Ryan Miller broke his leg in a car accident while picking up my new car. By the time I rushed to the hospital, Chloe, the owner of the car dealership, was already yelling at me. “How could you make Ryan pick up your car? If you weren’t so lazy, he wouldn’t be hurt!” Her voice was sharp, laced with an arrogant dismissal, as if she were scolding a subordinate. Not just me, but all our friends and family who came to visit Ryan were stunned. Ryan looked at her with a fond indulgence, then turned to soothe me. “She’s just very direct, don’t take it to heart.” I scoffed, turning to the woman who owned the dealership. “This is the second time your dealership has made such a basic mistake. If I don’t get a satisfactory explanation within three days, just wait for it to go out of business!” The girl’s face went pale. She looked at the man on the hospital bed, silently pleading for help. Ryan’s expression shifted slightly. “Evelyn, it was my operational error. It has nothing to do with her. I’ve already handled the accident.” I raised an eyebrow, looking directly at Ryan. “What about my car now?” Chloe winced at my coldness, her voice suddenly rising. “Ryan’s in the hospital, and all you care about is the car? Do you even have a heart?!” “You must be Chloe, right?” I looked at her with a blank expression. “First, that car is worth eighteen million dollars. It’s a global limited edition.” “Second, Ryan is my legal husband. Is there a problem with him picking up my car?” “Lastly…” I paused, my gaze falling on her hand, tightly clutching Ryan’s hospital gown. “You’re just a university student Ryan sponsored. By what right are you standing here questioning me?” Chloe’s face flushed red. She instinctively loosened her grip but still tried to argue. “I, I’m just worried about Ryan! You could have picked up the car yourself, but you had to make him go. Now that something’s happened, you haven’t even shown an ounce of concern…” I glanced at a message from my assistant on my phone and sneered. “You should worry about yourself more. The car damage estimate is in. The initial repair cost is estimated at three million dollars. Credit card or cash?” Chloe’s legs buckled, and she swayed. She glared at me, stubborn and furious. “Three million? This is extortion!” Then she looked pitifully at Ryan. “Ryan…” Ryan propped himself up, wincing as he aggravated his wound, pressing his fingers to his temple. “Evelyn, she just graduated. How could she have that much money? It was my mistake in the first place. I’ll pay for it.” I looked at him, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Ryan, you always being the protector of delicate women, huh? Isn’t gifting her a whole car dealership enough?” Ryan clearly hadn’t expected me to know about that. His expression froze. Chloe lost her earlier bravado, biting her lip as she explained. “Evelyn, take it out on me. Don’t blame Ryan. He just took pity on me, that’s all.” Ryan sighed, waving Chloe away. “This has nothing to do with you. You should go home first.” Chloe lowered her head, walking towards the door, glancing back repeatedly with reluctant steps. Just as she reached the exit, she quickly turned back. She pressed a beautifully decorated glass jar into Ryan’s hand. She looked up, her eyes wide and shimmering, holding a soft, pleading vulnerability that could melt anyone. Anyone watching would have believed these two were more than just friends. Chloe pursed her lips, leaving with lingering reluctance. As she passed me, she murmured. “Evelyn, it was my work mistake. The car wasn’t properly inspected before I let Ryan drive it away, and then the accident happened. Please don’t misunderstand, that jar contains paper stars I folded myself, wishing for Ryan’s leg to get better quickly.” The car wasn’t properly inspected? But the dealership had explicitly called me to pick up the car. That last time the brakes failed, was that also because it wasn’t properly inspected?
“Evelyn, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the dealership.” Ryan’s voice pulled me back to reality. Only the two of us were left in the hospital room. He smiled, carefully placed the glass jar, and reached out to take my hand. “She just graduated, and it was her birthday. It was just a little gift. My CEO wife isn’t jealous, is she?” He spoke nonchalantly, as if the car dealership he’d given away was a mere insignificant plush toy. I turned my body, avoiding his touch. “You like women like that?” The atmosphere suddenly fell silent. Ryan’s face shifted slightly. He rubbed his temple. “I didn’t tell you because I was worried you’d overthink things.” “Chloe and I are innocent, we…” “I don’t care.” I interrupted him indifferently. “I may not have caught you red-handed in the act, but I, Evelyn, don’t tolerate any dirt in my eye. Ryan, you’d better put away any inappropriate thoughts, don’t force me to tear things apart.” Ryan looked up, staring at me in disbelief. “You don’t trust me?” I looked down at him, my eyes calm and still. My silence was the most direct answer. He was about to say more when his phone by the bed rang at just the right moment. The name “Chloe” on the screen was particularly jarring. Ryan hesitated before answering the call. Chloe’s soft, frail voice immediately floated through the speaker. “Ryan, is Evelyn giving you a hard time? Even if she’s angry, don’t argue with her, okay?” “I made some soup, but I’m afraid Evelyn will misunderstand, so I won’t bring it to you myself.” In two sentences, she managed to appear well-behaved and considerate, while subtly hinting at her closeness to Ryan. I stood still. Ryan glanced at my expression and hung up the phone. I sneered inwardly, too tired to continue this charade with him, and turned to walk out of the hospital room. “Evelyn!” Ryan quickly called out to me. “Are you really mad?” “I promise I’ll stay far away from her, and never contact her again. Please don’t be so cold to me, okay?” “My leg hurts…” I tilted my head slightly, my voice devoid of any warmth. “If your leg hurts, call a doctor. I have things to do at the company. Get some rest.” Walking out of the hospital, the cold wind on my face slightly quelled the anger simmering within me. I pulled out my phone and called my assistant. “Look into Chloe thoroughly. I suspect she was involved in the previous brake failure incident.” After my last car maintenance, the brakes failed midway, and I swerved into a median strip, narrowly avoiding a major accident. That evening, the regional manager of a high-end jewelry store, sent by Ryan, personally delivered dozens of priceless jewelry pieces for me to choose from. “Ryan is truly good to you, Ms. Harper. Such doting affection, it’s truly enviable.” I scanned the jewelry, finding it only ironic. “Don’t you know that on the night a man cheats, he’ll repeatedly tell his wife ‘I love you’ to alleviate his guilt?” Ryan thought I was just throwing a tantrum, like those socialite wives who, upon discovering their husband’s infidelity, would cry, make a scene, and finally accept jewelry and designer bags to smooth things over. But he forgot who I was. Evelyn Harper. The sole heir of the Harper family. I took over the family business at eighteen and dominated on Wall Street by twenty-two. At twenty-five, I returned home and entered a business marriage with him, not because I couldn’t live without him, but because of our families’ long-standing friendship, And because he promised me lifelong devotion and fidelity. How ridiculous. In just five short years, he had completely forgotten those vows.
The next day, I received a SnapChat friend request from Chloe. The message read: “Evelyn, I wanted to explain about your car maintenance.” That day was incredibly busy. I had meetings all day and then rushed to catch a flight for my uncle’s birthday dinner in the evening. It wasn’t until I landed that I found time to accept the request. Chloe immediately sent a voice message, essentially saying that the temporary worker who serviced my car had gone missing without explanation and couldn’t be contacted. I didn’t reply to her. When I returned, I accidentally swiped into her Ins feed. Her latest post was from half an hour ago. The photo showed Ryan sitting on the sofa in our villa, drinking soup. In the background, I could see the high-priced oil painting I had acquired at auction, and the custom Italian handmade rug. Even more jarring was Chloe wearing my favorite pajamas and slippers. She was smiling brightly, leaning close to him, holding up her phone with one hand and making a peace sign with the other. The caption read: “Finally able to take care of you when you’re sick, even though I’m misunderstood. But the innocent will always be proven innocent. Homemade bone broth, hope you get better soon.” I took a screenshot and sent it to Ryan. “Living in my house, wearing my clothes, getting intimate with my husband–is this your idea of ‘innocent’?!” Ryan instantly replied. “Evelyn, Chloe got her clothes dirty making soup for me, so she just borrowed yours temporarily. She was only being kind, don’t overthink it.” I scoffed. “Only being kind?” “I bet making soup was fake, and secretly moving in to steal my man was real. Wearing my clothes to play innocent, what, do you think squatting in my home will make you the official lady of the house?” “Can you stop being so harsh?” Ryan’s tone changed. “You’re never around, and she specifically came to take care of me. Can’t you show a little understanding?” “Evelyn, you weren’t like this before. Why have you become so bossy and unreasonable now?” I looked at the screen and laughed in anger. Bossy? Unreasonable? When Miller Group’s funding chain broke, it was my assertiveness that led my team to work overtime for a month straight, helping him secure crucial investments. When his father was gravely ill, it was I, the “unreasonable” one, who put aside several hundred-million-dollar merger cases to stay by his bedside in the hospital for half a month. He used to say he admired my power and decisiveness in the workplace. Now, with a gentle and thoughtful “little angel” by his side, he found me bossy and harsh? Because my aunt insisted I stay longer, it wasn’t until the third day that I caught the earliest flight home. The fingerprint lock hadn’t been changed, but my fingerprint had been deleted. I stood at the door and rang the doorbell. It was Chloe who opened the door. This time, she was wearing Ryan’s shirt, the hem just covering her thighs. Her hair was wet, as if she had just showered. “Evelyn?” Her voice was surprised. “Why are you back? Ryan is still sleeping…” I cut her off. “Can’t I come back to my own home?” “Move!” “I didn’t mean that.” She stubbornly blocked the doorway. “But Ryan is still resting, and Evelyn seems upset. I’m afraid you’ll disturb him…” I couldn’t be bothered with her nonsense. I simply pushed her aside. “Get lost!” Ryan was woken by the commotion and emerged from the bedroom, leaning on his crutches. Seeing the tense atmosphere, he frowned. “What’s going on?”
Before Chloe could speak, tears streamed down her face. “Ryan, I’m so sorry. You were so tired last night, I just wanted you to sleep longer, I didn’t mean to offend Evelyn.” She sobbed, trembling, like a helpless little rabbit that had been horribly bullied. Yet, her earlobes were conspicuously red. Ryan cleared his throat, then spoke. “Evelyn, you’ve really misunderstood Chloe. Apologize to her.” I ignored him and sat on the sofa. I looked up and noticed that the photo frame with my and Ryan’s picture on the display shelf was gone. In its place was the glass jar filled with paper stars Chloe had folded by hand. On the coffee table were scattered pieces of underwear that weren’t mine. “No wonder you tried to stop me from coming in. Ryan, you two really know how to have fun.” Chloe cried as she bent to pick up the underwear. “These are mine, I, I just washed them, and was just drying them here…” “Drying them in the living room?” I scoffed. “Can Ryan, with one broken leg, still satisfy you so well?” Chloe’s face instantly flushed crimson. She stammered. “Evelyn, you, you really misunderstood. I, Ryan and I, didn’t do anything.” “Enough!” Ryan glared at me impatiently. “Evelyn, do you really have to say such vulgar things to humiliate her?” “She’s just an innocent young girl, not like you, with a mind full of schemes!” I looked up at him. “What have I schemed?” “You scheme to embarrass her, to ruin her reputation, to make me obey you, and revolve around you forever!” Ryan grew more agitated as he spoke. “Yes, I let her stay, but nothing happened between us!” “She took care of me, and I’m grateful to her, it’s that simple! Why do you always think the worst of people?” “Whether people are dirty or not, I’m not interested.” I pulled out a document. “But what I am interested in is that six months ago, you used Miller Group’s funds and resources to open a car dealership for her, investing twenty million dollars, yet you marked it as ‘public welfare investment’.” “Ryan, did you get board approval? Embezzling company funds to support a mistress, how does that charge sound?” Ryan’s face turned ashen. “You investigated me? She’s not a mistress!” “Then what is she?” I stood up and walked over to Chloe. “Miss Chloe, tell us, what are you?” Chloe bit her lip. “I, I just admire Ryan and appreciate his help, so I came to take care of him for a couple of days…” “Admire him so much that you wear my clothes and sleep in my bed?” I pointed to the slightly ajar master bedroom door. “Ryan, I saw with my own eyes both of you coming out of the master bedroom. How do you explain that?” Ryan gritted his teeth. “Believe it or not, Chloe slept on the floor to take care of me. We didn’t do anything!” “I don’t care if you slept together or not.” I put away the document and placed a divorce agreement on the coffee table, my tone leaving no room for negotiation. “Ryan, sign the divorce agreement, and transfer the ownership of the car dealership back to the company. Property will be divided according to our prenuptial agreement, and we can end this gracefully.” “Otherwise, I will sue you for embezzlement and marital infidelity, and report you to the board. Do you think those old sharks will miss the chance to kick you out?”
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