Denisse's POV

I also opened the wardrobe and saw bright, frilly dresses hanging right next to my business suits. Even the air smelled different, heavy with a perfume I didn’t recognize.

Everything screamed of another woman.

The housekeeper heard me moving upstairs and came up. When she saw it was me, she looked startled. “Miss Mason—oh! Madam, you’re back. This room’s been used by Mr. Wintringham and that woman lately.”

My heart immediately sank at that. Then, I rushed to the nightstand and yanked the drawer open to look for the gold necklace my mother left me when she passed away. But it was gone!

I had kept it there for years, never daring to wear it for fear of losing or damaging it. It brought me peace, so I’d glance at it every night before sleeping.

And now it was just gone.

I didn’t need anyone to tell me who took it. I already knew.

Anger flared through me as I called Wren. But he just hung up, so I called again. Yet, he ignored the second, third, and fourth.

Finally, on the tenth call, someone picked up.

“Wren!” I snapped. “Did you seriously let your mistress touch my things?!”

But a familiar female voice answered instead. “Oh, it’s just me, sis! What do you mean your things? I told you, I’m here to help! We’re on the same team! I even hung my clothes right next to yours, didn’t I?”

She sounded so smug, so self-righteous, and I felt a wave of nausea.

“You know what you took. I want it back. Now,” I firmly demanded.

From the background, I heard Wren’s impatient voice. “Why are you even talking to her? Come back to bed already.”

Since he was with her, I shouted for him to hear me. “Wren! She stole the gold necklace my mother left me! Tell her to give it back!”

But he just coldly said, “It’s just a necklace. Do you really need to make such a fuss? You’re not a kid anymore. Stop fighting over things with a younger girl. It’s pathetic.”

Then he hung up.

I stared at my phone, stunned.

I tried calling again, but he had already blocked me.

Suddenly, my vision went black, and I collapsed.

When I woke up, I was in the hospital. Turned out, the housekeeper had found me and rushed me here when my stomach condition flared up from stress and starvation.

She had also called Wren right away, but he didn’t even care, saying, “Tch. What, she needs backup now just to act jealous? Tell her, unless she’s dead, don’t bother me.”

I stayed in the hospital for three days.

And during those days, he never called or visited. Even when my lawyer sent him the divorce papers, he didn’t respond.

Just as I was preparing to be discharged, I spotted Wren downstairs with Ellery. They were being congratulated by a gynecologist for having a baby.

My feet rooted in their place upon overhearing them.

I had been married to him for ten years and never once gotten pregnant.

Because of that, his mother had dragged me to countless doctors, but every test said I was fine.

So, the answer to who had the problem was obvious.

Despite that, I never said anything. I kept quiet to protect his pride.

And now his mistress was pregnant?

It was ridiculous.

I watched them walk into the company, then went to clean myself up and followed them.

I hadn’t even reached the office when I overheard voices filled with admiration and gossip.

“Ellery, you’re so generous! One LV bag for each of us? Way more thoughtful than Mrs. Wintringham ever was!”

“I’m telling you, you and Mr. Wintringham are meant for each other. It’s just a shame someone else got in the way first.”

“That pink diamond ring on your finger is gorgeous. So perfect for your skin tone. Even his wife never got something like that. You’re really one of a kind.”

Ellery flashed her ring proudly. “No need to thank me, we’re family here! A man’s money should be spent on his girls, right?”

“You’re seriously amazing, Ellery. We’re all so jealous of you!”

“Jealous of what?” I asked, stepping inside in my heels. “Of her being the mistress?”

The room fell silent.

Ellery’s face dropped.

“I regard you as my sister out of respect because we’re both women,” she snapped. “And I even came to help you. But now you’re calling me a mistress? That’s just too much!”

Denisse's POV

“Help me? You think a mistress who stole my husband gets to say that?” I snapped back and grabbed her wrist. “That diamond ring from Cartier? It’s ten carats, worth a million. You really think you could afford that on your own?”

Ellery yanked her hand back, looking guilty but still trying to sound righteous. “I’ve been taking care of Wren for days. Isn’t it only fair I get something in return?”

I narrowed my eyes. “That’s marital property. Everything you’ve received while I’m still his wife, you’ll have to give it up.”

Realizing I wasn’t playing nice anymore, Ellery dropped the act.

She sneered. “No wonder Wren’s tired of you. You’re so calculating. Always pretends to be some strong career woman. Women like you are just masculine control freaks hiding behind fake power.”

I gave her a long look. “Still better than women like you, preaching sisterhood while spreading your legs for someone else’s husband.”

In that instant, her face turned red with rage. But not one of her little fans dared to speak up.

After all, I was the one holding their future in my hands. One word from me, and they’d be out the door.

Suddenly, Ellery clutched her stomach like she’d just remembered something and spat, “You're just a washed-up hag who can't even have kids. You’re probably already in menopause. You’re a disgrace to women. But me? I'm young. I can have children. I’m better than you.”

Having had enough of her, I slapped her hard.

“Don’t think you can wave a baby around like it’s a trump card,” I said coldly. “You’re not nearly strong enough to be my opponent.”

Then I turned and walked straight into Wren’s office.

Without even looking up, he said sweetly, “Ellery, how many times do I have to remind you to knock?”

I slammed the divorce papers down on his desk.

Only then did he glance up, and his smile disappeared.

Then, with his voice turned cold, he repeated, “Denisse! Don’t you know how to knock before entering my office?”

What a hypocrite.

But I wasn’t in the mood to argue.

I tapped the divorce agreement with my finger and said, “Sign it, Wren. I’m willing to walk away with nothing. But only on one condition: give me back my gold necklace. If not, I have no problem dragging both of us down.”

When I married him, I had nothing. But I’d fought by his side at the company for nearly ten years, so I wasn’t the same powerless woman I used to be.

He flinched when I mentioned the necklace just for a second, but quickly masked it, then grabbed the agreement and tossed it back at me.

“Denisse, this jealousy of yours is out of control. You’re not some impulsive young girl like Ellery. You should know by now what your actions will cost you.”

Right on cue, Ellery burst into the office, sobbing, and threw herself into his arms.

“Don’t blame her,” she whimpered. “She’s just mad about the ring you gave me. I can give it back, I don’t want it anymore.”

He stroked her swollen cheek gently, eyes full of pity.

Then he glared at me and roared, “Denisse, you hit her over a ring? After all these years as my wife, haven’t I given you enough? Was that really worth losing your temper over?”

I let out a bitter laugh.

Three years ago, I lost our wedding ring in a car accident.

He’d promised to buy me a new one, so I waited and waited.

But it was only to see that ring show up on her finger after three years.

How was I supposed to swallow that?

“You already know I’m not one to let things go. So do yourself a favor and sign the divorce papers. That way, we can walk away clean. Otherwise…” I trailed off as I looked between the two of them. “I’ll make sure you both pay for everything you’ve put me through tenfold.”

Ellery raised her head, putting on the wounded act again.

“I really was just trying to help,” she said, voice trembling. “But I guess Denisse misunderstood me. I’ll just leave. I don’t want to cause any more trouble.”

Then she ran out like the victim, and Wren glared at me before following her.

But before he could get to do so, I shouted, “Sign the papers, and return my necklace. If not, I’ll go to the press.”

Then I held up my phone, which I had been using to record everything since I had worked in the company.

Denisse's POV

“The gold necklace? I already gave it to a beggar. If you want it back, go dig through the trash!” Wren barked.

My eyes widened in disbelief. I was about to question him when a sharp scream came from outside the office.

“Ellery fell down the stairs!” someone shouted.

Without hesitation, Wren shoved me aside and bolted out the door.

Caught off guard, I slammed into the corner of the desk. The impact split my head open, and blood started to trickle down my face.

Dizzy and stumbling, I followed them out, only to see Wren frantically cradling Ellery in his arms.

Ellery struggled in his grip. “Let me go, Wren! If you keep holding me like this, your wife’s going to get mad again and call me a mistress!”

“You’re going to be a mother. Be reasonable,” he said. “If she dares to insult you again, I’ll leave her.”

Watching them, I couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. “What a touching love story. You two really are the perfect pair of trash.”

“Denisse, what happened to you?” Wren asked when he saw me. He then let Ellery go and rushed toward me, his eyes flashing with what looked like concern.

But Ellery, standing behind him, crossed her arms with a cold smirk. “Older women are something else. Look at this pitiful act, throwing herself around for sympathy. I could never compete with that level of manipulation.”

Wren paused, just about to speak, when Ellery suddenly gasped and clutched her stomach.

“It hurts… Wren, am I losing the baby?”

He immediately panicked and quickly picked her up to leave.

“Sign the divorce papers first,” I said, blocking his way. “Otherwise, I can’t promise tomorrow’s headlines won’t be about your affair, and I wonder how far your company’s stock will crash.”

He glared at me, jaw clenched. “You wouldn’t dare.”

I stared him down and challenged, “Try me. You might survive the scandal, but your precious mistress? People will eat her alive.”

We’d been married ten years. He knew exactly what kind of woman I was. And if I had the guts to say it, I absolutely had the guts to follow through.

He looked at Ellery, pale and trembling in his arms, and finally caved.

He signed his name on the divorce agreement, fast and messy, then flung the papers in my face.

The corner scraped my wound, and the sting brought tears to my eyes.

He stood over me, sneering. “Go ahead and throw your tantrum. Just don’t come crying to me later when you regret this.”

But I stared up at him, not backing down. “When we go collect the divorce certificate, bring my gold necklace. Or this won’t be the end of it.”

Ellery suddenly spoke, her voice soft and innocent. “You mean that cheap little trinket? I saw a beggar on the street and gave it to him. He needed it more than we did. You’re really going to fuss over something like that, Denisse? You have no compassion at all.”

I looked at the two of them in disbelief.

I thought Wren had lied when he said he gave it away.

But no. They really gave away my mother’s necklace.

How dare they?

How dare they use my mother’s last gift, something so precious to me, just to play the part of kind-hearted saints?

Rage exploded inside me, and I lunged toward Ellery. “I’ve had enough of you!”

Before I could reach her, Wren shielded her with his whole body and shoved me back hard.

As a result, I hit the ground and blacked out.

The last thing I saw was the two of them walking away, him not even looking back.

And in that moment, I made myself a promise.

Even if it takes the rest of my life, I’ll make those two pay for everything.