MasukMercy had loved Bradley Cornell for a long time. Bradley came from a powerful and wealthy family, and he was supposed to marry another woman he loved. On the wedding day, that woman ran away with another man, leaving Bradley embarrassed in front of everyone. To stop the scandal from spreading, Mercy stepped forward and agreed to marry Bradley. She had admired him quietly for years, so even though the marriage started suddenly, she hoped that if she stayed by his side and treated him well, he might slowly come to love her. But the marriage never became warm. Bradley treated Mercy politely but without affection. He spent most of his time working and rarely came home early. When he did come home, he acted distant. Mercy felt more like a stranger living in his house than his wife. Still, Mercy stayed loyal. She waited for him every night and tried to take care of everything for him. She believed that one day he would notice her efforts.
Lihat lebih banyakCHAPTER 1
“Did you ever, even for one moment, think you could love me?” Mercy asked softly, her voice full of hope as she looked at Bradley’s hard and serious face.
“Don’t make me laugh, Mercy. Everything between us was only for pleasure and business.”
With a sad heart, she signed the divorce papers, still holding a small hope that one day she would meet a man who would truly love her and see how special she was.
Mercy
On a quiet night at Serenity Pines Estate, the place I have lived in for three years, the small click of the door told me my husband had arrived. My husband is Bradley Cornell, who is competing to become the president of Luminary Productions, a big entertainment company.
I stood up from the sofa where I always waited for him and looked at the clock on the wall. It was already very late. It was one in the morning.
The heavy wooden door slowly opened, and Bradley walked in with shaky steps. The strong smell of alcohol came into the room before he did. His arm was resting on the shoulder of his assistant, Alexander Davies.
“What happened to him?” I asked Alex.
“Madam, I’m very sorry. Something happened. Boss Bradley drank too much tonight,” he said quietly. He did not explain anything else like he usually did, even though I wanted to ask more questions because Bradley had been coming home drunk many times lately.
“Please help me. Let’s take him to the bedroom.”
Alex and I carried Bradley to the room together. His body was much bigger and heavier than mine, and I felt like my bones would break from the weight. I was also sure I would get bruises on my arms.
Both Alex and I were breathing hard when we finally placed Bradley carefully on the bed.
“Th-thank you!”
Alex gave a small smile and walked toward the door to leave Serenity Pines Estate. We rarely talked, just like I rarely talked with my husband Bradley.
I slowly removed Bradley’s shoes and socks while my face felt hot with embarrassment. After that, I tried to take off his polo shirt, which was something I could only do because he was unconscious.
How long had I been having these secret thoughts about him? He was my husband, very close to me physically but still very far away in his heart. We both followed an unspoken rule not to interfere in each other’s lives.
When I finally managed to pull off his polo shirt, he suddenly vomited. The terrible smell filled the room. My stomach turned and I almost vomited too. I tried very hard to stop myself while tears of frustration filled my eyes.
We do not keep servants in this house because I prefer it that way. However, maids from the Cornell family house come three times every week to help clean Serenity Pines Estate.
I cleaned the messy and sour vomit he left beside the bed.
Three years ago, my mother-in-law said that a woman’s duty was to serve her husband. I hoped that if I did my duty well, Bradley would notice me or maybe see that I truly loved him.
While I gathered the cleaning tools to wipe the floor, tears filled my eyes because the situation felt heavy in my heart.
How long must I keep living like this? How long will I wait for the love I give to my husband to finally come back to me?
But Bradley is the man I love so much. I have already given up many things for him. Can his sickness and drunken mess really be the thing that breaks my heart?
After carefully scrubbing the floor and making sure no bad smell remained in the room, I walked to the wardrobe to find his pajamas.
Inside one cabinet, I saw a beautiful box that I had never noticed before. Curious, I opened it and saw a very lovely necklace with a shining blue sapphire surrounded by small diamonds.
Tomorrow is our third wedding anniversary, and the thought made me feel excited. Could this be Bradley’s surprise gift for me?
JAMES'S POV“When did Marcus talk to you about the rock?” I asked. Lily's fingers immediately closed tighter around it. The change in her face made me regret how serious my voice had sounded. Aria noticed too and quickly moved to sit beside her.“You're not in trouble, baby,” Aria said. “Nobody is angry with you. We just need to understand why Marcus knew about your brave rock.” Lily looked at me, then at her mother. “It was when I had to visit him. One of those times someone stayed in the room with us.”I remembered the supervised visits. Aria had hated every single one. “What happened?” I asked more gently. Lily looked down at the smooth grey stone in her palm. “He saw it in my backpack and asked where I got it.”“And what did you tell him?” Aria asked. “That you gave it to me after my bad school day.” Lily frowned. “The day I cried in the bathroom because everyone already had friends.”Aria's face softened. I remembered that story. Lily had come home convinced her entire school lif
ARIA'S POV“I'm sorry, can you say that name again?” I pressed my phone closer to my ear. James was watching me from the couch. “Natalia's son? You mean Caleb?”“Yes, Miss Laurent. Caleb is the third beneficiary we've identified.” I sat down slowly. The investigator explained that Caleb's code had been created shortly after his birth and followed the same structure as Lily's and Noah's.“Does Natalia know?” I asked. “Not yet. We're still verifying the trust records, and we don't want to contact every beneficiary until we understand what these codes control.” I frowned. “Her son's name is attached to disputed money. She deserves to know.”James shook his head slightly. I gave him a look. “What?” He waited until I ended the call before speaking. “If you tell Natalia now, you may also be telling Marcus something the investigators don't want him to know.”“You really think Marcus doesn't know?” I asked. James sighed. “No. His behaviour suggests he knows at least part of it. But we don't k
ARIA'S POV“You wanted to adopt Lily?” I stared at James. For a few seconds, that was all I could say. Out of everything I had learned this week, this was the one thing my mind couldn't seem to process. “You actually asked your attorney about adopting my daughter?”“I asked a question, Aria. That's all.” James spoke quickly. “I never started anything. I never filled out papers, and I would never speak to Lily about adoption without talking to you first.”“When?” I asked. “When did you ask?” James glanced at his attorney before looking back at me. “After Lily called me her father for the first time.”My chest tightened. “That was before Marcus came back with the parental claim.” James nodded. I looked away because suddenly I was remembering those horrible weeks. I had been terrified Marcus would force his way back into Lily's life, while James had quietly been wondering if there was a way to make himself legally responsible for her.Then the anger came. “You still didn't tell me.” Jame
JAMES'S POV“You're lying.” I looked at Marcus across the table. “Lily had no connection to my father. He died years before I met Aria, so don't sit there and tell me he created some file on her daughter.”Marcus didn't even blink. “That's exactly why Noah was disturbed by it.” He picked up his phone again. “Your father was already dead. You hadn't met Aria. Yet Lily's name is in a Cross family document.”“Show me.” I held out my hand. Marcus opened the photograph Noah had sent him three months earlier and placed the phone on the table. The image wasn't perfect, but I could read enough.Aria moved closer to me. Her full name appeared first. Beneath it was Lily's full name, followed by a beneficiary code and a percentage I didn't immediately understand. I read the page twice. “This could have been altered.”“That's what I thought,” Marcus said. “I've spent three months comparing it with old Valère records. Same trust number. Same formatting. Same administrator's signature.”I enlarged
CHAPTER 4MercyBradley held my arms very hard. His fingers pressed into my skin. It felt like he was holding a stranger, not his wife. His face was dark with anger, like he did not know me anymore.His grip hurt so much. My bones felt weak, like they could break. I did not know what he was thinkin
CHAPTER 3“I gave you this job! We spent millions on this movie, and now the audience says the story is confusing. On top of that, the lead actress is involved in scandals and people are complaining!” My father shouted loudly in his big office.“Fix it!” he yelled again while throwing papers at me
CHAPTER 2To calm my mind, I tried not to think too much about what I had just heard about Mayra coming back.I went back to my house chores, trying to focus on cleaning. A few hours later, Mrs. Thompson’s daughter came by with her three children. The kids ran happily across the shiny floor and jum
CHAPTER 1“Did you ever, even for one moment, think you could love me?” Mercy asked softly, her voice full of hope as she looked at Bradley’s hard and serious face.“Don’t make me laugh, Mercy. Everything between us was only for pleasure and business.”With a sad heart, she signed the divorce paper












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