"Oh my God, the way Ms. Simmons is looking at her boyfriend—it's practically dripping with love. She's so in love. This is literally a girl-boss CEO coming to life!"
"Yeah, I heard today is her boyfriend's birthday. During the day he made a wish that he wanted to watch a fireworks show, and Ms. Simmons threw down a million to make it happen. I'm so jealous."
"But I heard Ms. Simmons is already married…"
"So what? In rich families, holding the husband on the left and the lover on the right is totally normal. Besides, her husband is just a kept man. People like him only have money in their eyes and no love. He wouldn't care how many men Ms. Simmons has outside."
Lily and I could've been a fairy tale come to life.
She was the eldest legitimate daughter of the prestigious Simmons family. The family's future and only heir.
My family background was ordinary. I also had a mom who'd been bedridden for years and needed support.
Not long after we got together, I confessed my family's situation to her. I thought she'd be like everyone else—hearing about my bedridden mom, she'd feel like backing off.
But she didn't.
She just held my hand, eyes full of heartache for me. With a trembling voice, she said, "These years you've been so tired, haven't you? From now on, I'll be with you."
She told me, "Matthew, no matter where you go, no matter what you do, don't forget that I'm behind you."
Back then, a lot of people said meeting Lily was the luckiest thing in my life. Including me—I thought so too.
Back then, no one expected that a wedding I was looking forward to so much would not only brand me with a gold-digger label I couldn't tear off, but also drain away all the love she had for me.
Even now, I still remember. After I got that money, I rushed in a panic to pay for my mom's surgery. And my mom's attending doctor suddenly changed from the urgency of just moments before, speaking to me earnestly.
"Mr. Gilbert, your mother doesn't have any problems at all. Everything just now was Mrs. Simmons's test of you. She wanted to see whether you're actually qualified to be the Simmons family's son-in-law."
"She asked me to pass on that she's not very satisfied with your performance. If you want to continue sitting firmly in the position of the Simmons family's son-in-law, you'll need to work at it."
"Also, Mrs. Simmons will arrange a better medical team for your mother next, but she has one condition: she hopes you can keep your mouth shut about this matter."
Because of Aria Simmons's warnings—overt and covert—I didn't dare gamble with my mom's life. No matter how Lily misunderstood me, I never told her the truth.
But when I found out she was cheating, and there was an attractive, bright girl by her side, I still went crazy and started making a scene.
I grabbed her clothes, crying so hard I couldn't make a sound. Again and again I asked her humbly, "Lily, I'm begging you—can you not treat me like this?"
Facing my pleading, there wasn't the slightest softening on her icy face. She stiffly pried my hand open. Word by word, she said, "Matthew, on the day we got married, you raised your price on the spot and trampled my family's dignity under your feet. At that moment, in my heart, you were already dead."
"The you right now is nothing more than a woman I bought with money. What right do you have to demand anything of me?"
Later, she became even more unrestrained. The men around her were replaced again and again. The sleeping pills I kept in the nightstand emptied bottle after bottle in day after day of insomnia.
At this moment, I didn't have money to buy medicine. I could only turn around and go home. But when I reached the front door, I found the villa's main gate tightly shut, with not a bit of light inside.
I covered my stomach, which still faintly hurt, and with difficulty pressed the doorbell.
