I was a newly divorced single mom with boobs that were slightly too small for my frame. My hips were too wide, my thighs jiggled when I walked, and my ass was too fat. I had cellulite bumps to prove it.
Flaws my ex liked to point out repeatedly during our marriage.
And let’s not forget all my fucking baggage.
There was a lot of it thanks to my piece of shit ex. Gary Peters. Total fucking slimeball.
Shit.
I shuddered anytime I thought about my former husband. That gem of a man had not only hit me and threatened our son, but I just got slammed with his latest demand.
Gary was now demanding alimony and visitation rights with Sammy.
I’d named my sweet almost-four-year-old boy, Samuel Alexander Maxwell-Peters, after my grandfather.
Gary didn’t protest the hyphen. Which was good, because if I got my way, I was going to dump his name entirely.
What kind of piece of shit asked his wife for alimony?
Worse, what kind of father never saw his son for more than ten minutes at a time during the almost four years the child lived with him, but was suddenly interested after the divorce?
I was so mad I could spit.
But I would give him money if it meant keeping him away from Sammy. Only the sonofabitch wouldn’t take any of the cash that was now frozen during the slew of inquiries Gary’s attorneys had drawn up regarding my father’s will and company.
He wanted more than money. He wanted to hurt me, yes, but more than that, he wanted control of my late father’s company. That was all Gary Peters ever wanted.
Maxwell Mining was the multimillion dollar corporation my great-grandfather started over a hundred years ago.
Yeah, my family was old money.
I was the only remaining Maxell. Well, no, actually, Sammy was the last Maxwell.
God, I felt so stupid.
I knew some people experienced worse things than what I’d been through. And my heart broke for anyone who had to suffer at the hands of an abuser.
But I was so damn mad at myself.
I’d been young when I met Gary. Stupid, inexperienced, and naïve. He was older and experienced.
He’d flattered me and teased me. Made me feel special. But I knew now it was all a lie.
Gary never wanted me. And he never wanted Sammy.
He admitted to purposely getting me pregnant, thinking it would make him the next heir to my father’s business.
But my father was grossly old-fashioned. He believed men were made for business, and women were made for keeping house. I was never taught anything about the business.
Not a fucking thing. And I never cared because I didn’t want to learn anything about mining.
I was a silly, sheltered little thing. I never wanted to do more than knit, and bake, and be a wife and mother.
Maybe it was because of my father’s ideals. Or maybe I was just as old-fashioned. I couldn’t really say.
Everyone was different, right? The world was full of people who all liked what they liked regardless of anyone else.
So what if I spent all my time reading novels and watching DIY shows, helping our cook in the kitchen, and learning to crochet from my nanny when I was growing up?