HE DUMPED HIS CRIPPLED WIFE ON A PUBLIC BUS 5 DAYS AFTER C-SECTION TO TREAT HIS MOM IN HER LUXURY SUV—UNTIL A BILLIONAIRE FLEET BLOCKED HIS RESTAURANT!

Three hundred miles upstate, far away from the sparkling lights of Lincoln Center, the reality of the Foster family was a bleak, unending purgatory.

Victoria Foster sat on a plastic folding chair inside the cramped, drafty living room of a rented single-wide trailer outside Binghamton. Her designer cashmere coats had long since been sold to consignment shops; her hair was gray and unkempt, and her arthritic hands were chapped from working thirty hours a week stocking shelves at a local discount warehouse.

Arthur sat in the corner, staring blankly at an ancient television screen with dull, defeated eyes. His entire retirement pension was drained, consumed by the legal debts and fines incurred during Dominic's disastrous trial.

A sharp knock rattled the thin aluminum door. Victoria struggled to her feet, pulling a frayed cardigan over her shoulders.

Standing on the wooden steps was Natalie. Her once-curated influencer appearance was entirely gone. After being exposed online for mocking Audrey's postpartum surgery, Natalie had lost all her brand sponsorships and had been dropped by her modeling agency. She now worked as an assistant receptionist at an auto body shop, living paycheck to paycheck in a shared apartment.

"Did you visit him?" Victoria asked, her voice raspy and desperate.

Natalie dropped her cheap vinyl purse onto the laminate counter. "I drove up to the Otisville correctional facility this morning. Visiting hours were cut short because of a facility lockdown."

"How does he look? Is he eating?" Victoria sobbed, wringing her apron. "My poor boy... he doesn't belong in a cage with criminals! He’s a visionary! He built Apex Digital!"

"Stop it, Mom!" Natalie snapped, her voice breaking with pent-up bitterness and exhaustion. "Apex Digital was built with Audrey's father's money! Everything we had was funded by her family! We mocked her, we laughed at her, and Dominic left her on a freezing street five days after having our nephew! We ruined our own lives because we were too arrogant to realize we were living on her charity!"

Victoria shrank back, stung by the harsh truth. "I was only trying to protect your brother's status..."

"What status, Mom?!" Natalie yelled, tears of humiliation finally spilling down her cheeks. "Look around you! We live in a trailer park! Nobody will hire me in the city because my last name is Foster! Dominic is doing four years in federal prison, and when he gets out, he will have five hundred thousand dollars in restitution hanging around his neck until the day he dies!"

Natalie pulled a crumpled printout from her bag and threw it onto the table. It was a page from the society section of the New York Times.

On the front page was a full-color photograph of Audrey Brooks and Julian Hayes announcing their engagement at Lincoln Center. Audrey looked breathtaking, wearing an emerald couture gown, smiling radiantly as Julian held young Leo on his shoulders.

Victoria stared at the photograph, her trembling fingers hovering over the glossy image. She saw the royal sapphire ring on Audrey's hand. She saw the absolute happiness radiating from her grandson's bright blue eyes.