Chapter 3

On the phone, Jason and I planned to hit up the restaurant right under Samuel's office and put on a full-blown PDA show. The goal? Get the rumor mill churning and pressure Samuel into divorcing me.

But on my way there, I got into a car accident.

The driver rear-ended me, and I ended up covered in bruises—blue and purple all over. Luckily, nothing too serious.

I swung by the mall, picked up a hat and some sunglasses to hide the bruises, then went to meet up with Jason.

Upon seeing me, Jason was visibly startled. "I never thought your husband would turn out to be such a guy! He not only forces you but also beats you," he exclaimed, a look of shock and indignation on his face.

It turned out he had completely misconstrued the situation.

But I saw an opportunity and decided to go with it.

Sniffing slightly, I began to play the part of a poor, suffering soul.

I whimpered, putting on a sad act, "He says he'll hound me for the rest of my life.

"He wants to torture me daily until I give in."

Hearing this, Jason clenched his fist and pounded the table hard. "No wonder a guy in his thirties has always been single. He's a real creep," he growled.

Curiosity got the better of me. "How do you know he's never had a girlfriend?" I asked, genuinely puzzled as this was news to me.

Jason rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I used to idolize him, so I paid quite a bit of attention to his personal life," he admitted.

That made sense. After listening to my fabricated tales of woe, Jason was thoroughly on my side, empathizing with every bit of the so-called "suffering" I described.

"Wait, so you have to get up at five every morning to do all the chores, he's forcing you to have his kid, and if you refuse, he hits you? He won't let you talk to your family, and if you fight back, he locks you in the basement, cuts off your food and water, and even makes you lick his feet and beg?" Jason asked, outrage written all over his face.

I nodded, putting on my most miserable look. "If my life wasn't this hellish, why would I even want a divorce?"

To really sell my damsel-in-distress act, Jason threw himself into the role—feeding me, wiping my mouth, hugging me like we were the hottest couple in town.

I was already catching the Rivers Group's people snapping pics of us on their phones.

Once the show was over, I was grinning from ear to ear, swinging my bag as I got ready to head home.

Stopping me in my tracks, Jason urged, "Don't go back. You'll just end up getting picked on by him."

Next thing I knew, he'd whisked me off to his place. It was a swanky mansion with three flashy cars parked out front.

I shot him a quizzical look. "With all this dough, why'd you wanna be my side chick?"

Jason went red in the face. "Well, you can never have enough money. And let's face it, you're a total stunner. You're just my cup of tea.

"Anna, if you split from your husband, can you make me your main squeeze?" he asked, his eyes hopeful.

I gave his forehead a little tap. "Don't get your hopes up. We'll talk after I'm divorced," I chided.

He grinned, all fired up. "I'm on it! Mission accepted!"

After a long day, I was beat. I crashed on the couch and grabbed my phone to play some games.

Just as I finished a round, Samuel called.

"Where are you? I'll come pick you up," he said.

Still pissed off, I retorted, "I'm at my boyfriend's place. Not a good idea for you to come over as my husband. My boyfriend would probably lose it if he saw you.

"And seriously, unless you're ready to get divorced, just don't talk to me."

There was a long silence on the other end.

After a moment, he finally spoke up, "Your parents are here.

"They were at my office for a meeting today, and they found out about everything."

Great. Now I really couldn't get out of going back.

As soon as I walked in, my dad, Ryan Brooks, slapped me hard across the face. "Everyone's talking about you and that wild guy. Don't you have any shame left?"

I wiped the blood from my mouth. "Dad, when Mom was having her second kid, your mistress and your other woman barged into the delivery room and made a huge scene. So don't even start lecturing me—I'm nothing compared to you."

Ryan tried to hit me again, but Samuel stepped in, pulling me into his arms. "Dad, this is all my fault. I upset Anna. That's why she went out to blow off some steam with her friends."

I had snuck into the company group chat and checked out those photos. The way we looked together? No way anyone would believe we were just friends.

I shot Samuel a provocative look. "So, everyone knows you're getting played for a fool. Aren't you gonna do something about it, or do you just not care?

"You keep saying you want me to have your baby, right? What if I pop out someone else's kid—would you still raise it?" I threw it right in his face.

"I would. As long as it's yours, I'll love it like my own," Samuel replied, every word firm.

Damn, this guy had no shame at all.

My mom, afraid I'd mouth off again, dragged me into my room and gave me the whole mom lecture.

"I used to let you run wild, but now you're married. Can't you tone it down a bit? And Samuel is nothing like your dad—he's actually a decent, responsible guy," she said.

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, Dad didn't cheat on you the first day you got together. You can never really tell with men. Give it enough time, even the best guys can flip on you."

Once Samuel had seen my parents out the door, I lugged a suitcase into the room and got down to packing.

He asked, "Where are you going?"

I just gave him the cold shoulder.

"Planning to move in with Jason?" he ventured, a touch of hesitation in his voice.

I didn't say no. I was on the verge of asking how he knew my boyfriend's name when he made his way to the balcony to make a call. Samuel punched in the number a few times, but all he got was the dial tone. Then he switched to a WhatsApp voice call, yet it was a dead end.

His forehead creased, and his mouth tightened into a firm line.

"What's eating you?" I inquired.

He said, "My brother blocked me."