Chapter 3

Honestly, I merely wanted to sit down and have a frank and sincere talk with Alex.

Letting some ex who's a total nobody mess with our marriage was not worth it.

But as soon as I said that, Alex's brows knitted together, and he didn't glance at the papers I'd laid out for him.

"Why are you looking into her, Grace Miller? How many times have I told you Emily is only a secretary, and she really doesn't matter," Alex said.

Although I was calm just now, hearing what he said, my hands clenched tight. His words pissed me off instantly.

"If she's so unimportant, then why not fire her?" I shot back.

"Alex, I'm putting all this out there because I want to protect our marriage. I don't want some other woman coming between us and messing things up.

"And don't think because you're Mr. Sutton now, you can do whatever you want. Remember, if it wasn't because of me, you wouldn't even be where you are. Without me connecting you with my family, your company wouldn't have made it this far.

"And when I married you, what was I after? I wanted the way you made me feel, the emotional support, and the freedom to be myself without worries.

"Alex, let's be real. Anyone else might cheat, but you can't. I can stand all your flaws but only cheating is the one thing I absolutely can't accept."

I spoke in a dead serious way, my fingers trembling as I said it.

But the moment Alex heard my words, he jumped up, pissed off.

"Yeah, it's all you, right? My company exists only because of you. Do you have to rub it in every single day, acting like I'm forever in your debt and gotta do whatever you say?

"You make me drink with your uncles, and I have to go along, even if I'm dying from a cold. You'd rather I play nice for them than let me take any medication or rest at home.

"When your uncles were in the hospital, their own sons didn't bother to show up, but you made me go and take care of them, cleaning up after them and doing all the dirty work.

"And on top of that, you expect me to be some spineless puppet, kissing up to your uncles' sons. In your eyes, I'm only your business tool, right? Is that all I am to you?"

Hearing Alex's words, I shot up from my seat, my anger boiling over.

"Alex, whatever issues you've got, we can talk. But you have to fire Emily. If you don't do it, I'll take care of it myself.

"This is the last time I'm asking you. Now that you chose to marry me, you knew I'm not someone who backs down or goes back on my word. You can't expect me to pull strings for your business out there and then come home and act like some emotional support robot, always giving you what you want."

Hearing my words, Alex's whole body was trembling with rage. He loosened his tie in frustration and shot me a look like I was his sworn enemy. "Alright, you win. I'll fire Emily tomorrow."

With that, he kicked the coffee table hard, not sparing me a glance, and stormed upstairs.

As I watched him walk away, the tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over, and I slumped down onto the couch, like all the strength had left me.

Honestly, all of Alex's whining was a joke to me.

He acted like drinking with my uncles and buttering up my cousins was some huge hardship, but without my family's connections, he wouldn't get invited to the table.

My uncles were about to retire, and my cousins were about to take over. If he didn't keep them happy, as long as his company lost its other critical businesses, it would be kicked out by the market very soon.

Yeah, he's managed to snag a few new deals lately and expand the business, but without my uncles pulling strings, nobody would bother to cooperate with him.

Back then, I asked him—did he want to get a job and live a quiet, easy life, or did he want to start his own business?

He chose to go all in on the business. Fine, I gave him the money and the connections he needed. Back then, Alex was genuinely grateful.

But now, Emily had only been at the company a few days, and Alex was already acting like he was the victim.

With Emily around, he made a contrast and suddenly thought I was the tough one, not soft or caring enough, not the gentle, understanding wife he wanted.

But Alex never stops to think—if I really was all sweet and accommodating, always tolerating everything to keep him happy, then I'd be another Emily, clinging to a guy for survival, like a parasite.

That night, Alex didn't come to bed. Normally, the first thing he'd do when he got home was to take a shower and freshen up.

Then he'd come to bed and gently kiss our daughter, Stella, on her cheek. He'd kiss my forehead and tell me, "Honey, you've worked so hard."

Then he'd spend the whole night holding Stella, wouldn't let go of her for a second, and kept saying to me, "Honey, our Stella is the cutest in the world."

But merely because I dug into Emily tonight, he didn't come to see Stella and he didn't even come to bed.

But he never thought about it—when he was doing business, he always did his homework on the competitors and ran background checks on his partners.

Now I knew Emily was coming after my husband, but if I didn't check her out, I'd be nothing but stupid.