All Chapters of The Househusband Strikes Back: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

I stood pressed against the hallway wall. The sounds coming from the room where Nancy Cooper and her assistant were kept getting louder.The low, mournful music of the memorial still lingered at the far end of the corridor, but behind this door, the atmosphere felt completely different. It was heavy, intimate, and undeniably wrong."Oh, right. Those board members still won't sign the contract?""Don't even get me started," Nancy said, lowering her voice, irritation seeping through her every word. "Joshua may have stepped back, but those old fossils only listen to him, not me. Once I get that contract, I'm getting rid of every last one of them."Her assistant, Gilbert Shaw, let out a quiet laugh, his tone light and suggestive."Hey, don't be mad, babe. How about letting your 'husband' help you relax a little?"Soft laughter followed, the kind that did not belong anywhere near a funeral.A gust of wind slipped through the hallway, nudging the half-closed door open just a crack mor

Chapter 2

I watched as Calvin clung tightly to Gilbert, crying as if his world had just fallen apart and he had been wronged in the worst possible way.At that moment, it struck me that the two of them and Nancy looked more like a real family together, while I was nothing more than an outsider.An icy laugh slipped out of me as I raised the phone I had just taken from Calvin."Who gave him this phone?"Gilbert lifted his chin, his face full of contempt. "I did. Got a problem with that?"I shoved the phone hard back into his hands. "He's a kid. He doesn't know better. But what about you? You're an adult, so what's your excuse?"Gilbert let out a mocking laugh. "It's just a game. Why are you making such a big deal out of it? I get that you're in a bad mood, but he's still young. He needs some space."That was it. I could not hold it in anymore. I stepped toward him, anger boiling over.However, before I could get close, Nancy blocked my path."Joshua, are you done making a scene? If you'r

Chapter 3

Nancy went missing for several days and did not reappear until the day my mother's body was scheduled for cremation. Luis showed up with her at his side, not so much bringing her as escorting her. She looked completely unwilling, nothing like before, as if she could not even be bothered to pretend to care about me anymore.I had stepped away to the restroom when I happened to run into them, father and daughter, talking in a quiet corner."Dad, how much longer do I have to put up with this?" Nancy complained."What's the rush?" Luis shot back. "Did you forget how you used to beg me, skipping meals and everything, just so I'd help you marry Joshua?"Nancy let out an icy laugh. "I did love him, once. But I loved the version of him who controlled everything and stood at the top. Not this man who spends all day circling the kitchen."She gave him a dismissive glance. "Just look at him now. Does he even look like a man anymore? All he does is cook and eat. He's driving me insane.""E

Chapter 4

After I finished taking care of everything, I did not wait for Nancy to come looking for me. I turned and left the company.That afternoon, Calvin’s school was holding a parent-child sports day.No one knew how I had painfully confronted the truth of not being Calvin’s real dad over the past few days, going over every old memoryWhen I was alone, I kept going through old photographs and videos of him as a baby, looking at them again and again.I was the one who changed his diaper for the first time after he was born. Night after night, I woke up to his cries, getting up over and over to make formula, feed him, and carry him around the room, gently patting his back to help him burp.Back then, Nancy could barely take care of herself, let alone a baby. I poured all my energy into taking care of both of them. Between Calvin and me, there were too many memories, too many bonds for me to ever let go.However, somewhere along the way, things changed.My son started looking toward the

Chapter 5

Nancy sat on the couch, picking up her phone every minute to check it. When she saw there was still no reply from me, she ran a hand through her hair, irritation written all over her face.The truth was, she had lied to me.She had not gone back to her parents' house at all. She had taken our son and gone straight to Gilbert's place.Her distraction did not go unnoticed. Gilbert saw everything. A faint smile curved at the corner of his lips as he stepped forward, grabbed her by the shoulders, and pulled her into a kiss.Nancy was caught completely off guard.Calvin saw it and quickly covered his eyes. "Mom, Dad, that's embarrassing. I can't look!"Nancy shoved Gilbert away and wiped her lips hard with the back of her hand.Gilbert's expression darkened, but with the child there, he held back.He stood up, picked Calvin up in his arms, and looked at him with pride.“I’ve gotta admit, Joshua really knows how to raise a kid." He smirked. "I should thank him for raising my son s

Chapter 6

Nancy suddenly remembered something.The first time she met me was not at the Cooper family home. It had been at the Lawson family house.Back then, she had accidentally knocked over a cake my mother had made. Luis did not hesitate to raise his hand and slap her hard across the face.He scolded her in front of everyone, humiliating her completely. She could only hide in a corner, crying quietly by herself.Then, I appeared out of nowhere. I took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the tears from her face.That handkerchief… She kept it carefully all the way up until before our wedding.However, after we got married…I showed her too much of the good life. Slowly, she grew restless. She lost herself in the comfort, in the luxury, and forgot that what she had back then was something no amount of material possessions could ever replace."Mom, are we going home to find Dad?" Calvin asked."Yeah," Nancy replied softly. "But your dad is probably still mad at us. How about we buy him

Chapter 7

Luis was useless when it came to work, and he drank too much. Even worse, he turned violent when he was drunk.Every time he lost control, Nancy was the one he hit.Back then, she had no choice but to endure it.Until the day I saw it happen.I pulled her into my arms and shielded her as Luis's belt lashed across my back again and again. Afterward, he kept apologizing and begging for my forgiveness, even whipping himself with the same belt.I agreed to forgive him, but only on one condition: from that day on, he was never to lay a hand on Nancy again. Since he was so eager to work with me, I used that to my advantage to secure a portion of the Cooper family's shares for her.Luis was never cut out for business. Everything he touched ended in failure, gradually draining the Cooper family's wealth to the brink of ruin.That was when he set his sights on me.As for Gilbert…He was never anything more than a thrill Nancy chose for herself. Her life looked glamorous on the surface,

Chapter 8

Cold sweat broke out all over Gilbert's body. He stiffly lowered his head and looked at the fruit knife stabbed into his leg. Fear slowly spread across his eyes."Nancy, have you lost your mind? What did I ever do to you?!" he screamed in pain. Blood quickly soaked through his pants and dripped onto the floor.However, Nancy remained calm. She simply picked up his phone.She had already gone through everything on it while he had been unconscious.That was when she saw how he had been provoking me behind her back.Hatred burned in her eyes as she looked at him. "I told you not to mess with him. Why didn't you listen?"She twisted the knife.Gilbert let out another scream.Whether it was from pain or anger, his eyes turned red as he shouted back at her, "You're my woman! Calvin is my son! What right does he have to take everything? What's wrong with me wanting to prove what belongs to me?"Slap!Nancy struck him hard across the face."What are you, exactly?" she snapped. "Just

Chapter 9

Love?Using that word to describe my feelings toward Nancy felt almost ridiculous.I shook my head and let out a quiet laugh into the phone. "Getting back at her and her father is just because they owe me. It’s nothing more.""Exactly," my friend said. "There are plenty of good women out there. Who does she think she is? Like you could only ever want her."After hanging up, I planned to call it a night and head home early. However, right outside the hotel, I ran into a woman being harassed by a drunk.After everything I had been through, I had learned one thing: stay out of other people's business.Just as I walked past, she caught my sleeve, catching me off guard. When I turned, I met her eyes, glassy with unshed tears. "Please help me."I pressed my lips together, then stepped forward and kicked the drunk aside."Thank you. Please take me home," she said, still holding onto me, refusing to let go.I could not help but laugh a little at how bold she was. For some reason, I di

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