I was scrambling to scrape together 800,000 dollars for my son's life-saving surgery, so I signed a life-or-death waiver and joined a desert island survival livestream show that had a shockingly high mortality rate. Before the broadcast kicked off, the production team made every contestant record a final message for their loved ones. The other female celebrities broke down sobbing as they bade tearful farewells to their families. When it was my turn, I fished out a crumpled hospital payment slip instead. "If I don't make it off this island alive, please send the compensation payout directly to this hospital. My son's only five years old. He's waiting for that money to get his surgery . . ." The entire livestream comment section went dead quiet in an instant. Then a sharp, icy scoff cut straight through the hush from the investors' section. "Sophie Sullivan. Five years apart, and your little act playing the poor, helpless victim has only gotten more convincing." My head whipped up so fast my ears rang. It was Troy Harrington, my ex-husband. Five years had passed, and he'd grown into one of the most powerful, untouchable business tycoons in the country. "You ran off with 1 billion dollars in breakup money back then," he sneered, his voice icy enough to freeze water. "What's this little performance now? Playing the desperate, down-on-her-luck housewife for the cameras?" I stared at the staggering number he'd just thrown out, my brain short-circuiting completely. "What 1 billion dollars breakup money?" I blurted out, completely bewildered. "Your mom forced me to sign a voluntary departure statement giving up all my claims to any of your assets back then. She didn't even let me leave with a single cent." The entire livestream's barrage of comments went completely dead instantly. For one long, heavy beat, not a single new message popped up. Troy slammed his boot hard into the monitor in front of him, sending it crashing to the ground with a loud c***k. Without pausing for a second, hands shaking so badly he could barely tap the correct digits, he dialed his mom's number.