He Cheated With My Enemy, I Ruin Him

Chapter 3

Landon's face changed instantly. He released her wrist and bolted out of the room like a gust of wind.

Natalie lowered her gaze to the bruises already blooming across her wrist. She flexed her fingers slowly, pressing every surge of pain back down, inch by inch.

How quickly a man's heart could change.

Her father had been the same. So had Landon's father, Dominic Hale. And now Landon was no different.

But she would never repeat her mother's fate, or that of Landon's mother, Eleanor Hale.

When something is tainted, you don't salvage it. You destroy it.

By the time she'd composed herself and come downstairs, Landon was sitting at the dining table, spoon-feeding Fiona a bowl of seafood congee.

Fiona spotted her and raised her voice on purpose. "Oh, there you are. Look—my hand's hurt, so Landon insists on feeding me himself."

She waved her bandaged hand, then gestured at the bowl. "This seafood congee is delicious. I had Dolly simmer it for hours. You should try some."

Seafood?

Natalie's heart seized. She strode toward the terrarium.

There should have been a tortoise there—Sheldon, a pet her mother had kept for nearly two decades and that Natalie had inherited.

Once, Sheldon had crawled into Landon's coat pocket and accidentally taken a knife meant for him. Landon had laughed and called the little creature their good luck charm.

The terrarium was empty.

She rushed into the kitchen. On the cutting board lay the unmistakable pattern of a pale brown shell.

The nanny, Dolly, was trembling. "Ma'am, it was Miss Langley who insisted. I never would've dared, not in a million years..."

Natalie walked back to the dining room, her face like frost. Before anyone could react, she seized Fiona by the back of the head and slammed her face into the scalding bowl of congee.

"Ahhh—!"

The scream and the sound of shattering porcelain exploded at once.

Boiling congee streamed down Fiona's carefully made-up face, scalding the skin an angry red.

Landon grabbed Natalie's wrist, his voice cold as ice. "Have you lost your mind, Nat?"

"Lost my mind?" Natalie's laugh was razor-thin. "Do you know what she's eating? That's Sheldon."

Landon's expression froze. He looked at Fiona, who was sobbing and gasping for air.

"Landon, I didn't know..." Her wet hair clung to her face as she coughed between sobs. "I just mentioned I wanted seafood congee yesterday. How was I supposed to know Dolly would...? If I'd known it was Sheldon, I never would've touched it..."

Her fingers found the cut on her temple where a shard of porcelain had sliced her skin, and she cried harder. "My face! Natalie Mercer, you're insane! You're a monster!"

She tugged at Landon's sleeve. "Landon, you have to do something about her!"

The angrier Natalie became, the calmer she looked.

She sat down, her voice like frozen steel. "You know the rules. That costs a finger."

Landon took a napkin and wiped Fiona's face with deliberate care, his lashes lowered. "She didn't know. That's not a crime, Nat. You're overreacting."

He flicked his gaze toward the bodyguards at the door and gave a slight wave.

Two guards stepped forward, positioning themselves behind Natalie—a silent warning that if she moved again, they would stop her.

Watching him rush to protect Fiona, Natalie smiled coldly.

This was the first time they'd ever been at each other's throats like this. And it was over a woman like her.

Silently, she crossed off one chance.

Natalie pulled out a document and slid it across the table. "Fine. Then let's make a deal. Sign this without reading it, and I'll consider letting today go."

She flipped to the signature page and held out a pen.

Landon didn't even glance at the contents. He took the pen and signed his name in three quick strokes.

"There. It's done."

Natalie lowered her eyes, a cold smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

Done?

There was no such word in her vocabulary.

This debt would be repaid, with interest.

Fiona blinked, her voice syrupy sweet. "Landon, you know, a lot of women trick men into signing divorce papers with stunts like that. Aren't you worried...?"

Landon gently wiped the last trace of congee from her cheek, his tone indulgent. "Don't worry. Between Nat and me, divorce was never an option."

That wasn't the answer Fiona wanted. She bit her lip, a flash of jealous hatred darting through her eyes.

But a second later, tears spilled down her face again. She looked at Natalie with open defiance. "Landon, do you think I cry too much?"

Landon chuckled softly and ruffled her hair, his voice low and rough with affection. "That's what makes you... irresistible. Come on. Let's get you patched up."

Before leaving, he turned to a bodyguard. "Go to the auction house. Buy every lot listed today and have it all sent to my wife's room."

Natalie watched them walk upstairs together, her cold smile deepening.

Money. It was always Landon's favorite way to smooth things over.

Once, she might have been moved by the gesture. Now it was just pathetic.

She didn't need his appeasement. She didn't need him to buy his way out of guilt.

Every knife he'd driven into her heart, she would return doubled.

But Landon had been right about one thing.

Years ago, he'd dragged her to multiple countries to register their marriage, terrified she might one day leave him. So he was certain they would never divorce.

Divorce?

No. Natalie Mercer didn't do anything that cheap.

Between them, there would be no divorce. Only widowhood.

Her fingertip traced the word "WILL" on the document's cover. She gazed out the window at the sun being swallowed by storm clouds, her eyes dark as ink.