Enchanting Night

The whole city’s paparazzi knows that Cade Finley would rather sleep with a nightclub escort than with me. The question they ask daily is: When will Mrs. Finley finally give away her precious "first time"? In front of the media cameras, Cade calmly turned towards me. "We can each have our own fun. If you don't like what I'm doing, you can go look for a man too." With that, he casually shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away. That night, he was photographed with his new fling in bed, and it made the trending news once again. While everyone thought I would just sit and wait until dawn, I contacted the paparazzi and bought a trending topic spot. Then, I tore up my lace nightgown, messed up the sheets, and took a bedroom photo from a third-person perspective. I then sent an anonymous message to Cade: "Bro, your wife is amazing. Let me know when you're getting a divorce." Chapter 1 After watching my trending topic soar to the top of the list, I happily prepared to sleep. Within half an hour, I heard Cade's hurried, heavy footsteps approaching. "Jodi! Is this how you're getting back at me? Who is that man?" A picture was thrown at my face. Half the picture was my suggestive bedroom photo, while the other half was a passionate shot of Cade pinning Summer Langford against a window. This was exactly the trending news I had the paparazzi release. [Finley Couple Reaches New Agreement To Each Have Their Own Fun] I sat on the edge of the bed, casually tightening my nightgown around myself. "Isn't this exactly what you wanted? The one thing you shouldn't have done is to embarrass me by fooling around with my father’s illegitimate daughter!" Cade's breath hitched. Instead of responding to my words, he gritted his teeth and asked, "Who is he?" "You don't need to know. It's only fair." Once upon a time, I swore to unearth every detail about his lovers. I was young and naive, unable to tolerate any injustice done to me. But I later discovered that, every time, before I could even make a move, he had already switched to a new one. So I stopped questioning him as it made me look like a fool. Cade let out a chilling laugh. "You’ve got some nerve!" His gaze fell on a hickey on my collarbone, and he pressed me firmly onto the bed. I struggled desperately, screaming. A sharp knife pierced my skin, and blood covered the hickey. "Are you crazy?! Let me go!" Cade held me down with bloodshot eyes, the veins on his forehead bulging. "This will be the first time and the last time! I'll take down the news. Before I lose control, you better get back to normal!" The "normal" he was talking about was him having his intimate photos with his lovers all over the place, and me remaining unfazed. When they send me used condoms or pants stained with discharge, I should happily accept them. Cade’s cold, dark eyes stared into mine for a long time. Only when he saw tears streaming down my face uncontrollably did he finally release me. He took a piece of gauze from the drawer and approached me, but I pushed him away. "Don’t touch me!" Cade stood up from the bed, his expression unpleasant. "I know you orchestrated all that just to piss me off. To get my attention, you’re willing to embarrass yourself. Why are you pretending like you don't want my attention now?" The knife he was holding accidentally grazed my arm. Fresh blood soaked the silk sheets. I was sweating from the pain. But the pain in my heart was a thousand times worse. Cade didn’t even bat an eye. His gaze was almost merciless. "My mother was right. Women like you who climb up from the bottom are never respectable! Why bother hiring someone to put on a show? If you dare, just divorce me for real! Your sister is a thousand times better than you!" After throwing down those words, he stormed off without looking back. Before long, a divorce agreement signed with his name was sent to my phone. The assets were actually split 70/30 in my favor. He was always convinced that I couldn't leave him. But I signed it, and then called a number, confirming the time of my departure. Cade, why are you so sure that man doesn’t exist? Chapter 2 After hanging up, the tears that had been held back finally slid down my cheeks. I remember when Cade insisted on marrying me, the whole world opposed it. His parents disapproved of my ordinary background, and the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce almost blacklisted him from the industry. But he withstood all that pressure and gave me a grand wedding. Everyone said I must be the happiest woman in the city. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one enamored with this godlike man. On our wedding night, he received a phone call and never came back. I sat on the bed until dawn, not sleeping a wink. In the early morning, he came back drunk. He calmly stroked my head and said, "You know what's the most adorable thing about you? It's that you're sensible enough not to cause trouble. The Finley family needs a mistress like you." At that moment, the anger that had welled up in my heart was suddenly extinguished by a bucket of cold water. I learned to be obedient, to not argue, and to be an ornament. But now, he's messing around with Summer, the person I hate the most. I still remember the day my father brought Summer back home, forcing my mother to accept her as a "daughter". My strong-willed mother held me close in silence. She gave my father two choices. Either he send Summer away, or she would leave the Langford family with me. My father didn't say anything. He stood on the balcony in the cold wind all night. When he returned to the bedroom, he found that my mother had jumped out of the window. That night, it poured. The rain washed away the blood from my mother's corpse. Cade rushed over and held me tight, letting me punch him repeatedly. He kept saying, "It's okay, it's okay…" But he chose Summer as his new fling. As Mrs. Finley, what dignity do I have left? That night, Cade did not come home. The trending topic I arranged was buried deep by him. It was nowhere to be found online. He openly took Summer to a banquet, letting her play my role as "Mrs. Finley". He boldly invited the whole city to a grand celebration of Summer's birthday tomorrow. He knew full well that it was also the anniversary of my mother's death. He wanted me to recognize reality, that someone like me was no match for him. Cade hired a private doctor to bandage the wound on my collarbone, where the bone was exposed. "Mr. Finley still cares about you. He remembers that you have a special constitution and your wounds don't heal easily." I chuckled self-deprecatingly without saying anything. A second later, I received an anonymous video. In the video, Summer lost control of her emotions. "That evening, I tried to persuade Aunt Mary to accept me as her daughter, but she hit me, saying I'm not worthy. In the midst of the argument, I accidentally pushed her out of the window. I did it in self-defense. Dad, Cade, what should I do…" Summer frantically slapped her own face while repeatedly apologizing. My mind went blank, and I felt as if the whole world was spinning. My father slapped her hard while gripping his chest in anger. "How did I give birth to a daughter like you?! That was my wife!" Summer, with a red handprint on her face, stubbornly stared at Cade's back. "Cade, you'll help me, won't you? You still care about me, right?" There was a silence that lasted an eternity. My heart was in my throat. In the video, Cade's expression was unclear, but he spoke firmly and calmly, "Go hide somewhere for now. I'll deal with the police." Chapter 3 Every word Cade spoke was so clear yet so painful. Everyone hid the truth about my mother's death from me, including Cade, whom I trusted unconditionally. Back then, I ran to the police station in the rain, and Cade got into a car accident while chasing after me. He climbed out of the car with difficulty, gripped my ankle with a bloody hand, and said, "Jodi, go home. Leave the rest to me." I naively believed he would seek justice for my mother and me, because I never believed that my mother would abandon me. But to my dismay, both my father and my husband betrayed me. The next day, I appeared at Summer's birthday party in a disheveled state. Summer intimately held Cade's arm while enthusiastically showing off the heirloom jade ring he gave her, as if she truly was Cade's wife. When I entered, everyone's eyes fell on me, some with disdain, others with mockery. Cade looked relaxed, assuming I was going to beg for forgiveness like before. He spread his arms towards me. Unfortunately, he would be disappointed this time. "Cade, it was Summer who killed my mother, wasn't it? And you're her accomplice, aren't you?" His breath caught, yet the guilt in his eyes vanished almost instantly. "Today is Summer's birthday. Don't make a scene!" Even my father rushed up to me and slapped me hard. Seeing the warning glances from both of them, I finally accepted reality. The content of that video was real. Summer rushed over crying, looking like a pear blossom in the rain. "Jodi, I know Aunt Mary wished she could kill me when she was still alive, but we only have each other to rely on now. Please don't hurt me anymore… I'll forget about all those times you abused me. I'll be obedient." As she spoke, she inadvertently displayed the scars on her arms, looking pitiful. Seeing that, Cade frowned as if it pained him. His eyes were filled with disappointment when he looked at me. "Jodi, she's your sister! How could you do this to her?!" Gasps filled the surrounding crowd and they whispered among themselves. "So Jodi's mother tried to murder Summer but ended up killing herself. Wow, good riddance." "I didn't know Jodi was so shameless. She's actually making false accusations to compete for favor. Old virgins like her always like to cause trouble." "Like mother, like daughter. Both of them are bullies. They're both low-class trash after all. A leopard never changes its spots." Insults and accusations rained down on me. The scene of my mother's fall raced through my mind. I couldn't stand it any more. By the time I came to my senses, my hands were already wrapped around Summer's throat. "I want you to pay with your life!" Summer struggled in my grasp. The next moment, a powerful force pushed me away. Cade raised a trembling hand and slapped me on the face without hesitation. "What do you think you're doing, Jodi? I want you to clarify right here, right now, that your accusation was false and that you and your mother abused Summer, or I'll…" His voice suddenly dropped low; gentle yet cruel. "Or I'll flatten your mother's grave. Today is her death anniversary, isn't it?" Chapter 4 I looked up in shock. I met his merciless gaze and saw the threat in his eyes. His features remained gentle, but they no longer resembled the face of the deeply affectionate man I remembered from the past. I stared at him stubbornly, my eyes bloodshot. "I won't!" To my surprise, when I said that, he pulled out a remote control from his pocket. "There's a bomb buried beneath the cemetery, Jodi. Don't force me." He called my name, but it sounded more like the devil's whisper. So he was prepared all along. To protect Summer, he was always ready to threaten me with the one thing I truly cared about. That cemetery was the only thing I had left in this world. I couldn't bear to watch my mother's soul scatter. I swallowed the blood in my throat and pushed him away, then knelt in front of Summer. "Summer, my mother and I have done you wrong. I. AM. SORRY!" I looked up at Summer's triumphant face, then at Cade. "Is this apology good enough?" Cade's chest rose and fell heavily for a while, then he cleared his throat. "I'm glad you've repented. Go mourn your mother for me." After saying those superficial words, he wrapped his arm around Summer's slender waist and turned back to continue the celebration. Amidst laughter and chatter, guests whispered amongst themselves. "No wonder Mr. Finley wouldn't touch her. Her heart is foul. That's why intimate photos of her leaked the other day." "She and her mother are both bullies. She must have used dirty tricks to steal her sister's man. She's the homewrecker!" "They're married for five years and she's still a virgin. Maybe she has an STD." - I knelt on the ground, defeated, numb to what I was hearing. The once-promised forever, through thick and thin, was no longer something I wanted to salvage. Just as I was about to leave, I heard a piercing beep. Not far away, Summer waved the remote control in her hand at me at an angle no one else could see. Watching the countdown get closer to zero, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end! I stood up with difficulty and staggered out of the banquet hall. Cade followed me with his eyes and was about to call out to me but was stopped by Summer. "Come talk to the guests with me." He smiled and redirected his attention back to Summer. - In the cemetery. I frantically tried to dig out the tombstone with my hands. My fingers were covered in blood and bent at weird angles. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion. Rocks and debris flew everywhere. My mother's tombstone shattered into pieces. The urn buried deep underground also exploded. Watching the ashes flying everywhere, my heart died. Then, a sudden wave of heat hit me, and darkness engulfed my vision... - Cade didn't stay to eat Summer's birthday cake. Instead, he went to the cemetery with a bouquet of flowers. The moment he stepped into the cemetery, his eyes widened!