In the high society circles of Manhattan, every woman talked about how lucky Sarah Miller was. I married Julian Thorne and became the envied Mrs. Thorne. But only I knew how suffocating the reality behind the title actually was. Every day, I numbly watched him bring home woman after woman. He even fell in love with a "gold-medal housekeeper," Chloe, and let her set strict rules for our home. She not only froze all my cards and threw away my designer clothes and bags, but she also stipulated that I only had a five-dollar daily allowance. And I wasn't allowed out past eight o'clock. Even when the hospital sent a critical notice at 8:01 PM, Chloe still ordered the bodyguards to stop me at the door. I suppressed the panic burning inside me. "My mother is having a heart attack. I need to go to the hospital right now." Chloe sat on the sofa, filing her nails. "Mrs. Thorne, rules are rules. You can't go out after eight. No exceptions, even if your mother is dying." Trembling with rage, I turned and rushed into the study to find Julian, begging him to let me leave. He glanced at me coldly. "As long as you are Mrs. Thorne, you must obey the rules Chloe set." Looking at the man I had loved for ten years, I felt nothing but strangeness. If this is what it takes, then I don't want to be Mrs. Thorne anymore. ... The front door was blocked tight by two burly bodyguards in black. My legs went weak with anxiety. My hands shook as I dialed the ER. "Please, start the resuscitation on my mother first. I promise I'll pay the fees later..." "But, Miss Miller..." Before I could hear the rest, my phone was slapped out of my hand by a manicured hand. "Rule number one of the Thorne household: No loud noises!" My phone hit the floor and shattered. The screen went black. I stared helplessly at the broken device, tears pattering onto the floorboards. "Who are you putting on this pathetic show for? Are you unhappy with my rules?" Chloe rolled her eyes, pouted, and picked up her handbag as if to leave. "Since your wife can't tolerate me, I'll just leave. I'm obviously not welcome here anyway." "Don't be like that." Julian walked up from behind, pulling her into his arms and kissing her forehead. "Baby, who dares to disobey you here?" As soon as he finished speaking, he gripped my chin with one hand, forcing me to look up. His tone was icy. "Sarah, smile." My heart was with my dying mother, but I didn't dare anger him. I forced out a smile that was uglier than crying. "My mom is in critical condition. Julian, for the sake of all our years together, please let me go see her." "She only got hurt in that car accident last year because she was saving you. You can't just ignore her..." Julian's eyes flickered slightly. A trace of guilt passed through them. He looked at Chloe in his arms and asked tentatively, "Baby, just this once?" "No!" Chloe struggled out of his grasp, crossing her arms and sitting on the sofa like a spoiled princess. "It's just a heart attack. She's not dead yet. What's the fuss?" "When you brought me here, you promised that everything in this house would go my way!" "I don't care. If you dare to indulge her, don't expect to enter my room tonight!" "Okay, okay. I really can't say no to you..." Julian shook his head helplessly, picked her up, and placed her on his lap, tapping her nose affectionately. Chloe giggled, looking at me with pure provocation. Bringing a mistress into the house and trampling on my dignity as the legal wife. This scene had played out countless times in the Thorne mansion. Seeing the sympathetic looks from the servants, a sense of despair rose from the soles of my feet. I clenched my fists and summoned all my courage. "Julian, let's get a divorce." As long as we divorced, I wouldn't be Mrs. Thorne anymore. I could leave this hellhole.
The living room went instantly silent. Julian's expression turned cold. A sneer curled his lips. "Sarah Miller, what did you say? Threatening me with divorce?" "When your chauffeur father knelt and begged the Thorne family to take care of you, you weren't this tough." His words felt like invisible hands choking me, stealing my breath. Memories played in my mind like an old movie. My father was the private driver for the Thorne family. Ten years ago, Julian's father was attacked by a gunman. My father took the bullet for him. In the ICU, Mr. Thorne asked him what he wanted. With his dying breath, my father said, "Please, Mr. Thorne... take care of my daughter..." Back then, Julian and I were best friends. At the funeral, he hugged me while crying. "Sarah, don't worry. I'll take care of you forever. With me around, no one will dare to bully you." Unfortunately, Julian had long forgotten his childhood promises. Now, the person hurting me was him. Watching the intimate couple in front of me, I choked back my tears. Seeing my silence, Julian reached out and patted my head, like petting a pet. "As long as I don't sign the papers, you will always be my wife." I knew that without his consent, no law firm in New York would dare take my case. Desperate, I tried to rush for the door. Slap! A crisp sound echoed. My face instantly swelled up. "I told you, my rules cannot be broken!" Chloe directed two bodyguards to intercept me. Looking at her smug face, I couldn't take it anymore. I lunged at her, grabbing her carefully styled hair. "If my mom misses her surgery, I won't let you get away with it!" I strangled her neck, but Julian kicked me away. My head slammed into the corner of the marble coffee table. The sharp pain nearly knocked me out. "Throw the Madam in the wine cellar. Let her cool off." Several men dragged me into the cold, damp underground cellar. No matter how much I banged on the heavy oak door, no one answered. I leaned against the door in despair, thinking of my mother's haggard face in the hospital bed. Finally, the tears fell. Knock, knock, knock. The door was tapped gently. Through the small ventilation window, a rough hand pushed in some food. "Madam, please eat something." It was Martha. She had watched me grow up and loved me like her own daughter. "Martha, please let me out. I need to go to the hospital..." "Madam, I don't dare." Martha's voice was full of helplessness and trembling. She lifted her sleeve, revealing thin arms covered in crisscrossed scars—Chloe's "discipline." "...Thank you." I didn't want to make trouble for her. I slumped to the ground, looking at the dry sandwich and bottle of water. Since Chloe came to the Thorne house, she set my daily living allowance at five dollars. Discount sandwiches from the convenience store became my staple diet. Meanwhile, she pestered Julian to take her to three-star Michelin restaurants every day for caviar and black truffles. I couldn't help but laugh at myself. The wife of a billionaire, living worse than a homeless person on the street.
I suffered through a sleepless night in the freezing wine cellar. The moment the door opened the next morning, I rushed to the hospital like a madwoman. Mom was lying in the hospital bed, wearing an oxygen mask, gasping weakly. Tears poured down my face. I grabbed her hand tightly. "Mom, I'm here..." "Miss Miller, you're finally here." The attending physician walked in, holding a chart, looking worried. "Miss Miller, we performed emergency surgery last night, but your mother needs a second heart bypass immediately—it's her only chance." "Then do the surgery! I'll pay whatever it costs!" "However..." The doctor lowered his voice. "Your previous medical team was replaced. The new doctors were arranged by Miss Chloe. Without Mr. Thorne's authorization, we cannot perform a surgery of this level." I went numb. Cold sweat soaked my back. The doctor looked at me with pity. "Miss Chloe said if you can come up with two hundred thousand dollars, she will agree to the surgery. Otherwise, she will completely cut off the funding for your mother's medical bills." I never expected Julian to go this far just to play this absurd "housekeeper game" with Chloe. He stopped the money for my mother's life! Seeing my pale face, Mom struggled to tug at my shirt. "Sarah... don't beg him for me anymore..." I shook my head desperately, sobbing. "Mom, you're the only family I have left. Even if I have to sell my blood, I will cure you." Tears blurred my vision. I didn't see the heartbreak in my mother's eyes. I also missed the look of longing and finality as she watched me leave. When I rushed back to the villa, Julian was in the dining room, coaxing Chloe to eat breakfast. A long table was filled with luxurious dishes. From French omelets to top-grade Kobe steak. The stark contrast fueled my rage. Thinking of my dying mother, I rushed over. "Julian, why did you stop my mom's medical funds?" Julian put down his knife and fork, looking surprised. "When did I..." "I ordered it." Chloe dabbed her mouth elegantly with a napkin. Her look was full of arrogance. "Mrs. Thorne, your daily allowance is five dollars. If your mom needs two hundred grand for surgery, go earn it yourself." I shook with anger, looking at Julian in disbelief. "You're just going to watch her do this? That's a human life!" "Chloe." Julian finally spoke. "Maybe we should..." His words were cut off by Chloe's scream. "You're going to give in to her again?" She stood up abruptly, her chair scraping harshly against the floor. "When you brought me back, you agreed that I would be in charge! Now your wife wants to break my rules with just one word? Then why am I even here? I'm leaving!" Julian quickly grabbed her. "Okay, okay, I'll listen to you. Whatever you say." I stared blankly at the scene. My heart felt like it was splitting open. This was the man I had loved for ten years. My mother and I were nothing but tools for him to please his mistress. Looking at the table full of food, I let out a cold laugh. "Chloe, you tell us to be thrifty, but why are you so extravagant? If I recall, that couture dress is from this season's runway. It costs tens of thousands of dollars." Chloe pouted nonchalantly. "The rules are for the Thorne family. I'm not a Thorne..." "Do you know how hard it is for normal people to make money? Your breakfast alone costs a month's rent for a worker." Looking at the jewelry dripping off her, I lunged to slap her. The next second, my face burned with pain. Julian used full force to slap me to the floor. He then turned to check Chloe's neck with concern. He looked down at me, his face dark. "I said, no one is allowed to bully Chloe." Chloe lifted her chin defiantly. "You want money? Go earn it yourself! Don't play the victim here." She grabbed my arm and had the bodyguards drag me into the black Maybach. "I'll allow you out past eight tonight. I'm taking you to a good place."
She took me to Manhattan's most exclusive private club. Seeing my pale face, Chloe smiled triumphantly. "People should work hard for themselves. Go serve tea to the bosses, or kneel and shine their shoes. You might earn some tips." "When you scrape together two hundred thousand, go save your mom." Before I could resist, she had me pushed into the noisy hall. For my mother's medical fees, I had to compromise. I knelt on the expensive carpet in humiliation, polishing the leather shoes of arrogant men. A shiny Italian shoe lifted my chin. A stack of hundred-dollar bills slapped my face like a mockery. "Isn't this Mrs. Thorne? How did she fall so low?" "Ironic, isn't it? Can't even keep her husband." "You didn't see Julian's new girl. I heard last week at the auction, just to make her happy, he spent a hundred million without blinking..." Their words were like poisoned knives, slashing my heart until it bled. My mom's life was worth less to him than a trinket at an auction. I knelt numbly before rich heir after rich heir, enduring their ridicule. But no matter how hard I tried, the tips didn't come close to the needed amount. My vision began to darken. Between low blood sugar and stress, I was about to faint. Until a pair of familiar high heels stood before me. "Still trying hard, huh?" Chloe squatted down and patted my cheek. "Since you're working so hard, I'll show you something. You'll love it." I didn't understand what she was doing. She took out a delicate porcelain box, opened the lid, and used a silver spoon to scoop out some gray powder. "Guess what this is?" A bad feeling hit me. "Chloe, what is that?" She covered her mouth in mock surprise, malice flowing in her eyes. "I thought you two were close. You don't even recognize your own mother's ashes?" "Look how pretty. It looks like fireworks under the lights." She slowly poured the ashes onto the carpet in front of me. "Thank me. I reunited you two." Trembling, I pulled out my phone and called the hospital. Every second felt like a century. When the voice answered, mine was distorted by fear. "Doctor, where is my mother?" The other end paused. The tone was heavy. "Mrs. Thorne, I'm so sorry... Your mother passed away this morning." "She had a heart attack last night. We called both you and Mr. Thorne, but no one answered. Finally, Mr. Thorne's secretary picked up." "She said, per Mr. Thorne's instructions, to cremate the body immediately." I stared at the porcelain box on the floor. Grief crashed over me like a tsunami. That box really contained my mother... Meeting my gaze, Chloe started laughing. "You and your mom are so stupid! I just showed her a video of you kneeling here shining shoes, and she got so angry she had a heart attack and died." "If you ask me, you two should go to hell together." "Chloe, I'm going to kill you! I'll kill you!" I lunged at her like a wild animal, hands reaching for her throat. If what she said was true, I couldn't imagine how broken my mom was seeing that video before she died. "Julian, help! She's going to kill me!" The next second, I was kicked away. I rolled across the floor, my forehead smashing into a table leg. "Sarah, are you crazy?"
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