Chapter 1: O Grande Segredo de Harmony Creek

Part 1

💔 **My Ex-Husband’s Mistress Accused Me of Being a Gold-Digger and Claimed My House — But She Didn’t Expect My Youngest to Speak Up.**

I simply attended my former father-in-law’s funeral with my five children.

Three days later, the woman who took my husband accused me of being a gold-digger. She claimed my house belonged to her.

Roxy Bellweather’s voice was sharp enough to cut through the hum of the small-town café. Elias Thorne, my ex-husband, shifted uncomfortably beside her.

“Arthur left nothing to opportunists,” she declared. Her gaze swept over my five children.

“Especially not to someone who can’t even pay her rent.”

My breath caught. I didn’t understand. We always paid Arthur directly.

“My attorney will be in touch, Cassandra,” Roxy added, a smirk playing on her lips.

“You’ll be hearing from your new landlord very soon.”

Lily, my youngest daughter, just ten years old, looked straight at Roxy.

“Grandpa Arthur wasn’t just *his* father,” Lily said.

“He was *our* great-grandfather.”

The room went silent. I watched Elias, my ex-husband, look at each of my children. His gaze then went to the two young ones Roxy had brought. His face slowly tightened with dawning realization.

Part 2

Elias’s gaze lingered on Lily, then moved to my other children. He then looked back at Roxy’s two young ones.

A subtle crease formed between his brows. He took in the pale skin and light hair of Roxy’s kids.

He contrasted them with the darker, more angular features shared by all of mine. Those features were so clearly from his side of the family.

Over the next few days, whispers started in Harmony Creek. My name, always linked to “bitter ex-wife,” now carried “opportunist” and “trying to reclaim Elias.”

Roxy’s friends made sure I felt their stares at the grocery store.

I saw Elias talking intensely with Roxy outside my house one afternoon. Their voices were low.

I caught words like “gossip” and “embarrassment.”

Later, he avoided my eyes when he picked up the kids. He seemed distant, his thoughts miles away, a seed of unsettling suspicion clearly planted in his mind.