Semua Bab I Gave Her a Fortune, She Gave My Parents Lies: Bab 1 - Bab 9

The dining table had gone silent."Son, come with me."Mom led me to the backyard and pushed open the storage shed. In the corner, more than a dozen cases of identical premium liquor bottles sat stacked neatly. Some of the boxes were already damp and moldy, while others were covered in spiderwebs.These were the New Year gifts I had asked my wife, Zoe Steele, to arrange over the past three years."Wh-What is all this?" My voice came out hoarse. My throat was tight.Mom sighed. "The first year you sent them back, your father was thrilled. He called your uncles over to celebrate with a drink."But the moment he poured the liquor, everyone's face fell. Your father refused to believe it. He insisted his taste was off and opened another bottle. The result was the same."She was crying again. "After that, every New Year and holiday, you kept sending liquor back. Your father was terrified of hurting you, of embarrassing you in front of everyone, so he never said a word."He hid all th

I watched them walk away, laughing and chatting as they headed out to grab breakfast. After taking a deep breath, I pulled on a mask and hat before slipping out of the car.My in-laws lived in one of those old walk-up buildings where the walls were paper-thin. I crept through the entrance and ducked into the corner landing between the first and second floors.Piles of junk cluttered the space and gave me the perfect cover while still letting me hear everything happening upstairs.A neighbor's voice drifted down, thick with envy. "Your son-in-law is really something special. I saw all those things he brought up last night. All that liquor and those cigarettes must've cost a fortune."I held my breath and strained to hear more."You better believe it!" My mother-in-law Linda Kirk's voice shot up an octave, barely containing her pride."That's premium aged liquor! They're probably 3,000 dollars a bottle! Caden bought two whole cases because he said spoiling us shouldn't be done half

Zoe's lips trembled, but no sound came out."Stop talking nonsense!"Caden saw that I had rattled her and reached out to shove me. He started cursing at me. "Get out! Didn't you hear me? Zoe doesn't want to see you!"You broke loser, you can't even afford holiday gifts, and you have the nerve to cause a scene here?"The moment his hand touched my collar, I moved.The past few years of managing construction sites had toughened me up. I worked in an office, but I dealt with rough contractors every day. I was definitely much stronger than this pampered pretty boy. He was no match for me.I caught his wrist, twisted it down, and applied pressure. Caden let out a scream like a trapped pig. His face turned purple, and sweat dripped down his forehead."It hurts! Let go! Let go!"I stared at him coldly while tightening my grip. "Broke loser? Caden, open your damn eyes and take a good look."My other hand yanked at his tie. "That Armani suit you're wearing? 1,800 bucks."Those sneaker

Zoe's shameless speech left every relative in the room stunned into silence. The fact that she could justify cheating on her husband with such conviction was almost impressive.I watched her little performance and felt nothing but contempt. "But Zoe, your so-called true love thinks you're worthless."I pulled out my phone and opened an audio file. I had recorded their conversation in the stairwell yesterday, but that wasn't what I planned to play.What I had was something even better. I had paid someone to dig through Caden's text thread with his friends and found a recording that would blow everything wide open. It captured Caden bragging to his friends at a bar after he'd had too much to drink.I turned the volume all the way up. Through the noisy background music, Caden's sleazy, smug voice came through crystal clear."Hey, Caden, how's that sugar mama of yours doing these days?""Man, don't even get me started! She's a complete idiot!" His voice dripped with contempt and mock

After I wrapped up the mess, I sold the apartment in the city that was filled with nothing but lies and betrayal. I took a hit on the renovation costs, but I didn't care.I used the money to buy a spacious place in a new development closer to my parents. The neighborhood was nice with clean air, and most importantly, it was near home.At work, getting rid of the dead weight of that marriage freed me up completely. I volunteered for the company's most challenging project.Six months later, the project finished successfully, and my excellent performance earned me a promotion to regional director. My salary doubled.However, instead of desperately saving money to impress someone, I learned to spend it on myself and my parents.Six months after that, I met Wren Calder on a hiking trip organized by friends. She was an elementary school teacher with a gentle, quiet demeanor. When she smiled, her whole face lit up.She didn't care that I was divorced or whether I drove a luxury car or w