The Despised Stepmother Begins Her Second Life

A woman marries her beloved best friend’s husband to honor her friend’s final wish and care for the two children she leaves behind. In a contract marriage, she endures her stepson’s resentment and society’s judgment for seven years, determined to protect the children. When they come of age, she leaves the marriage as agreed and sets out to live on her own terms. Then unexpected people re-enter her life: the Third Prince, missing for seven years; the first love she has never forgotten; and her former husband and stepsons, who are only now realizing what they have lost.