My Wife Gifted My Estate To Her Secretary. She Paid The Price. My wife actually gifted my private estate to her male secretary. The garden swing was burnt, and my mother’s cherished flowerbeds were ruined. I confronted my wife in a fury, but she just casually replied, “What’s the big deal? You’re a grown man, why are you so hung up on this?” I roared, “Get everyone out by ten, and restore everything to how it was. Or else…” Just like before, my wife blocked me again. So, I immediately called the police, citing illegal trespassing on private property and malicious destruction of private assets. Then, I turned around and donated all her beloved jewelry and designer bags. Since some people don’t listen, I don’t mind teaching them a lesson in ‘boundaries’! I had just picked up my teacup when my phone suddenly rang. It was Seraphina Hayes, the woman who’d just blocked me. “Liam Sullivan, what the hell are you doing? Why did Julian get arrested?!” she demanded, her voice thick with anger. My tone was flat, completely devoid of emotion. “That estate is my private property. I suspected illegal activities were going on, so I had the police confirm.” After a few seconds of silence, Seraphina’s voice softened. “Liam, have you been listening to rumors? Julian is just my secretary. There’s absolutely nothing going on between us.” “And don’t you think you acted too impulsively this time?” I glanced at our wedding photo and let out a laugh. “Seraphina, you drove him home on Wednesday, then gifted him a limited-edition watch on Friday. Don’t you know where to draw the line yourself? And now you’re lecturing me?” She ignored my question and changed the subject. “You have so many properties sitting empty. I was just reasonably utilizing one for a team retreat. Are you seriously going to quibble over that?” “Besides, Julian and I are completely innocent.” Before I could reply, she impatiently cut in again, “Liam Sullivan, don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.” I took a sip from my teacup, a cold sneer twisting my lips. “If Ms. Seraphina is *so* generous, she shouldn’t mind donating some jewelry, right?” With that, I sent her the photos from the auction. The camera showed Seraphina’s treasured jewelry and designer bags being happily taken away by their new owners after being sold. I heard her heavy breathing, then a voice, three words gritted out through clenched teeth: “Li-am.” I knew that tone all too well. Whenever she was furious, she used my full name. I slowly spun the wedding ring on my ring finger. “Next time I see you getting involved with another man, you’ll lose more than just a few pieces of jewelry and some bags.” Without waiting for Seraphina’s response, I ended the call and tossed my phone onto the sofa. Five years of marriage, and I rarely had such explosive arguments with her. But that didn’t mean I’d put up with everything just to maintain a facade of peace. If you give an inch in a marriage, they’ll take a mile. Especially when this marriage was a business arrangement from the very beginning. Back then, the Hayes family wanted to break into the city’s leading families, so they set their sights on my family, the Sullivan’s. That’s how this arranged marriage came about. I remember our first meeting. She wore a white dress, looking gentle and sophisticated. I thought then, marrying someone like her would at least spare me petty arguments and insignificant troubles, so I agreed to the marriage. After we married, we did spend a happy time together, making me believe, for a while, that I’d found love. Later, the spark faded, and life settled into a routine, but that was normal. I never imagined, though, that a third party would intrude. I’ve always had a rule since I was a child: I don’t want anything someone else has touched. If an object has been used by someone else, it goes straight into the trash. And if a person gets involved in something shady, they should naturally be discarded like trash too.
For several days, Seraphina didn’t come home. She always avoided confrontation and gave me the silent treatment whenever her wrongdoings were exposed. That night, my good friend Leo Davis sent me a SnapChat message. “Liam, I called your name a few times, why didn’t you answer?” “But you and your wife are really going all out, coming to the bar together.” I paused, frowning as I typed back, “I’m working late at the office. You must have the wrong person.” “No way! I saw you wearing the suit you had custom-made last week and that prized watch. Seraphina was even holding your arm! Unless…” “Hold on, bro, I’ll snap a front-facing pic for you!” Soon, I received a slightly blurry photo. Seraphina, in a sexy slip dress, was intimately holding the arm of Julian Thorne, who was wearing *my* suit and watch. My face darkened as I stared at the image. Suddenly, another message popped up on my phone from Sarah Miller, my assistant. “Boss, the custom suit you ordered last week was spotted on Mrs. Hayes’s secretary.” Then Sarah sent several screenshots of Julian’s Ins posts. “Just said I wanted to check out the Royal Bar, and Ms. Hayes brought me here! Ms. Hayes is so good to me.” In the photos, he deliberately showcased the custom-made suit and watch, along with a smiling Seraphina. I suddenly remembered: Seraphina never went to bars. Once, a partner insisted on meeting at a bar, and she refused the collaboration rather than go. I guess I’ve been too lenient. She not only brought her male secretary to a bar she’d never been to, but she also let him wear my suit and watch, and even post about it on Ins. My face was grim as I forwarded the photos to her, my voice cold as I demanded, “Seraphina Hayes, can you explain this properly now?” To my disbelief, she blocked me again! Ten minutes later, I took a picture and sent it to Sarah, instructing her to forward it to Seraphina. Soon, Leo’s message popped up: “What happened? Why did Seraphina just storm out of the bar looking furious? What did you do?” I didn’t reply to Leo, because Seraphina’s FaceTime call was already coming in. Her voice trembled, laced with panic and fury. “Liam, put the wallet back. We can talk this out.” I smiled, looking at the wallet in my hand. Inside, neatly arranged, were perfectly preserved items. A few photos, a lock of short hair, a watch. The young man in the photos smiled with a wild abandon. This was Seraphina’s foster brother, Caleb, the man she loved but could never be with, who had died young from an illness. I’d accidentally seen her pouring out her affections for him in her journal. I instantly understood all her recent erratic behavior. It was because Julian had a striking resemblance to Caleb, especially in his eyes. “Liam, don’t touch that wallet!” Seraphina pleaded. “Seraphina, you know I don’t allow anyone to lay a hand on my things.” “Now, tell Julian to take off my clothes and watch.” Silence stretched for a few seconds before she spoke, gritting her teeth. “Liam, you have so many suits you’ve never worn. What’s the harm in him wearing a few?” I scoffed coldly. “Even if I throw my things away, no one else has the right to touch them.” “I’ll give you two choices. Either he changes immediately, or…” I held the wallet over a flickering flame. Then, I ended the FaceTime call.
Leo’s SnapChat messages kept coming. “Liam! What did you do to Seraphina?!” “She just rushed into the bar, face as white as a sheet, and dragged Julian out.” “Wait, they’re back!” “Whoa! Why is Julian wearing a male model’s outfit?!” I curled my lips into a slight smile. “Send me some photos.” Leo instantly replied with a nine-grid collage. Seraphina sat at a booth, her face ashen. Julian was huddled in a corner, his deep-V top exposing his entire chest, hair disheveled, the watch and suit crumpled in a ball in his arms. “The Royal Bar’s policy was no leaving during peak hours. He has to stay in that outfit for two hours.” Leo’s message carried the thrill of gossip. “In just a short while, several groups have already come to harass Julian.” “Seraphina’s face is practically black.” “Julian truly doesn’t know his place, daring to provoke you. He won’t even know what hit him.” When the peak hours ended, Leo sent the last photo. The custom-made suit and watch were lying in the trash can by the entrance. I forwarded the photo to my Ins story with a single caption: “If it’s tainted, it belongs in the trash.” The likes quickly soared past a hundred. Everyone knew that the suit and watch were the very ones Julian had flaunted on his Ins. The message was crystal clear. “Liam, Seraphina must be fuming today. Will she cause a scene when she gets home?” I replied calmly, “No, she won’t. She’s in the wrong, so she won’t dare.” When Seraphina came home late that night, her face was filled with anger. “Liam Sullivan, where’s my wallet?” she asked, her voice hoarse. I leaned back on the sofa, flipping through a financial magazine, without looking up. Seraphina struggled to suppress her churning emotions. “Liam, I admit I was wrong today.” “But I’ve already done what you asked. Can you please give me back my things?” I closed the magazine. “Explain.” She stopped in front of the rug, her knuckles white from clenching. “Julian and I are just superior and subordinate. I brought him to the bar because he closed a big deal, it was a special reward.” I scoffed coldly, put down my documents, and stood up. “Seraphina Hayes, there are a thousand ways to reward someone. Why did you insist on making him wear my personal items?” “You knew that suit was custom-made just last week.” She stammered, “You never wore it. I thought you didn’t like it…” “You’d rather give up a collaboration than go to a bar, yet you went just because he said a word?” As I spoke, I stepped closer. “I heard Julian messed up three collaborations last month. Does that kind of ‘skill’ deserve your special reward?” Seraphina gripped the sofa arm, her knuckles white. After a long silence, she squeezed out through clenched teeth, “He smiles… a little like Caleb.” Caleb, her foster brother’s name. I pulled a leather wallet from the drawer and pushed it toward her, speaking softly. “Seraphina, I know you’re sentimental, but a stand-in will never truly be that person.” “I hope you understand that projecting your regret for a deceased person onto someone else both demeans their memory and betrays me.” Her fingers trembled as she took the wallet. Then, she suddenly lunged into my arms. “Liam, I’m so sorry. I truly made a mistake.” “There’s really nothing inappropriate between Julian and me. I promise I’ll keep my distance from him from now on.” “Nothing like this will ever happen again. Please don’t be angry anymore, okay? Husband!” Her voice softened, laced with a playful plea, as she leaned into my embrace. I sighed helplessly, ultimately choosing to concede. “This is a warning. Remember it well. There won’t be a next time.” She didn’t pull away, but instead held me tighter, her voice muffled against my shoulder. “There won’t be a next time.” I scooped her up by the waist and carried her straight to the bedroom.
After a night of passionate abandon, a large part of the anger in my heart dissipated. The next day, the Royal Bar incident and my insinuation-filled Ins post made Julian the target of widespread ridicule. And Seraphina’s deliberate distancing from him further cemented everyone’s attitude. There’s no shortage of opportunists in the workplace. Colleagues who had been fawning over him just the day before would now be considered merciful if they didn’t kick him while he was down. Someone even anonymously posted photos of Julian in the male model outfit in the company’s main WhatsApp group. In the pictures, he looked disheveled and miserable. Everyone openly pointed and whispered about him: “Look, that’s the one who wore the CEO’s clothes. He probably wants to become the CEO’s male mistress.” Julian’s situation at the company became increasingly awkward. In the break room, someone would “accidentally” spill coffee on him. When he went to the warehouse to retrieve department supplies, the door would suddenly be locked, trapping him inside for an entire afternoon. The most ironic part was that everyone turned a blind eye to his plight. He sent messages to Seraphina for help, only to see a red exclamation mark. When Sarah reported these incidents to me, I shook my head. “Sarah, don’t overestimate my patience, and don’t underestimate his ambition. If he chose the path of climbing the social ladder, he’ll have to endure the pain of falling.” A week later, Sarah informed me that Julian had been absent for three consecutive days. I thought he had finally given up and resigned, but I still underestimated his schemes. That day, Seraphina had a multi-million dollar international collaboration negotiation. Ten minutes into the meeting, her personal phone vibrated insistently. It was a call from Julian. She hung up expressionlessly, but immediately received a message: “Ms. Hayes, I’ve been kidnapped! They want to make me disappear forever. Save me!” Seraphina’s face instantly turned pale. She frantically called back, but there was no answer. She quickly instructed the tech department to pinpoint his location. Then, without a word, she blurted out ‘negotiations postponed’ and rushed out of the conference room. When she arrived at the abandoned factory where the kidnappers were supposedly holding him, she witnessed Julian being pushed from the third floor. Seeing Julian clinging to life, barely conscious, Seraphina felt a sudden rush of dread, as if she were back on the day Caleb died. Seraphina nearly broke down on the spot and rushed him to the hospital for emergency treatment. Fortunately, he was rushed to the hospital in time, and Julian ultimately pulled through. Seraphina’s fury surged when she learned he had been tormented at the company recently. Meanwhile, I was completely unaware of this, clutching my medical report, preparing to leave the hospital. Just as I turned, I bumped into Seraphina hurrying towards me. I instinctively offered a smile, but then a sharp sting erupted on my cheek – she’d slapped me, hard. My smile instantly froze. I stood there, stunned. In all our years of marriage, before Julian appeared, Seraphina had always been gentle and considerate. She had never even said a harsh word, let alone laid a hand on me. But now… “Liam Sullivan, how could you be so vicious!” Her eyes were filled with fury and disgust. “I already cut ties with Julian as you demanded, yet you still arranged for him to be kidnapped and planned to make him disappear permanently.” “He’s lying in the ICU right now, fighting for his life. Are you satisfied?” “The biggest regret of my life was marrying a scumbag like you.” I tried to explain, but she cut me off. She didn’t even spare me a glance, turning and walking away. It wasn’t until Sarah called that I pieced together the ‘truth’ from her furious accusations. Julian had been kidnapped, and Seraphina was convinced I was behind it. “Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Hayes just fired me for abuse of power, and she’s appointed Julian as my successor.” “It’s not just me; every employee who ever had a conflict with Julian has been fired.” Seraphina had made her stance clear in the most absolute way possible: she chose the ‘substitute,’ the man who looked so much like her deceased brother. My nails dug deep into my palm, blood beads trickling onto the floor. I suppressed the rage boiling in my chest, forcing myself to calm down, yet a cold sneer twisted my lips. Seraphina Hayes, since you’ve burned all your bridges, don’t blame me for abandoning all sentiment. The cost of crossing me has never been something you can easily bear. I instructed Mr. Henderson, my butler, to pack my things, and I returned to the Sullivan family estate that very night.
🌟 Continue the story here 👉🏻 📲 Download the “NovelMaster” app 🔍 search for “296861”, and watch the full series ✨! #NovelMaster #浪漫Romance #现实主义Realistic
Leave a Reply