“Maybe I should just resign. I'm clearly in your wife's way, and I'm afraid one of these days she'll have me killed for no reason at all.”
I stared at that pitiful little act she was putting on.
The memory of her voice on the phone, cursing my mother with every vile word she could muster, burned fresh in my mind.
A cold laugh slipped out of me.
“Do you dare come with me to check the call records?”
“Mrs. Morton!” Bernice cut me off with a shriek. “I already let it go when you humiliated me. Why do you keep coming after me?”
“Fine, fine, fine. I'm just a regular working girl. I can't afford to cross a rich wife like you. I'll scrape together every last cent I have and give you the million dollars, okay? I'm begging you, just let me go!”
Her eyes rimmed red, and she made a show of pulling out her phone to transfer money.
The next second, Sean pressed her hand down.
He lifted his gaze to me. The coldness in his eyes could have drawn blood.
“Irene, have I been too good to you? Is that why you've forgotten what you are?”
A bank card hit me in the face.
I glanced at it, and every drop of warmth drained from my body.
It was the card I kept in the nightstand. The one I had just finished filling with enough money for my mother's surgery.
“Bernice already looked into it. You're suspected of hiding marital assets. I've had the bank freeze the account.”
My pupils shrank. The color bled from my face. “You can't do this. That money is for my mother's surgery. Her heart can't wait any longer.”
“Enough.” Sean scoffed, brow furrowed. “I pay millions a year for a team of specialists to look after your mother. Her heart surgery could wait another year and she'd still be fine.”
“If you're going to lie, at least come up with something believable. You're a real disappointment.”
I stood frozen.
A team of specialists?
If he had visited the hospital even once, he would have known there was no team of specialists.
I grabbed his arm. Tears poured out before I could stop them. “Sean, I'm begging you. I don't want anything else. Just give me back the money, please?”
He looked down at my ashen face. Something in his eyes wavered for a fraction of a second. “Fine.”
“Apologize to Bernice. Once she forgives you, I'll unfreeze it immediately.”
The taste of blood filled my throat. I thought of my mother huddled under the blankets, curled in on herself from the pain, too afraid to make a sound because she didn't want me to worry.
I closed my eyes. “I'm sorry.”
Bernice tilted her head, all wide-eyed innocence. “What was that, Mrs. Morton? I couldn't quite hear you.”
“I'm sorry. I was wrong. I was greedy. I was shameless. Please, forgive me.”
She folded her arms and smiled, bored and amused. “Mrs. Morton, the emotional damage you've caused me is really quite severe. Just saying the words isn't going to cut it.”
“Tell you what. Get on your knees and slap yourself for running your mouth. When I'm satisfied, I'll have the card unfrozen.”
I looked up at Sean on instinct.
This man, who once threw himself into a fight until he coughed blood because someone shoved me at a dinner.
Right now, he stood there like a stranger who had nothing to do with any of it.
“Irene, you really have been out of line. Bernice works herself to the bone for this family. Consider this a lesson. It's for your own good.”
I lost count of how many times I slapped myself.
My face swelled until I could barely open my eyes. I clutched my lower abdomen, drenched in cold sweat.
Sean frowned, a vague sense that something was off crossing his features.
He started to step forward, but Bernice hooked her arm through his. “Mr. Morton, I'm already exhausted from that business trip with you. Now I have to come back and deal with your family drama on top of it. My back is killing me from standing here.”
Sean laughed and gave her waist a squeeze, pulling her toward the door.
Before he left, he glanced back at me and tossed out a line like spare change. “Irene, Bernice wears herself out working for us. You should be grateful. I've already unfrozen the card.”
