"Remember this: your daughter went hungry today because of you."
That day, Brian turned around and took Joan to Disneyland.
And I was left with nowhere to turn.
I went to a stranger. Knelt before him. Bowed my head to the floor. Even started unbuttoning my blouse.
"Please, just help me buy some formula for my daughter. I'll do anything..."
The man took pity on me. He didn't touch me. He gave me a thousand dollars and bought the formula himself.
Later, my daughter fell ill with a rare disease.
When we desperately needed money for her treatment, Joan deliberately held Brian back.
"Brian, every kid gets sick now and then."
"Eleanor's obviously making it up to guilt-trip you. It's just another one of her sympathy ploys."
And Brian let his mistress lead him away, smug and triumphant.
While I watched my daughter, not yet a year old, die right in front of me.
How was I supposed to let that go?
Now, I delivered my final words, cold as a blade.
"Brian Delgado, I want you to remember for the rest of your life: you are the one who failed me and our child."
After I hung up, the twenty million dollars came through.
I tapped confirm without hesitation.
Then I tilted my phone screen toward Mervyn. "The money's in."
He studied me from across the room. "How much longer do we wait?"
I sat on the terrace of my villa, swirling a glass of red wine.
"Not long. The net's closing."
Joan, riding high on her pregnancy, had taken Brian's card out shopping. When she tried to pay, the cashier told her the balance was insufficient.
Her eyes went wide. "That's impossible."
"Open your damn eyes and look again. This is an unlimited supplementary card. Whatever my husband has in his account, I can spend. So swipe it."
But the cashier held firm, insisting there was nothing left on it.
"What's going on?"
Brian strode over, drawn by the commotion.
"Baby, this cashier is looking down on us on purpose. He says your card has no money on it. How is that even possible?"
Brian gave a condescending smile and produced another card.
"Try this one."
The cashier took it respectfully, swiped it, then returned a moment later looking deeply uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, sir. This one has a zero balance as well."
"What?"
Now it was Brian's turn to go pale.
Before he could process it, his assistant called in a panic, delivering the blow.
"Mr. Delgado, your account balance is at zero. It appears... all of your assets have been transferred out."
