Ella lifted her chin, face bright with triumph. “He took me to the boutique counter himself—picked these out just for me!”
“You and I are not the same. A thirty-dollar fake diamond ring? That's about all you deserve.”
I looked at Jacob. Said nothing. Just looked at him.
His eyes flickered, and he turned away from mine. “You said you didn't mind the fake ring. I told you I'd buy you a real one once I had the money.”
I understood now.
Eighteen hundred dollars on shoes, just like that.
But in his heart, a thirty-dollar fake ring really was all I was worth.
The suffocation pressed hard against my chest. I kept going. “And the three-hundred-thousand-dollar car she mentioned? The two hundred thousand in emotional damages? You think I should pay that too?”
A long silence. Then Jacob finally spoke.
“Roberta, Ella's just looking out for me.”
“She was worried I'd get taken advantage of, so she rushed over to set these conditions.”
“I mean, it's all going to be shared marital property anyway, right? You're just handing it over to me a little early—letting me hold on to it for us.”
My whole body went numb. I stared straight into his eyes.
Calm. Untroubled. Not a trace of shame.
He genuinely agreed with everything Ella had done. Every word he'd just said was what he actually believed.
I had thought Jacob was steady and resilient and driven—considerate to me, endlessly patient and gentle with my daughter. The kind of man who would make a perfect husband and father.
I'd been wrong.
There was no point wasting another second.
I didn't bother with one more word. I picked up my daughter and turned to leave.
What I never expected was that Ella would be crazy enough to rip her straight out of my arms.
She gripped the back of Mia's collar, face twisted with disgust.
“Until that money hits the account, you and this little bastard aren't going anywhere!”
Mia's face went white. She burst into tears, screaming for me, struggling to reach my arms—and Ella slapped her so hard she hit the ground.
“Cry again, you little mongrel. Try me.”
From the day she was born, my daughter had been treasured by everyone around her. I had never once raised my voice at her.
And now a stranger had hurt her, again and again.
Rage hit me like a wall of heat.
They wanted money that badly? Fine. I'd give it to them.
Not just the money. The redevelopment project would go forward too, and I'd release the funds immediately.
I wanted to see if they could actually claw their way into high society.
I took out my phone, made the call, then reached for my daughter.
Ella saw me move without a word and assumed I was trying to grab Mia back without paying. She raised her hand and charged at me.
But at the last second, a ringtone cut through the room.
Ella picked up. From the other end, a man's voice bellowed, “Something huge just happened!”
She stood frozen for a few seconds, then blurted, “What happened? Is it the redevelopment project?”
As she spoke, her eyes slid toward me, and for once, a flicker of hesitation crossed her face.
The voice on the other end rushed through the news in a panic, paused for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. “It is the redevelopment thing, but I don't know what the hell got into the people up top. They just pushed the funds through, clean and fast, out of nowhere.”
“Didn't even go through the usual process. And get this, they sent down an extra five million!”
His voice dropped low. “And I already moved on it. Skimmed the whole five million for us.”
Ella gasped. “All five million……?!”
Her gaze darted around the room. She cupped the phone close, lowered her voice. Then, slowly, the shock on her face curdled into something harder. She turned and looked at me the way someone looks at trash.
“You heard all that, right? That's the league my family plays in now. And you? You're not even in the same category.”
I let the corner of my mouth curl, and I smiled at her.
