"This dinner tab has to be at least ten thousand dollars. That's more than enough to press charges. If Mrs. Matthews can't pay, the police will probably take her in."

Bruno drew a deep breath. "Judith, apologize to Ellie. Do that, and I'll let tonight go."

"Apologize to her? Have you lost your mind, or have I?"

Ellie put on her best concerned expression and tugged at Bruno's sleeve. "Mr. Matthews, please don't fight with your wife because of me. I'm just a junior assistant. A little mistreatment is nothing I can't handle."

She turned to me, her voice dripping with sweetness. "It's all my fault, Mrs. Matthews. Please don't be angry with Mr. Matthews. Let me apologize."

She reached for my wrist as if to hold my hand, but her fingers dug in viciously, nails biting into my skin hard enough to bruise.

The pain was blinding. I wrenched my arm free.

"Get off me!"

I barely used any force, but Ellie flew backward as if she'd been shoved by a linebacker. She crashed into the dining table, sending plates and bowls cascading to the floor in an explosion of porcelain and leftover food. She went down with them, landing in a heap of grease and sauce. A shard of broken plate sliced her hand, and blood dripped onto the tile.

"Judith, you've gone too far!"

Bruno's palm connected with my face before I could blink. My head snapped to the side.

I ran my tongue over the corner of my lip and tasted copper. Something inside me went quiet. Not numb. Clear.

"Are you blind? She was the one digging her nails into me. I barely touched her. That fall was an act!"

Bruno didn't even look at me. He was already helping Ellie up from the floor, cradling her bleeding hand. He unwound the silk scarf from his collar and wrapped it carefully around her wound.

That scarf. I'd given it to him for his birthday. His initials were embroidered on the corner. I'd stitched them myself, one thread at a time.

Now those letters were soaked through with Ellie's blood.

"We're leaving."

He draped his arm around Ellie's shoulders and walked out without a backward glance.

The rest of the table found their excuses in record time. Chairs scraped, coats were grabbed, and within thirty seconds every last one of them had vanished.

The private dining room fell silent. Just me and the wreckage.

A waiter knocked and poked his head in. "Would you like to settle the bill, ma'am?"

I dug through my purse and handed him a card. "Yes."

He swiped it. The machine beeped.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. This card has insufficient funds."

I handed him another. Same result.

Then another. And another.

Seven cards. Every single one declined.

Bruno had actually frozen all of them.

The waiter stared at me, his professional smile wearing thin. "Ma'am, do you have any other way to pay?"

I tried calling my best friend. No answer. I sent a text. Nothing. Tried again. Silence.

The two of us stood there in the most excruciating standoff of my life.

"I will pay. Just give me a moment."

The waiter had already lost patience. He lifted his walkie-talkie. "Manager Wu, we've got a dine-and-dash situation up here."

The hotel manager arrived with a police officer in tow.

"Miss, you'll need to come with us."

I tried to explain. I told them who I was, that my cards had been frozen, that I could get the money. They looked at me the way people look at anyone making excuses in a police station lobby.

I was taken to the station to give a statement. That was when my best friend finally called back.

Twenty minutes later, she burst through the doors, settled the bill, and I was free to go.

I stood outside and looked back at the police station entrance. A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

Me. The sole heir to Skyward Group. Hauled into a police station because I couldn't pay a dinner tab.

If word got out, people would laugh themselves sick.

I used to dream of being the perfect little wife. Now it turned out that being a perfect little wife was harder than running a corporation.

I'd chosen wrong from the very beginning.

When I got home, a pair of women's heels sat by the front door.

The exact pair Ellie had been wearing tonight.

Bruno heard me come in and stepped out of the bedroom. Our eyes met in the hallway.

I didn't say a word. I pushed past him and walked straight into the bedroom.

Ellie was standing there, bare-legged, wearing Bruno's white dress shirt. The hem barely grazed her hips, and the lace edge of her underwear peeked out beneath it.

She was toweling off her hair, clearly fresh out of the shower. My shower. The master bathroom.

"You send your own wife to the police station, then bring your assistant home. Really stepping up your game, Bruno."

"Don't get the wrong idea. Ellie got something on her clothes, and the hotel was close to the house, so I brought her up to shower and change."

"You don't like other people touching your things, so I let her wear mine."

He said it like it was the most reasonable thing in the world. Like I was the one being unreasonable.

"You're a germaphobe, Bruno. You insist our laundry be washed separately. But now your shirt's on her back. So the germaphobia was only ever about me, is that it?"

Ellie put on that same saccharine act. "Mrs. Matthews, please don't misunderstand. Mr. Matthews said he was giving me this shirt. He won't be wearing it again."

"Did I ask you? My husband and I are talking. Stop putting your nose where it doesn't belong!"

Ellie's eyes glistened, her lip trembling with practiced hurt. "I just didn't want you to misunderstand Mr. Matthews."

"How thoughtful of you."

Bruno turned on me. "Judith, enough! You threw your weight around at the restaurant, and now you're starting in at home too?"

I matched his volume. "You think I wanted any of this?!"

Ellie tugged at Bruno's sleeve. "It's fine, Mr. Matthews. She's your wife, after all. I'm just an assistant. A little mistreatment won't kill me."

"Wife or not, that doesn't give her the right to treat you like this!"

"Let's get a divorce, Bruno."

He froze. "What did you just say?"

"I said I want a divorce!"

"Over something this trivial, you want a divorce?"

"You think this is trivial?"

"Nothing happened between me and Ellie. She's a young girl just starting her career. I looked out for her a little. What's wrong with that?"

"I don't want my man looking out for another woman. It disgusts me."

Something snapped in Bruno, like a cornered rat whose tail had been stepped on. He exploded.

"Fine! You want a divorce? Then you walk away with nothing! My money, my house, none of it has anything to do with you. Without me, you won't even be able to afford your next meal!"

He snatched up his phone and called his lawyer, barking orders to draft divorce papers.

The agreement arrived in no time.

I didn't think twice. I signed.

Bruno saw my signature and didn't hesitate either. He scrawled his name right below mine.

Ellie was barely containing her glee. "Judith, now that you and Mr. Matthews are divorced, I wonder how you'll even afford to eat."

I pointed at the door. "Get out."

"Why should I? Mr. Matthews hasn't told me to leave."

"Bruno and I haven't filed the papers yet. That makes me the lady of this house. Get out. Now."

Bruno pulled Ellie into his arms. "This house is mine. If anyone's leaving, it's you."

He called the staff over and ordered them to throw all my belongings out. Everything I owned ended up piled by the front door like a small mountain.

I didn't rush. I didn't panic. I pulled out my phone, opened a group chat, and typed a single message.

Uncles, I'm divorced. Bruno threw me out of the house.

The chat erupted instantly. Messages flooded in one after another.

This Bruno actually dared treat our precious niece like this? Seems like the good life made him forget who he really is.

We put him where he is. We can just as easily tear him back down.

Treating our Judith like this? The man must have a death wish!

...

Enough talk, everyone. Move.

I stood at the gates of the villa, watching the messages roll in, one after another.

Ellie was standing in the doorway too, arms crossed, watching me. "Still here? Can't bring yourself to leave?"

"After all, once you leave, forget about living here. You probably won't even get another look at a mansion this grand."

She was still gloating when a procession of vehicles from the prosecutor's office pulled up the drive.

The cars rolled to a stop in front of the villa. Bruno and Ellie both froze.

Several prosecutors stepped out.

"We are hereby seizing this property in accordance with the law. Nothing inside may be removed."

They walked to the front doors and affixed official seals across them.