Todos os capítulos de Her Earthly World, My Cold Marriage: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

I didn't take it. "And if I refuse to sign?"Tracy Weaver froze for a moment before replying, "Then your family won't even keep what little it has left."For some punk who scribbled on walls, she was ready to write off our three-year arrangement in one stroke."Fine. I'll think about it."The moment I left the Weaver estate, I had someone look into the boy. His name was Josh Lucas.His file was short: twenty years old, a college dropout, a street artist who lived in a basement.This was the person Tracy held closest to her heart?I drove to the abandoned factory where Josh often hung out.From a distance, I spotted a boy in a tank top and ripped jeans standing at the foot of a scaffold, spraying paint onto the wall.He wasn't bad-looking, and he had a bit of a wild edge. But I could tell his painting was a mess. He was just spraying at random.Tracy had terrible taste."Watch out!" someone shouted.I looked up. The scaffold was swaying, and several buckets of paint were tum

"Tracy, you'll regret this."I stood up and, without another word, went upstairs, grabbed a few clothes, and left.I went to a bar on Omalin Street. I knew Josh was a regular there.Painting wasn't his only gig. He also dealt in illicit goods, selling them to the rich kids who hung out there.I spotted him in a booth in the corner.Less than two hours after leaving my house, he had changed clothes. A thick gold chain hung around his neck, and two women sat beside him.A guy with bleached-blond hair handed him a cigarette. "Josh, I heard you landed yourself a sugar mama?"Josh took a drag and blew out a smoke ring. "Sugar mama? She's just an old hag who's never been with a man. Tracy Weaver looks ice-cold, but she's actually dumb as a rock."I fed her some crap about 'the earthly world' and 'karmic debt,' and she bought it. Now she's set on saving me.""Damn, Josh, you're a legend! So all her family's money is basically yours?""It's only a matter of time. That useless husband

When the news reached Tracy, she was peeling an orange for Josh.Josh lounged on the couch, playing a game on his phone with his mouth open, waiting to be fed.On TV, the news anchor was reporting my death.Tracy's hand paused, and an orange slice dropped onto the carpet."Ugh, bad luck." Josh lost his game and threw his phone down. "Tracy, change the channel. It's annoying just looking at it."Tracy didn't move. She stared at the black-and-white photo on the screen."What are you looking at? The guy's dead."Josh snatched the remote and switched to a variety show."Tracy, I want a pool in the backyard. Get someone over tomorrow to build it."Tracy came back to herself, picked the orange slice up off the floor, and tossed it into the trash. "Okay."Seven days after my "death," custom called for my family to hold a memorial service for me.But Tracy had already warned the Greys not to make a fuss.That night, Tracy sat alone in the living room. Kylie urged her to go get some

Just as I expected, once Josh took my money, he started playing Tracy behind her back.He claimed he was focusing on his work, but in secret, he was out partying with my people every day.I had someone take plenty of photos and videos and sent them to Tracy anonymously.At first, she didn't believe it. She stormed into Josh's studio to confront him.Josh dropped to his knees, sobbing that I was framing him. He claimed I coveted his talent and wanted to steal him away from her.And Tracy actually believed him.She called me, her voice ice-cold. "Tom Wilder, stay away from Josh. You want the Weaver Group, don't you? I'll give it to you! Stop using these dirty tricks!"I nearly laughed out loud listening to her."Ms. Weaver, aren't you mistaken? I have no interest in your rundown company. I simply admire Josh's art.""However," I said, changing tack, "since he's so dependent on you, let's forget about the Newark exhibition."I hung up. I knew Josh would "persuade" her for me.S

Josh's scandal broke soon after.He wasn't an artist at all, just a lowlife hustler who conned women out of their money and their bodies. Even most of the work in his Parlise exhibition had been painted by ghost artists.The Weaver Group's stock price plummeted. The banks called in their loans, and the shareholders moved to oust her.Tracy was at her wit's end. She begged everyone she could for help, but no one dared to give it. Everyone knew she had crossed me, Tom Wilder.The Weaver family patriarch, Arthur Weaver, personally stepped in and invited me to dinner, but I turned him down.I only had my assistant pass along one message: "If you want the Weaver family to be safe, make Tracy leave with nothing and publish an apology in the newspaper."To save themselves, the Weavers quickly cut ties with Tracy.She was thrown out of the Weaver mansion, and all the properties and shares in her name were frozen.Overnight, she went from the high and mighty Ms. Weaver to a discarded wo