Chapter 1
My husband keeps an outstandingly capable and beautiful female director by his side.
From the company's startup to the bell-ringing ceremony at the stock exchange, that woman was with him through every glorious moment of his career.
But I just spent my days at home taking care of the kids, tutoring them with homework, and washing dishes and pots.
Even the shining highlights of my husband's life reached me only through TV and news reports. My best friend couldn't stand watching this any longer; she scolded me, frustrated.
She said, "How can you put up with this? That woman even refers to herself as 'Mrs. Villa' in front of reporters!"
"It's been ten years—even if you're head-over-heels in love, you should snap out of it by now!" she continued.
Upon hearing my friend's angry words, I merely traced the rim of my red wine glass calmly.
Indeed, it had already been ten years. I never thought so much time had passed.
But the result was good—those two lovebirds had finally taken my company public.
If that's the case, then at this upcoming shareholders' meeting, it's high time to remove my husband from his position as chairman.
And that woman, who was about to be promoted from director to chief operating officer, would end up miserably, too.
*****
Right before the shareholders' meeting was set to kick off, my husband, Richard Villa, finally came back home.
The second my daughter, Sophie Villa, heard the door click open, she darted toward Richard, all excited, like a little bunny.
She wrapped her arms around his legs, grinning his name.
Richard lifted Sophie up and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I've missed you so much, my sweet girl," he said.
After that, he rubbed his beard against her a few times—got her giggling up a storm before setting her back down on the floor.
Once that was done, he wandered over to me, soft in his manner. "You've had a long day, Evelyn," he said.
He always talked like that—polite, warm, and calm. Whenever he was home, he put on this perfect family man act.
But I knew how full of himself he'd gotten in the month after ringing the bell at the stock exchange and how he'd lost ten million dollars gambling.
He'd dropped fifty million dollars on a fancy downtown apartment for the executive director, Olivia Hayes, right in the best part of the city.
He even bought luxury villas and nice cars for Olivia's family—her parents and little brother included.
If he hadn't been wasting my money like that, I never would've thought about hiring a professional manager to take his place.
After all, he and Olivia were actually pretty useful. Both of them were total pros at work—driven, ambitious, really dedicated to their careers.
I've never been able to handle those difficult things. The worst hardship I ever went through was Richard cheating on me, and I only moped about it for three whole days.
But after those three days, I started seeing Richard as nothing more than a perfect money-making tool. I own 48% of his company through an anonymous buyout—plus the 3% he gave me when we got married.
That was a huge chunk of money. Our love had gone, but the cash was still mine. So it was not all that bad, I guessed.
Just as I was zoning out in those thoughts, Richard suddenly furrowed his brows a little.
"You still jealous of Olivia, huh? Evelyn, you can't have it all," he said. "I give you a fancy life, a laid-back one too—you can't go expecting me to be totally loyal to you on top of that."
He's always been this unapologetic about it. Even five years back, when I brought him homemade cakes to his office and walked in on him kissing Olivia all intimate-like—he was just as bold and unrepentant then.
After he told Olivia to head out of the office, he poured me a cup of coffee, nice and calm.
He said, "Evelyn, we had a college romance. Then, we dated for four years and have been married for five. I truly loved you back then, and I still do now.
"But you gotta understand—I'm a guy, I got special needs. I'm on business trips half the year. You can't expect me to hold it in all the time, can you?"
"I got money, I got needs, and Olivia's into me—plus she's super capable. Since I use her skills, it's not a big deal if I use her body too, right?"
"You're just too greedy. You wanna hog the easy life I give you, and you wanna hog my body all to yourself, too.
"You even wanna hog that same crazy love I had for you when we were young—like I'd die for you. C'mon, we're adults now. No need to be so perfectionist about it."
That was the first time I heard Richard break down human nature, specifically, the rotten parts guys have in them. The shock of it hit me so hard that I passed out on my way home from his office.
When they took me to the hospital, they found out I was pregnant. This baby was such a miracle—I'd done three years of IVF to get her. I couldn't bear to have an abortion.
But during those ten months I was pregnant, Richard played the perfect husband at home while taking Olivia to trip all around the world.
That's when it clicked for me. If everything was about money, then I would just make Richard a money-making machine.
I pushed down that faint, stabbing pain that popped up in my chest, then just smiled softly. I walked over and helped Richard slip off his tie.
"Come on, what're you saying?" I said. "She's just a good friend who looks out for you. Why would I be jealous of Ms. Hayes?"
"She's so capable—graduated from a top American university," I added. "She can help you lock down deals out there, keep the company running smoothly in here. I'm already so thankful she takes such good care of you. Jealous? Never."
Richard's face lit up with a soft smile right away, all because of what I said. He reached out and pinched my earlobe—that's always been his favorite little thing to do when we're together.
But after I found out he liked to do the same thing to Olivia, every time he did that to me made my skin crawl.