My CEO husband asked me to go to the airport and bring him the underwear he needed for his business trip. I got in the car right away and arrived within thirty minutes. His friend praised me. “A wife really is more virtuous than a mistress.” I froze for a second, then asked, “Does he have a mistress?” His friends all fell silent, panic flashing through their eyes. But my husband smiled and pulled me into his arms. “Don’t listen to their nonsense. You’re the only one I love!” Looking at how calm and innocent my husband seemed, I smiled. But after they boarded the plane, I called my mafia stepbrother. “Victor Hale cheated on me. Kill him.” On the other end of the line, my stepbrother Adrian Cross went silent for three seconds. “Serena, is that true? Didn’t you once say he was the best man in the world?” I took the wedding ring off my ring finger, and the diamond dug painfully into my palm. “After ten years of marriage, every tie he owns was an Hermès tie I personally picked out. But today, he was wearing a cheap knockoff Mickey Mouse tie. Help me hire the best lawyer. I’m going to expose his tax evasion records from all these years, and I’m getting a divorce.” Adrian agreed without hesitation. “Okay.” Half an hour later, my phone received an encrypted file. When I opened the first photo, I saw Victor with his arm around a young, beautiful woman. It was the secretary who had been following Victor around. She was even wearing a T-shirt with a Mickey Mouse logo on it. I did not hesitate and drove straight to the company.
A few minutes later, the woman named Lily Vale ran out. The moment she saw me, her face turned pale with fright, and she instinctively hid her hand behind her back. But I still saw the pink diamond ring on her ring finger, the size of a pigeon egg. It was almost identical to the ring Victor had used to propose to me back then. No, my diamond was not even as big as hers. I let out a scoff and said directly, “Ms. Vale’s husband has taste pretty similar to my husband’s. Even the wedding rings have the same design.” When Lily heard my words, she trembled in fear, and her red lips opened and closed for a long while before she stammered, “Yeah... maybe men all have similar taste.” Her fingers, clenched around the hem of her shirt, had turned white. “Enough. Stop pretending. You’re Victor’s mistress, aren’t you?” When she saw me lay it all out, Lily trembled even harder, panicking beyond control. “Please don’t misunderstand. Mr. Hale just got drunk once, and I only took care of him that one time. Mr. Hale’s friends misunderstood.” After saying that, she even gave me an exaggerated ninety-degree bow. She looked so wronged and pitiful that if I had not seen the way she seduced Victor, I might really have been fooled by her. I sneered. “What are you pretending for? When you were flaunting your love all over social media, why didn’t you think that I, his actual wife, might find out?” Half a month ago, she posted a video on social media. Victor was buying a yacht. Her caption read, [A man’s money is where his love is.] At that time, I was at home with a fever so high I passed out. I called Victor and asked him to take me to the hospital. He panicked for a moment, but the next second, his voice turned hoarse, as if he were holding something back. “Serena, I’ll have the driver take you there. I have something urgent here and can’t leave.” An hour later, I developed pneumonia from the fever and was being rescued in the hospital. But she posted a photo of herself lying on the deck, the woman wearing a sexy bikini decorated with ambiguous red marks, while the man’s abs were sharply defined. The caption read, [On our new yacht, swaying with the person I love most until the end of time.] When Victor arrived, his shirt was soaked. He collapsed by my bedside, his eyes red. Back then, I naively thought he felt sorry for me, but it turned out that was just guilt after cheating. For no reason, I only felt disgusted that trash like this was even worth Victor betraying me for. Too lazy to look at her wronged, pitiful expression any longer, I turned and left. But as soon as I got into the car, Victor called me. The moment I answered, his tone was panicked. “Why did you suddenly think of coming to the company?” “What? The company is mine too. Am I not allowed to come?” Sitting in the car, I asked back calmly. “I just happened to pass by and came to take a look. Is there something you’re afraid I’ll find out?” Victor seemed not to have expected me to ask that. His breathing suddenly stopped, and after a few seconds of silence, his tone softened, carrying his usual coaxing sweetness. “Serena, what nonsense are you talking about?” “What could I possibly be hiding from you? The office was just too messy, and if you were coming, I would have had someone clean it up first.” “Besides, how could I ever betray you? Check anything you want.” Hearing that, I felt a little confused. Lily had actually not told him that I had confronted her. I flipped through the evidence while listening to him make excuses. There were over a thousand pieces of evidence about his affair, and every single one was related to Victor cheating. On our tenth wedding anniversary last year, he used a business trip overseas as an excuse and said he could not call me, but in reality, he was watching penguins in Antarctica with Lily. When my father was critically ill, I called him more than thirty times, and he did not pick up once, because at the time, he was celebrating Lily’s cat’s birthday. I could not believe a man like this had fooled me for so long. “I believe you. I just want to know what’s going on with the diamond ring on your secretary’s hand. Why is it exactly like mine?”
When I brought it up first, Victor actually breathed a sigh of relief. His voice moved closer to the receiver, carrying a deliberately crafted intimacy. “Lily won it at the company’s annual party.” He paused, then added, “Although it’s the same style as yours, hers is fake. I forgot to tell you back then, so don’t mind it.” He forgot, huh? Then his memory must be pretty terrible. Not only did he forget to tell me about that, he also forgot that they went to the penthouse suite of a hotel that same night. And he forgot that they stayed there for three days and three nights. I sneered inwardly. “Why didn’t you come home the night of the annual party?” His eyes panicked. “I got drunk that day. Don’t you hate it most when I drink? I was afraid the smell would bother you, so I asked Lily to take me to a hotel.” “She sure is enthusiastic. She knew you had a wife, yet she still dared to take you to a hotel.” Victor clearly paused on the other end, his breathing skipping half a beat, before he laughed it off. “Right? Girls these days are pretty bold. But I really only treat her as a subordinate.” “Look at you, always getting suspicious. You’re the only one in my heart.” His voice moved closer to the receiver, carrying a deliberately crafted intimacy. “When I’m done with this busy stretch, I’ll take you to the Maldives for a makeup vacation, okay? Just the two of us.” That tenderness once would have made my heart soften, but now, I only felt disgusted. “Sure.” I looked at the neon lights flashing past outside the window, my tone as calm as if I were talking about the weather. “But take care of your serious business first. Don’t let me delay you.” “Nothing matters more than spending time with you.” Victor’s voice was full of eager appeasement, but my heart only grew colder. It was not because Victor had betrayed me and cheated. It was because I could not understand how I had let them act right under my nose for so long. My grip on the steering wheel tightened, and I forced down the urge to confront Victor right then. I wanted him to admit his relationship with Lily with his own mouth, then ruin both of them completely. I gave a few perfunctory replies and hung up. Less than two days later, Lily’s social media account updated again. In the video, she wore a Chanel haute couture wedding gown, her eyes and brows full of joy. “A homewrecker came to make trouble a few days ago, and to make it up to me, Mr. Hale is finally going to marry me.” “I only said I wanted a seaside wedding, and he actually bought an entire island for me.” She curled her lips, and the camera casually swept over the island ownership documents. “He said this will be our home from now on, and no one can take it away.” “And he even insisted on giving me one billion dollars so I could build an amusement park and a resort hotel on the island.” “I’m such a silly little thing and don’t know anything about business, but Mr. Hale said that as long as I’m happy, it doesn’t matter how much money we lose.” Looking at the ownership certificate in the video that had my name on it, rage surged straight up inside me. That island was a birthday gift from my stepbrother! Victor had actually taken my island to hold a wedding for his little mistress! Fine, they wanted to get married? Then I wanted to see how he and the other woman would get married right in front of his actual wife!
I took a private jet to the island overnight. When the old butler on the island saw me, surprise flashed through his eyes. “Miss, why are you here? Didn’t you say you were lending this island to Mr. Hale for a banquet today? You even transferred away all the island’s security team and servants.” Hearing that, rage surged in me. I was just about to answer when Victor’s call came in. “Honey, I’m in an international conference right now, and I’ll fly back to keep you company when I’m done.” Before I could reply, a sweet, cloying female voice faintly came from the other end. “Victor, do I look pretty in this lingerie?” The next second, Victor covered the phone and walked away. “I have to go. The meeting is starting.” Almost at the same time, more than a dozen luxury yachts under my name appeared at the island dock. Countless people I had never seen before got off, were guided into the estate on the island, and took their seats, while I also found a remote seat and sat down. Once everything was ready, Lily appeared in a fiery red haute couture gown, looking every bit like a petty person drunk on sudden success. “Let me introduce myself. I am the new owner of this private island, Lily Vale.” “Mr. Hale said that from now on, this bay, the dock, the villas, and even this entire stretch of sea are all under my control!” “To celebrate, all yachts and ocean activities are free today, as my welcome gift to everyone!” Free? How generous of her. The island’s annual maintenance costs alone reached hundreds of millions. Just the superyachts docked at the private pier were worth over a hundred million each. Some guests could not rent them even if they wanted to. The old butler had watched me grow up, and when he heard that, he was so furious he could barely contain himself. “When did this island become hers?” “And Victor Hale actually found a mistress behind your back! Does he have a death wish?” Seeing that the butler was about to rush out, I quickly shook my head, because now was not the time to expose her. I wanted to wait until Victor personally admitted his relationship with Lily, then ruin both of them completely. Just then, the estate doors opened again, and Victor walked in wearing a haute couture suit. Seeing him, Lily immediately threw herself into his arms, smiling as she held his arm and swayed it. “Victor, I told you this brand’s clothes fit you best.” Victor’s eyes clearly froze, but he still nodded without changing his expression. The rage in my heart almost burst into flames. The founder of this brand was my family’s sworn enemy. Back then, my father was set up by them and literally died from rage because of it. Victor knew this, but now, he had slapped me in the face in public. Just as I could no longer hold back and wanted to rush out, Victor’s friends all surrounded him. “Victor, look at Lily. She’s so young, beautiful, lively, and charming!” “Lily, our Victor gives you a private island worth tens of billions as soon as he makes a move. Where else in the world could you find such a good man?” “From now on, this winery belongs to the Vale family. How are you going to thank Victor?” Amid their teasing laughter, Lily lowered her head with a shy blush. Just then, the wine steward who came to serve wine spoke in confusion. “What do you mean it belongs to the Vale family? Didn’t you borrow this from my young lady?” As soon as those words came out, the guests at the scene looked at each other and began whispering. “What’s going on?” “I’ve only heard that this island belongs to Mrs. Hale, but isn’t Mrs. Hale’s last name Cross?” “Huh? Then if her last name is Vale, could she be some fake who came out of nowhere?” Anger was already on the wine steward’s face. “Mr. Hale, how could you do something like this behind Miss’s back?” As he spoke, he moved to take out his phone and call me. The next second, the bodyguards behind Victor swarmed forward and forced the wine steward to his knees. Victor’s gaze swept coldly over everyone present. “Tear his mouth open and let him understand the price of running his mouth.” His voice was not loud, but it carried the ruthlessness of someone who had spent years in a high position, and the banquet hall instantly fell silent. Victor did not even lift his eyelids as his fingertips casually stroked Lily’s face. “Lily is the real Mrs. Hale! Serena Cross is nothing but a maid in my house.” A maid? I was so angry I almost laughed. It seemed Victor had really forgotten who had pushed him step by step into the position where countless people looked up to him. Since that was the case, he could not blame me for being ruthless!
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