Chapter 4

I'd barely gotten three hours of sleep on the office couch when a frantic pounding on the door woke me up.

Charlotte shouted, "Michael. Open the door. Explain yourself."

It was Charlotte's voice, thick with tears and hysterical anger.

I rubbed my aching temples and walked over to open the door.

Three people stood outside.

Charlotte's eyes were red and swollen, her face streaked with tears.

Beside her were my father-in-law, Richard Summers, and mother-in-law, Linda Summers.

Richard's face was dark with anger, while Linda stood with her hands on her hips, looking like she was about to eat me alive.

Linda shouted, "You heartless bastard. What did Lottie ever do to you? How could you want a divorce?"

Her voice was sharp enough to pierce eardrums, and the moment she saw me, she started yelling, jabbing her finger right in my face.

Employees poked their heads out of their cubicles, craning their necks to watch the drama unfold.

I didn't want things to get too ugly, so I stepped aside to let them in and closed the office door behind us.

"Michael, what the hell is this supposed to mean?" Charlotte slammed her phone down on my desk, the divorce agreement right there on the screen. "All this over three dollars? Have you lost your mind?"

I looked at her, keeping my voice steady. "You've read the agreement. Sign it. You get the houses, the cars, and all the savings. I only want the company. Let's part on good terms."

"Peacefully?" Charlotte was shaking with anger. "How am I supposed to walk away peacefully? Seven years, Michael. We've been together for seven years. And you want a divorce over three dollars? Do you think I'm nothing to you?"

"You ungrateful bastard." Richard finally spoke up, slamming his hand on the desk so hard the coffee cup jumped. "Back when you had nothing, who let you marry our daughter? Now you're rich, and you want to kick Lottie to the curb? You're heartless."

I wasn't about to rehash old history with them.

Back then, I was broke, but Charlotte insisted on marrying me anyway.

I gave her everything I had when we got married.

Now, I was done talking about love.

All I wanted now was to survive.

I tried to sound as respectful as possible. "Dad, Mom, it's not like that. There's something wrong between Charlotte and me, but it has nothing to do with money. I'm the one who asked for the divorce, and I'm walking away with nothing.

"No way." Linda dropped onto the couch. "Give us an explanation or we're not leaving. You can't ruin my daughter's reputation. Who divorces over three dollars? Admit you've got another woman."

I took a deep breath, trying to keep my irritation in check.

I said, "Mom, I'll say it one more time, I don't have anyone else. But if you really want a reason, it's because Charlotte took money she had no right to touch."

"It was just three dollars." Charlotte sobbed. "My little brother accidentally set it up while playing with my phone. He knows he was wrong. I'll make him apologize and repay you a hundred or thousand times. Just tell me what you want."

Charlotte sobbed, "My little brother was messing around with Penny Saver and accidentally activated it. And you're really going to divorce me over three dollars missing from a 27 million dollars account?"

She was crying with tears streaming down her face, every word trembling with pain.

"Michael, are you kidding me?" Charlotte asked.

I looked at her, and the last bit of warmth in my heart vanished.

Yeah, what a ridiculous reason.

Even I thought it was ridiculous.

But what's ridiculous to you is life-or-death for me.

"That's right," I said, enunciating every word. "It's all because of those three dollars. Charlotte, you don't understand, and you never will."

You'll never understand what those three dollars really mean to me.

It means everything I've worked for went up in smoke.

It means every promise you made to me is empty words.

It means, when push comes to shove, you're the one thing that could bring me down.

"I don't understand? Please, you're the one who's lost it." Charlotte wiped away her tears, her eyes suddenly burning with resentment. "Don't think I don't know, Jason spilled everything to me. You couldn't even pay at the auction and totally humiliated yourself."

My heart dropped.

Jason?

He'd already talked to Charlotte.

That was quick.

Looks like the trap is already closing in on me.