He Chose Her, I Made Him Bankrupt

Chapter 4

Tina's POV:

When I finally came to, Lance was on a phone call.

His voice was soft and warm as he spoke, "Eliza, calm down. Cole is fine."

Eliza's sharp, angry voice cut through the quiet room, "I will make Tina pay for this!"

Lance sighed heavily, "Let it go. She's badly hurt, she's been unconscious for a whole day and night already.

"The family succession gala is the day after tomorrow. That's when I'll expose her beggar parents to everyone, tear off her fake rich family mask for good.

"Once we kick her and her good-for-nothing beggar parents out, our little family of three can finally be together again. Stop being angry, okay?"

He hung up the phone, then reached out to brush a hand over my head, his dark eyes softening with tenderness. I forced my eyes open and twisted my head out of his reach.

He froze for a beat. Bruised dark circles hung under his eyes, proof he'd stayed up all night, but his sharp, handsome jaw quickly slid back into the cold impassivity I knew so well.

"You're awake? The doctor said you have a broken bone. Rest well these two days. You're coming with me to the gala the day after tomorrow. You can't miss it."

I shut my eyes again. I'd already agreed to divorce him. Why did he still need to use me as a stepping stone?

Why humiliate me, just to clear the way for his perfect first love? It was true, wasn't it? The one who falls first always loses it all.

When I didn't answer him, he waited in silence for a moment, then turned and left.

That afternoon, Eliza showed up at my hospital room.

She looked me up and down with utter disdain. "You're really hard to kill. My son pushed you down that whole flight of stairs, and all you got was a broken bone? I guess beggars really are built to take a beating."

My wound throbbed so bad with searing pain, and I couldn't fight back even if I wanted to, so I stayed silent.

"I know you did a million stupid things just to suck up to my son. You even stayed up sewing an Ultraman for him late at night, all just to coax him into taking his cold medicine. But what good did that do? He only loves me."

My silence irked her. She fished a stack of printed papers out of her designer bag and flung them straight at my body.

"It's not just my son who prefers me. Lance loves me more than anything. Every single night after he gets you to fall asleep, he video calls me.

"Our chat logs go on for over eight hundred pages. From the day you two got married, he hasn't missed a single day saying 'good night, I love you' to me.

"In three whole years, he never once saw you as his real wife! You were just a pawn to him this whole time."

I stared at the scattered papers spread across my hospital bed. I'd already felt my heart die long before this. I already knew that three years of perfect, dreamy marriage was nothing but a lie.

Even so, I never guessed he and Eliza had never cut contact, not even once. Just one random line from any of their chats screamed how he'd groveled in his love for her.

It felt like I was submerged in a tub full of sharp ice shards. Every inch of me ached and burned with cold, and I could barely drag a breath into my lungs.

Eliza, clearly thrilled by how broken I looked, pushed her advantage even further and gloated.

"Surprise, huh? He loves me so much that he pretended to be sick for three whole years just for me. He was even willing to touch you, a disgusting beggar girl like you, all for me!

"He told me every single time he had to lay a hand on you, he had to scrub himself raw for ages before he could even fall asleep at night."

"Enough!" I snapped, cutting her off. My whole body shook uncontrollably as I screamed for someone to throw her out.

"You filthy beggar. On the day of the succession reception, your whole rotten family can crawl right back to whatever beggar hole you came from."

Eliza huffed sharply, then clicked-clacked her way out of the door in her high heels.

I collapsed back onto the bed, and shut my eyes, swallowed whole by despair. Only a few seconds later, I reached for my phone and dialed my secretary's number.

"Issue the order. On the day of the Sterling Group succession reception, launch a full short attack on them."

I loved Lance, and that was why I let myself be small and humble.

But he'd forgotten one crucial thing.

I'm a crazy b***h who clawed her way up out of the slums. I was never some soft, easy pushover for anyone to push around!

He refused to take the easy road of an amicable split.

Well... I'd just have to make his life a living hell.