My mafia boss husband brought his henchmen home for dinner. Seeing the table full of dishes I’d cooked myself, one of his subordinates chuckled and said, “A wife really is more virtuous than a mistress.” I stilled, then asked carefully. “What? Are you saying he has a mistress outside?” No one dared to answer. A flicker of panic flashed across their faces. My husband just laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t listen to their nonsense. You’re the only one I love!” Watching him play it so cool, I smiled back. But once the last guest was gone, I called my CEO brother. “Victor’s cheating. Make sure he rots in prison.” My brother Alex was silent on the other end for three full seconds. “Serena, are you absolutely sure? Victor, he…” I pulled off my wedding ring. The diamond dug painfully into my palm. “Ten years of marriage. Every cufflink he’s ever worn was custom-ordered by me from Italy. The ones he had on tonight were cheap plastic. Get me the best lawyer. Pull every criminal record he’s ever generated. And draw up the divorce papers.” Alex didn’t hesitate. “Okay.” Half an hour later, an encrypted file landed on my phone. The first photo showed Victor, his arm around a young, striking woman. She even had a wolf’s head tattoo on her wrist-identical to Victor’s. I didn’t hesitate. I drove straight to the company. Minutes later, a woman named Lily rushed out. When she saw me, her face went pale. She instinctively hid her hands behind her back. But I’d already seen it. A Swiss custom watch. It’s identical to the one I received for my last birthday. I laughed coldly and said directly. “Your husband must share my taste. Even your custom watch matches mine.” At my words, Lily began to tremble. Her red lips parted and closed soundlessly before she managed to stammer. “Y-yes… maybe men all have similar tastes…” Her knuckles were white where she clutched her clothes. “Drop the act. You’re Victor’s mistress, aren’t you?” Seeing me lay it bare, Lily shook harder, panic stripping her composure bare. “Please, don’t misunderstand. Victor was injured once. I only took care of him that one time. His men…they got the wrong idea.” She even gave me an exaggerated ninety-degree bow. She looked so wronged, so pitiful-if I hadn’t seen exactly how she wrapped herself around Victor, I might have believed her. Half a month ago, she posted a video on social media. It showed Victor buying a Porsche. Her caption read: “Where a man’s money goes, his heart follows.” At that time, I was at home with a fever so high I was delirious. I called Victor to take me to the hospital. He panicked for a moment, but the next second his voice was hoarse, as if suppressing something. “Serena, I’ll have the nanny take you. I have something urgent I can’t get away from.” And an hour later, the fever turned into pneumonia, and I was rushed to the ER. That same hour, she posted a photo lying across a car seat, with a man’s sculpted abs in the frame, marked with ambiguous red scratches. The caption read: “Both the new car and its owner need to be marked as mine.” When Victor finally rushed over, his shirt was still misbuttoned. He collapsed at my bedside, his eyes red. At that time, I naively thought he felt sorry for me, but it turned out it was just guilt after cheating. For no reason, I just felt disgusted. This kind of trash was worth Victor betraying me for. Too lazy to look at her aggrieved, pitiful expression anymore, I turned and left. But just as I got to my car, Victor called. The moment I answered, his tone was panicked. “Why did you suddenly think of coming to the company?”
“Why?” I started the car and asked back leisurely. “I just happened to have a contract to discuss. Is there something you’re afraid of me knowing?” Victor seemed not to have expected me to ask this. His breathing suddenly stopped, and after a few seconds of silence, his tone suddenly softened, carrying his usual coaxing tone. “Serena, what nonsense are you talking about?” “How could I be hiding anything from you? The office was just too messy. If you were coming, I’d have someone clean it up first.” “Besides, how could I betray you? You can investigate all you want.” Hearing this, I was somewhat puzzled. Lily hadn’t actually told him about me confronting her. I flipped through the evidence while listening to his excuses. Three gigabytes of materials, every day related to Victor. Last Valentine’s Day, he claimed he was on a business trip abroad and couldn’t call, but he was actually watching the Northern Lights in the Arctic with Lily. When my father was critically ill and I called him over thirty times, he didn’t answer a single one-he was celebrating Lily’s birthday. “I believe you. But what about that watch?” Seeing me bring it up first, Victor actually seemed relieved. His voice drew closer to the receiver, deliberately creating intimacy. “The watch was because I suddenly fainted at the company, and Lily happened to pass by and helped me to the hospital.” He paused, then continued. “She watched over me all night, so I gave her a watch as a thank-you gift. I forgot to tell you at the time.” Forgot? His memory must be really bad. Not only did he forget to tell me this, he also forgot that they went to the hotel’s penthouse suite that night. And stayed for three whole days. Laughing coldly inside, “She’s quite considerate. Even the black shirt you were wearing when you fainted-the next day she washed it clean and returned it, even ironed it properly.” Victor clearly paused on the other end, his breathing missing a beat, then he laughed it off. “Exactly, the girl is very attentive.” “Look at you, always being so paranoid. You’re the only one in my heart.” His voice drew close to the receiver, deliberately creating intimacy. “After I finish this busy period, I’ll take you to the Maldives to make up for our vacation, okay? Just the two of us.” The tenderness that used to make me soften-now I just felt disgusted. “Sounds good.” I watched the neon lights flash past the window, my tone as calm as discussing the weather. “But you handle your business first. Don’t let anything delay you.” “Nothing could delay spending time with you.” Victor’s voice carried eager pleasing, but I only felt colder inside. Not because Victor betrayed me and cheated, but because I couldn’t believe they’d been performing under my nose for so long. My grip on the steering wheel tightened. I forced down the urge to confront Victor immediately. I wanted him to personally admit his relationship with Lily, then watch this pair of cheating scum fall from grace. After a few perfunctory responses, I hung up. Just then, Lily’s social media account updated again. In the image, she wore a wedding dress with an intricate design covered in diamonds, her eyes and brows full of joy. “Another mistress came to make trouble today, wanting to take my place. Victor compensated me-he’s finally going to marry me!” “I just mentioned wanting a castle wedding, and he bought me an entire castle.” She smiled into the camera, which casually panned over property deeds. “And these vineyards-he wants me to manage them!” “How could a little fool like me handle that? Luckily, Victor agreed to come and back me up, so those people won’t look down on me for being young!” Watching the video and seeing my own French name printed on those deeds, a cold rage rose inside me. Those vineyards were Alex’s coming-of-age gift to me. And Victor was using them to charm his mistress. Fine. They want to establish authority? Then let’s see them try it in front of the real owner.
I bought a plane ticket that night and flew to France. At the winery, the old butler’s eyes flashed with surprise when he saw me. “Miss Serena, why are you here? Didn’t you say you were lending the estate to Victor for a party today? You even had all the family members cleared out.” Anger surged through me. Just as I was about to respond, Victor’s call came through. “I’m in a meeting here. I’ll fly back to be with you as soon as I’m done.” Before I could answer, a sickeningly sweet female voice came through faintly from the other end. “Victor, does this look good on me?” The next second, Victor covered the phone and walked away. “Gotta go, meeting’s starting.” Almost simultaneously, the ornate gates of the winery were pushed open, and over a dozen luxury cars pulled up one by one at the fountain plaza. Countless people I’d never seen were seated, and I found a secluded spot to sit down too. Once everything was ready, Lily made her entrance in a fire-red haute couture gown, every inch the newly successful upstart. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Lily, the new owner of this winery.” “Victor said from now on, the wine here, the castle-even every single grape in the vineyard-all belongs to me!” “To celebrate, all wines are thirty percent off today. Consider it my greeting gift to everyone!” Thirty percent off? How generous of her. The cheapest wine here costs at least a million dollars a bottle. Some were collector’s items even the British royal family would hesitate to acquire! The old butler who’d watched me grow up was livid. “Since when did this vineyard become hers!” “And Victor is actually cheating on Miss Serena with some…fling! Has he lost his mind!” Seeing the butler ready to storm out, I shook my head quickly. It wasn’t time to expose her yet. I wanted to wait for Victor to personally admit his relationship with Lily, then watch this pair of cheating scum fall from grace. Just then, the ornate doors opened again, and Victor walked in wearing a haute couture suit. Seeing this, Lily immediately threw herself into his arms, smiling as she tugged on his arm playfully. “Victor, I told you this brand’s clothes fit you best.” Victor’s eyes clearly stiffened, but he still nodded without changing expression. And the fire of anger inside me was nearly burning out of control. The founder of this brand was our mortal enemy. Back then, my father was set up by them and literally died of anger because of it. Victor wasn’t ignorant of this, yet now he was publicly slapping me in the face. Just as I couldn’t hold back anymore and was about to rush out, all of Victor’s friends crowded around. “Victor, she’s so young and vibrant, so lively and charming!” “Lily, our Victor gave you a winery worth hundreds of millions. Where else would you find such a good man!” “This winery is yours now. How are you going to thank our Victor?” Amid their laughter, Lily looked down, a blush coloring her cheeks. Just then, the winery manager who had come to deliver the wine spoke up, confused. “Wait. Didn’t you borrow this place from Miss Serena?” The guests fell silent, then turned to each other, murmuring. “What is she talking about?” “I thought this vineyard belonged to Mrs. Blackwood. But isn’t she a Sterling?” “Huh? But this woman is a Reed. Is she…an imposter?” The manager’s face already showed anger. “How could you do such a thing behind Miss Serena’s back!” As he spoke, he was about to pull out his phone to call me. The next second, the bodyguards behind Victor swarmed forward and forced the manager to his knees. Victor’s cold gaze swept across everyone present. “Tear out his mouth. Let him know the price of talking nonsense.” His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried the ruthlessness unique to someone long in power. The banquet hall instantly fell silent. Victor didn’t even lift an eyelid, his fingertips casually caressing Lily’s face. “Lily is the Mrs. Blackwood! Serena is just a maid in my household.” A servant? I almost laughed from anger. It seems Victor has truly forgotten who it was that pushed him, step by step, to stand above everyone else. Had it not been for me back then, he’d still be a nobody on the streets, getting kicked around. I spent ten years fighting by his side. I took two knife wounds to the chest. I had Alex pull strings in the shadows. When I was hovering between life and death, all I thought about was how to clear the path for him. I never expected that in the end, I’d just be the “maid” in his story. No one there dared contradict Victor, so they all played along. “So that’s how it is! Mrs. Blackwood is so generous, letting her maid parade around under the Blackwood name.” Someone even turned to advise Lily. “Mrs. Blackwood, a maid like that might try to seduce Victor at any moment.” “You should be careful. I’d fire her immediately.” “With that kind of malice, she deserves to be thrown into the sea!” The smugness on Lily’s face was impossible to miss. The manager’s face was ashen. Even as he was being dragged away, he kept fighting. “I need to see Miss Serena! She’s the real Mrs. Blackwood!” The guests looked on with disdain. “That maid is truly cunning. Even the winery manager was deceived by her!” “Ungrateful wretch! Victor, you can’t possibly keep her around. ” Victor’s cold gaze swept over the crowd, his thin lips parting slightly. “I’ll say this once more. Lily is my wife. From now on, anyone who disrespects her will face the consequences.” The scene fell completely silent, with only me slowly clapping. The applause made everyone turn around. I took off my baseball cap and looked at them coldly. “Tell me. If she’s Mrs. Blackwood, who am I?” The smiles on Victor’s and Lily’s faces instantly froze.
The air in the banquet hall seemed to freeze instantly. The guests’ gazes all slammed onto me, from initial confusion to recognizing my face, gasping in shock. The smug smile on Lily’s face instantly froze. She instinctively shrank behind Victor, her fingers clutching his sleeve trembling uncontrollably, her voice shaking. “You… how can you be here?” I ignored her, only staring at Victor. His pupils suddenly contracted, panic flashing in his eyes, but it was quickly covered by his usual ruthlessness. He released Lily’s waist and walked to my side, his voice carrying barely noticeable panic. “Serena? How did you get here? Didn’t I tell you to wait at home?” “Wait at home?” I repeated those words, smiling as I looked up at that familiar face, then spoke softly, “Wait for you to give away my winery to someone else, or wait for you to publicly declare I’m your household servant?” Victor’s expression instantly darkened. After a moment, he seemed to have controlled his emotions. He lowered his head, deliberately lowering his voice, trying to plead, “There are too many people here with loose lips. This isn’t the place to talk.” “Serena, come home with me first.” “Whatever it is, we’ll talk about it when we get home. I’ll explain everything to you slowly later.” He tried to reach for my wrist, the movement as practiced as countless times he’d coaxed me over the past ten years. But looking at the cheap plastic button on his cuff, smelling the perfume on him that didn’t belong to me, I only felt my stomach turn. I quickly stepped back, avoiding his touch. “Explain?” I laughed, the sound particularly jarring in the silent banquet hall. “Explain why you’re wearing a suit from our enemy’s brand?” “Explain why you turned the winery my brother gave me into a gift for your mistress?” “Or explain just how pleased you felt when you called me a servant?” Victor’s face went from red to white. He probably hadn’t expected me to tear off the facade publicly, and the panic in his eyes could no longer be hidden. He gritted his teeth, his voice even lower, almost pressed against my ear: “Serena, stop making a scene!” “Do you really want to embarrass me in this kind of setting? Just come with me first. I’m begging you.” “Please?” He tried to use his past intimate tone to soften me, but I only found it ironic. Back when he was being chased and beaten on the streets, I was the one who carried him three blocks to find a doctor. When he was slashed by rivals and lying on the operating table, I was the one who signed the critical condition notice and kept vigil outside the operating room for three days and nights. “Victor,” I looked up at him, my gaze as cold as ice, “do you think there’s still a ‘later’?” Victor’s face completely lost all color. He probably hadn’t expected me to be so unforgiving. “Serena, must you do this?” He almost spoke through gritted teeth, “Ten years of our relationship-can’t you give me a chance to explain?” “Relationship?” I pulled out a stack of documents from my bag and threw them viciously in his face. Papers scattered across the floor, the top one showing hotel penthouse suite records for him and Lily. “When you were tangled up with her while I was unconscious with fever, how come you didn’t think about our relationship then?” Victor was hit by the documents and turned his head, veins bulging on his neck. The next second, he turned back viciously, his eyes flashing with hatred I couldn’t understand. “Serena, then don’t blame me.” Victor suddenly turned around and shouted. “This woman is not Mrs. Blackwood at all! She’s just a maid hired by the Blackwood family!” “Back then her family was so poor they couldn’t make ends meet. I was kind enough to take her in, give her food and clothes, let her work as a servant in my house!” He pointed at my nose, the ruthlessness in his eyes almost overflowing. “Never thought she’d have such ambitions-seeing my successful career, she tried to climb into my bed and even dared to forge an identity and swagger around outside!” Lily immediately cooperated by tearing up, hiding behind him and choking out. “Victor, don’t say that… Serena was just confused for a moment…” As she spoke, she secretly glanced up to observe the guests’ reactions, unable to hide her smugness. Several of Victor’s friends immediately stepped forward to agree. “That’s right! We all know!” “This woman is just a maid. Just because she stayed with the Blackwood family for a long time, she wanted to climb the social ladder!” “Victor has been more than kind to her, yet she dares come here and make trouble. Truly shameless!” The guests’ discussions grew louder, their gazes toward me filled with contempt and disgust. Some pointed at me, and some even whispered, “So she’s a fraud. Looks respectable on the outside, but her thoughts are so dirty.” Victor watched this scene, a twisted smile appearing on his face. He stepped forward, closing in before me, threatening in a voice only we could hear. “Serena, be smart and get out of here yourself. Otherwise I’ll make you completely disgraced here, without even a way to survive!” Looking at his ferocious face, I only found it incredibly laughable. The old butler trembled with rage, his finger shaking as he pointed at Victor. “You… you ungrateful wretch!” “If Miss Serena hadn’t pulled every string to save you back then, you’d have rotted in prison!” “She cut ties with her family for you. She took a blade for you and almost died. How dare you treat her like this?” Victor’s face flushed then paled, clearly unprepared for the old butler to lay his past bare in public. A ruthless light flooded his eyes. Just then, Lily, who had been hiding behind him playing pitiful, slifted her head. A vicious glint flashed in her gaze. She clutched Victor’s sleeve, her voice a timid whisper, but the words that followed were pure venom. “Victor…I know I shouldn’t say this… but if Serena keeps making trouble like this…won’t it ruin your important deal?” She paused, as if gathering courage, and looked toward the guests. Her voice trembled, yet every word carried clearly. “I’ve heard the brothers say before…when dealing with people who mean you harm… they usually…throw them into the ocean.”
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