The Husband Who Regretted Too Late

Chapter 7

Selena clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. She ground her teeth so hard her gums bled. Only then did she force herself to stop.

After several shuddering breaths, she mechanically picked up the bank card. Her hollow eyes met Austin's stony gaze. Not a word passed between them. Nothing remained but the shattered wreckage of her composure.

The sight of her brokenness only made his ice-cold expression darken further. He flicked his fingers in dismissal, shooing her away like garbage.

For hours afterward, Austin did not bait her. He just coldly ordered her to find their wedding ring.

She tore through the room. She upturned drawers and scattered cushions. But the memory of where she had placed it vanished.

Defeated, she collapsed at her desk and dry-swallowed another painkiller. The dwindling pills in the box sent jagged spikes of dread through her. 'Maybe by morning, the ring's location would come back.'

With trembling hands, she opened her diary and scrawled the day's humiliations. By the end, silent tears smudged the ink:

Austin, loving you is torture. I cannot do this anymore.

Dawn brought chaos to the Nash estate. Lights blazed. Guests swarmed like locusts.

Selena stood rigid by the entrance. A mannequin with a painted-on smile.

Then the whispers slithered into her ears.

"Who is that Selena person? They call her Mrs. Nash, but she actually lets you live here?"

"Ugh, that pathetic has-been? Just a gold digger clinging to a title. Austin doesn't even look at her."

"You should see how he plays with my breasts. He says they're perfect. That old hag probably has saggy everything. Wouldn't shock me if she kicked the bucket tomorrow."

Amanda's voice, honeyed with malice, carried just enough. The cluster of girls tittered.

Selena absorbed their venom. She was numb to the bone. They were not wrong. Her expiration date was looming.

A hand gripped her shoulder. Austin's breath hissed against her ear.

"Where is the ring?"

She flinched. "What?"

His fingers dug into her flesh as he spat through gritted teeth. "Last night. The wedding ring. Or did you forget that too?"

"I didn't—"

Her protest died as her mind blanked. A tidal wave of terror swallowed her. Her nails carved half-moons into her palms.

Amanda materialized, simpering. "Austin, don't fret. We have spare rings in the gifts. Unlike some people, I plan ahead." She shot Selena a smirk. "Maybe Mrs. Nash will cooperate eventually."

Austin's face softened. Only to twist into a snarl as he whirled on Selena.

"Move your useless ass and find that ring."

The murderous glare he threw her could have flayed skin.

Selena's nose stung with unshed tears. Her heart twisted like a wrung-out rag soaked in acid.

Just as she turned, a brutal shove hurled her into the gift pile. The champagne tower crashed down. Gift boxes and razor-sharp glass shards exploded around her.

Her eyes flew to Austin. Yet his gaze clung only to Amanda. Even though she was closer to him than Amanda was.

In one fluid motion, he yanked Amanda close. He took the full brunt of the impact on his own back.

Selena was swallowed whole by the avalanche of glass and presents.

Blood, bright and slick, oozed from beneath the wreckage. It painted the floor in grotesque ribbons.

She squeezed her eyes shut. She prayed to forget the image seared behind her eyelids. But the white-hot knives carving her up from within only grew sharper.

When the butler finally dragged her out, her body was a patchwork of raw wounds.

Austin's voice cut through the air like a scalpel dipped in frost.

"Does it hurt?"

She opened her mouth.

"I hope it kills you," he added with a serpent's hiss.