dying to give them my rotten blessings.

Yvonne was holding Salazar's hand. Her face was red as an apple. "I grew up with Solomon. I've been in love with him my whole life. Him as well. But we never made it public because he didn't want the media to disturb me."

With a smile, Salazar nodded. The guests nodded as well, as if realization had just struck them.

And I smiled too. No wonder Salazar never wanted me to show myself. Even at his law firm, he never told anyone I was his wife. He wanted Yvonne to cut off her ties with her old self and steal my place.

He would have her steal my birthday just to make sure everyone thought she was the heiress of my family.

Well, if he loved her so much, who was I to say no? Guess I was getting a divorce, then.

I slowly approached them, then Salazar wrapped his arm around Yvonne's back. He blabbered, "That aside, her family does not encourage their daughters to show themselves in front of the world too much."

My voice crashed the party, loud and clear. "I never knew that was part of my family's rules, Salazar! And when'd you get a new wife behind me? You never told me anything!"

Salazar let go of Yvonne without even thinking. His soul left his body, and all the color drained from his face. It was a sickly green now.

I strode forth and grabbed the wine he was holding. The next thing he knew, the content of the glass was splashed all over his face. "Work trip, huh? A trip to another woman's embrace?

Crash the Party

"What the hell are you doing, Tamara Sheffield?" Salazar snapped out of his reverie and wiped the wine off his face. He was shivering with rage. His face was crimson with anger, but his eyes were darting in every direction, trying to hide his guilt.

Before I could keep up my interrogation, the top lawyer from Great Law Firm was already stoking everyone's anger. "I can't believe the guards let just anyone in! Hey, you, this gathering's for top lawyers only! You can't just barge in here claiming you're Mr. Solomon's wife and call him a cheater! That is slander! Apologize right now!"

The small-time lawyers played along.

"This isn't the place to throw your tantrum! This land is ruled by law, and the courthouse will deal with your lot!"

"Maybe Mr. Solomon's kind enough to let it slide, but we won't! We are agents of justice!"

That was amusing. I laughed and turned my eyes to Salazar. "So, you're going to take me to court? Please, Salazar. The fact that you're living with another woman as a de facto wife means you've committed bigamy! You know that better than anyone. Oh, right, it's also your fifth anniversary. Let's see… Bigamy can put you in jail for two years!"

Yvonne's eyes teared up, and she shrank into my husband's arms like a hurt bunny. "Tamara, please, this is my fault. Don't take it out on Salazar."

Her act worked. Salazar glared at me like he was made out of nothing but ice. "Bigamy? That's nonsense! Now, get back home, Tamara!"

That much was enough for everyone to realize there was gossip to be found. Their eyes were on me again, judging, contemplating.

I sneered. "Trying to shut me up so the truth won't kill your fake wife?"

Yvonne raised her voice like she was indignant. "Tamara, your mother might've been the Solomons' nanny and taken care of Salazar since he was a boy, but this is too far! I know you love him, but I'm already pregnant with his baby. Please, don't destroy my family. I got you a job at the law firm because you had nowhere else to go. Why are you doing this to me?"

That stunned me. I was frozen in place for a long while. Hey, that was my line! God, this woman knew no shame at all!

Salazar noticed the doubts and questions in everyone's eyes. He put on a stern look and added to Yvonne's story. "I've always kept my distance from Tamara, but she never cared. And now she's crashing Yvonne's big day. I'm sorry you had to see this, people." And he turned to me. "You'd better stop this, or I'll fire you and kick you out of my house!"

That answered everyone's questions. Whispers started to spread.

"Ah, no wonder they share a home. Her mother's his nanny."

"She seems decent enough, but she's a gold digger. I can't believe she's claiming Mr. Solomon committed bigamy."

"You know women like her. They can do anything for status. If you want them to kill their parents for it, they would do it."

I heard everything, and I gave Yvonne a smirk. Her smile was freezing up faster than hot water turning into ice at near absolute zero temperature.

These people's insults were thrown at her, though they had no idea at all. She did. And yet she managed to keep up her smile. Interesting.

I nodded and rolled my eyes at her. "Yes, you're right. People like her would do anything for money. Isn't that right, Yvonne? Remember when the Solomons beat you up and kicked you out of their house for seducing Salazar? Remember what you told me when you begged me to take you in?

"This is how you repay me? By marrying my husband and carrying his child?"

Indignant Wife

Yvonne went red as a cooked crab.

I was going to keep exposing her past, but then someone shoved me down to the ground from the back.

I crashed my head against the corner of a table before I fell, and something warm trickled down my face. Blood. The pain was making my head spin, and I closed my eyes.

When my eyes snapped open, the first thing they saw was a finely dressed woman smashing a piece of cake into my face. "That is hogwash! Yvonne is of noble stock, but you are not! Your blood is filthy! You think a peasant like you deserves Mr. Solomon?"

Yvonne was gloating. "She's right. I got the firm a deal worth 4.5 million dollars in a month. A nanny's spawn can never get that kind of achievement. I have a PhD in law from Bullings University."

Yeah, identity theft. They did it through and through.

"Yeah. Know your place, nanny! Stay away from your master!"

"Yvonne, you can't let her stay! God knows what she might do! She's already trying to steal your identity!"

"If she loves the art of seduction so much, maybe she should consider prostitution."

I looked at Salazar. His face was a mask of ice, and he was swirling his glass of wine like this was not his business.

"Remember what you promised me when you tried to make me your girlfriend? That you'd love me forever. That you'd protect me forever. And now you're letting them humiliate me?"

That wiped off his mask of indifference, but it did not change his attitude. Icily, he said, "This wouldn't have happened if you had never crashed this party."

That emboldened Yvonne. "He told me you tried to seduce him all the time, but he always let it slide because your mother worked for his family for years. Still, calling him a criminal is too much. I hereby announce that Tamara Sheffield is fired! We do not keep any ungrateful bastards in our ranks!"

Ungrateful bastard, huh? I looked at Salazar.

"Are you really sure Yvonne's the one who closed all those deals? You know very well that I'm the one who kept finding clients for your firm. I was the one who worked through the nights sorting out the files. I was the one who snagged ten cases worth at least a million in a row! I was the one who found a foothold for the law firm! Why don't you tell them that?"

There was a hint of wariness and hesitation on Salazar's face now.

But then Yvonne stepped in. "Yes, we let you deal with the clients for the early stages, but it was only training. And you botched all of them. Salazar and I had to clean up your mess for you."

To my surprise, Salazar actually believed that story. He believed that the cases only fell into their laps thanks to his and Yvonne's unrelenting efforts. And his face fell.

"I've spoiled you too much, Tamara. To think you'd try to steal Yvonne's credit."

The disdain everyone had for me was growing palpable at this point.

"She's an errand girl, and she thinks she can steal Yvonne's credit. What a worm."

Salazar held Yvonne's hand. "Resign right now and hand over Mr. Sheffield's number to Yvonne. Or else we reserve the right to sue you for defamation."

The icy winds froze my heart all over. So the man I shared a bed with for five years had been plotting against me all along. They wanted to steal the biggest cases from me. The ones that could make them nearly three million, each.

There were three of them too.

This was a plan years in the making, and all because he wanted to please his mistress.

I shook my head and clicked my tongue. Pity his schemes would fall apart like a house of cards. His family was beneath mine. He had no idea that Mr. Sheffield, the richest man in the city, was my grandfather. I was from that very family. And the client was, of course, my grandfather himself.

And now it was time for me, the true heiress, to deal with this imposter. I smiled. "Of course. A minute. But do you really think you can close this deal? The client is the richest man in the city. I won't stop you from kicking me out after you used me, Salazar, but nothing good will come to you. Also, I'll email you the papers."