All Chapters of I AGREED TO MY HUSBAND'S OPEN MARRIAGE RULES: Chapter 151 - Chapter 160

189 Chapters

CHAPTER 143

STACY'S POVThe silence in our bedroom stretched, thin and sharp as glass. His hands were a mess. I’d known, of course. Davis had sent a curt update hours ago. Secured the target. I’d lain here in the dark, waiting, my heart a frantic bird against my ribs. Now I watched him, standing in the doorway like a stranger caught in the light.“Where were you?” My voice didn’t sound like mine.He looked down at his hands, then back at me. A war played out on his face—the lie, the easy excuse, warring with something heavier. He sighed, a rough, tired sound. “The warehouse on Dock 12.”I let the words hang. He’s telling me. “And?”“And I caught David. He’s… secured. I wanted to teach him a lesson. A permanent one.” His jaw worked. He took a step into the room, the light catching the purpling bruises, the split skin. “I lost my temper.”A strange relief flooded me, hot and immediate. He wasn’t hiding it. He was giving me the ugly truth, raw and bloody. I pushed the covers back and swung my legs o

CHAPTER 144

STACY'S POVThe elevator doors sighed open onto a penthouse floor so quiet it felt like a tomb. Plush, charcoal-gray carpet, abstract art that cost more than my first car, and a wall of glass showing the city sprawled below. My heels sank into the carpet, muffling my steps. No more quiet. No more avoiding. The receptionist had scurried off, pale-faced, after announcing me. Now, it was just the imposing oak door at the end of the hall.I didn’t knock. I turned the heavy brass handle and walked in.His office was a monument to masculine ego. Dark wood, leather, the smell of cigars and arrogance. Robert Vance—the CEO of Verge Dynamics, the man pulling David’s strings—sat behind a vast desk, pretending to be engrossed in a tablet. He didn’t look up immediately. A power play. How pathetic.I stopped in front of his desk, not taking the offered chair. I waited.He finally glanced up, his expression one of mild, bored annoyance. “Ms. Sotheby. I wasn’t aware we had an appointment.” His voice

CHAPTER 145

MIACHEL'S POVThe silence in the car was a physical thing, thick and heavy. I watched Stacy’s sedan turn into the parking garage of the Verve Dynamics building, my fingers tight on the steering wheel. She thinks she’s alone. The thought was a splinter under my skin. I’d seen the set of her jaw this morning, that fierce, stubborn light in her eyes. She had a plan. She always had a plan. But plans against men like Robert Vance were made of tissue paper.I hadn’t told her I’d follow. If I had, she would have argued. She would have seen it as me not trusting her. This wasn’t about trust. This was about the cold, hard fact that the world contained predators, and my wife was walking into a den of them. David’s cousin, his allies… they wouldn’t play by her rules. They’d just take.So I’d been quiet. I’d slipped the tiny listening device into the inner pocket of her handbag while she was in the shower. The guilt was a sour taste in my mouth, but it was drowned out by a sharper, more primal fe

CHAPTER 146

STACY'S POVThe hot water from the shower did little to wash away the strange, heavy feeling clinging to my skin. It wasn’t fear. Not anymore. Standing under the spray, I let myself feel it—the solid, unshakable weight of Michael’s protection. It was more than a man defending his wife. It was a fortress being built around a part of me I’d thought was broken forever.For years with Matt, I was an accessory. A thing to be polished, displayed, and then ignored in a corner. His family, my so-called family, treated me like a faulty appliance. Too quiet. Too barren. Too much. And when I was finally used up, they discarded me. No one came looking. Why would they? The quiet, broken wife had no value.I turned off the water, the silence of our bathroom a comfort. Wrapping myself in a thick towel, I caught my reflection in the foggy mirror. My eyes held a new hardness. If they knew, I thought, a bitter twist in my stomach. If Helen and George ever found out about the money, the company, this li

CHAPTER 147

STACY'S POVThe car door felt like a cage. I couldn’t move. My fingers were frozen on the seatbelt buckle, my eyes locked on the two figures standing by our gate. Helen’s tweed suit looked expensive, stiff. George’s bulk blocked the light from the streetlamp. A part of me—the old me, the quiet wife—wanted to shrink back, to hide. That part was screaming: They found you. You’re not safe.But a bigger part, a newer, harder part, just sat there and stared. How? That was the only question swirling in my head. Not why are they here, but how did they find me? I’d built a new life like a fortress. Michael’s name, our company, our home… it wasn’t public knowledge. It was protected. Someone had to have leaked it. Someone had dug deep and handed them a map to my door.Michael was already out of our car, his posture straight, his steps slow and deliberate as he approached them. He didn’t look back at me. He was putting himself between them and our home. Between them and me.I forced my fingers t

CHAPTER 148 PART 1

STACY'S POVThe sting on my cheek was a firebrand. It pulsed, hot and sharp, spreading through my face like poison. My ears rang. My vision blurred for a second. But the pain wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was the look on her face—Helen’s face. That cold, smug satisfaction. She’d done it. She’d marked me. Just like she’d always wanted to.Michael moved. A blur of dark motion. I felt the air shift as he stepped forward, his body tensing like a spring ready to snap. His hand shot out, not toward Helen, but toward me, to pull me back, to shield me. His face… I saw it in the periphery. A mask of pure, lethal fury. If he touched her, he’d break her.No.My own hand flew up, grabbing his wrist before he could reach her. My fingers dug into his skin. “Stop,” I said, my voice raspy, shaky. “Michael, stop.”He froze, his eyes snapping to mine. The rage in them was terrifying. “Stacy, she—”“I can handle this,” I said, forcing the words out through the tremble in my throat. I held his ga

CHAPTER 148 PART 2

STACY'S POV“You did stop it,” I mumbled, my voice muffled against him. “You stopped them from staying. You stopped them from thinking they could win.” I clutched at his sides, holding onto him like he was the only solid thing in a world that had just shifted. “I needed to say it. I needed to tell them.”“You did,” he said. His voice was rough with emotion. “You were incredible. You stood there and you told them everything. You showed them how strong you are.”The words were a balm, but the tears wouldn’t stop. They were coming from a place so deep inside, a reservoir of hurt I’d kept locked for years. “They never loved me,” I whispered, the truth finally spoken aloud to someone who would hear it. “They never even liked me. I was just… a tool.”His arms tightened. “You’re not a tool. You’re everything. To me. To this life we’re building.” He kissed the top of my head. “They’re ghosts. They’re nothing. They can’t touch you anymore.”I nodded, but the crying wouldn’t stop. It was like a

CHAPTER 149

STACY'S POVThe house felt too quiet after they left. Too still. I sat on the sofa, the cool cloth Michael had pressed to my cheek now warm in my hand. I stared at the dark window, seeing nothing but my own reflection—a woman with a red mark on her face and eyes that looked hollowed out.I couldn’t believe it. The thought kept circling, a dull, angry throb in my head. They abandoned me years ago. They gave me to Matt like a package and forgot I existed. And now, when my life is finally good, when I have something they can’t touch, they show up. Not to say sorry. Not to ask if I’m okay. To demand money. To slap me. To tell me I’m still the same weak girl.A bitter laugh choked in my throat. Weak? I’d survived Matt. I’d built a company. I’d married a man who actually saw me. But to them, I was just a failed daughter who’d finally gotten lucky.Michael was sitting beside me, his body a solid, warm presence. He’d been silent for a while, just letting me stare. Now, his hand came to my bac

CHAPTER 150

STACY'S POVI saw them through the window. Same car. Same tweed suit. Same grim face. My stomach clenched, a hard knot of dread and anger. They’re back. They didn’t even wait a day.Michael was already moving toward the front door, his body tense, ready for battle.“Wait,” I said, my voice coming out sharper than I meant. I grabbed his arm. “Don’t go out. Let me handle this. By myself.”He stopped, turning to look at me. His eyes were dark, concerned. “Why? They’re here to cause trouble. You don’t need to face them alone.”“I’m embarrassed,” I whispered, the admission hurting. “I’m embarrassed that they’re here. That they’re my… that they’re doing this. I don’t want you to see it. I don’t want you to be part of this mess.”He shook his head, a slow, firm movement. His hand came up, cupping my cheek, his thumb brushing over the faint bruise Helen had left. “Stop trying to hide things from me, Stacy. This is not your fault. None of this is your fault. You didn’t ask for them. You didn’t

CHAPTER 151

MIACHEL'S POVThe morning light did nothing to soften them. Helen and George stood outside our gate like two statues carved from spite. I watched from the window, my hand resting on Stacy’s back. She was trembling, but her spine was straight. I couldn’t believe the kind of people who were around her.The thought burned in my head. Her entire life. Matt, a sadistic bastard. These two, her so-called parents, who traded her like stock and forgot her. She got away, built herself from nothing in a city where she knew no one. And now they show up, hands out, wanting to drain her? It was a sick joke. I’d underestimated her suffering. I thought she’d left it behind. But ghosts don’t stay buried.“Let me handle it,” she whispered, her voice thin. I looked at her. The bruise on her cheek was faint, a shadow of yesterday’s slap. Her eyes held a stubborn fire, but also a deep, old shame. She was embarrassed for me. Thought I’d be annoyed by her messy past.“Never,” I said, my voice low. “This is

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