Less than a month after we were married, my millionaire wife, Eleanor Croft, went bankrupt. Everyone laughed at me, the opportunist who’d made a bad bet. I ignored them. I gathered every penny I had, handed it to her, and said, “I believe in you.” For three years, we lived on nothing. We were so poor that when my father was on his deathbed, her company accountant couldn't even scrape together the five thousand dollars needed for his surgery. I watched my father’s eyes close for the last time. I hated myself a million times over for failing to borrow the money, but I never once thought of hating her. Not until I saw a video from her company’s team-building event, posted by one of her employees. Finn, her handsome assistant, was wearing a Patek Philippe watch, the kind I’d agonized over but never dared to buy. He had dozens of them. The tie he wore required a fifty-thousand-dollar deposit just to be put on the waitlist for the full collection. 1 “Ms. Croft, wasn’t that five thousand dollars originally earmarked for your husband? Why was it suddenly reallocated as a bonus for Finn?” I was standing outside her office when I heard the accountant’s voice. I held my breath, my eyes burning as I strained to hear what was inside. Eleanor’s laugh was light, careless. “I offered to buy it for him, but he wouldn’t let me. Said I’d already spent hundreds of thousands on him, that he was turning into my kept man. The collection he wanted was exactly five thousand dollars short, and he insisted on earning it himself. Giving it to him as a bonus makes it feel less like a gift. It makes him happier.” I stumbled, nearly losing my balance. My father’s life-saving money was casually diverted to Finn for a tie, all because of a single comment? Then what about my father? And wasn’t Eleanor still struggling to keep her company afloat? Where did the hundreds of thousands of dollars come from? “Ms. Croft, the company has been out of the red for a long time now. We could have easily allocated another five thousand for your husband. Why did you have to take his money and give it to Finn?” Eleanor sighed. “A while back, Finn wanted to go on a trip, but your husband snatched up the very last train ticket. Finn missed seeing the sunrise over the Grand Canyon and was heartbroken for weeks. This was just… making up for what he owed Finn.” A bitter laugh escaped my lips. The day I bought that train ticket was the day I received the notice that my father was in critical condition. I didn’t want to bother her at work, so I hadn’t even told her. The train’s booking system was first-come, first-served. Just because Finn was a second slower than me, it became a debt I owed him? “Hey, Ryan? What are you doing here?” The sound of Finn’s polished leather shoes echoed behind me. The voices inside the office fell silent. 2 “Ryan?” Eleanor opened the door and grabbed my hand. “Aren’t you supposed to be with your father? What are you doing here?” I stared into her eyes. “He’s gone.” Her breath hitched. “What? Why?” “We were five thousand dollars short for the surgery. I couldn’t get it in time.” The accountant gasped, instinctively glancing at Eleanor. I caught the flicker of surprise in her eyes. “How could this happen…” Seeing her delayed, performative remorse, my first instinct was to slap her. To demand why she gave the money to Finn for such a ridiculously trivial reason. But I realized I didn’t have the right. Every cent I had was gone, spent on my father’s medical bills. I didn’t even have money for a funeral. The substantial savings I once had were handed over to her without a second thought the day she told me she was bankrupt. Now, I had to beg this very person to cover my father’s burial costs. Seeing me bite my lip to hold back tears, Eleanor rushed to wipe them away. “Don’t be afraid, Ryan. I’ll get through this with you. Even if I’m struggling, I’ll find a way, no matter the cost.” Even now, she was still pretending to be poor. “That’s right, Ryan. Ms. Croft may be having a hard time, but she’ll do her best for you,” Finn said, reaching out to squeeze my hand. My gaze fell on the gold ring on his ring finger. Finn quickly pulled his hand back, his smile a little strained. I understood then. Eleanor had bought him that ring, too. Perhaps out of guilt, Eleanor spared no expense for the funeral. She took a full week off from work to stay by my side. On the day of the service, I thought I could hold it together, but the moment I saw my father’s portrait, the tears came like a flood. She stood beside me, but her eyes kept darting down to her phone. Only when a relative approached her would she quickly put it away and force a somber expression onto her face. “Ryan, something’s come up at the office. I have to go, now.” She squeezed my hand tightly. “I’ll come back to get you when it’s over.” She turned and hurried away, her footsteps echoing her urgency. There was a time when she only moved that fast when she was on her way to see me. I didn’t stop her. I took out my phone and opened an account with the username “Finn.” Just as I expected, a new photo had been posted. It showed a view from the floor-to-ceiling windows of a riverside penthouse, a floor littered with empty wine bottles. The caption: If I just pretend to be pathetic too, will you finally look at me? It was tagged to an account with the username “E.” E. Eleanor. Finn. I can’t remember the feeling that washed over me when my trembling fingers first found that account and hit ‘follow,’ wanting only to watch the progression of their affair. After the funeral service ended, the account updated again. It was a selfie of a man being embraced from behind by a woman. His workout clothes clung to his perfect physique, hinting at the defined abs and V-line beneath. You couldn’t see his face. But the hand resting on his waist wore a wedding ring I knew all too well. The caption: I know you’ll never let me be lonely. “E” had liked the post. And commented: The one who loves you would never let you be sad. A low laugh escaped me. I stood in the empty memorial hall. The wind howled, and it felt as if I was the only person left in the world. Me, and my father’s portrait behind me. Eleanor never came to pick me up. Darkness fell, and the funeral home emptied out. Finally, she called. “Ryan, things at the office are a little complicated, and it ran right into a press conference. I’m so sorry I couldn’t get you. I’ll be done in two hours, tops. I’ll come straight there.” I laughed, sitting in the back of a taxi. “Don’t bother. I have a gift for you.” “What?” On my phone, a livestream of the press conference was playing. The large screen behind Eleanor suddenly flickered to life. Unspeakable sounds filled the air. On a large bed in a riverside penthouse, two familiar figures were tangled together in a desperate embrace. 3 A week ago, when I first found Finn’s account, I had already started preparing for this day. With my father laid to rest, I finally had the time and energy to deal with them. I am not the kind of person who swallows humiliation. My revenge had to be public, absolute. I wanted to ruin them. And there was no better stage than a press conference. By the time I arrived, the venue was in chaos. The reporters’ questions had shifted from company matters to Eleanor Croft’s extramarital affair. Then they saw me. A path spontaneously cleared for me through the crowd. “Ryan?” Eleanor stared at me in disbelief. Finn cowered behind her, his eyes wide with terror. “Ryan…” SLAP! A sharp slap echoed as my hand connected with her face. Eleanor winced. “Ryan!” SLAP! Another one, just as hard. She looked at me, stunned. “Who did you give the five thousand dollars to?” Her breath caught. “You… you know?” SLAP! A third. “Do you have any idea it was only five thousand dollars! With that money, my father could have lived!” At the mention of the man who had cared for her as a child, Eleanor looked down, silent. But the reporters smelled blood and swarmed forward. “Mr. Cole, what five thousand dollars? Could you tell us more?” “You want to know?” I gestured. The large screen changed again. “Then watch closely.” I had compiled everything into a presentation over the past week. “This five thousand was originally allocated by my wife for my father’s surgery, but her assistant…” “Enough!” A hand clamped over my mouth. Eleanor kicked the screen viciously, causing half of it to distort into a mess of pixels. “Eleanor! Let go of me!” She gripped my wrist, dragging me toward the private elevator. In the CEO’s office, she threw me onto the sofa. “You recorded those videos?” I let out a cold laugh. “Yes. What about it? Did you really think I didn’t hear your conversation with the accountant that day? I looked up Finn’s address as soon as I got home. You have some nerve, Ms. Croft. A riverside penthouse for an assistant, while I was still living in a rented apartment with you!” “That’s enough!” Eleanor’s chest heaved. “You don’t understand. During my hardest days, he was the one by my side. He stayed up all night with me, pored over financial reports with me, met with clients with me! Now that I’ve succeeded, don’t I owe him this?” I thought I had misheard. “He was with you? Then what about me?” Eleanor froze. “Eleanor, was he the one who gave you the start-up capital after you went bankrupt? When the debt collectors came, was he the one who refused to give up your location, even when they held a knife to his back? Did he give you every last penny he had? Was he the one crammed into that tiny apartment with you, eating instant ramen, or was that ME?” Her mouth opened, but no words came out. She avoided my gaze. I laughed bitterly. “You don’t want to answer? Fine, I’ll answer for you. He did NONE of that! The only person who walked through hell with you from start to finish was ME!” “I said, that’s enough!” she roared. The sudden outburst startled me. She stared at me, her eyes burning. “You’re only saying all this to remind me of how much you sacrificed, aren’t you? I was worried you’d hold your help over my head, that you’d demand a fortune once you found out I was back on my feet! That would have destroyed our relationship, which is why I hid it from you. But he’s different! Even after I spent hundreds of thousands on him, he still wanted to earn that last five thousand himself! Do you understand now? That’s the difference between you two. That’s why I favor him and guard myself against you.” An unexpected laugh escaped me. “So, you thought I married you as an investment?” She pressed her lips together. “Didn’t you?” I turned away, using a bitter smile to hide the tears in my eyes. “Fine. Let’s say I was only after your money. Then tell me, Eleanor, what kind of man seduces his savior’s wife?” Eleanor’s breath caught. She probably remembered. Without me, Finn would have died at the hands of those thugs. 4 Finn was handsome. He had the kind of face that women instinctively wanted to protect and adore, which naturally made him a target for jealousy. He’d been bullied and harassed his entire life. Until the day I walked into an alley armed with a steel pipe. I came out with a fractured leg and a split lip. Finn, apart from the endless stream of tears, was untouched. From then on, he became my loyal protégé. I decided to see it through and got him a job at Eleanor’s company. Eleanor despised incompetence. She complained more than once about the deadweight I had saddled her with. It took all my pleading to convince her not to fire him, to save him from being sold to a brothel by his gambling-addicted mother. Then she went bankrupt. We were too busy scrambling for rent and food to argue about him anymore. But I never imagined that while we were fighting for our survival, Finn had never truly suffered at all. The savings I gave Eleanor weren’t just to keep the company from folding. A large portion of it went to ensuring that Finn, the assistant, was completely unaffected by the bankruptcy. “Name your price. What will it take for you to leave him alone?” Eleanor’s voice was devoid of emotion. I looked at her and sneered. “I don’t want money. I want his life ruined.” She frowned. “Impossible.” “Eleanor, are you really this protective of him now?” A complex emotion flickered in her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. You’ve lost your chance.” A cry echoed from outside the door. Eleanor’s head shot up. “Finn!” She threw the door open. Finn was being dragged by his collar, slapped repeatedly across the face. “You worthless piece of trash! You can do this disgusting thing, but I can’t bear the shame!” a man roared. “Sir!” Eleanor cried out, panicked. Finn’s father bellowed back. “Stay away! I’m disciplining my own son! What’s it to you?” “Dad, I…” “Shut up! Have you forgotten who saved you? Who broke his leg for you? You could have been with anyone, but you just had to be a homewrecker, didn’t you?” SLAP! SLAP! Two more resounding smacks, splitting Finn’s lip. Camera flashes went off relentlessly. The reporters captured every moment. After I’d saved Finn, his father and I had always been on good terms. I’d visit him during the holidays, just like I visited my own father. “You animal! Why did I have a son like you! If you love being a homewrecker so much, you can do it after I’m dead!” He turned and lunged for the window. Finn panicked, but he was too slow to stop him. “Sir!” Eleanor screamed. “Finn is not a homewrecker!” His father stopped and turned. A bright red marriage certificate was brought out. Eleanor opened it, revealing a photo of her and Finn, stamped with a clear, official seal. “Finn and I are legally married. Ryan Cole is the real homewrecker.” My breath caught in my throat. Finn’s father looked from her to me, utterly bewildered. “If you’re married, then Ryan is…” I pulled out my own marriage certificate with Eleanor, staring her down. “If you married him, then what is this?”
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