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She Divorced Her Secret Billionaire Husband
My wife and I went in for a checkup, and she was diagnosed with liver cancer. I was afraid she couldn't handle the news, so I didn't dare tell her right away. Instead I went home and talked it over wi...
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第1章
My wife and I went in for a checkup, and she was diagnosed with liver cancer.
I was afraid she couldn't handle the news, so I didn't dare tell her right away. Instead I went home and talked it over with my mother about selling the house to pay for her treatment.
My mother was quiet for a moment, then answered in a flat, unbothered tone. "You have my support. But only on one condition. You have to tell her first that you're the one with cancer. If she stays by you no matter what, your father and I will sell our house too, to pay for her treatment."
My wife and I loved each other, so I went to my in-laws' house full of confidence and said, "Honey, the checkup came back. They found liver cancer in me. I'm thinking of selling the house—"
She was peeling a tangerine for me. The second she heard it, she slammed the tangerine down on the coffee table and demanded, her voice sharp, "You sell the house, and where am I supposed to live? Let's get divorced. You walk away with nothing!"
I stood there stunned, feeling like my heart was breaking. "Honey, you're joking, right?"
She pointed at the door, out of patience. "I'm not in the mood to joke with you. Get out, now!"
I said nothing. I got up and left. I'd barely stepped out of the building's entrance when the client's boss called me. "The EA test for that game your studio made got an amazing response. My company wants to buy out full ownership for fifty million."
1.
"Good to hear from you, Ms. Gilbert. The ownership buyout—let's talk it through in person tomorrow."
After exchanging a few words with Amy Gilbert, chairwoman of Gilbert Group, I hung up and looked up at my mother-in-law's window.
If Glenda Pruitt had shown me even half an ounce of real feeling, she'd have been the wife of a man worth a fortune.
But she didn't deserve it.
Back home, I flipped on the lights and there was our wedding photo on the living room wall.
The way we'd looked at each other in it, there had been love there.
And after we married, I never let her want for anything.
She didn't have to work. A housekeeper did the chores. When she wanted designer bags, I bought them for her on installments.
You could say I truly treasured her, held her in the palm of my hand like something precious.
But what I got in return...
I was still standing there grieving when I heard the door open behind me.
The next moment, it swung wide.
Glenda and my mother-in-law, Marie Larson, walked in, followed by my brother-in-law, Max Pruitt, and my father-in-law, Gilbert Pruitt.
Had she changed her mind?
I knew the thought made me pathetic, a doormat. But I really did care too much, so I clung to that sliver of hope.
"Glenda, you—"
I didn't finish. She shoved past me, walked in without a word, and sat down on the couch.
"Quit standing in the way!"
Marie shoved me too, then walked past me.
Before I could catch my balance, Gilbert shoved me as well and left a line behind him. "Dead man walking. Get lost."
I clenched my fists, and only then did I understand how ugly this family could really be.
But that wasn't the end of it.
Max was already in front of me, grabbing my collar and pushing me toward the door. "Get out. Is this your house?"
He wasn't strong. The slightest effort and I flung him off.
I shut the door, gave them all a long, hard look, and my anger curled into a laugh.
"Max, you dropped out of vocational school. That six-thousand-a-month job of yours? I got it for you, didn't I?"
I pointed the question right at his face.
Max sneered. "Six thousand a month, and you've got the nerve to bring it up? My sister's this good-looking. Get me a rich brother-in-law instead, and tossing me a few million wouldn't even be a problem, would it?"
I ignored him and pointed at Marie. "You got taken by an overseas romance scam. Lost over three hundred thousand. I called a hacker friend and got it all back for you overnight, didn't I?"
Marie planted her hands on her hips, her face pure spite. "That was the least you could do!"
I ignored her too and turned to Gilbert with a cold smile. "In the three years I've been married to Glenda, you've been arrested six times for soliciting. Which time wasn't it me who paid your fines?"
Gilbert went white in an instant. He didn't even dare look at Marie and rushed to cover himself. "Don't talk nonsense. I've never solicited anyone!"
Marie went blank for a second, then blew up all at once, grabbing Gilbert by the hair and hitting him. "You old bastard, you actually paid for it?"
第2章
2、
Marie Larson and Gilbert Pruitt started throwing punches.
Max Pruitt didn't have the decency to care. He pulled out his phone and started filming, grinning the whole time.
Glenda couldn't just sit there. She got up to pull them apart, and Marie, still enraged, turned on her and slapped her across the face a few times.
“You little tramp, Thomas paid every one of those fines. Don't tell me you didn't know your father was getting picked up for soliciting?”
“You knew and you didn't tell me? What kind of person does that?”
Marie shrieked at her.
Glenda held her cheek and shot me a vicious glare before saying, “Mom, did you forget why we came here? Can't the thing about Dad soliciting wait until we're home?”
Only then did Marie start to calm down. She rolled up a sleeve at me. “Thomas, you're rotten to the core. You set this up on purpose, didn't you, got us fighting?”
I said nothing. I walked over to the couch, sat down, and lit a cigarette.
Glenda quickly shot her family a warning look, then softened herself and came over to sit beside me.
She was as gentle as she'd always been, turning toward me, resting her hand on my leg, her voice going soft.
“Thomas, we've been married three years. We've always had something good between us. It's not like there's no feeling here.”
“But Thomas, if you really love me, you can't ruin the rest of my life, can you?”
“Cancer! It's a bottomless pit! Sell the house today to treat you, and once that money's gone, what then? Do we sell my parents' house too?”
I looked at her for a long moment. “But if you were the one with cancer, I'd do everything I could to get you treated. And my parents would agree to sell their house too.”
Because those were my mother's exact words. As long as Glenda didn't abandon me, she'd be willing to sell her own house to pay for Glenda's treatment.
Marie sneered from where she sat. “Anyone can say that. You're the one with cancer, so of course your mom talks a pretty game.”
Gilbert let out a cold snort. “We know how tightfisted your parents are. Your dad quit smoking and drinking when he was young just to save money. That cheap, and they'd pay to treat my daughter?”
Max sat with one leg crossed over the other, lighting up a cigarette and puffing away. “Thomas, quit wasting your breath. My sister's divorcing you, that's for sure.”
I ignored all of them and looked at Glenda. “So you really don't intend to stand by me?”
Glenda was getting impatient.
“How am I supposed to stand by you?”
“Go ask around. How do cancer fights end?”
“The money's gone, the person's dead, and the one still living wishes they weren't!”
“Thomas, you can't be this selfish!”
I took a drag, tapped the ash into the tray without hurrying, and said with a smile, “I want to live, and that makes me selfish? Glenda, if you were the one with cancer, I wouldn't let you give up. I'd face it with you.”
Glenda's face twisted into a look of pure contempt. “Thomas, don't make yourself out to be some saint. After all, I'm not the one with cancer!”
She paused, then said, hard and final, “And even if I did get cancer, I wouldn't be that selfish. I'd put on a beautiful face of makeup, find some spot with nobody around and a good view, and end my own life.”
When I heard that, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. “Remember you said that.”
第3章
"When you've come to your senses, sign the divorce papers."
As she spoke, Glenda pulled a divorce agreement out of her bag.
I looked at it and thought about the fact that it had only been a little over two hours, at night no less, and she'd already gotten the whole thing drawn up. Just how desperate was she?
I went to open it, but she pressed it flat under her hand.
She frowned. "What's there to read? Just sign it."
I brushed her hand aside. "What, did they pass some new marriage law? A man getting divorced isn't allowed to read the agreement?"
Glenda pressed her lips together but said nothing more.
When I flipped it open and read it, I actually laughed out of sheer anger.
Even the old emperors of history never signed a treaty this lopsided.
Every asset in my name was to go to her.
The house, the car, the savings, even the little electric scooter I used for grocery runs.
And half of my parents' house and assets went to her too, plus half of their monthly pension going forward.
I really did laugh from the anger. "Glenda, I won't even get into the fact that you're eyeing the pickled-pepper fish head we eat at home. How thick is your skin, to want a cut of my parents' assets on top of it?"
Glenda shot back at once. "Thomas, you got cancer, which leaves me with nothing to rely on for the rest of my life. That makes you the guilty party in this marriage. So you should walk away with nothing, and everything in this household is mine. Is it wrong for me to want the fish head too?"
The hell?
Getting cancer made me the guilty party in the marriage.
Was there something wrong with her?
Marie Larson jumped in right away.
"If you hadn't gotten cancer, then once your parents died, everything of theirs would be yours, right?"
"Yours means my Glenda's, no problem with that, right?"
"But you got cancer, so it should all have been my Glenda's already. Now we're only asking for half. No problem with that at all!"
The hell!
I honestly had to hand it to them, the sheer shamelessness, to be able to say things like that out loud.
Gilbert Pruitt threw in his line too. "If you're a real man, you'll agree to it."
Max Pruitt even said, "Thomas, I'm warning you, don't spit on a hand that's giving you a break. If you don't sign, I'll make your life hell every single day."
"You've already got cancer, Thomas. Think you can take me cursing you out day after day?"
"And you think I'll only come after you? From now on I'll hire some punks to go harass your parents every single day."
"Just be careful those two old bags don't die before you do."
I turned a cold look on him.
"Max, when your parents made you, did they stick your mouth where your ass goes?"
"Say one more word about my parents and watch what I do to you."
Max wilted on the spot, because he knew I had connections with some very powerful people out there.
I pulled my gaze back and turned to Glenda. "You've taken everything you could take. Why not take my game studio too?"
Glenda sneered outright. "That garbage studio of yours hasn't made a dime in almost a year. What would I want it for?"
I nodded and asked again, "So you're really sending me off with nothing, not even leaving me the money to treat my illness?"
But then Glenda suddenly took my hand.
"Thomas, actually, there's something I haven't told you yet."
"The thing is, I'm pregnant. And it's most likely a boy."
"So just walk away with nothing. And don't die for nothing either. Before you go, why not do something for the child?"
I raised an eyebrow. I'd just finished a full physical. Did she really think I wouldn't know whether she was pregnant?
She was obviously lying.
So I asked, "What else can I do?"
Glenda lit up, practically glowing. "I'm going to buy you accident insurance. Then you pretend to drown while fishing, and leave a little more money for me and the baby!"
第4章
The venom in her was unreal.
I mean it.
After hearing her out, everything I thought I understood about people had been turned on its head.
I stubbed out my cigarette, let out a breath, and said,
"Here's what we'll do. We get divorced first."
"As for how the assets get split, there's no way we'll ever agree on that."
"So we settle it in court."
Glenda and her family traded a glance, weighing it out.
Right then my phone rang and I picked up without thinking. It was my assistant, Dave Sanford. "Dave, what's up?"
I held the phone a little away from my ear, because Dave talks at full volume.
"Tommy, the bank's chasing the loan again. They want that three million paid back fast!"
I didn't make anything of it, just said, "All right, got it."
Then I hung up.
Glenda's eyes darted, and suddenly she spoke.
"We can divorce first, and I know people, so we can skip the waiting period."
"The rest of the assets, fine, we'll go to court."
"But I have one condition. That junk studio of yours has to have nothing to do with me. Otherwise you owe millions and I'll end up paying it off for you!"
I almost laughed out loud. "Fine, I agree. But honestly, I never figured you'd be this considerate of me."
What she didn't know was that the game my studio built, Gilbert Group had put fifty million on the table for it, and that money went straight into the studio's company account.
So the next morning, Glenda's texts came at me like a death summons, hurrying me off to sign the divorce.
We went to the county clerk's office and divorced. The corners of her mouth, the look in her eyes, all of it was joy she didn't bother to hide.
Once we walked out, I headed straight for a big Mercedes G-Wagon parked at the curb.
She pulled open the passenger door, then turned back to me and said, "Thomas, leaving you, I get to ride in a G-Wagon. Staying with you, this would've been my whole life, and that's it."
I didn't say anything. I just smiled.
But after Glenda climbed in, the G-Wagon backed up, the passenger window rolled down, and I got a look at the driver.
A man so fat his eyes were nearly swallowed by the flesh of his face. Glenda's old suitor, Julian Lawrence.
He sneered at me. "Thomas, once your cancer kills you, I'll toss your folks a lousy couple hundred for the funeral, and I'll take real good care of your ex-wife for you."
I said nothing, walked past a curbside food stand, and headed straight for Gilbert Group.
By now I felt nothing at losing Glenda, not a trace of regret.
Getting to divorce her was heaven finally opening its eyes.
When I reached Gilbert Group, the receptionist came jogging over at once, all deference. "Mr. Swanson, you're here. Ms. Gilbert is waiting for you in the rooftop banquet hall."
Then she led me up to the top floor.
Inside the banquet hall there were already a few dozen people, a lot of them Gilbert Group's senior executives, along with the company's shareholders.
Amy Gilbert, in a black gown that made her look every bit as beautiful and regal, came toward me too.
She held out her hand with a smile, and only after we shook did she say, "Besides the executives and shareholders, I've invited quite a few game streamers as well. It's to get ready for the game's launch push down the line."
Then, with a conspiratorial air, she took my arm and steered me over to a corner, where we sat down on a couch.
And she sat right up against me, close enough that the two of us looked a little suggestive.
Amy lowered her voice. "Mr. Swanson, I hear you got divorced?"
I gave a rueful laugh and told her the short version.
When she'd heard it, her mouth fell open in shock. "How can there be a person like that? Even if she just didn't want to weather the hard times with you, I could understand that. But to bleed you dry, and to use you for insurance fraud on top of it!"
I only smiled. "Whatever the case, the divorce is a good thing for me."
Right then, someone walked over.
Glenda's voice carried across the room. "Thomas, have you got any shame left? A man who's dying, and you're still out chasing women?"
Julian patted her hand and put on a show of scolding her. "Don't go running your mouth. That's Ms. Gilbert!"
Then he turned to Amy, all smiles. "Ms. Gilbert, I'm Julian Lawrence. My family used to run a toy factory, and now I mainly deal in game and anime merchandise. I'm hoping we might have a chance to work together."
He shot me a glance. "As for this one, Thomas, he's got cancer, he'll be dead any day now. You'll want to be careful you don't get taken in by him."
Amy's face went cold, her brow drawing together. "From what I understand, the one with cancer is the woman standing next to you!"