I Married My Billionaire Ex

10

Third-Person POV

"Has your daughter come home yet?"

Ricky glanced at his wife, who had just entered the living room. She had come from their bedroom, and he assumed she was just checking on him since he was still in the living room.

"Not yet. And I can't contact her," Ricky replied seriously.

It was already midnight, and his daughter, Lexi, still hadn’t returned. He had no idea where she had gone since she left the hospital earlier. He had thought she had gone home, but the maid told him that the young lady had yet to arrive.

"Your daughter is starting to be a troublemaker," his wife commented, sitting beside him.

"Minda."

"What? Don’t you know that because of what happened to James, the Smith family might pull out their investment from our company?" she said seriously.

Ricky sighed deeply. He had to admit that this was one of his concerns too. He had worked for years to court the Smith family to invest in their company. Now, all of that might be gone in an instant due to what happened to James.

"It’s not Lexi’s fault that she couldn’t love James," was all he could say.

He didn’t want to blame his daughter. For him, business and personal matters should be kept separate. Whatever had happened between Lexi and James should not affect business.

"I understand that. But at least your daughter should not have given James false hope. That young man courted her for almost a year. No wonder he’s hurt so much that led him to an accident," Minda explained.

"No one wanted this to happen. I’m sure Lexi is hurting too," Ricky said, trying to defend his daughter.

His wife laughed bitterly. "You know what, I’m no longer surprised at how your daughter, Lexi, turned out like that. You’ve always favored her, so she became a spoiled brat."

"Minda!"

"Sorry, but I won’t keep quiet anymore. Do you know your daughter, Shiela? She’s willing to be married off to the son of the Sandovals, even though she doesn’t want to. Do you know why? Because she’s thinking of you. She wants to fulfill your dream of merging with TAC. Your daughter, our daughter, is always thinking of you. Meanwhile, Lexi, your daughter from another woman, is only bringing chaos to this family. Don’t you see? She’s going to ruin you one day," Minda ranted.

Ricky held his forehead in his hands. He didn’t know what to say to his wife.

"Hon, I accept Lexi, even though she’s the result of your mistake. But I won’t stand by if she’s the one who caused the downfall of this company you’ve worked so hard for. I won’t let my daughter, Shiela, suffer because of your child’s mess."

Ricky couldn’t respond as his wife stormed off and headed to their bedroom. His thoughts were interrupted when his cell phone rang. When he looked at the caller ID, he exhaled in relief. It was James' father calling.

"Mr. Smith, how is James?" Ricky asked when he answered.

"He is still in a coma. And I’m sorry to tell you, but we’ve decided not to invest in your company. I know we shouldn’t mix business with personal matters, but James is our only son. I hope you understand."

LEXI'S POV

Bitterly, I smiled while standing outside the house. I could hear Aunt Minda’s accusations loud and clear. She kept insisting to Papa that I was the one responsible for everything. That I would be the reason for his downfall.

Is this Shiela’s plan? Does she want Papa to disown me? Are she and Aunt Minda conspiring together?

I almost jumped when I heard something breaking. In my panic, I quickly rushed inside the house and found Papa standing with broken glass scattered on the floor.

"Papa," I whispered.

"The Smith family will no longer invest in the company," Papa said flatly, his emotionless tone cutting through me.

Tears welled in my eyes as I rushed to him, gripping his hand tightly.

"Papa, I’ll talk to them. I’ll beg them not to pull out the investment."

Even though I’m not involved in Papa’s company, I’ve heard that it is slowly going bankrupt. That’s why Papa had been working so hard to get big investments from big companies. And James' family was one of them.

Papa pulled his hand away, causing me to release it.

"Papa," I cried softly.

"Can you wake up their son? Can you undo what’s been done?"

I shook my head gently. "Papa, it’s not like that. James really loved Shiela. Papa, believe me, I love James, but I found out he loved Shiela. My sister told him to court me," I said desperately.

But instead of believing me, Papa slapped me across the face. I touched my left cheek as my tears continued to fall.

"How could you do this, Lexi? Your sister and your aunt accepted you, but you’re blaming Shiela? What are you talking about, that Shiela is behind all this? James courted you for almost a year!" he shouted at me.

I tried to grab his hand again, but he stepped back to distance himself from me.

"Papa, please believe me. I am telling the truth."

Papa shook his head slowly, disappointment written all over his face as he looked at me. "Minda was right. I raised you to be a spoiled brat who only thinks of herself. You are the reason for my downfall. I regret ever taking you in."

Papa walked away from me, leaving me kneeling on the floor, trembling. That was the most painful thing I’d ever heard in my life. I felt like a cigarette slowly burning out. I didn’t feel anything but pain. I wanted to scream, I wanted to lash out. But all I could do was cry silently. And I wished I had never been born.

In the middle of my tears, my eyes caught sight of Sheila, smiling at me. When our gazes met, her smile grew even wider.

"You deserved it," she mouthed.

Despite feeling weak, I forced myself to stand up and walk toward my room. I can’t take this anymore. I didn’t want to be kind and patient anymore.

With trembling hands, I grabbed my phone and called my friend.

"Lexi, why did you call?" Chloe answered groggily, as if she had just woken up.

"S-sav," I stammered.

"Lexi, are you okay? What happened?" she asked, sounding fully awake now.

"Sav, I need your help."

"What is it?"

"You have connections, right? Help me find out who owns the TAC Group of Companies."

Shiela had used dirty tactics to win, and now, that’s what I would do too. I would no longer allow myself to be a Cinderella that they could trample on. I had endured for too long, and I wouldn’t allow them to keep manipulating me.

I have had enough. And now, I will get my revenge.