She had access to my cards. My accounts. All of it, just like that.

And there was no way that happened without Fergus behind it.

No way.

When I woke up, Fergus still hadn't appeared.

But my attorney was waiting at my bedside, ready to brief me.

"CEO Henson has taken his secretary to an off-site meeting. He says he won't be back until tomorrow."

He studied my expression carefully before continuing:

"I checked the attendance logs from the past two weeks. The two of them have been leaving together for 'meetings' constantly... but the destinations—"

He handed me a printout. Every single destination listed on those so-called business trips was nowhere near any of our partner companies. They were all resort towns. Vacation hotspots.

"I also spoke with some employees at the company. They said Belinda Swanson's Instagram is full of screenshots from these trips with CEO Henson... Would you like to see?"

He held out his phone. The screen was filled with screenshot after screenshot.

Every one was a carefully staged collage Belinda had posted.

The captions read things like:

"Thanks to CEO Henson for driving me home tonight! This is our special time for two."

"I complained about working overtime and a certain someone sent me a little 'bonus'... the Hermès bag I've had my eye on forever!"

"I mentioned wanting to see the Eiffel Tower, and he flew me there that same night. If this isn't love, what is?"

The attorney went on:

"We looked into Belinda Swanson's college history and discovered she had a financial sponsor during her university years. That sponsor was Mr. Henson."

"Her college roommate told us Belinda used to brag about having a wealthy older benefactor. That person was Mr. Henson."

Hearing it confirmed with my own ears that Fergus had betrayed me long ago—

It cut straight through me.

The attorney placed a folder in my hands and said quietly:

"There's also... we found this. I think you should see it."

I opened the folder. One glance, and my legs buckled. I barely caught myself from falling.

I gripped the folder, my voice shaking:

"Take me home first. I need... I need a moment."

But when I walked through the front door, strangers were moving through my home. Cases of jewelry were being carried out of the bedroom—my bridal jewelry, the pieces my parents had spent twenty years collecting for me, every priceless heirloom, hauled out and shoved into a safe right in front of me.

I rushed over and grabbed the movers:

"What do you think you're doing? Put my things down!"

They shook my hands off without a flicker of expression, loading item after item into the safe. Then one of them turned to me and said:

"From now on, your jewelry, accessories, handbags, and gowns are all under Ms. Swanson's control. If you want to use any of them, you write a five-thousand-word request and submit it through the internal approval portal. Ms. Swanson approves it, you get your things. She doesn't, you don't."

I was shaking so hard I couldn't stop. I pulled out my phone and called Fergus.

Belinda answered. Her voice was bright, almost amused:

"Wow, one day and you're already well enough to come crawling to him? I knew it—you were faking the whole thing just to squeeze out more money!"

"And all that nonsense about going into labor soon. Your due date isn't until next week!"

"Oh, right—Mamie! I almost forgot. Since your due date is next Wednesday, I'll only cover the medical expenses if you deliver on that exact day. Baby comes any other day? That's on your own dime."

I held everything in, every ounce of fury pressed down tight:

"Belinda Swanson! Who gave you permission to touch my jewelry? Tell your people to return my things right now, or I'm calling the police and reporting you for theft!"

Belinda scoffed, not a shred of concern in her voice.

"Your things? Ms. Fox, do you even remember who you are? You were a nobody clerk. You married CEO Henson—that's the only reason you ever got to wear jewelry worth tens of millions or touch gowns worth millions."

"You're so obsessed with money you can't even buy milk tea without spending CEO Henson's cash. Who's to say you won't turn around and sell off the jewelry, the accessories, the luxury goods he gave you?"

"As CEO Henson's secretary, it's my duty to protect his assets. So from now on, unless I give you permission, don't even think about touching any of it."

"Belinda Swanson! You've gone too far!"

I was shaking with rage.

"Too far?"

She laughed, light and unbothered.

"Oh, that reminds me. I hear your mother is still staying at the hospital our CEO Henson invested in? Right? Honestly—a broke little woman saddled with a bloodsucking wreck of a mother."

"She's been sick for how many years now? Who knows how much of CEO Henson's money she's wasted. So, to keep his money from being thrown away any further, I had someone escort your mother out."

The room tilted. My knees nearly buckled and I couldn't stop shaking, couldn't think past the roaring in my ears. I screamed into the phone.

"Belinda Swanson! Have you lost your mind?! My mother can't leave her oxygen chamber! What you've done is murder!"

I hung up and threw myself into the car, racing straight to the hospital.

That was when I found out: Belinda had taken my mother's VIP suite and given it to her own mother.

Some of the hospital's senior staff were people I'd promoted years ago—they'd gotten my mother into a new room just in time, close enough to disaster that I couldn't breathe when I heard.

Looking at my mother's colorless face, I couldn't hold back anymore.

I turned to Attorney Pierce.

"Throw Belinda Swanson's mother out onto the street."

"Every dollar I ever spent paying off that woman's loans, every cent I covered for her mother's medical bills, I want it all back."

"And I'm pressing charges against Belinda Swanson. Attempted murder."

I tucked the blanket tighter around my mother's shoulders.

By the time I stood up, I was calm again.

"Take me to the company."

"Since the ingrates I fed with my own hands have shown their teeth, I'll rip them out myself."

The moment I walked into Sterling Group, the employees who recognized me stared with a mix of shock and barely concealed gossip.

"What's Ms. Fox doing here?"

"You think she found out about CEO Henson? Came here to make a scene?"

"She's a housewife. How's she going to fight CEO Henson? If you ask me, she'd be better off looking the other way. At least she'd still get to live like a rich man's wife."

I kept my eyes straight ahead. None of it reached me.

I was heading straight for Fergus's office when someone stepped in front of me.

A young woman I'd never seen before, looking me up and down with open contempt.

"This area isn't for people like you to just waltz into. Get out."

A nearby employee rushed over to explain.

"Chloe, that's Ms. Fox! Let her through—"

But the girl called Chloe didn't flinch.

She gave me a slow once-over, then smirked.

"So you're the wife? This old? No wonder CEO Henson can't stand you anymore."

"This is a company, not somewhere for you to come make a scene. You'd better run home before CEO Henson gets here—unless you want him to dump you for real."

Murmurs rippled through the staff around us. Eyes landed on me, some pitying, some hungry for the show.

I let out a cold laugh, signaled my bodyguard to pin her, and slapped her across the face.

"Who do you think you are? You dare block my way?"

Chloe stared at me in disbelief, then let out a shriek like a pig being slaughtered:

"Who am I?! Do you even know who I am? You dare hit me! I'm Chief Secretary Swanson's best friend! You hit me! You think once she finds out, she'll just let you walk away from this?!"

She cackled wildly:

"You're just some washed-up old woman terrified Belinda's going to take your place as the lady of the house, so you came running over here! Let me tell you something! If Belinda wasn't so kindhearted, if she hadn't stopped Mr. Henson from kicking you out ages ago, you'd have been sent packing long before now!"

"You hit me! Just wait till she gets back! She'll have Mr. Henson divorce you on the spot! You'll walk out of that house with nothing!"

I smiled at that, then lightly patted her cheek with my hand.

"Then you'd better call them right now. Tell them to drag themselves over here."

"I came here today to divorce Fergus Henson. Only the one walking away with nothing won't be me. It'll be him."

I knew the second I stepped into the building, someone had tipped Fergus off.

I'd barely finished speaking when I heard footsteps.

Fergus came rushing back with Belinda in tow.

The moment he saw me, his face went rigid for a beat. He grabbed my hand and tried to drag me toward the exit.

"Not here. We'll talk about this at home."

I flung his hand off.

"Right here. Right now."

Belinda pulled the red-cheeked Chloe into her arms and suddenly burst into tears:

"Ms. Fox! I know you're angry because I restricted your spending, and that's why you came storming into the office like this! But you really were spending too much! The company barely clears tens of millions a year! You spent over ten million on a single necklace!"

"And you keep transferring money out of Mr. Henson's account to buy things! Fine, this time it was just a cup of milk tea! But what about next time?! If nobody stops you now, next thing you know you'll be draining tens of millions straight from the company accounts! Then what happens to all of us?!"

"I know you're angry at me. You can hit me, you can yell at me, I deserve it! But you shouldn't take it out on other employees! And you definitely shouldn't take it out on my sick mother! How could you have someone throw my mother out of the hospital? Do you know she nearly died?" The moment those words left her mouth, whatever sympathy the staff had for me curdled into contempt.

"God, she's that awful?"

Fergus's expression darkened:

"Mamie! Are you done making a scene?! Belinda restricted your spending for the sake of the company! If you have a problem, take it up with me! Why do you have to go after her?!"

"If you keep this up, I really can't stay in this marriage anymore."

I scoffed and flung the Instagram screenshots across the floor.

"Is it the company that's making this marriage unbearable for you, or is it because you want your precious secretary to take my place?"

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

Fergus roared, all bluster and no conviction:

"Don't you dare spread lies about her!"

I pulled a prenatal report from my bag and hurled it in his face.

"Belinda Swanson is pregnant. With your child. Still going to call me a liar?!"

"And you actually wrote her a guarantee promising that once she has this baby, you'd give the child five percent of the company's shares?!"

Fergus held the prenatal report. Not a flicker of guilt or embarrassment on his face.

He looked at me and let out a weary sigh:

"Since you already know, I won't hide it anymore."

"Belinda is carrying my child, yes. But I'm not going to divorce you. Once her baby is born, I'll bring the child home. You can raise it together with ours."

"If it bothers you, I'll set her and the kid up somewhere out of the way. You'll never have to see them."

"The shares are just so they have something to live on. The company still goes to our child—relax."

I was so furious I laughed.

"Fergus Henson, since when do you have any right to touch the company's shares?!"

"I don't agree to any of this!"

His expression darkened.

"Then we divorce. But don't forget—we never signed a prenup. Take it to court if you want. The company, every asset, half of it's mine."

"You've been a housewife for years. You probably don't even realize the company's already mine. That sad little stake you're holding? It doesn't change a thing. Forget handing out shares—the whole company's going to Bella's baby."

I smiled.

"You seem to have forgotten something. We didn't just get married. You married into the Fox family. Nothing of mine has anything to do with you."

"I let you work for me for five years, and somewhere along the way you forgot who actually owns this company."

I snapped cold:

"Fergus Henson! We're getting a divorce! You leave this marriage with nothing!"

"Effective immediately—as the controlling owner of Sterling Group, I'm informing you both:

"You're fired! Security! Get these two out of my building. Now!"