Chapter 4

Natalia replied, "I understand, Mr. Jackson. This is all my fault. Ow!"

She raised her hand to wipe her tears but "accidentally" brushed her fingers against her red, swollen cheek I had slapped.

Frank glanced at her face, and his heart went out to her. He demanded, "Zoey, apologize to Ms. Silva!"

I almost laughed out of sheer anger. "Why should I? My hand still hurts from hitting her. Why don't you ask her to apologize to me instead?"

Natalia stomped her foot in anger, while Frank looked at me and gave a faint, unreadable smile.

He said, "Zoey, what we have is just an arranged marriage. You never interfered in my personal affairs before, so why do you suddenly care now? Natalia is still young. She's bound to be a bit childish and can't take being wronged. Just apologize to her, and we'll let this go. Stop making a scene."

The baby fumed indignantly in my belly, "My dad is such a scumbag! Mommy is always so understanding! How could she be making a scene? She hit the mistress because that vixen deserved it and more!"

I felt a pang in my heart. I wholeheartedly agreed with her words.

I sneered. "Don't flatter yourself. I used to let you be and do as you please, and you just kept pushing further. Why should I keep letting you have your way? I hit her because she deserved it!"

With that, I grabbed my bag and left.

I recalled that my father's birthday was coming up soon. After leaving the hospital, I went to eat at a restaurant. Then, I headed to an auction.

Suddenly, a commotion stirred in the crowd.

I looked over to see Natalia walking arm-in-arm with Frank. Without even glancing around, the two of them took their seats. As soon as Natalia sat down, she pointed at the catalog in her hand and coquettishly said she wanted the necklace on one of the pages.

Ignoring the curious looks from the other audience, I took out my phone and sent a message to Georgia.

The auction began shortly after. Frank bid on every piece of jewelry Natalia said she wanted without hesitation and won.

The glances people cast toward me grew even more sympathetic. My husband was spending lavishly in front of me, his wife, just to please his mistress. It was indeed pitiful.

But the more he spent, the happier I felt. The more proud he looked now, the more miserable he would be in a moment.

The item I had my eye on was a painting. When I raised my paddle to bid, my voice made Natalia and Frank turn around in surprise. Natalia looked at me, smiled tauntingly, and suddenly raised her paddle to raise the price by 500 thousand dollars.

She had only been bidding on jewelry before. Now, she was competing with me for a painting and raising the price by 500 thousand dollars in one go. It was obvious she was challenging me.

After several rounds, she called out an exorbitant price of three million dollars.

A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd. The painting wasn't worth that price. So, I didn't bother competing with her anymore.

With the final hammer strike, Natalia shot me a smug look. Beside her, Frank helplessly but dotingly tapped her nose.

My baby scoffed in annoyance.

I took out my phone. Upon seeing the messages from both the lawyer and Georgia, I knew everything had been taken care of.

I gently stroked my belly and spoke to the baby in my mind, "Don't be mad, sweetie. In a moment, they won't be laughing anymore."

After the auction ended, Frank and Natalia deliberately waited for me at the entrance.

Natalia's voice was brimming with poorly concealed delight. "Oh, dear, Mrs. Jackson! I'm so sorry. Mr. Jackson said I'd suffered unfair treatment earlier, so he promised that I could buy anything I liked at the auction to cheer me up.

"I'm fond of that painting too, so I had no choice but to shamelessly compete with you for it."

I took out my phone to send a message before smiling enigmatically. "You are pretty shameless."

Natalia choked on her words, and her cheeks flushed.

Frank's phone buzzed. He took it out to look. In the next second, he froze with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

At the same time, a staff member from the auction approached. "Sorry, Mr. Jackson. The system shows that the card under your name is unable to complete the transaction."