The brand-new Rolls-Royce Cullinan I'd just picked up had been driven off by Thaddeus James's secretary and smashed so badly the front end was crushed beyond recognition. Totaled.
That made three cars this month.
「I let the first two slide, but this one wasn't even insured yet. How exactly do you plan to pay me back?」
Cecily Sawyer shrank into herself, tears streaming down her face like a wounded lamb.
「Mrs. James, I'm so sorry. I'll sell everything I own to pay you back.」
Thaddeus, who had always done whatever I told him, pulled Cecily behind him and turned on me with a sharp glare.
「Michelle Farley, seriously? It's just a car. I'll pay for it.」
Cecily, who had been trembling with fear just seconds ago, saw me reach for the card Thaddeus held out and slapped it right out of my hand.
「Mrs. James, every dollar you spend comes from Mr. James. How do you have the nerve to take his money?」
Thaddeus let out a soft laugh：「She's always been this greedy.」
I looked down at my supplementary card lying on the floor and smiled.
When a man stops behaving, you replace him. Expecting him to change is a lost cause.
On my way out of Thaddeus's office, I called my assistant.
「Freeze every Farley Bank card in the James family's possession. Effective immediately.」
——
That afternoon, I'd gotten an unexpected call from the dealership.
「Ms. Farley, your Cullinan sustained severe damage. Repairs would cost a fortune, so we'd recommend writing it off entirely.」
My mind went blank：「What?」
「Your husband had it towed in and asked us to bill the repairs to your account. Given how bad the damage is, I wanted to confirm with you directly.」
I grabbed a cab to the dealership right away, and what I saw was my beautiful new car, mangled beyond recognition.
This Cullinan was the latest model, fresh off the line.
Glossy black, understated yet unmistakably luxurious.
I had loved it.
I'd only driven it once, and now it was dead.
No surprise there. This was the handiwork of Thaddeus's precious secretary, again.
I left the dealership and went straight to the office, walking right into Thaddeus's room without stopping.
He and Cecily were leaning over the same contract, their bodies pressed together.
My sudden entrance startled Cecily, and she sprang away from him.
「Mrs. James, you should knock before entering Mr. James's office.」
I ignored her and looked straight at Thaddeus.
「You took my Cullinan again and let Cecily use it for driving practice?」
Thaddeus was perfectly calm, as if he'd been expecting me to come storming in.
「Babe, why so worked up? It's just a car.」
「Two weeks ago, you took my SUV and lent it to Cecily for practice. Within a day, she drove it into a tree. Totaled.」
「Last week, you took my Bentley. Cecily drove it straight into a river. She climbed out just fine, but my car sank to the bottom.」
「Now you gave her my brand-new Cullinan, and she wrecked that one too.」
「Three cars destroyed in one month, and she walks away without a scratch every single time. I have every reason to believe she's doing it on purpose.」
「Babe, Cecily just got her license. Bad driving is totally normal. That's exactly why she needs more practice.」
「You can't just assume she did it on purpose because the cars are wrecked and she's fine. She survived because she's lucky, that's all.」
I let out a cold laugh.
「Three major accidents and she walks away from all of them? Lucky is an understatement.」
「After the first two times she destroyed my cars, I told you. Your secretary wants to practice driving, fine, but not in my cars.」
「And now you went ahead and gave her my Cullinan. Did you even ask me?」
Thaddeus flashed me a lazy, shameless grin.
