Chapter Five: Vince's Plea
1217 Words
Jade's POV
"What are you doing here?!" Vince demanded.
His voice was low, almost a whisper, yet every word carried unmistakable anger. His chest rose and fell heavily, as though he was struggling to keep his emotions under control.
What was with that reaction?
Was he afraid of my return to our hometown... and to his life after two years?
He looked genuinely shocked to see me, as if I were the one who had wronged him.
I knew he had never imagined that I would become his uncle's wife. And now, fate had played the cruelest joke of all. Of all people, I had ended up marrying his father's younger brother.
His eyes continued to blaze with anger. He gripped my slender arm so tightly that his fingers nearly dug into my skin.
"Vince! Let go of me!" I ordered firmly.
I refused to let him think he could intimidate me simply by raising his voice.
Besides...
There was a time when he had never once yelled at me.
But that was in the past.
Back when he loved the simple provincial girl that I was.
Perhaps that was why he had managed to fool me for five long years—a love I eventually realized had been nothing more than a lie because he couldn't stand by it until the very end.
It was like medicine with an expiration date...
Never meant to last forever.
I looked him straight in the eyes.
The tenderness that once filled my gaze was gone.
My heart felt as cold as ice now, buried beneath years of anger and resentment.
Ever since the day I saw him marrying another woman...
Smiling...
Looking as though he was on top of the world...
While I—the woman he had promised five years of love—was left standing alone, crying in the corner.
You're the greatest nightmare of my life, Vince.
I wish we had never met.
You were the biggest mistake I've ever made.
For two long years, I waited for the chance to enter the Villareal family's world.
Every single day, I thought about how I would get my revenge.
Now that the opportunity had finally come...
I had nothing left to fear.
"Jade... tell me the truth. Why are you here? Did you come back to get revenge because I left you?" Vince accused.
His expression darkened.
The threat in his eyes was obvious, even without words.
He suspected that my marriage to Primo was nothing more than a carefully planned act of revenge.
How ironic.
He knew perfectly well how deeply he had wronged me.
Yet instead of asking for forgiveness...
He was the one acting angry.
"You're such a coward, Vince," I shot back.
"Don't tell me you're actually afraid of a helpless woman like me—the same woman you abandoned for the fortune you'd inherit once you married Monica."
A mocking smile spread across my lips.
I forcefully pulled my arm from his grip.
The skin had already turned slightly red where he had held me.
But I didn't care.
Even if it bruised...
It would never compare to the pain inside my heart.
My mother died consumed by bitterness and hatred toward Vince.
When he abandoned me—and the baby I was carrying—her heart simply couldn't bear the pain anymore.
She suffered a heart attack...
And never woke up again.
And me?
I was drowning in grief.
The injustice...
The betrayal...
The heartbreak...
It was too much.
I lost my baby before I even had the chance to hold him or her in my arms.
The child who should have become my reason to keep living...
Was gone.
There was nothing Vince could ever do to bring back the two people I loved most.
So what good would his regret do now?
"Jade..." His voice softened.
"I'm begging you... if you're planning to reveal our past and ruin my reputation in front of my family, please don't."
He swallowed hard.
"Please... move on from everything that happened between us. I'm married now, Jade."
"I'm happy."
His entire demeanor changed.
Moments ago, he had looked like a furious lion.
Now he stood before me like a helpless man begging for mercy.
How amusing.
Was the mighty Vince Villareal really afraid that I could destroy the reputation he had worked so hard to protect?
Was I really that embarrassing to him?
Was it so shameful that he had once loved a poor girl?
A woman who had grown up with nothing...
Who had barely finished school...
I steadied my voice.
I refused to let him see the tears threatening to escape my eyes.
"Vince, not everything is about you."
"I love Primo."
"Instead of making a scene over a past that no longer matters to me, why don't you start practicing calling me 'Aunt' from now on?"
A faint smile appeared on my lips.
"After all... I'm legally married to your uncle."
A deep frown formed on Vince's face.
It was obvious he didn't like hearing those words.
"Oh... what is it?"
"You don't want to call me 'Aunt'?"
"You can call me 'Auntie' instead."
I shrugged casually.
"Whatever works for you."
"Honestly, instead of wasting your time arguing with me, why don't you go back to your wife?"
I tilted my head toward the woman watching us from a distance.
"She's been staring at us this whole time."
"You'd better go before she starts getting the wrong idea."
I smiled at him sweetly, though every word carried a hidden meaning.
"You're impossible, Jade!"
"You're just playing with Primo!" he accused.
"Oh, really?"
I smiled mockingly.
"What if I told you I truly love him?"
"Would you believe me?"
I slowly lowered my gaze beneath my long eyelashes.
My naturally thick lashes and expressive eyes had always been my best features.
During the years Vince and I were together, he never stopped complimenting them.
And besides...
Did he really think I hadn't noticed?
His eyes had been wandering to my full chest ever since we started talking.
I had intentionally worn a fitted blouse paired with denim shorts.
Because of my naturally curvy figure, the neckline revealed just enough cleavage to catch attention.
I knew Vince was shocked by how much I had changed.
The old Jade was gone.
Gone was the simple, modest woman who had been content with an ordinary life.
Back then, I had hidden my curves beneath loose, conservative clothes.
Now...
I wore my confidence as proudly as my smooth skin.
I was no longer the Jade Vince had once known.
The woman standing before him was fearless.
Ambitious.
Yes...
I had become ambitious.
Unlike before, I now relied on my mind instead of my heart.
I intended to take full advantage of Primo's obsession with me.
If he wanted to shower me with love...
Then I would let him prove it with wealth.
Money would become my ladder out of poverty.
After all...
Wealth was the very reason Vince abandoned me.
He chose Monica because marrying her guaranteed him the luxurious life he wanted.
Now...
The same money he had worshipped would become the weapon I would use to avenge every injustice I had suffered...
At the hands of the man who never truly loved me.
- Writer
