Chapter 2
"Wait, just hear me out..." Marlon tried to explain.
But before he could finish, Kate yanked his arm, making it clear he was hers.
"You two are already divorced. What's left to explain?" Kate said coldly.
"Joselyn, Mr. Bartlett will pay child support for Nancy. Stop embarrassing yourself by clinging to him," another woman sneered.
I stared straight into Marlon's eyes.
It was really time for us to get divorced.
Marlon shook off Kate's hand and took my arm, leading me out.
"Let's talk outside. Kate's late in her pregnancy. Don't scare her," he said.
Kate slipped on some broken porcelain, lost her balance, and crashed to the floor, grabbing onto Marlon's pant leg.
"Honey, my belly..." she cried out, her voice trembling with fear.
Marlon's face went pale with panic as he hurriedly scooped her up.
"Don't be scared, Kate. I'll get you to the hospital," he said, his voice shaking.
His elbow slammed into me, and a jolt of pain shot through my lower back.
I cried out. The pain was just too much.
Marlon instinctively glanced back at me. "Joselyn..."
But Kate whimpered softly, cutting him off.
Seeing the agony on her face, Marlon's expression twisted with worry as he hurried even faster.
As I stepped outside, Bianca rushed over and steadied me.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine," I replied.
Bianca held up her phone, showing me a chat window.
"I think he's been secretly moving money around. I asked my brother to look into it," she said.
Her brother was a lawyer.
I nodded and thanked her, then sent over the video I'd just recorded.
"That woman's name is Kate Marshall. She was Nancy's former art teacher. Can you ask your brother to draft a divorce agreement for me?" I said.
"Come on, I'll take you home," Bianca said.
She told me I was in no shape to drive and insisted on getting me home herself. After that, she went to pick up Nancy and had her stay over at her place for a couple of days.
Her brother was lightning fast. As soon as I got home, he'd already sent over all the info he'd found.
Every house and car registered to Kate was bought by Marlon, and with all the money he'd wired her, it totaled about 25 million dollars.
A year ago, Marlon told me there were issues at the branch office and he needed to be there a lot.
But it was all a lie. He was just keeping Kate as his mistress. Every time he said he was on a business trip, he was actually with her.
I immediately called the company's finance director.
"Mr. Jack Cabrera, I want the financial statements for the company and its branches for the last few years," I demanded.
"Mrs. Bartlett, those are confidential. You're not authorized to view them," Jack replied.
"I'm a shareholder!" I snapped.
There was a brief pause on the other end.
"I'll need to get Mr. Bartlett's approval. Once he signs off, I'll send them over," Jack said.
Good. Very good.
Ever since I got pregnant, I stopped paying attention to the company. My days were all about shopping, spa appointments, and looking after Nancy.
Everyone thought I'd hit the jackpot with my marriage, but even Marlon seemed to forget. I'm the company's biggest shareholder. If I wanted, I could fire him on the spot.
I started cleaning out all the stuff in the house.
I opened the closet and started yanking Marlon's clothes out, tossing them onto the floor one by one. I ripped them, stomped on them, venting my anger like a madwoman.
At the very back of the closet, a storage box caught my eye.
Inside were all the things Marlon had given me during our four years in college.
There was a tulip-shaped LED nightlight, a backpack he'd sewn by hand, a hairpin he'd designed himself, and a jar filled with little stars, each one with a sweet moment written on it.
His family wasn't well-off, so he couldn't afford expensive gifts. Most of what he gave me were things he'd made with his own hands.
I hugged them tight and just cried my heart out, not stopping until the sun came up.
The next morning, my mother-in-law, Mary, and her daughter stormed in, took one look at the chaos, and started cursing me out.
"Joselyn, are you out of your mind? You've smashed all these expensive things like they mean nothing! Do you think Marlon makes money just to watch you waste it? How did he end up with a wife who blows through cash like water? Can't give him a son, can't even keep the house in order!"
She didn't hesitate. She slapped me, hard.
"You bitch, you almost ruined my grandson!"
"You gave birth to nothing but a girl and still have the nerve to strut around in front of Kate? If you know what's good for you, divorce my son and get out of the Bartlett family!"
Marlon's sister started stuffing all the fancy health stuff from the kitchen into a bag.
"What a waste to let her have all this. Mom, let's give it all to our new sister-in-law, she's the one who should be getting stronger," Marlon's sister said.
Mary heard that and immediately rushed into the kitchen, started scooping up everything she could get her hands on.
"Exactly! Kate's the one who's really done something for this family. She should get all the good stuff," Mary chimed in.
The day I gave birth to Nancy, Mary took one look, saw it was a girl, and disappeared from our lives after that.
It wasn't even her attitude that got to me. It was the shock that Kate had actually had the baby.
"Where's Marlon?" I asked.
Mary let out a contemptuous snort.
"Of course he's with my grandson! And let me tell you, if anything happens to him, you'll be sorry!" she snapped.
Kate had a baby boy, and turns out, everyone in the family knew about her and Marlon all along. They'd been hiding it from me, like I was the last fool to find out.
Marlon finally showed up in the afternoon, looking exhausted and visibly irritated.
"My mom just took some stuff from the house, and you went and called the police? Everything here was bought with my money. Why does it matter if my mom takes it?" he said, his tone sharp.