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After the Betrayal The Billionaire's Ex-Wife Strikes Back
NovelShort
Hoàn thành
Because my husband said he liked independent women, I built myself into a top second-hand luxury goods blogger entirely on my own. I never spent a single dollar of his money. Three months into my preg...
Chương (4)
第1章
Because my husband said he liked independent women, I built myself into a top second-hand luxury goods blogger entirely on my own. I never spent a single dollar of his money.
Three months into my pregnancy, I was battling morning sickness and nausea, but I kept pushing myself to work.
Then I received a consignment order from a woman who described herself as a sugar daddy's kept woman, looking to offload her pre-owned luxury collection.
The woman sitting across from me in a sprawling villa was draped head to toe in haute couture. "My man said he makes money so I can spend it."
"But I've got way too many bags to ever use. Just look them over, name a price, and take them all."
As she spoke, she hooked a plain band ring off the coffee table with one fingertip and flicked it in my direction.
"Oh, and this piece of junk. You can have it for free if you want. Looks cheap. I can't be bothered with it."
My entire body went rigid. I couldn't move.
Because the ring at my feet was one I knew better than anything in the world.
It was my wedding ring. Mine and Lester Delgado's. Our initials were still engraved on the inside of the band.
……
I stood frozen, unable to process what I was seeing.
Lucy Fox didn't notice anything wrong. She looked me up and down several times. "Come to think of it, my man's wife is probably around your age."
"I'll be honest with you. That ring? It's my man's wedding band."
It took me a long moment to find my voice. "His wedding ring... He just gave it to you? Just like that?"
Lucy's lips curled into a slow smile. "Well, his wife suddenly turned up pregnant. He needed to make me happy, so he brought it over as a little peace offering."
She lifted her chin, practically preening.
"He told me I'm his real treasure."
I met Lester when we were both at our lowest.
I'd just graduated. He'd failed his first startup and was buried in debt.
The two of us crammed into a tiny studio apartment, splitting a single bowl of soup because that was all we could afford.
He told me he didn't like princesses who clung to men for support. He liked a woman who could stand on her own.
So to make sure I'd never be a burden to him, I threw myself into the resale luxury market, starting at the very bottom as an apprentice authenticator.
Even after Lester's business finally took off, I kept building my own career.
When he proposed, he'd secretly spent two weeks in a jewelry-making workshop, crafting a ring for me by hand and engraving both our names inside the band.
I truly believed, back then, that we'd be happy forever.
But it had all been a fantasy.
It wasn't that he refused to spend money on the woman he loved. It was that the woman he loved had never been me.
Even the ring that was supposed to symbolize our love, he'd tossed to someone else without a second thought.
Lucy was still talking. "See this villa? He bought it for me when we first started dating."
I forced a smile, my voice dry and cracked. "How long... have you two been together?"
"Three years."
Those two words drove into my chest like a blade.
Three years ago.
That was the hardest stretch of my career, when I was just starting out. A few thousand dollars in training fees had me barely able to breathe.
For the first and only time, I went to Lester for help. All I wanted was a short-term loan to keep things afloat.
He frowned, his face full of impatience. "Wendy Dudley, I fell in love with you because you're independent. Not because you're the kind of woman who holds out her hand for money. You can't even handle this much on your own?"
His words burned through me. I was mortified, drowning in guilt and shame.
So I gritted my teeth, took out a high-interest personal loan, and clawed my way through those months alone.
What I never knew was that while I was tearing myself apart over a few thousand dollars, he'd turned around and bought Lucy Fox a luxury villa.
The color drained from my face. A dull ache began to tighten low in my belly.
第2章
Lucy leaned in closer. "Oh, by the way, let's exchange numbers. I'll come to you next time I have stuff to sell."
She gave me a slow once-over. "And honestly, you should really take care of yourself. Your skin is awful. Not a drop of color in your face. What man would want to come home to that? I'll send you the info for my aesthetics clinic."
She tilted her head, as if remembering something amusing. "My sugar daddy says his wife is exactly like that. Saggy skin, no effort. Says it kills his appetite just looking at her."
Since getting pregnant, I'd been paying for every prenatal appointment out of my own pocket.
To give my baby a better life, I didn't dare rest. I spent every day hauling my authentication light from one appointment to the next.
That morning, standing in front of the vanity mirror, the paleness of my own face had startled me.
I didn't know how I managed to hold myself together long enough to leave that villa.
When I got home, Lester wasn't back yet.
I forced the corners of my mouth upward and sent him a text: When are you coming home?
He never replied. By the time he walked through the door, it was the middle of the night.
When he saw me, something flickered across his face, but he recovered instantly, crossing the room to pull me into his arms. "Babe, it's so late. Why aren't you in bed?"
"There was an issue with a project at work. I was stuck at the office this whole time. Forgot to give you a heads-up."
His expression was perfectly composed. Not a single thing out of place.
But the moment he drew close, I caught it on his clothes: the unmistakable scent of Lucy's rose perfume.
My heart went cold. I stepped sideways, pulling away from his touch. "Were you really busy with work, or were you busy taking care of someone else?"
Lester's face stiffened. Then irritation creased his brow. "Babe, what is it this time?"
"How many times have I told you? I don't like it when you're this clingy."
"Can you be a little more independent? Don't you have your own things to do? What's with the constant suspicion?"
The same attitude. Always the same. As if I were the one in the wrong.
Then, as if only just noticing how deathly pale I looked, his voice softened a fraction. "Come on, sweetheart. I picked up some bubble tea for you on the way home. Your favorite. I've had an exhausting day. Let's not do this tonight, okay?"
He pressed the cup into my hands and disappeared into the bathroom.
In all our years of marriage, Lester almost never brought me anything.
This was the first time.
My phone chimed.
Lucy had posted on social media.
All I said was I wanted bubble tea, and my sugar daddy bought me every single flavor from the shop. This is what it feels like to be someone's whole world!
The photo showed three full cases of drinks.
I thought my heart had already gone numb. But the air still left my lungs like someone had squeezed it out.
I stood there clutching that cup of tea, long since gone cold, and the tears came faster than I could stop them.
I took a sip. It wasn't sweet. It was bitter, the kind of bitter that burrowed straight into your chest.
Two sips in, a sharp, dragging pain tore through my lower abdomen.
I doubled over instantly, my hand flying to my stomach.
My baby was in there. Three months along. My only reason to keep going.
The pain came in waves, each one worse than the last. I couldn't stay on my feet. My voice came out broken. "Lester! Lester!"
The sound of running water cut off. He walked out of the bathroom, saw me crumpled on the floor, and his tone was still laced with impatience. "What now? Stop being so dramatic. I told you, I'm exhausted."
My voice shook. "My stomach... something's wrong with the baby. Please, take me to the hospital. Please..."
That finally shook him. He moved toward me on instinct, reaching down.
But in the next second, his phone screamed to life.
Lester froze mid-reach. He looked at me, trembling and curled on the floor, and hesitated for one beat.
Then he answered the call. "Lucy, what's wrong?"
第3章
"Be a good girl and wait for me. I'll be right there."
He hung up and didn't so much as glance in my direction before heading for the door.
I lay on the cold floor, something warm and wet pooling beneath me. "Please... don't go..."
Lester's steps faltered for a split second, but he didn't turn around. "Something urgent came up at the office. I don't have time to watch you put on a show."
"Enough with the theatrics. Don't disappoint me."
The door slammed shut behind him.
When I woke again, it was the next day.
After Lester left, I'd scraped together the last shred of strength I had to dial 911. By the time the ambulance arrived, I was already unconscious.
The moment I came to, I grabbed the young nurse's hand beside my bed. "The baby. How's the baby?"
Her eyes rimmed red. She shook her head gently. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Delgado. We did everything we could."
"The pregnancy was still early, and you were already showing signs of instability from overexertion. On top of that, you ingested something you were allergic to..."
An allergen?
I froze. I'd been so careful since the pregnancy. I never ate anything I hadn't prepared myself.
Except... that bubble tea from yesterday.
The pain was so sharp it nearly suffocated me.
It hit me almost instantly. The bubble tea had herbal jelly in it.
I'd told Lester a long time ago that I was allergic to herbal jelly. But anything that had to do with me never seemed to stick in his memory.
Maybe the baby was disappointed in his father too.
Maybe he wanted to give his mom a chance to start over.
That was why he chose to leave me.
I wiped my tears, pulled myself together, and got ready to leave.
As I passed the nurses' station, I caught snippets of their conversation.
"Did you hear? Some big shot came in last night."
"I know, right? The whole production. Apparently the girl just had period cramps, and the guy called in every specialist in the hospital. He was practically in tears over it."
"Must be nice, being that adored. Meanwhile, that pregnant woman from last night had to crawl to the phone and call 911 herself. Two completely different worlds. Her husband still hasn't shown up."
I followed their gaze and saw Lester, his arm wrapped around Lucy, about to walk out.
Lucy was nestled against his chest, cheeks rosy, whining for him to carry her.
Lester tapped her nose with an indulgent smile and scooped her up in his arms. "Just wait till we get home. I'll deal with you then."
I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached. I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I pulled out my phone and took a photo.
...
When Lester came home, he looked perfectly normal.
The second he saw me, he pulled me into his arms on instinct. "How's my wife doing? Was the baby good today?"
"Work's been crazy the past couple of days. Once things settle down, I'll take you to your checkup, okay?"
I twisted away from him. "Don't touch me."
I wasn't going to waste my breath arguing. I tossed my phone onto the table.
On the screen was the photo of him and Lucy.
A flicker of panic crossed Lester's eyes before it was swallowed by sudden, explosive rage. "You followed me?"
His voice was so loud it made my eardrums throb.
"Wendy, are you ever going to stop?"
"She's just my assistant. Can you quit being so unreasonable? She's nothing like you. You're independent, you don't need me. But Lucy is young, she lives alone, and she wasn't feeling well. What's wrong with me taking her to the hospital?"
"No wonder your parents didn't want you. You've got no one to blame for your personality issues but yourself."
He didn't wait for my reaction. The door slammed shut behind him.
第4章
I sat on the floor, unable to collect myself for a long time.
When Lester and I first started dating, I told him I came from a broken home. My parents divorced when I was little, and both of them fought over who got to keep my brother. Neither one wanted me.
Because of that, I grew up starved for security.
When Lester found out, he pulled me into his arms, his eyes full of aching tenderness. "Baby, don't worry. You're the only one in my heart. I'll give you a hundred percent of the security you've never had."
But those promises had become the very blade now cutting me open.
I closed my eyes and sent Lester a message: Let's get a divorce.
By the time I finished reaching out to a lawyer and checked my phone again, the internet had exploded.
Lucy had started a livestream to expose me.
My hands were shaking as I tapped into her stream. She was crying, tears rolling down her face like spring rain. "I really never imagined Wendy was that kind of person."
"I came across her account online a while back. She seemed like such a hardworking young woman, and I felt for her. I happened to have some couture pieces I wasn't using anymore, so I reached out."
"But then she turned around and went after my husband. When he ignored her, she just wouldn't let go."
She held up her phone, showing screenshots of my chat history with Lester. The screen was almost entirely my messages. Lester had only replied with the occasional "Mm," "Sure," or "Got it."
The comment section detonated. A wall of abuse crashed toward me.
"I've seen her posts before. Seemed like a decent girl. Turns out she's a homewrecker."
"Who knows if it's even a real business? Probably uses the whole luxury resale thing as an excuse to chase other women's husbands."
"Disgusting. Someone ban this woman already!"
I stared at the screen, ice spreading through every inch of my body.
The next second, Lester entered the livestream and sent Lucy ten mega-tips in a row.
That sealed it. Everyone in the comments was now convinced I was the other woman.
I tried desperately to explain, but the messages scrolled too fast. My comments drowned in seconds.
Within a single hour, followers abandoned me in droves, turning on me as they left. My inbox filled with vile curses.
I held myself together by sheer force of will and took a cab to Lester's office.
The moment Lucy saw me, she put on a frightened act, shrinking behind Lester.
I didn't give her the chance to speak. I swung my hand and slapped her across the face.
A split second later, Lester's palm struck me even harder.
My vision went black from the pain, but I forced myself to stay upright.
When he saw the raw hatred in my eyes, Lester froze. Instinctively, he reached out to steady me.
But Lucy grabbed his arm first, clinging to him. "Lester, I told you she already knew everything. If I hadn't started that livestream, she would've—"
His voice went flat. Dead. "Go live right now. Apologize to Lucy publicly. Tell everyone you were jealous of her, that you deliberately smeared her name, and that you were the one trying to destroy someone else's relationship."
Then he looked at me and softened his tone. "Wendy, as long as you behave, you'll always be my wife."
"You want to build your brand? Once this blows over, I'll set you up with a brand-new account. There's no need to make a fuss."
I stared at the face I once knew better than my own. All I felt now was revulsion.
After a long pause, I met his gaze. "And if I refuse?"
There was nothing warm left in Lester's eyes. "Sweetheart, I don't want to have to destroy your career with my own hands."
A bitter laugh escaped me. Every last spark of feeling died. "Fine. I'll do it."
I sat down in front of the screen and looked straight into the camera.
The instant the stream went live, viewers flooded in like a dam had burst.
I looked into the camera, my voice steady. "Hi, everyone. I'm Wendy Dudley."
"I'm here to formally report that Lester Delgado, CEO of the Delgado Group, committed adultery during our marriage and misappropriated marital assets."