Abandoned and penniless, I became the nanny of a billionaire's autistic son

Town hall

"Mary, this split is merely a temporary strategy."

Mary Potter signed her name on the divorce documents without any expression, completely ignoring Ellis Hawkes’s words.

"The business is buried under a massive debt crisis. Only by separating and letting me shoulder the negative assets can I protect you and Sasha from being dragged down."

"Once this storm blows over, we'll remarry right away. You know you're the only woman I'll ever love; please wait for me."

Staring at the man she had shared a bed with for six years, Mary felt a wave of intense nausea wash over her.

Love her?

Talk is cheap.

At that exact moment, Ellis's phone, resting on the table, began to vibrate.

She caught a glimpse of the screen out of the corner of her eye and spotted a new message.

"Honey, are the divorce papers finalized? I've been waiting for you for ages..."

Even though she couldn't see the rest of the text, Mary could easily picture the kind of sickening exchange it must have been.

Mary let out a cold laugh and signed the "Divorce Registration Review and Processing Form" with a bored yawn.

"I've signed it, now it's your turn."

Ellis was taken aback by her sudden decisiveness and hesitated for a brief second before hurriedly grabbing a pen to sign his name.

The corners of his mouth curled up in a barely noticeable smirk, oozing the smug satisfaction of a successful trap.

"The paperwork is complete. I have an errand to run later, so I won't be able to drive you back."

Before he could even finish his sentence, Ellis's phone started ringing.

Mary, with her sharp eyes, caught the caller ID: My darling wife, Delilah.

She bit her lip, snatched her phone, and aimed the camera straight at Ellis’s face to answer the video call.

The next second, Delilah Norwood's exquisitely made-up face filled the screen.

She was wearing a pure white wedding gown, and the background showed the fitting room of a high-end custom bridal boutique.

She lifted her wrist, and a gold bracelet gleamed brilliantly under the store lights.

Mary recognized it instantly—it was the so-called family heirloom that Ellis’s mother had personally placed on her own wrist six years ago.

"Honey, do you think this wedding dress matches your family heirloom?"

The air in the room froze instantly.

Ellis’s face turned a deep, embarrassed shade of purplish-red, and he scrambled to snatch the phone away.

Mary let him rip the phone back, and then she delivered a ferocious slap right across his face.

She struck him with every ounce of her strength, hitting him so hard that his head jerked violently to one side.

“I have full custody of Sasha now. Don’t you dare bother us again. As for you secretly transferring our marital property, I will settle that score with you slowly.”

Leaving him with those words, she picked up her divorce certificate, spun around, and walked right out of the town hall.

More than a month ago.

That morning, Ellis, who hadn't come home all night, stepped through the front door beaming with pride, claiming he had finally found a way to solve their financial crisis.

While Ellis was taking a shower, Mary went to heat breakfast, just as his phone rang. The screen lit up with an unread message.

As if possessed, she clicked the notification open.

"Brother Hawkes, have you seen the ultrasound report yet? The baby is already six weeks along. When are you finally going to divorce that woman?"

When Mary read those words, she was completely paralyzed.

Her fingers began scrolling up through the chat history.

She saw exactly how Ellis and that woman named Delilah had plotted a fake divorce specifically to leave her entirely penniless.

She discovered that Ellis was not only targeting their joint marital assets, but also keeping an eye on her own private savings.

There were even chat logs showing the two of them mocking her behind her back, laughing about how she hadn't worked for five years, was completely out of touch with society, and would be a useless nobody after the divorce.

And then there was that ultrasound report.

Mary was utterly heartbroken, but even more than that, she felt a burning rage at being so deeply betrayed.

Her first instinct was to storm into the bathroom and confront Ellis about why he was treating her this way.

However, she forced herself to calm down by the time she reached the bathroom door.

She couldn't alert the enemy just yet.

Since Ellis had cheated on her during their marriage and was plotting against her behind her back, she absolutely could not sit idly by and wait for her own ruin.

She began secretly gathering evidence of Ellis’s infidelity and quickly discovered that he had started transferring all his assets to his mistress, Delilah Norwood, six months prior.

She went to consult a lawyer who specialized in high-stakes marital property disputes.

The lawyer told her that in cases like this, even with solid evidence, fighting for financial compensation is brutally difficult.

If the husband chooses to stall, it is common for a lawsuit to drag on for three to five years.

Even if she won, getting him to actually pay out would be a massive challenge.

More importantly, if Ellis became enraged and filed a countersuit to fight for custody of their daughter, Mary’s current unemployed and asset-less status meant she might lose custody of her little girl.

Therefore, she decided to play along and pretended to cooperate with Ellis’s so-called fake divorce scheme.

Her first reason was to legally lock down sole custody of her daughter.

Her second reason was to completely cut ties with Ellis.

One week later.

Mary had just finished giving her daughter some fever-reducing medicine when the doorbell began ringing loudly and aggressively.

Three men stood at the threshold, and the leader identified himself as a real estate agent.

“Ellis Hawkes sold this house a month ago, and the new owner wants to take possession immediately. You have to move out today.”

The agent held out a sales contract and a copy of the property deed.

The contract had been finalized a month ago, showing a transaction amount of 3.5 million dollars.

It was 300,000 dollars cheaper than the actual market value.

Ellis would rather sell the place at a low price than let the mother and daughter keep a roof over their heads.

Mary was so furious that she actually laughed out loud.

"Contract disputes are strictly civil matters. According to the law, illegal intrusion into a private residence can carry a prison sentence of up to three years. Are you really willing to lock yourselves up just for a tiny bit of commission?"

The agent waved his hand impatiently: "Cut the crap, or we'll start tossing your things out."

The two thugs backing him up took a menacing step forward.

Sasha was startled awake by the commotion. She rubbed her eyes and ran out of her room, using her tiny body to block the path in front of Mary.

"Bad guys, don’t bully my Mommy."

Mary scooped up her daughter, backed up toward the window, and suddenly slammed the window pane wide open.

"If you take one more step forward, we’ll jump right off this building and turn this place into a haunted house. The buyer spent over three million dollars to buy this house—let's see how you explain that to him then."

The real estate agent's face paled instantly, and the two thugs exchanged worried glances. None of the three dared to move another inch.

Just as the standoff froze the room, the agent’s phone began to ring.

"Mr. Locke, yes, the house is fine, we can definitely hand over the keys today..."

Mary felt an intuitive flash that the person on the other end of the line was the new homeowner. She set her daughter down, walked straight up to the agent, and ripped the phone right out of his grip.

“Mr. Locke, I am Ellis Hawkes’s ex-wife, Mary Potter.”

The line fell dead silent.

"You're a prominent businessman, so I assume you don't want any unnecessary trouble or bad press, right? Give me one month to find a new place. You can keep every piece of furniture in this house, and I'll pay you this month's rent at full market rate."

A moment later, a deep, icy male voice resonated from the speaker.

"If I still haven't received my property after one month, I don't mind taking the financial hit and letting the place become a haunted house."

With the agreement reached, Mary handed the phone back to the agent.

The moment the three men left, Mary slammed the door shut.

Her legs completely gave out, and she collapsed onto the floor.

Her daughter's tiny hand reached out to stroke Mary’s face. "Mommy, what's wrong?"

Mary leaned forward and buried her face in the warm, comforting crook of her daughter's neck.

"Mommy is fine."

By that evening, her daughter's fever had finally broken.

Mary stood by the window, staring blankly down at her phone screen.

Even though the new landlord had granted her a month's grace period, her meager savings were nowhere near enough to cover rent and basic daily living expenses.

She needed to secure a job as quickly as possible.

Right at that moment, her phone began to ring.