The Billionaire's Broken-Shoed Wife

ce Hur

n escaping my lips. The cold rain from my walk last night, combined with the stress a

resumably for another early meeting. I w

ice weak and hoarse. "Marie,

on tight with annoyance. "What is it now, Mrs. Lopez? Mr. Lopez is already gone.

hispered, my head throbbing.

, please. You're probably just being dramatic. Rich women always have some ailment or another."

le," I insisted, a wave of d

get sick. It disrupts the household schedule." She paused at the door,

wing my powerless position. The gruel arrived later, a watery, tasteless concoction, a cl

myself, recovering slowly. When the fever finally broke, leaving

exceedingly generous, is requesting your presence. The remu

ially higher." That meant fre

if Jason found out? The thought was terrifying. But the alternative, remaining in

ell chimed. Footsteps echoed in the hall.

ling, it's

nn

then boiled with a sickeni

d never heard directed at me. "Kennedy, my dear. You lo

draped in a luxurious fur coat, laughed, her head thrown back. Jason stood

messy, but I managed to secure a rather generous alimony." She winked at Jason. "Though, of cou

n my chest. Monthly stipen

r shoulder. "It's the least I could do,

ways were too good to me. That million a month you sen

her, and I struggled for hundred-dollar shoes. I felt a hysterical laugh bubbl

for a million, a one-time payment for my family's debt, forced into a marriage wit

very shred of dignity I thought I possessed, every ounce of self-worth,

th a warmth I' d never seen, immediately cooled. He frowned, a flash of an

at, devoid of the earlier tendern

s that Florence? Darling, don't tell me you forgot to tell her I was vi

his eyes. He turned back to Kennedy, his hand tightening around hers. "Kenn

." With him. I w

ear now. "Florence, why don't you take some time away? Go visit your p

ll ache, but it was overshadowed by a sudden, fierce clarity.

No more arguments. No more begging. No more hoping for crumbs of affection. Something inside me, something soft and

ross the screen. I confirmed the engagemen

I owned that made me feel remotely powerful. A dres

y. He looked up, a triumphant smirk on his face. "Leaving so soon?" he asked, his voi

me in years, the thought of leaving this house didn' t fill me with dread, bu

mansion, a symbol of my gilded prison. It was bathed in the glow of the sunset, a beautiful, treacherous facad