Chapter 4
After the interview, I stepped out of the Peak Group building. The sunlight was blinding.
I had no idea what the result would be, but I knew I'd taken the first step.
When I got home, Hardy had already gone to the office.
Jenny, our housekeeper, was busy cleaning.
She paused when she saw me in a suit. "Mrs. Smith, why are you..."
"Just went out to take care of something," I replied casually.
Later that afternoon, I was reading in the study when Hardy came home.
He looked sullen as he walked in.
He walked straight over to me and tossed his phone onto the table.
On the screen was a photo of me leaving the Peak Group building that morning.
The angle was tricky, like someone had snapped it without me noticing.
My heart sank.
"You went to Peak Group?" His voice was cold, nothing like his usual gentle tone.
I didn't deny it. "Yeah."
"What for?"
"An interview."
Hardy let out an angry laugh.
He reached out, grabbed my chin, and forced me to look up at him.
His eyes were icy and mocking, a look I'd never seen from him before. "An interview? Yolanda, did you forget who you are?"
He leaned in close, his voice low and deliberate. "My wife needs to go out and work?
"Are you running out of money? Or do you think what I give you isn't enough?
"Listen up, just stay home, behave yourself, and play your role as my wife.
"Don't go out and embarrass me."
Embarrassing him. Those words burned into my mind like red-hot needles, piercing straight through.
So, in his eyes, me trying to find a job for myself was nothing but embarrassing him.
Hardy's grip on my chin was so tight that it hurt, and my brows furrowed in pain.
But I didn't struggle. I just looked at him with a calm gaze. This was the man I'd loved for seven years, the one I once believed I could trust with my whole life.
There was no trace of the indulgence or tenderness he used to show me.
All that remained was offended anger and a sense of superiority, a need to control.
"Hardy, I just want to find a job," I said, my voice steady. "I can't keep living like this."
"What kind of life are you living?" He sneered, releasing his grip on my chin. "Haven't I taken care of you? Everything you eat, wear, and use is the finest.
"Yolanda, don't be ungrateful."
He looked down at me as if I were an unreasonable child acting out. "I give you the best life. All you have to do is enjoy it. Work? That's not something you should be doing.
"Just behave, and I promise you'll have a life better than anyone else's."
I looked at Hardy and suddenly felt a wave of pity. For him, and for myself.
He didn't understand what I wanted at all. Or rather, he simply didn't care.
All he ever wanted was an incompetent trophy wife, someone completely dependent on him, someone he could control. And that was exactly what I was for five years.
"What if I insist?" I asked.
Hardy's expression turned stone cold. His eyes were icy. "I told you, I won't allow that."
He pulled out his phone and dialed right in front of me. The call connected almost instantly. "Hello, Mr. Sanders? It's Hardy. I want to ask about a candidate for Peak Group's recruitment."
My heart immediately jumped into my throat.
He was calling a top executive at Peak Group.
What was he planning?
Hardy went on, "Yes, her name is Yolanda Jenkins. She's my wife.
"She submitted her resume without thinking. Sorry for the trouble.
"Honestly, she doesn't have any real skills. She's been a housewife for years, and she's just fooling around.
"Please let HR know there's no need to consider her."
With a few words, Hardy casually killed my chance, without even giving me a chance to explain myself.
After hanging up, he tossed his phone back onto the table.
He looked at me with a look of triumph in his eyes. "Happy now?"
My hands were clenched into fists at my sides, my nails digging deep into my palms.
I didn't feel any pain. All I felt was a chill, starting from my feet and creeping all the way up through my body.
This was my husband.
He could ruthlessly cut off every way out I had while saying he loved me.
With his power and connections, he could destroy the opportunity I'd struggled so hard to earn, all with barely any effort.
I looked at Hardy and suddenly laughed. "Hardy, what are you so afraid of?"
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You're afraid I'll break out of this cage. You're afraid I'll find myself again, that I won't need you anymore, that you'll lose your grip on me.
"This is how you prove you're powerful. To show me that without you, I'm nothing."
My words struck a nerve.
His face turned sullen. "You're unbelievable."
He tossed out those words and turned to leave.
"Wait a minute," I called out.
He turned back, looking at me with obvious impatience.
I walked up to him, looking up at him. "Hardy, let's talk."
"There's nothing to talk about," he said.
"Let's talk about money."
The word "money" made him pause.
He turned around, crossed his arms, and looked at me with sarcasm. "So, you finally figured it out? How much do you want? Name your price."
To him, every bit of resistance I showed would always boil down to money.
As long as he threw enough cash my way, I'd turn docile again.
"We've been married for five years," I said firmly, locking eyes with him. "According to the law, everything we've accumulated during our marriage gets split fifty-fifty.
"Your company shares might have been yours before we tied the knot, but the profits and growth over these five years? Legally, I'm entitled to a share of that, too."
For the first time, Hardy was stunned. He looked like he'd just heard the most ridiculous joke ever.
"Yolanda, do you realize what you're saying?" he shot back.
"I know exactly what I'm saying," I replied calmly. "I'm stating the facts. This wealth is always rightfully mine.
"I didn't care before, because I thought as a couple, yours was mine, too.
"But now, I understand.
"Only what I hold in my own hands is really mine."
"So, Hardy," I said, my eyes cold as ice, "cash out my share for me."