1 When Tony appointed Alyson as his personal assistant, I knew my marriage was over. This husband of mine was the culmination of my third serious relationship. And my first two? Both had ended because of the exact same woman: my half-sister. Faced with my fury, Tony had once looked me in the eye and said, “Your father just made the kind of mistake any man could make. Why do you have to cling to the past and refuse to forgive him?” So, I turned around and introduced a gorgeous, young mistress to my father-in-law. She promptly gave him a healthy, bouncing baby boy. When Tony screamed at me in hysterics over the threat to his inheritance, I gave him a cold smile. “Your father just made the kind of mistake any man could make. Why do you have to cling to the past and refuse to forgive him?” … Tony was half-kneeling on the hardwood floor while Alyson was perched on our velvet sofa. He was gently sliding a heel onto her foot. They looked up and shared a soft, intimate smile, looking far more like a long-married couple than Tony and I ever did. The moment I walked in, Tony scrambled up as if he had been electrocuted. “Vivian,” he stammered, offering a quick explanation. “I ran into Alyson nearby. Her heel snapped, and since you two wear the same shoe size, I thought I would lend her a pair of yours.” I set the cake box on the console table without looking up. “You do not need to explain yourself to me when you bring people into this house,” I said, my voice ice-cold. “But let us get one thing straight. My mother only had one daughter. I took her maiden name, Sinclair. I am not a Pendleton.” Tony’s expression hardened. “Don’t be so childish, Vivian. You have been fighting with your father for years. We have all been patient and let it slide, but it is time for our families to make peace.” I turned to face him. “Make peace? With whom? That woman and her daughter? Or the cheating bastard who calls himself my father?” Alyson’s eyes welled with tears on cue. “Vivian, I know you hate me. But I could not choose how I was born. It is not my fault. Why do you always treat me like this?” Tony stepped in front of her. “What does this have to do with Alyson? She is completely innocent.” Innocent. That was the exact same innocent act she had used to steal my last two boyfriends. “It has been years,” Tony pressured. “Let it go. Don’t be so bitter.” My past heartbreaks had taught me one valuable lesson: do not waste energy on pointless arguments. I looked at the man I had shared the last three years of my life with. “If you want me to forgive and forget, then you had better prepare for a divorce.” Tony froze, completely blindsided by my decisiveness. Irritation flared across his face. Alyson scrambled to her feet, grabbing her designer bag from the sofa. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. Vivian does not want to see me, so I will just leave. Please do not fight because of me.” Tears spilled down her cheeks, making her look incredibly fragile. “Vivian, we are family. No matter how long it takes, we will wait for you to heal and come home.” I felt nothing but pure disgust. Ignoring my icy glare, Tony walked her out. I could hear him reassuring her at the door, promising he would talk some sense into me. When he came back inside, his face was dark. “No wonder you do not get along with your family,” he spat, his words cutting like glass. “With a rotten attitude like yours, you get exactly what you deserve. No wonder your exes dumped you.” I stared at him, unable to believe my ears. “What did you just say?” “You heard me,” Tony sneered. “If I had known you were this cold-hearted, I never would have married you. Always crying about your toxic family, when in reality, you bring all this misery on yourself. You deserve to suffer.” My blood ran cold. When Tony was pursuing me, I had been completely honest with him about my past and why my previous relationships had failed. I had opened up my heart and told him the one thing I could never forgive: my father’s infidelity and the mistress who had driven my mother to suicide. Back then, he had held me tight and sworn, “Vivian, I will never betray you. I will never let you experience that pain again.” Exhausted by my past, I had let his warmth melt my defenses. We fell in love and married. He was even the one who had shielded me with his own body when my father threw a heavy paperweight at me during a family dispute. The scar on his back was proof of his protection. He knew exactly what that house represented to me. He knew the wounds beneath the surface had never truly healed. Yet, for the sake of his assistant, he was using my deepest trauma to tear me apart. The people you love always know exactly where to strike to hurt you the most. Seeing how pale I had turned, Tony’s lips trembled. He took a step back, trying to soften his tone. “I’m sorry, Vivian. I just want you and Alyson’s family to get along so you can finally feel the warmth of a normal home. I got frustrated and spoke without thinking. I did not mean it.” My heart went completely numb. “Right,” I muttered, turning away to unpack the table. Seeing no further reaction from me, Tony assumed the storm had passed. He figured a quick apology was enough and did not care whether I actually forgave him. He believed that since we had been married for years, I would eventually get over it on my own. Satisfied with his own logic, he quietly retreated to the bedroom. I listened to his retreating footsteps, then slowly opened the cake box. If Tony had cared even a little, he would have realized this was a birthday cake. If he cared, he would have remembered today was my birthday. But he forgot. Just like he forgot the vows he had made to me. Instead, he had brought Alyson into our home. I lit the single candle, watched the flame flicker, and blew it out. “Happy birthday, Vivian.” I knew then that I had to leave. I refused to drown in a marriage that was doomed to fail, begging a man to love me. The next morning, I was preparing breakfast. The moment I set the food down, Tony sat at the table and grabbed it. “Babe, that smells amazing,” he said, taking a massive bite of the breakfast wrap I had prepared. “How did you know I wanted this today? I’ll take this with me and eat it on the way.” I have always been amazed by how easily men can hurt a woman and then act as if absolutely nothing happened, expecting her to move on immediately. “I did not make that for you,” I said calmly. Tony paused, then laughed. “Don’t be petty, babe. I have already packed it.” “That was my lunch. It has nothing to do with you.” His eyes drifted to the trash can, where the empty cake box sat. He pulled out his phone, checked the calendar, and realized what day it was. A look of guilt crossed his face, quickly replaced by a placating smile. “I’m so sorry, babe. Yesterday was crazy. I will make it up to you tonight. Thanks for the breakfast. I’ll cherish every bite.” With that, he grabbed his coat and hurried out. I grit my teeth. It was an open kitchen; he could easily see I had only made one serving. I ended up buying a quick pastry near the office. As I walked into the lobby, I saw Tony’s assistant, Ross, walking toward the elevators with a very familiar woman. “Ross?” I called out. Ross turned around. “Mrs. Harrison? Is something wrong?” Alyson turned as well, a triumphant smirk playing on her lips. “I am starting my new job today. Tony personally arranged it for me.” Ross, entirely oblivious to the tension, smiled. “Yes, Mr. Harrison specifically asked me to place Miss Pendleton in the executive assistant pool. Since you two have different last names, I had no idea you were sisters! You are both so beautiful.” I let out a cold laugh. “Of course you did not know. She is the bastard daughter my blind father had with his mistress.” Ross’s smile froze instantly, the friendly words dying in his throat. He looked between the two of us, suddenly realizing he had walked into a minefield. Alyson’s eyes welled with tears again. “Vivian, why do you say such horrible things? Our parents are married now. It is a legitimate marriage! I have never done anything to hurt you. Why do you keep bringing up the past? I know you want to keep me down. I have given in to you at every turn, and now I just wanted an internship. Why can’t you even let me have this?” Her loud, trembling voice began to draw looks from the surrounding employees. She reached into her bag and pulled out a neatly wrapped breakfast wrap: the exact one Tony had taken from my kitchen. “Here, take this. It is homemade and clean. I saw you buying food from a street cart down there.” I almost laughed out loud. My husband had taken the breakfast I made and handed it straight to her. “Whether you have done anything to hurt me is something only you know,” I said, locking eyes with her. “But you can skip the HR onboarding. This company will not be hiring you.” Alyson’s face flushed with anger. “I am here because Tony brought me in. You cannot just fire me on a whim.” “Why can’t I?” I stepped closer. “I am the co-owner here. I have shares, and I have status. Why shouldn’t I?” “Because I said so!” Tony’s sharp voice cut through the lobby. He strode over and pulled Alyson behind his back. “Vivian, you have disappointed me,” Tony said, his voice dripping with disdain. “You are completely unrecognizable. Abusing your power just because you are throwing a tantrum? Are you really this petty?” My disappointment ran far deeper than his. “Tony, I told you before. It is her or me. If she stays, I leave. Are you still keeping her as your assistant?” Tony did not even look back at me as he shielded Alyson. “Then pack your bags and resign.” His words hit me like a physical blow. “Fine.” Ross stood there awkwardly, wishing he could disappear into the floorboards. I turned on my heel, walked up to my office, and sat in front of my computer. Within minutes, I drafted my resignation letter. After submitting it to HR, I packed my things and handed over my projects to my deputy, Victoria. “We have worked together for years, so you know how to handle everything,” I told her. “If anything comes up, just call me.” Victoria, an older woman who had seen it all, sighed heavily. “Men are all the same, Vivian. They only behave when they are six feet under. If you hadn’t pulled all those late nights with him, his father would have never handed over the reins so early.” “I am not wasting my best years on a toxic man,” I replied. Back at the villa, I began packing my belongings. Halfway through, my phone buzzed with a message from Tony. Babe, long day at work. Let me take you out to a nice dinner. I replied with two words: Not happening. A flurry of messages immediately followed. Come on, babe. Are you still mad? I didn’t mean to forget your birthday. Give me a chance to make it up to you. I really want to make things right. He was acting as if we were still a happy couple, completely ignoring the ultimatum he had given me that morning. But since I had already made my decision, I decided to go. I wanted to discuss the division of our assets and get him to sign the divorce papers. But when I opened the door to the private dining room, my stomach dropped. Sitting at the table was my father, my stepmother, and Alyson. Tony immediately stood up from his seat next to Alyson. “Surprise! I know you only have me, so I wanted to use this opportunity to build a bridge and help you guys reconcile. Alyson wanted to keep it a secret to surprise you.” My birthday was officially ruined. “Vivian, we have been waiting for you,” Evelyn, my stepmother, said with a sweet smile as she stood up. “I always knew there was no grudge a family couldn’t overcome. Look, Richard, she came!” She reached out to hold my hand, acting as if we were a loving mother and daughter. My father sat in his chair, scoffing quietly, waiting for me to bow my head and apologize. I pulled my hand back. “Don’t touch me. You make my skin crawl.” Evelyn’s smile froze. Tony’s face darkened instantly. “Vivian! How dare you speak to your mother like that?” “Mother? Whose mother? Yours? Didn’t your mother die in a car crash years ago? Where did you dig up a new one?” Tony choked on his rage. “Vivian, I am trying to help you fix your family. Don’t be an ungrateful brat!” Alyson fake-intervened, placing a hand on Tony’s arm. “It’s Vivian’s birthday, don’t upset her.” She then turned to me, her voice dripping with artificial sweet sympathy. “Vivian, you ran away after college and never came back. Dad has been worried sick all these years, he’s just not good at showing it. Just apologize, and we can be a happy family again.” I remembered how they had moved into my home immediately after my mother’s suicide, making my life a living hell. If my mother hadn’t left me a small trust fund, I wouldn’t have even been able to afford college. My father’s harsh voice broke the silence. “Alyson, don’t bother. I have never begged anyone in my life.” Tony’s eyes locked onto mine, his voice dropping to an urgent whisper. “Apologize to your father right now.”
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “MotoNovel” app 🔍 search for “531860”, and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel
Leave a Reply