The Cost of Favoring His Secretary

On the day Mom's condition turned critical, I stared at the mounting hospital bill and called my husband. He didn't even hesitate. Half a million dollars appeared in my account within minutes. But when I tried to use it, the transfer was frozen — pending review. It never cleared. Not even by the time Mom was wheeled into surgery. I crouched in the hospital hallway and called him again and again. No one picked up. On the seventieth call, he finally answered. "Honey! They're starting the surgery. Mom's in so much pain right now. I'm begging you." All I got back was the flat drone of a dropped call. I waited. And waited. I waited long enough to receive Mom's death notice. I waited long enough to see what his secretary had posted: a photo of a necklace worth a fortune, wrapped around her neck. [One offhand "I like it," and Mr. Gilmer wired me half a million dollars just like that. [Guess this wild little kitten finally found the collar that fits.] Robert Gilmer finally deigned to call me back. "Accounting still needs to sign off on it. Can't your mom wait a little longer?" I looked over at my own mother, standing right there beside me outside the operating room, very much alive. And that was when it hit me. He'd thought the one dying was my mother. Chapter 1 "Angeline, is Robert back yet?" Mom asked, a note of worry in her voice. Ever since my mother-in-law, Cassidy Gilmer, had been hospitalized, my mother, Denise Bross, had been helping care for her too. "That boy… If he doesn't hurry, he won't even make it in time to see his mother one last time." I stared at the phone that no longer rang through and let out a sigh. "He's not coming back. We should start handling the funeral arrangements." Word of Cassidy's death rocked the whole city within hours. I was in the middle of packing up her belongings when Robert Gilmer finally took me off his blocked list. "Who gave you permission to go around spreading rumors about my mother? So what if I didn't wire your mother's medical bill in time? "Melanie already looked into it. Your mother's condition isn't even serious. Besides, that necklace Melanie wanted could've been snatched up by someone else any second. "And for that, you go around cursing your own mother-in-law? That's crossing a line." "Robert!" Anger flooded through me. "Your mother passed away! It's not a prank!" He gave a cold laugh. "Angeline, my mother's health has always been solid. I read her checkup results every month. I'd know." "She had a sudden medical emergency." "Enough. I know you're still sore about the necklace I bought Mel, but she's been doing great work lately. I was just rewarding an employee. Even if you're jealous, this is a filthy way to handle it. "I'll let it go this time. Do it again, and I really will divorce you." He hung up. A text came through a moment later. Half a million dollars, deposited. I sent it right back, untouched, with a note attached: [Don't need it.] Robert never wrote back. I arranged for my mother-in-law's body to be brought to the funeral home, collected her urn, mourned her together with Mom, and then dropped Mom off at her home. Mom had barely been gone a few minutes when she called me back, panic thick in her voice, "Sweetheart! Help me, please! Someone's tearing down the house, and now they're coming after me!" I got home as fast as I could. A massive excavator had already flattened half the old house Mom had lived in for over forty years. She was on her knees in the dirt, covered in dust, still trying to crawl back toward the house. "Stop! You can't dig here! My husband's things are still inside!" But the burly man leading the crew grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back. "The hell you think you're doing? Mr. Gilmer personally ordered this demolition. What are you doing?! Protesting that you weren't compensated enough?" "Mom!" I threw myself at the man and shoved him off her, then wiped the blood and dirt from her face. Chapter 2 Mom's eyes brimmed with tears as she grabbed my hand. "Angeline, what's going on? Didn't Robert say he wouldn't tear down the old house until after I died? Why is he suddenly demolishing it now — without even a word?" My phone buzzed. A million dollars had just landed in my account. The memo read: Demolition compensation. My pupils shrank. That amount was far beyond any normal compensation. And Robert — the man in charge of demolitions in this district — there was no way a sum that high hadn't been personally approved by him. Sure enough, a few messages from him came through. Robert: [Did you get the compensation?] Robert: [I know you resent me. You won't take my money.] Robert: [Use the money to treat your mother.] I called him immediately. "Robert, my mom is fine. Tell them to stop!" But he only laughed. "Angeline, if your mom were really fine, you wouldn't be this angry with me. The only thing you can't return is demolition compensation. Take it. Consider the extra as an apology for not telling you about it beforehand." "Robert!" I shouted, but he'd already hung up. Just before the line went dead, I heard him speaking to someone else: "My wife is stubborn. If necessary, you have my permission to take extreme measures." "Robert! You can't—" I tried calling again. Then my mother screamed. "Don't tear it down!" She lunged toward the house, desperate to grab my father's memorial photo. But the man leading the crew grabbed her and shoved her to the ground. She was old. Her bones had never been strong. The fall left her unable to move. "Mom!" The man didn't even glance at her. "Forget the old woman. Mr. Gilmer said we can take extreme measures. Every last one of these shacks comes down today!" "No... Jacob's things are still inside... You can't tear it down!" My mother stretched out a trembling hand to stop them. A falling brick nearly struck her. I threw myself over her, shielding her, my screams swallowed by the dust. "Stop! This is an illegal demolition! Stop! Cough, cough!" The moment the main house collapsed, my mother's breath caught. And then she fainted. … Mom's blood pressure had spiked from the shock and fear, but she came through all right. The real damage was to her bones, and the doctor said she'd need a long stretch of bed rest. I brought her back to my place. I was sitting at her bedside taking care of her when Robert finally came home. He looked her over, then gave me a helpless little smirk. "Didn't you say your mother was fine? You call this fine?" I clenched my jaw. "She's like this because you tore her house down for no reason!" He shook his head like the whole thing amused him. "So a minute ago you were begging me for money, and now you're ready to turn on me over half a million dollars?" "Robert!" I nearly cracked a tooth grinding it. "I told you, it was your mother who died. My mom only came to help take care of things." The smile drained off his face. "Angeline, whatever's going on between us, you don't get to use an old woman's death to score points in a fight. Mom has never treated you badly." I knew there was no getting through to him, so I stopped trying. He tried to comfort me for a while, and when that didn't work, he left me to cool off on my own. On his way out, though, something on the table caught his eye. He picked it up out of curiosity, and his face went dark in an instant. "Angeline!" He threw the framed photo to the floor. It shattered. Ignoring the fact that Mom was still asleep beside us, he grabbed me by the throat. "Who gave you permission to make a funeral portrait of my mother? What, you couldn't even wait for her to actually die?" Chapter 3 I couldn't breathe through Robert's grip. My nails tore into the back of his hand. "Your mom is dead!" He laughed, more furious than amused. "You want her dead that badly? So you can inherit the thirty percent of the company she promised her daughter-in-law?" I tried to speak, but nothing came out. He'd cut off my air completely. Without warning, he shoved me to the floor and called in the bodyguards waiting outside. "Smash all of it." "No! Robert!" I screamed and threw myself forward, but two bodyguards pinned me down before I could reach him. They ripped out Mom's monitor, her IV stand, every piece of equipment in the room, and smashed them to pieces. She cried out as a bodyguard yanked her straight off the bed. They tore the sheets and blankets apart too and threw the shreds on the floor. "Mom! Robert, stop! Her bones are brittle; she's too old to survive this kind of shock! Make them stop!" My arms were raw from being wrenched, but I still couldn't get close enough to reach her where she'd been thrown down. Robert looked at Mom. Something like pity flickered across his face for a second. Then his eyes landed on the shattered funeral portrait of his own mother, and they went red. "You cursed my mother to death, and now you're going to tell me you suddenly understand a mother's life isn't something you joke about?" "Robert, I never lied to you!" He only looked angrier. "I'll take back the demolition compensation. I want to see for myself whose mother actually dies first." "Robert!" I tried to grab him, but he shoved me to the floor without a shred of mercy. The door slammed shut in front of me. I scrambled back to Mom. "Mom, Mom! Open your eyes! Don't do this to me!" My hands were shaking so hard I could barely dial the emergency line. "This is critical. She needs surgery immediately. Family needs to get here and pay the deposit right away." When the bill printed out, my hands shook even harder. The number on it was higher than what I'd paid for my mother-in-law's surgery, and cold sweat broke out on my forehead. There was no way I could cover it with my own savings. But Robert had already taken back the demolition compensation. I had no choice but to call Robert, only to find out he'd blocked me again. So I took a cab straight to company headquarters. They were in the middle of throwing a celebration for his secretary, Melanie Rhodes. I was his actual wife, but right there in front of every employee, I dropped to my knees, "I'm sorry, Robert. My mother's in the hospital. Please, show some mercy and approve the funds. It's a matter of life and death." Then I pressed my forehead to the floor. Everyone stared, stunned. His legal wife, kneeling on the ground, while the secretary who'd barely worked there a few months stood in a designer gown with his arm looped carelessly around her waist. "Angeline." His voice came from somewhere far above me. "I already paid for your mother's illness. You refused it, so I found another way to get you an inflated demolition payout instead. "And instead of being grateful, you went and cursed my mother to death. You're not getting a cent from me this time." I lifted my head and held the doctor's report out to him through tears. "My mom has an hour left before the surgery window closes. After that, it'll be too late." Seeing how serious it was, Robert actually froze for a second. "Huh. This doesn't look that serious." Melanie snatched the paper out of his hand before he could look closer. "My mom went through the same thing. The doctor said she just needed rest." "That's an infection from bone damage. It can't wait!" "Oh, come on, hospitals always exaggerate to squeeze more money out of people. Don't believe me? I'll call my mom right now. She had the same conservative treatment, and she's out hiking mountains these days." Chapter 4 Knowing there was no reasoning with Melanie, I grabbed Robert's hand instead. "Robert, please, save my mom." He glanced at Melanie, then shook me off. "Drop the act. My people wouldn't actually hurt her. Stop trying to con me with fake paperwork." I shook my head, tears welling up, but he cut me off before I could get a word out. "I know you're not really here for the money. You're jealous of Mel, that's what this is. I've told you a hundred times, Mel is talented at her job. I was just rewarding an employee. Can you not throw a fit over it every single time?" Two bodyguards moved in and dragged me toward the exit, one on each arm. "Robert!" I fought them with everything I had. That was when I noticed the earrings hanging from Melanie's ears, a matching set to her half-a-million-dollar necklace. Market value, exactly one million. There was no time to grieve over it. I called everyone I knew and scraped together what I could, but it still wasn't enough. In a panic, I remembered my mother's jewelry, tucked away at the bottom of a trunk. It had been passed down for generations, and she'd only let me touch it once, on my wedding day. I raced home and carefully carried the tiara out. A genuine antique, generations old, worth more than money could measure. I called an antiques dealer right away. He looked at the photos and agreed to meet without a second thought. But the moment I stepped outside with the box in my arms, someone slammed straight into me. Melanie let out a cry and stumbled into Robert's arms, her voice full of reproach. "Angeline, watch where you're walking!" I didn't have time to deal with her. I scrambled to gather the tiara up carefully. Just as I was about to leave, she snatched it right out of my hands. "Angeline, is this yours?" "Give it back!" I lunged for it, but one look from Robert and his bodyguards blocked me before I could reach her. "Mel's just looking. The sky isn't going to fall." "I need to sell it! I have a buyer waiting." Melanie blinked, surprised. "Wait, you want to sell something this pretty?" Robert made up his mind instantly. "Angeline, name a price. I'll cover it." My eyes lit up. If I could get the money that fast to treat my mother, that would be perfect. "Mr. Gilmer." Melanie stepped between us. "It's one thing for someone else, but you two are married. Having to pay each other for something between husband and wife just seems cold, doesn't it? "Tell you what. Let me borrow the tiara for a few days. I'll have a craftsman make an exact replica and give the original back to Angeline, untouched. That way you save some money too. What do you think?" Robert smiled at her indulgently. "There you go, always looking out for me." "No!" I grabbed for it. "If you're not going to buy it, I'm leaving right now." Melanie held on tight. "It's just a loan; I'm not keeping it. Angeline, why are you being like this? "Besides, it's so old and worn. If I wanted one, I'd want a new one. I'm not about to steal something like this." "Let go!" The tiara was fragile, so I tried to pull it free carefully. Anger flickered in Melanie's eyes, then something colder. She stared me down, and then, suddenly, let go. The tiara hit the floor with a crack. It shattered into pieces, just like the box had earlier. "Angeline, even if you didn't want to give it to me, you didn't have to smash it," Melanie said, sounding wounded now. Robert frowned too. "Angeline! You couldn't even stand lending it out for a few days? Since when did you get this petty, that you'd rather destroy something than let someone else have it?" I didn't have time to argue. My hands shaking, I called the buyer. He sighed, "It's all broken. It's lost all its collector's value." Chapter 5 I cried pitifully over the phone, and in the end, he transferred me a token payment of a hundred dollars. "This is all I'm able to do for you," he said. I stared down at the shattered tiara in my hands, then at the pitiful few digits left in my account. I looked up. Robert had already walked off with his arm around Melanie. I caught him murmuring to comfort her, "Don't worry about it. There's another tiara coming up at next week's auction. I'll put in the winning bid for you." The hospital's payment notices kept coming. The doctor's messages kept pushing for a decision. My nails dug so hard into my palms I nearly drew blood. After turning it over and over in my head, I dialed a number. "I'll divorce him and marry you. But I want money first." I stumbled through paying the deposit and got Mom into surgery. When word came that it had gone well, exhaustion finally caught up with me, and I passed out. The moment I woke, I rushed straight to see Mom. Seeing the color back in her face, I held her hand and cried. "Angeline, didn't you say your mother needed emergency surgery? Looks like she's doing just fine." I turned around. Melanie stood there, her eyes still wet with tears. "You clearly had the money, and your mother's clearly fine. So why did you have to snatch my things?" I frowned. Robert grabbed my wrist. "You had money for a winning bid this whole time, and instead you put on a show in front of everyone to turn Mel into a target. You cursed my mother, and now you're dragging your mother into it just to make a scene about your jealousy. "I told you, I was just rewarding a good employee. Do you have to throw a fit no matter where we are?" I had no idea what he was talking about. Mom, alarmed, stepped forward to try to intervene. "Robert, there's clearly some kind of misunderstanding. What winning bid?" She didn't get to say anything else. Robert shoved her aside before she could finish. She'd only just had surgery, and even that light a push sent her crashing to the ground. "Mom!" I rushed to help her up, but his grip on my wrist only tightened. "Don't you two put on an act for me. I barely touched her. I never expected it, Angeline, but your mother's an even better actress than you are." I was close to tears. "My mom really did have surgery! Let go of me!" Robert's eyes turned colder. "This time you're not even claiming she's dying?" Fury boiled over in me. "It's your mother who's dead!" He shoved me to the ground, putting his full weight behind it. Pain shot up my spine from the impact, sharp enough to bring cold sweat to my forehead. But there wasn't time to feel it. I scrambled to check on Mom instead. "Mom! Are you all right?" Robert loomed over me. "I checked. That tiara at the auction, the winning bid was placed under your name. "Five million dollars, gone just like that, and now you're going to pretend you don't have money? Not going to kneel in front of my staff and humiliate Mel this time?" I froze. Someone had placed a winning bid on a tiara under my name? "Angeline, this time, even if my mom is looking out for you, I won't let it slide again." He threw a set of divorce papers in my face. "We're getting divorced. You walk away with nothing." Melanie couldn't hide the delight in her eyes. Robert called one of the staff, "Don't tell my mom about the divorce. Everyone keeps their mouth shut, understood?" There was a pause on the other end. "But, Mr. Gilmer, your mother passed away over a month ago."