He Played Me, I Took Back My Fortune

Chapter 3

Ugh, that haggard old hag is more annoying than a buzzing housefly. Good thing my CEO darling spoils me rotten, he blocked her straight away and is here with me, only me. Total bliss right now...

I glanced at the location tagged under that social media post. Of all places, it was the very same gala I was supposed to attend. I did not waste a second, barking at the driver to haul ass straight over.

Arthur thought he had me figured out. If he swiped my invitation and refused to come pick me up, there was no way I could get in, right? Wrong.

Idiot. He forgot who I am. As the eldest daughter of the Storm Group, I do not need some lousy piece of paper to get in. My face is all the access pass I need.

Right in the middle of the venue, Lyra was clinging cozily to Arthur's arm, schmoozing and laughing it up with some corporate bigwig next to them.

I marched straight over, ripped the expensive necklace right off her neck, then thwacked a divorce agreement right against Arthur's face with a sharp thud.

I did not stop there. I stormed up to the stage, grabbed the mic, and pointed straight at Lyra. "Everyone, let me do a quick introduction. This is my husband's mistress. Make sure to give her all the special attention she deserves from now on, yeah?"

The crowd below erupted into hushed, shocked chatter.

"Oh my god, who would've thought?"

"Mr. Callahan always looks like such an upstanding guy, and he brought his mistress to a public event like this?"

"Thank god I didn't pitch those big projects to him earlier. No way I'm working with someone like that now."

Everyone else nodded along, muttering that a man who cheats his wife out of respect and loyalty will never attract good fortune. The disgust on their faces as they looked at the two of them was impossible to miss.

Arthur panicked. He wrenched his arm out of Lyra's grip, did not care one bit about the hundreds of eyes on him, and thudded to his knees right in front of me. "Baby, I'm sorry. I know I messed up, I really do. I'll fire her for real this time, I swear. Please, just forgive me one last time?"

I did not even spare him a glance. I turned on my heel and walked straight out of the venue.

When we were one intersection away from my house, I suddenly barked an order at the driver. "Turn around. Head for the Hudson River Pier."

The river wind blew hot, thick with the sweltering summer heat, against my cheeks, but a frigid, creeping chill coiled in my gut.

Five years ago, my parents died right here. Their car crashed off the pier and sank to the bottom of the river with both of them inside.

I had rushed over screaming, sobbing so hard I could barely breathe. I wanted to jump in and join them, but the second I climbed over the railing, someone wrapped their arms around my waist and hauled me back.

Arthur was the one who saved me. He stayed by my side day and night, talking me through the worst of the grief, until I finally gave up the idea of killing myself.

One thing led to another: we started dating, tied the knot, and after we got married, things stayed just as sickly sweet as our honeymoon phase.

Until today, when I walked in on him and Lyra in his office.

Arthur had chased me all the way from the venue, and he knelt next to me the entire time I stood by the river, sputtering one apology after another without pause.

Finally, I caved. I decided to give him one more shot.

I turned around and looked down at the man on the ground. "Fine. Get up."

A flash of wild joy lit up Arthur's eyes. He lunged forward and wrapped me in a tight hug. "Honey, I swear I'll cherish this chance. I'll prove to you I mean it."

He did not just talk the talk, he walked the walk. That very night, he fired Lyra again, then pulled all the strings he had to send her straight back to the remote, backwater small town she had grown up in.

He even swapped every last secretary in the CEO's office for men, reported his full schedule to me at a fixed time every single day, and picked back up the old habit of cooking for me that he had had back when we were dating.

It seemed like the rift in our relationship that Lyra had torn open was finally, fully healed.

"Honey, that financing payment the Storm Corporation finance team has been holding onto? It's about time you release it, right?"

His reminder jogged my memory. I called the chief assistant of Storm Corporation right away and told him to transfer the funds over immediately.

I put away the unsigned divorce papers too. I figured I would never need them for the rest of my life.

Time flew, and soon it was the end of the year, the time he always traveled to Los Angeles to oversee the West Coast market.

For the past few years, he had spent two full months there at the end of every year to oversee operations in person. He always said he needed to build the Callahan Group into the biggest player in the industry to do right by me.

"Honey, while I'm gone, promise me you'll take good care of yourself, alright?" Arthur pressed a deep, lingering kiss to my forehead, then dragged his suitcase as he left, glancing back over his shoulder at me every couple of steps.