He Cheated, I Made Him Penniless

Chapter 3

He was clearly pleased with how I held myself back without lashing out. He rose slowly from his seat, one eyebrow quirked faintly.

"You're finally starting to look like the proper mistress of the Ford family. Mia, anyone in your position needs to learn how to turn a blind eye when it counts."

He then reached out to help Zora up at a leisurely pace, before turning his head to speak to me again.

"Zora and I are heading home first. Figure out your own way back. She hates when anyone else sits in my passenger seat."

The sky was darkening fast. That small side road leading back to the mansion had been the site of a s****l assault a few years prior.

Once, every time I came home from collecting shellfish at low tide at dusk, Jude would be waiting for me right under the streetlamp at the start of that road.

He'd promised me, over and over, that no matter what happened, he'd never make me walk that dangerous path alone.

Now, all that was left in front of me was the cold, acrid exhaust fumes from his departing car.

Rain slammed down with a splatter out of nowhere, bone-deep chill soaking through every layer of my clothes until I was soaked to the skin. I had no choice but to clench my jaw and set off down the road alone.

I fumbled for my phone to call a ride, but rain had seeped into the device, and the screen went completely dead in my hand.

Every other person on the street rushed to catch their rides and leave, and within minutes, I was the only one left out in the downpour.

That was when a dark shadow stepped out and blocked my path. The man's eyes were slimy and lecherous, his tone sleazy and lewd as he ogled my soaking wet body unashamedly.

"Hey, pretty lady, come have some fun with me, yeah?"

I white-knuckled the strap of my bag and took off running as fast as my legs could carry me. In my panic, my foot caught on something, and I went sprawling straight into a deep puddle by the side of the road.

Sharp gravel sliced deep into my calf, and the wound swelled and turned pale as the rain soaked it. Waves of searing, tearing pain gnawed straight down to my very bone.

Every step felt like torture. I bit down hard on my lower lip, clinging to the last of my strength to drag myself all the way back to the mansion.

Only to walk in on Jude pressing Zora down into the couch, so gentle it made my stomach twist. The whole surface of the sofa was littered with the messy evidence of what they'd been up to.

The raw, hungry lust in Jude's eyes was something I'd never once seen before.

He turned his head and spotted me standing in the doorway.

His brows furrowed so slightly I almost missed it, his tone ice-cold and detached.

"Why did you get yourself so disheveled?"

The biting chill in my bones, the agonizing pain in my leg, and the suffocating, gut-wrenching humiliation that exploded in my chest all flooded through my body at once.

The room spun wildly around me. I couldn't hold on any longer. Everything went black, and I crumpled straight to the floor.

When I blinked awake again, the harsh white light of the hospital room burned my eyes.

Jude was sitting on the edge of the bed. When he saw I was conscious, he tucked the corner of the blanket around me.

"Mia, this just proves it. You can't do a single damn thing right without me."

I kept my eyes fixed on the sheets, not saying a word.

He lit a cigarette, and his voice dropped low as the smoke curled between the two of us.

"Zora's pregnant."

"So?"

He paused for a beat, his gaze carrying a lazy, unmistakable edge of pressure.

"I have to give her a wedding. It's not right that she's been by my side all these years without any official title."

He said it so casually, like it was nothing at all, but I felt like I'd been dropped into a pit of frozen ice.

When we'd first gotten our marriage license, his family had refused to let us have a wedding, sneering that I was just a regular fisherman's daughter with no notable background.

He'd held my hand so tight his knuckles went white, his eyes red with tears, promising me over and over that he knew it wasn't fair, that one day he'd give me the biggest, most beautiful wedding anyone had ever seen.

Later, when he took over the Ford Group and had absolute power over everything, he never mentioned that wedding again.

Turns out he'd promised that dream to someone else all along.

He pressed down on my trembling fingertips and let out a low, amused chuckle.

"You mad? It's just a little something to keep the girl happy. You're the only one who's my wife in name, no one else."

I swatted his hand away, my jaw clamped so tight I could feel my teeth grind.

"Do whatever you want."

He pressed a kiss to my forehead like he was handing out a prize for good behavior.

"Then you handle the wedding arrangements. Let everyone see just how gracious the lady of the Ford Corporation is."

"Sure thing."

My gaze dimmed, a cold spark flickering deep in my eyes.

"I'll make sure to prepare a real nice surprise for the two of you on the big day."

He looked like he was about to mumble a few more sweet nothings, when the nurse pushed the door open with a soft creak right at that second.

"Mr. Ford, Zora says she's not feeling well."

The second he turned to leave, my phone started going buzz buzz in my pocket.

I picked up. The line went quiet for two beats, then a voice drifted through, thick with put-on grievance.

"Hey, woman. You gonna take advantage of me and ditch me without taking responsibility, huh? I was completely unattached and innocent when I got with you. If you don't want me, there's no point in me even being alive."

I closed my eyes slowly, my voice steady as stone when I spoke.

"I'll give you a proper status."

All that fake hurt vanished right away on the other end. His voice pitched up, lazy and flirtatious, edged with a teasing smirk.

"When?"

"At my husband's wedding."