Betrayed by the CEO: I Faked My Death and Married AnotherChapter 1
My husband's secretary deliberately ruined a painting I'd spent two years creating.
I was furious. As punishment, I made her work as a maid for three days—cleaning my exhibition.
Austin didn't say a word at first. He acted like nothing had happened.
But three months later, his company declared bankruptcy. He was thrown in prison.
To pay off millions in debt, I worked three jobs a day, running myself ragged.
For three years, I was cornered in alleyways by debt collectors who hurled insults at me. For a hundred dollars, I took a job as a "test sleeper" in haunted houses.
Then one night, while I was serving tables, I heard him—Austin Vance, the man who was supposed to be rotting in a cell—throwing a lavish birthday party for his precious secretary.
A friend asked, "Austin, you gave Kathy Barnes a million-dollar necklace, meanwhile your dear wife is sleeping in haunted houses for a hundred bucks. How do you live with yourself?"
Austin exhaled a plume of smoke, his laugh cold as ice.
"Pearl forced Kathy to be a maid. These three years? They're her punishment."
"Once it's over, I'll pretend I made a comeback."
"She'll still be Mrs. Vance."
My body swayed in the cold wind. I stood there like a broken puppet.
So this was it. Three years of living hell—all orchestrated by you.
Fine then. I'll pay you back double.
——
I felt like I'd plunged into a frozen abyss. And still, voices drifted out from inside—Bertram Walker was speaking.
"Austin, she's still your wife. Before you married her, she was a pampered heiress. Don't you think this is a bit... cruel?"
"Last time I saw Pearl, she looked awful. Gaunt. Hollow. She's probably at her breaking point."
Austin's voice was flat, indifferent.
"We agreed on three full years. Not a day less."
"Besides, there's only one month left. She's made it this far—what's a few more days?"
Bertram hesitated, then spoke again.
"She came to me a while back. Begging. She only wanted to borrow a few hundred dollars."
"The Pearl Sanchez I used to know—the golden girl, born with a silver spoon—I've never seen her that desperate."
Austin let out a cold snort. "You didn't lend it to her, did you?"
"Of course not. You made it clear—anyone who helps her is dead to you. I wouldn't dare."
Through the haze of smoke, Austin's lips curled into a frigid smile.
"Smart man."