All Chapters of Tricked Him to Free My Husband: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I clutched the letter confirming the company wouldn't press charges and ran the entire way, charging straight into the Ashbourne detention center.After completing all the paperwork, I made my way to the visitation room at the very back of the facility and finally saw my poor, unlucky husband, Nico.Nico was wearing a jail uniform. Before he'd been arrested as someone else's scapegoat, he'd been set up and attacked, leaving bruises all over his body and a split at the corner of his mouth.His normally tall, broad frame looked battered and disheveled as he sat in the metal chair.At the sound of the door opening, he struggled to raise his head. Messy hair hung over his eyes, but the moment he saw me clearly, his cracked lips moved."Honey... what are you doing here?"My eyes stung. I hurried over, cupped his face in both hands, and turned it from side to side to inspect him.Thank God. His face wasn't ruined. His features were still as handsome and rugged as ever."Enough talkin

I stood there, staring at Charis as she convulsed on the floor at my feet, completely stunned.It wasn't long before the guest room door burst open. Adrian rushed in with the family doctor and several security guards.He shoved me aside and scooped Charis off the floor, his voice trembling. "Charis! Charis, what's wrong?"Charis leaned weakly against him and pointed at me, barely managing to speak. "Adrian... Maybel said... if I died, she'd get to be Mrs. Whitaker. I feel awful..."With that, her head lolled to the side, and she passed out. The doctor hurried forward and gave her an antihistamine injection.Adrian whipped around, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at me. The look on his face made it seem like he wanted to tear me apart."Maybel!" he roared through gritted teeth. "Because you saved my life, I've given you chance after chance. I even let you stay at my estate and enjoy a life of luxury! And you're vicious enough to poison Charis?"He strode toward me and struck me ha

Maybel's POVThe sea breeze carried a faint trace of salt through Seabrook, and the sun had baked the stone-paved streets hot.I had opened a seafood restaurant on the busiest corner in town.With the savings we'd built up over years of working, we'd taken over a two-story storefront with a large yard, and life couldn't have been better.Nico's injuries had mostly healed. He'd worked in security before, so he was strong. These days, when he wasn't helping me haul seafood or fix things around the restaurant, he was constantly finding new ways to make me something delicious."Honey, take a break. Try the vanilla custard I just made."Nico came out of the kitchen carrying a white ceramic bowl. He was dressed simply in a white T-shirt today, tall and broad-shouldered. There was still a faint scar at the corner of his mouth, but if anything, it only made him look more rugged.I was sitting behind the register punching numbers into a calculator. The moment I heard him, I leaned toward

I sighed. "Mr. Whitaker, it seems you still don't understand me very well."My husband, Nico Reynolds, was framed by an executive at your company for embezzlement six months ago. He was thrown in jail and was facing a heavy sentence."I'm just a woman with no money or connections. Trying to overturn his case in Ashbourne was nearly impossible. Then, just when I'd run out of options, I happened to rescue you during the hurricane after you'd lost your memory."I paused, watching Adrian's expression gradually stiffen, then continued, "So I worked three jobs and pretended to take care of you without a single complaint."I've lived in this town for years. I'm good at reading people and situations. That thug's bottle wasn't actually going to hit you. But if I threw myself in front of you and took the hit instead, then in your mind, I'd become the woman who saved your life."Adrian looked as though he'd been struck by lightning. He stumbled half a step backward.Looking at his deathly p

Later, I heard bits and pieces about what had happened back in Ashbourne from tourists passing through town.Apparently, after Adrian returned from the coast, he became seriously ill.Once he recovered, his personality changed completely. He became a cold, ruthless workaholic, and no woman was ever seen by his side again.As for Charis, she completely lost her mind while confined to the psychiatric hospital. Every day, she screamed curses at the air, calling out my name.The executive who had framed Nico was eventually investigated after Adrian went to the police, and he ended up in prison.Nico's name was finally cleared for good. But he turned down recruiting offers from other major companies, perfectly content to run our little restaurant by the sea.The wind had died down, and the sky was streaked with the colors of sunset.Nico pulled the restaurant's rolling door halfway down and flipped the sign to "Closed".Then he came over to the register, picked up the ledger I'd jus