My Stingy Heart Saved Our Marriage

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I was born a hoarder. If I could save it, I never spent it; if I could skip paying, I never reached for my wallet.

To save on food, I once worked a mall's free-sample stands so hard the salesgirl ended up in tears, calling security.

In the end my mother-in-law couldn't take it anymore and threw ten million at me to get lost.

My eyes lit up. I took the money and signed the divorce papers on the spot.

Everyone envied me for becoming a rich single woman and told me to hurry up and start a new life.

My best friend eagerly set me up with a younger schoolmate of hers.

He was clean-cut and handsome, and he'd do anything I asked.

But tonight, as he knelt in the dorm to soak my feet, prompts suddenly floated up in front of my eyes.

【Don't fall for it! Your best friend knows your ex-husband is a powerful tycoon. She set you up with this guy on purpose.】

【The moment you accept this younger man, your ex-husband's love will turn to hate, and he'll go completely dark.】

【He won't just claw back every cent. He'll torture you to death.】

【And your best friend will use the chance to climb, becoming the tycoon's one and only pampered wife!】

I stared at the man half-kneeling there, washing my feet.

I was silent for a few seconds, and then I decided to trust the prompts.

Then I lifted my foot and slapped him across the face with it.

After all, nothing makes me angrier than someone touching my money.

……

I put nearly everything I had into that kick, and afterward not only did the sole of my foot burn, my heart ached a little too.

Great. If I'd actually hurt him, what if he shook me down for medical bills?

But the moment I remembered the warning in the prompts, I almost wanted to slap myself. I felt like I'd gone way too easy on him.

“If the water's too hot, I'll go add some cold water. Please don't be angry, okay?”

His eyes were red, water dripping from his chin, his voice a little wounded.

I know you're in a bad mood. It's fine to take it out on me. As long as it makes you feel a little better, you can hit me a couple more times, just don't hurt your own hand.”

Listening to that pitiful little speech, I ignored him. Not because I was playing cold, but because my head was still full of what those prompts had said.

Stan Maddox was a notorious ruthless player. Everyone in the business world knew how vicious he could be.

A rival company's boss had once cursed him, just privately, and by the next day that boss's company had declared bankruptcy and the man himself had been driven out of Southport, unable to find so much as a place to stay.

I'd been married to him for three years. Even though I compared prices at three different stores just to buy groceries, he'd never once shorted me on living expenses, wiring the money on time every month. To someone who valued money like her own life, he was the biggest source of income I had.

Now that source of income had become my ex-husband. All I'd wanted was to live quietly on that ten million. I had no intention of throwing my life away.

If it was really like the prompts said, if Stan was somewhere nearby watching me, then accepting this younger schoolmate was suicide.

The moment Stan lost it...

“Mona, why did you hit Stanley Matthews? He was kind enough to wash your feet for you. If you don't appreciate it, fine, but why throw a fit?”

My best friend Carmen Butler came over from the side, her face full of shock, and quickly bent down to pull Stanley up off the floor.

Then she turned her head, looking at me with a face full of reproach.

“Mona! To make that herbal foot-soak for you, Stanley went all the way to an old herbalist to buy the ingredients, then stood over the stove in the kitchen for a whole afternoon! How could you treat him like this?”

“I know you just got divorced and you're upset, but you can't take it out on him!”

“Besides, so what if your ex-husband's rich? He can't give you the kind of emotional support Stanley can, can he?”

I looked at Carmen's face, and my chest went tight.

This was the best friend I'd known for five years, and she was willing to climb over my corpse to become a rich man's wife.

Right then, the prompts in midair started scrolling wildly again.

【Your ex is sitting in his car downstairs, watching the surveillance feed inside the room.】

【Your best friend is doing this on purpose. She wants your ex to get the wrong idea. The second you actually do anything, he'll come charging in.】

【By then, forget the ten million. Your very life would be finished!】

Reading the prompts, I pictured that scene in my head and shuddered on the spot.

Better safe than sorry. What emotional support, my ass. Could it possibly matter more than my money?

Could it matter more than my life?

If the prompts were telling the truth, Stan had probably already drawn a knife by now!

I shot to my feet, took a big step back, and pointed at the door.

“Grab your stupid basin and get out. Now, this second!”

“Mona……” Stanley tried to keep up the pitiful act, holding the basin and inching forward a step.

“Shut up! Don't call me Mona. Today you could call me your ancestor and it still wouldn't help!”

I glared at him, vicious.

“Let me tell you, I don't need a man for the rest of my life! Come near me again and I'll report you for breaking in to rob me!”