Chapter 6
Andrew scrambled over to Robert's desk, tears pouring down his face as he begged for mercy.
"It's all just a misunderstanding. I swear, my feelings for Julia are honest and true. Everything I've done, all the hard work, it's all for her, for our family."
He looked at me, desperation written all over his face. "Julia, please, help me out. Tell Dad how happy we are together. This is all just a big misunderstanding."
As he spoke, he kept shooting me desperate looks, trying to get me to back him up.
There was pleading in his eyes, but also a threat, and a warning I couldn't ignore.
He was still trying to order me around, even now.
He wanted me to go along with his act, to help him keep up the lie.
I slowly lifted my head, meeting his gaze.
Then I gave him a faint smile.
"Andrew, you're right," I said.
As soon as I spoke, Andrew visibly relaxed, thinking I was finally giving in.
"Our love is clear for all to see," I said.
I stood up and walked over to him, looking down at him.
"So, can you explain why that 1,938-square-meter apartment in the south of the city is under Sophie's name?" I kept my voice low.
But in the quiet study, it dropped like a bomb.
Andrew's face froze on the spot.
The color vanished from his cheeks all at once, leaving him pale as a ghost.
"How how did you know" Andrew stammered, barely able to whisper.
Robert fixed his sharp gaze on him.
"What apartment?" Robert asked sharply.
I ignored Andrew's shock, pulled out my phone, and pulled up the photo of the deed, showing it to Robert.
"Dad, take a look. Six months ago, Andrew used our marital assets to pay cash for an apartment in Sophie's name," I said.
I paused for a moment, then added, "That was back when he was busy with that big project and didn't come home for a month straight."
Robert stared at the photo, his lips trembling with rage.
"You bastard. You absolute bastard!" he roared.
He snatched up the paperweight from the desk and hurled it at Andrew.
Andrew scrambled away, clutching his head, as the paperweight crashed to the floor beside him with a deafening bang.
"I'll kill you, you shameless bastard. Transferring assets? You're committing a crime," Robert roared.
He shot to his feet, jabbed his finger right under Andrew's nose as he yelled.
Andrew was so terrified he kept begging for mercy. "Dad, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight. I must've been possessed. I'll get the apartment back tomorrow. I'll break things off with her, I swear."
He was bawling his eyes out, looking like a total mess.
He thought that was all it would take to make things right.
He thought this was just your average affair, like if he just said sorry, everything would be forgiven.
He was hopelessly naive.
"Break things off?" I sneered, cutting right through his pitiful begging. "Can you really just walk away from her, Andrew? Is that something you could actually do?"
I slowly crouched down until I was eye-to-eye with him.
Staring straight into his terrified, panicked eyes, I asked, "You even went so far as to change the beneficiary on my life insurance to her name, didn't you?"
"Were you planning to cash in on my insurance and shack up with her in that apartment, living out your days together once I'm gone?"
My voice sounded like it came straight from hell.
Every word cut through the air like ice.
Andrew jerked his head up, his eyes going wide with terror, like he'd just seen a ghost.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He was too stunned to speak.
Robert, standing nearby, nearly stumbled when he heard the words "insurance money," his whole body reeling from the shock.
He clung to the desk for support, his face ashen, eyes filled with crushing disappointment and heartbreak.
"You... you..." Robert stammered, his voice shaking with fury.
He pointed at Andrew, but was too furious to speak.
Right as the tension was about to snap, Andrew's phone rang at the worst possible moment.
The shrill ringtone shattered the dead silence of the study, echoing awkwardly in the heavy air.
The screen lit up with the name "Baby."
It was Sophie.
Andrew looked like he'd been burned, fumbling to hang up.
But Robert was faster.
He snatched the phone, hit answer, and put it on speaker.
Sophie's voice poured out of the speaker, syrupy and impatient. "Andrew, where the hell are you? Didn't you say you'd send that old man packing and come over? Ugh, your dad is such a pain, calling you back this late."
Everyone knew exactly who she was talking about when she said "that old man."
Robert's face turned stormy with fury.
Andrew's face drained of all color, shaking uncontrollably.
"I..." Andrew was still desperate to explain.
"Andrew, I'm telling you, you need to dump that old wife of yours ASAP. I am not going to stay your side chick forever." Sophie's voice blared from the speaker.
"And remember, you promised to take me to Europe next month for some designer bags. Don't even think about flaking on me.
"Oh, and that old house your dad owns? You said it'll be ours one day, right? I hate all that tacky traditional decor. We'll have to rip it all out and give the place a real makeover"
Before she could finish, Robert snatched the phone and slammed it to the floor with a furious, bone-rattling crash.
The phone splintered into fragments, pieces scattering across the floor.
And with it, Andrew's last bit of wishful thinking shattered for good.
He was done for.
I looked at Andrew, sprawled on the floor like a dead dog, and felt nothing, not even a ripple inside me.
Just then, my phone buzzed again.
It was that same unknown number.
[The bait's set; the fish is in the net. When you reel it in, don't hesitate.]