The Boyfriend Gift From My Husband

My wedding was just around the corner. I brought my parents and soon-to-be in-laws over to see the new place. They wandered the rooms, taking in the layout.Then came a sharp, piercing scream from the master bedroom. It wasn't my mother's voice.I set down what I was holding and rushed to the master bedroom.My parents' faces had turned ashen.I saw Raphael Lindt—shirtless, muscles tense—casually picking up a woman's bra from the floor and tossing it onto the bed.I glanced at the woman in the sheets, just her eyes peeking out. Calmly, I turned around, walked out, and shut the door behind me.After a long talk, I finally convinced my parents and future in-laws to leave.Then I sat in the living room, waiting in silence.Raphael showed no shame. His expression was blank, as if he hadn't just been caught in the middle of an affair. He was handling it well—too well.He spoke first. "This is a marriage of convenience. As long as it looks good on the surface, that's enough. You'r

Losing a bit of face in exchange for cold, hard cash? I came out ahead.After the wedding fiasco, Lindt Group's stocks dipped. His parents demanded damage control—he had to show up with me in public. We were to play the loving couple, put on a show.Raphael might be reckless, but he knew how to weigh consequences. Even when he hung out with his usual pack of rich, idle friends, he brought me along.The others followed suit, girlfriends in tow. We ended up around a poker table.Four women, one table. Everything went smoothly.But at some point, two of the men joined in.Tom took the seat across from me. Raphael sat to my right.The dynamic shifted the moment they sat down. I wasn't good at poker to begin with, and now, the pressure was heavier. The two men dominated the table.It was my turn to deal. I checked my cards, praying for a decent hand.Tom pushed two chips forward and drawled, "Raise."My stomach tightened. Before I could fold, his fingers closed over mine. He pluck

I ignored my mother-in-law's words and spent some money to get the gossip off the headlines.But trouble came in waves. Before I could catch my breath, the housekeeper rang me up. "Miss Elizabeth, your husband's mistress has been running her mouth. Said all kinds of nonsense. Got Master Ressler so upset he's fallen ill."I rushed back to my family home.My grandpa was half-reclined in bed, looking pale and worn. When he saw me, his lips pulled into a faint smile. "You came back? You've got your own problems to take care of. No need to worry about me."I sat by the bed and kept him company for a while. He'd been fragile ever since a serious illness a few years back, but he'd been maintaining his health carefully. He'd been in good health up till now because nothing too alarming had happened.Honestly, if I hadn't married Raphael, I probably would've ended up with someone just as bad—or worse. At least with Raphael, I could treat it all like a performance.Shame his mistress didn't

I had a hunch—Brie had forged Raphael's signature on the divorce papers, imitating his handwriting to the last stroke.And I'd made sure to put that right under Raphael's nose."So what?" I said calmly. "This divorce is happening."His voice turned cold. "I don't agree. You're not getting a divorce. You're still my wife. Come home now—stop messing around with some shady guy outside."He was barking. I didn't think he deserved a response.I had ways to make him sign.After washing my hands, I opened the bathroom door. Tom was waiting, eyebrows raised. "So I'm the shady guy now?"I didn't bother to answer.Seeing I wasn't in the mood for games, he straightened up. "You're not happy. I'll stop teasing. I don't like being the third wheel. The divorce will happen."I shot him a look. He looked far too pleased playing the role of the other man.Later, over dinner, Tom charmed Grandpa so thoroughly that I found myself softening toward him, just a little.Being Mrs. Lindt wasn't jus

Brie deserved it.The advice I gave Brie about getting pregnant wasn't out of goodwill.Brie was a woman from an average background, clinging to a child to climb her way up. Even if she managed to give birth, then what?The Lindt family was capable of keeping the child and discarding the mother.The path I pointed her down—it was always meant to be a dead end.Raphael came to see me once. The weariness in his face was a perfect reflection of a man drowning in bankruptcy."Never thought it would actually come to this," he said.God sees everything."If you're here to ask my family for help getting through this, don't even bother," I said flatly.He forced a bitter smile. After all he'd been through, he must have tasted every shade of bitterness of life by now."I've got nothing now," he said. "Maybe we could start over."I kept my patience. "Start over how?""Let's remarry," he said confidently. "I'll move into your home as a live-in son-in-law. It's better than being divorc