The Husband Who Stole My Designs

Chapter 6 Cut off Her Hand

Every word she said cut deep. Tears streamed down her face.

But Oscar just pulled his sleeve away from her coldly. He let out a long sigh, like she was the one being unreasonable. "Noelle, I want both you and Seren. Why are you making this so hard for me?"

Noelle's tears stopped in their tracks.

When he was in love, he used to say, "I don't want to make things hard for you." Now that he wasn't, it was "don't make this hard for me."

Her whole body shook. Finally, she closed her eyes. "Fine. I'll do it."

The chandelier light hit her pale face.

They tied Noelle's feet together. She stumbled and fell into the mud, her expensive gown soaking through instantly.

She protected her limp right hand as best she could and plunged her left into the dirt, digging like crazy. Her fingernails split on rocks and clumps of soil.

Mud splashed up into her face. She could barely see.

When she finally pulled up the last blood-covered potato with her teeth, she lifted her head like a dog.

The guests burst out laughing. Even Seren smiled.

Seren walked up slowly in her high heels. She pinched the potato between two fingers and looked down at Noelle. "Can't believe Oscar did all this just to make me happy. After all your 'hard work,' I might actually consider taking him. But I'm not settling for being some secret. So you better get out of the Mrs. Pearson spot fast."

Noelle just laughed quietly at Seren's taunt. "Why are you barking at me? Go get Oscar to divorce me. Otherwise, you'll always be the other woman. Just a b***h in heat..."

"How dare you!" Seren snapped. She kicked Noelle hard, knocking her down.

As Noelle hit the mud, memories flooded back.

Oscar's parents didn't want him to marry her. He knelt at their house for seven days straight until they gave in.

After they got married, some woman trying to climb the social ladder spilled wine on Noelle. Oscar cut off her hand.

Those beautiful moments had vanished. Now, all that was left was Oscar stepping all over her to propose to Seren.

Noelle's eyes flew open. Her heart was still racing when she heard his cold voice. "Seren shouldn't have kicked you. But she didn't mean it. Now she's getting hate online because of it. You're going live right now to clear things up. Say you volunteered to dig for potatoes. Nobody kicked you."

Volunteered? Noelle couldn't believe her ears. She was battered and broken, and he had no comfort for her. Instead, he was rushing her to cover for his mistress?

She said, "I won't..."

Oscar cut her off, his voice hard with warning. "Think before you speak. Remember that other hand."

Her other hand... Her left one...

Noelle gave up. She closed her eyes, tears slipping down silently. He always knew exactly how to hurt her the deepest.

When the live stream camera lit up, she was a hollow doll. She stared into the lens and repeated stiffly, "I chose to dig for potatoes with my mouth... Ms. Knox didn't force me. She didn't push me..."

The comments flooded in, all hateful.

She saw one of them: Mrs. Pearson is so pathetic. Performing eating mud for the other woman? Unbelievable.

Every word cut into her heart. But she didn't even have the strength to cry.

When the stream ended, she clutched her aching chest and looked at the couple. "Happy now?"

Something twisted in Oscar's chest. He almost reached for her...

"Since you're admitting fault so nicely, I forgive you," Seren said, looping her arm through Oscar's. Her smile was cruel. "To celebrate us making up, I asked Oscar to take us to the estate tomorrow for a getaway. You wouldn't say no, would you, Noelle?"

Five more days until she could leave Oscar forever—the thought actually gave Noelle a flicker of relief.

"Fine." She agreed too fast. Panic hit Oscar out of nowhere.

Why wasn't she crying or fighting? It was like... she didn't care anymore.

In a few days, when she cooled off, he'd apologize. They'd be fine.

She loved him too much to really stop caring.

Noelle watched them walk away, hands intertwined. Her heart went dead.

"Mr. Pearson is just... Today's your anniversary, Mrs. Pearson. How could he do this to you?" Zara kept sighing and shaking her head.

"It's okay. Won't need to celebrate it anymore." Noelle listened to their footsteps fade down the hall.

She murmured, making a promise, "Oscar, I hope you and Seren stay together forever."