He Cheated, I Made Him Penniless

Chapter 1

Jude Ford and I were right on the edge of c****x when his adopted sister scrambled up the foot of the bed. She pressed herself against his chest and started sucking and nipping at his Adam's apple.

"Jude, my condition is acting up again."

A look of clear understanding crossed Jude's face, and he lifted her into his arms like he'd done it a hundred times before.

"Mia, take care of yourself. Zora needs me."

Zora suffered from s*x addiction. Every single time Jude and I got intimate, she'd slither up like a snake and wrap herself around him.

And every single time, Jude would leave me high and dry, dazed and aching with need, just to help her get off.

This time, I bit back my humiliation and fisted my fingers tight around his cuff.

"Don't go. Please."

He frowned, his voice cold and distant as frost.

"If you're that needy, go f**k yourself with a stick."

"Or," he paused for a beat, "I don't care if you find someone else to do it for you."

With that, he didn't even glance back as he carried Zora straight to the spare bedroom.

My nails dug deep into the palm of my hand. This was the ninety-ninth time he'd dumped me for Zora.

But this time, I didn't waste a single second hoping he'd change his mind. I just pulled out my phone and made a calm, steady call.

"I give up. I'm getting a divorce, and I'm taking all of his assets too. But right now, I want you."

The line went quiet for a heartbeat, then a low, rough voice rumbled through the speaker. "Okay."

*****

It was well past midnight when Jude finally stumbled back, looking thoroughly satisfied.

His warm breath fanned against my skin as he nuzzled his messy hair against the side of my neck over and over.

I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood, and shifted away from him without making a sound.

He seemed to notice. He let out a low, amused chuckle.

"You mad? I tried to finish up quick, but she was such a little vixen. I couldn't hold back, had to go one more round."

My fingers curled tighter, nails digging deeper into my palm again.

The next second, his lips crashed against mine, searing hot enough to make the tips of my ears burn.

"Zora learned some new position somewhere. It's so hot. Wanna test it out together?"

I stared at the faint, fresh hickeys blooming on his neck, and my throat felt like it was clamped shut in an invisible iron grip. Each word tore its way out of my mouth, sharp as broken glass.

"Get. Lost!"

He froze for a split second, confusion furrowing his handsome brows.

"What's with the tantrum? You should've gotten used to this ages ago, right? How many times do I have to say it? Zora ended up like this because of me. I have to take responsibility for her."

Zora was the nanny's daughter.

When she was eighteen, she stepped in and drank a spiked glass of wine that was meant for Jude from a business rival.

Ever since then, her body had grown hyper-sensitive, ravenous for male touch.

Using that excuse as a free pass, she and Jude fooled around all over the house, no matter who might see.

The kitchen counter, the balcony rail, even the master bed in my wedding suite.

That flimsy excuse had let him walk all over me for years, and every single time, I'd just bite my tongue and put up with it.

He took in my red, blazing eyes, heaved a put-upon sigh, and stepped forward to fumble with the buttons on my shirt.

"I'll make it up to you right now, yeah? I know I was out of line bailing on you earlier, but Zora can't function without me. I married you in the first place because you're so kind and understanding. You get where I'm coming from, don't you?"

I shoved hard against his burning chest and stumbled back a step.

If he so much as tugged my clothes down another half inch, he'd see the constellation of dark hickeys the other man had left all over my chest just hours earlier.

That man's low, rough voice echoed in my head out of nowhere. "Baby, there's no other woman in the world that exists to me except you. You've had your way with me, when are you gonna do the right thing and take responsibility for me?"

Driven wild by his own possessiveness, he'd dragged his teeth gently over the curve of my neck back then. "I left these marks on you on purpose. Make sure he sees them as soon as possible so you can get that divorce over with."

Jude had no clue. Nice girls like me.

Once we set our sights on someone, we make sure they get the proper title they deserve.

I didn't even glance at him. "I'm not in the mood anymore."

He opened his mouth to argue, but I spun around and snapped the light off before he could get a word out.

In the pitch-black dark, he pressed up against my back.

"C'mon, be good. That Erebos pearl necklace you had your eye on last week, I'll buy it for you."

Whenever he pissed Zora off, he'd shower her with all kinds of gold, silver, and fancy jewelry like they were going out of style.

When had he started using that same cheap trick he pulled on Zora on me?

My voice cut sharp, icy clear through the dark. "Jude."

"Hmm."

"This is the ninety-ninth time."

I didn't answer his question directly.

He frowned. "Ninety-ninth time of what?"

I huffed a bitter laugh. Of course he'd forgotten.

My parents split up when I was little, so I'd always struggled to let myself get close to anyone, to let a relationship turn serious.

Back when we were head over heels before the wedding, Jude had been so worried I didn't feel secure that he hired a lawyer to draw up two prenuptial agreements.

One stated that if he cheated on me one hundred times during our marriage, all his company shares would be signed over to me.

The other was a pre-prepared divorce agreement.

He'd said it was my safety net, and I'd believed him, fully and wholeheartedly.

But then, he'd left me hanging ninety-nine times for Zora. His attitude shifted too, from careful and tentative at first to completely unapologetic, like ditching me was the most normal thing in the world.

I still remembered the fifty-ninth time. Zora was curled up in his arms, looking at him through half-lidded, seductive eyes.

"You keep leaving Mia home alone, cold in an empty bed. Aren't you scared she'll get mad and hook up with someone else?"

He'd squeezed her full chest, his face buried in the crook of her neck, and hadn't even bothered to look up when he answered.

"I've f****d her so much she's worn out. Who'd want her if she left me? She doesn't get to be mad."

He had no idea someone not only wanted me, but was begging me to give him an official title.

Right then, our marriage was hanging on by a single, fraying thread.

As for that safety net he'd handed me with his own two hands all those years ago.

It wasn't something to protect me anymore. It had turned into a sharp, deadly knife, ready to run him straight through where it hurt most.