I stared coldly at Laura, who was fuming with rage. From the moment she walked in, not once did she ask how I was doing. My head was wrapped in thick bandages and she didn’t show even a sliver of concern. All she cared about was how this incident might tarnish her little boyfriend’s reputation.

It seemed she had never truly loved me. A wave of cold sorrow washed over me.

Well, just the ten years of love and hard work as if I had been blind before and thought I fed a dog.

"Laura, what gives you the right to ask me to drop the charges? Who are you to me? Why should I listen to you?” I asked with a low ice cold. I looked at her with a sharp gaze.

My wife, Laura, betrayed her husband and conspired with her boy toy to beat me into the hospital and yet she still had the nerve to demand things from me.

Laura looked stunned. She stayed silent for a while before flying into a rage.

“Antonio, how could you say that? We’ve been married for ten years and you’re seriously asking me who I am to you? Do you even have a heart?” she asked.

I let out a cold laugh. So she did remember we had been married for ten years.

“Then tell me … what are you to me? My wife?” I asked.

Laura paused. She looked annoyed.

Finally, she said, "I already explained everything to you. I did this because I want a good-looking healthy child. Why can’t you try to understand? Why do you always have to be so petty and unforgiving?"

"Oh, so explain this to me," I continued. "What’s the deal with the marriage certificate?"

Laura's face twisted with discomfort. She retorted, “Why are you still hung up on that? I've told you, haven't I? It was for the child. Why can't you understand?"

"Are you saying my children have to endure being called as a bastard behind their back? What about Doyle, he is still young. Should he be called a third party, the homewrecker? Wasn't giving them legal status the right thing to do?" 

I closed my eyes as I tried to suppress the wave of pain and bitterness that threatened to drown me. She had told everyone we were child-free by choice and I played along. I even went as far as getting a vasectomy just to support her. To silence the gossip, I claimed I was infertile. I let the world think I was the problem.

 No one said anything to my face, but behind my back, they all mocked me for being a weak, emasculated joke. I became the husband who lives off his wife.

It was true in the past few years since the Savas Group managed to get through its crisis and flourish. Everyone started treating me with disdain, acting like I was just a nobody who was marrying Laura for her money and status.

However apparently, Doyle still cared about his appearance, but I had no pride left to protect.

"Laura, are you saying I was your mistress?" I asked and looked at her eyes. My eyes filled with heartbreak and disbelief. I had loved her for twenty years. And now, I was nothing but a clown in her play.

Laura stayed silent, then finally said coldly, "Antonio, I haven’t treated you badly. You’re the Vice President of Savas Group. I let you use the Savas Family name in high society. Haven’t I given you enough?"

“I’m the heir of the Savas Family, a woman with my own mind. If I want to have a child, why should I need your permission?” she declared.

Suddenly, I guffawed. Of course. Why would she need to ask me anything? Who am I to her, really?

Everything I did was just me making a fool of myself and being a self-serving bitch.

"Get out," I said through clenched teeth. "You disgust me, Laura. Get as far away from me as possible. I don’t want to see your face ever again."

Laura's face went white like a ghost. She whispered, "Antonio … how could you say that to me?"

Doyle exploded with rage. He slapped me hard across the head and it sent a jolt of pain through my skull.

“Who the hell are you calling disgusting?” he exclaimed. "If you dare insult Laura again, I’ll beat you to death.”

He pulled me off the hospital bed and once I was down, he started kicking me like a madman.

He was one point eighty-five meters high and graduated from a physical education school. So, when I tried to fight back, he kicked me square in the chest. I flew backward, slammed into the wall, then crumpled to the floor in a heap.

Doyle charged at me again, but just then, the door slammed open.

"Stop!" a loud voice roared. Several police officers stormed into the hospital room.

Ten minutes later, I sat in the police station, covered in bruises and drenched in cold sweat.

Beside me, Laura was frantically trying to smooth things over. She told the police, “It’s all just a misunderstanding, Officer. We’re … we’re family.”

Doyle glared at me with bloodshot eyes and shouted, "Bastard! If you insult my wife again, I’ll beat the crap out of you. You hear me? I’ll keep hitting you until you learn your place.”

One of the officers turned to me with a stern expression and asked, "Are you the one who filed the report?"

With a blank face, I nodded. "Yes, Officer. Last night, Doyle broke two of my ribs and knocked out a tooth. Today, he came back to the hospital and assaulted me again. Please investigate this seriously.”

The police officer looked at Doyle and asked, "Mr. Bell, how do you respond to this accusation?”

Doyle stood tall and answered defiantly “Yeah, I hit him. And I’d do it again. He insulted my wife. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t defend her?”

The officer checked the medical report and said in a serious tone, “You do realize you’ve caused serious injuries. If this case goes to court and he presses charges, you could be facing five years in prison. I suggest you apologize and try to settle this privately.”

When he heard that he might face five years in prison, his face changed but Doyle still said sternly, “He’s just a weak man that can’t take a punch. That’s not my fault.”

Seeing this, Laura interfered and stepped in front of me. She said, "Antonio, you do know that Doyle is still a young man. Do you know young men are hot-blooded and easy to rile up? Let's be honest here … you did say some awful things that made him angry.”

“A little temper is a good thing. It's much better than being a spineless man like you. Don’t hold a grudge. How about this … I'll split my time when it's odd days, I stay with you and on even days I'm with him. Is it fair enough?”

I let out a laugh, full of scorn at Laura. Who did she think she was? Was she a queen or a princess? And what did she mean by using odd number thing to stay with me?"

"Laura … do you even hear yourself? Do you think you’re some kind of empress? Are you thinking by tossing out favors like that you're doing me kindness? Do you not feel gross at all, sharing things with some used goods?"

Laura's flushed red with anger and embarrassment. Her finger pointed at me as she yelled, "Antonio! After everything I’ve done for you over the years, this is how you repay me by humiliating me in front of others?”

“Fine. If you want to play hardball, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

She looked me dead in the eye and then said, "One last chance. Will you drop the charges and settle this?”

I met her stare with the same coldness and answered, “No. Doyle needs to be taught a lesson. He owes me that.”

She straightened her posture and spoke through clenched teeth, “Fine. Since you're so heartless, don't blame me when I stop playing nice.”

"It seems, you've gotten too cocky, Antonio. It seems after I gave you a seat at the company for so many years, you thought highly of yourself and can't tolerate others. Even more so, you don’t even listen to me anymore. I need to teach you. I hope you don't regret this, Antonio."

Then after she said that, she turned to the police with a chilling calm and said, "Officer, I’d like to report Antonio Bernadi for rape. He used work as an excuse to force himself on me multiple times.”