Theater: NovelMaster | Language: English | NEW
Synopsis
"Look at you. You're not even worth a single strand of Su Nian's hair. Without the resources I throw your way, what are you even worth?"
My husband, Ethan Gray, slammed the gift bag from the awards ceremony down on the vanity table.
Ten minutes ago, he was on stage, arm around my waist under the spotlight, telling the cameras I was the most precious treasure in his life.
But the moment the door closed, he pointed a finger in my face and cursed that I wasn't even worth a single strand of Su Nian's hair.
I was organizing his safe at home when a document hidden at the very bottom fell out.
A five-year-old illegitimate son. Six-figure monthly child support payments. A paternity test report in black and white.
And the child's mother—my arch-rival from college, Su Nian. The girl I always beat for first place.
So, she didn't drop out to study abroad for postgraduate work. She left to have Ethan's baby.
I didn't throw things. I didn't demand answers.
I put the paternity test back exactly where I found it and called my lawyer.
"What can you do besides ride my coattails for a little fame?"
Ethan slammed the gift bag from the awards ceremony down on my vanity.
His tie, from a bespoke suit, was loosened with a rough yank. Ten minutes ago, he was on stage, his arm around my waist, telling countless cameras, with a face full of deep affection, that I was the most precious treasure of his life.
Now, it was just the two of us. He didn't bother to hide the disgust in his eyes.
I stood quietly, staring at the broken glass on the floor.
"What are you looking at? If it weren't to maintain the company's 'perfect couple' image, you think I'd take you to this kind of event?"
Ethan sneered, jabbing a finger at my face.
"Just look at yourself. You're not even worth a single strand of Su Nian's hair."
"You're nothing without the scraps I throw your way."
Su Nian.
Hearing that name, I didn't react the way I usually did, with arguments or tears.
I just looked up, perfectly calm, at the man I'd been married to for three years.
Ethan built his career on my family's connections and my PR skills.
The first angel investment for his company, Starlight Tech, was secured by my grandfather.
Every single one of his current major clients? I was the one who drank with him, one by one, at dinner tables, until they signed, negotiating the deals.
With that, Starlight Tech's valuation multiplied tenfold in two years.
Later, as the company grew, he became a celebrated young prodigy.
He pushed me behind the scenes, trapping me with an empty public persona of a "wife-obsessed romantic."
To the world, he was remarkable; at home, he did everything he could to put me down.
I used to think it was just his high-pressure job. Until three days ago, when I was organizing the family trust documents in his safe at home.
Hidden at the very bottom was an overseas trust agreement.
The beneficiary was a five-year-old boy named Leo Gu.
Every month, a high six-figure sum for child support was transferred from Ethan's private account to this overseas account.
Tucked inside the file was even a paternity test report. Confirmed: Ethan Gray was Leo Gu's biological father.
And under the field for the child's mother, two words were written unmistakably: Su Nian.
Su Nian was my arch-rival in college.
We were both in the broadcasting and hosting department back then. In any competition I entered, she was guaranteed second place.
She was jealous of everything about me. Then, in our senior year, she suddenly dropped out and went abroad, never to be heard from again.
So, she hadn't gone for further studies. She went to have Ethan's baby.
I shifted my gaze from the broken glass to meet Ethan’s rage-filled eyes.
"You're right," I said flatly. "I'm not as good as her."
Ethan froze for a moment. He seemed to not expect such a docile response.
Usually, if he so much as mentioned Su Nian's name, I would fight with him.
Seeing me so calm, he seemed even more irritated, like a prickling sensation he couldn't scratch. He adjusted his shirt with a vicious energy that couldn't be vented.
"Good you know it." He snorted coldly, straightening his rumpled shirt.
"The company releases the third-quarter financial report tomorrow. Remember to coordinate and repost it on your socials."
"Don't screw this up for me."
With that, he slammed the door shut on his way out.
The sharp, loud slam echoed in the empty dressing room before the soundproofed walls swallowed the noise.
I stood where I was, staring at the closed door for a full ten seconds.
I only picked up my phone after the last sliver of light from under the door had completely vanished.
When I dialed Julian Shaw's number, my hand was so steady it felt like a stranger's.
"Did you find everything out?" I asked.
Julian's voice was cool and steady. "It's all confirmed."
"Ethan pursued you back then because Starlight Tech desperately needed the land your uncle owns to build a research center."
"Also, before Su Nian left the country, she set a condition: he wasn't allowed to come back and see the kid unless he was worth over a billion."
"He married you not just for your resources, but because your profile looks seventy percent like Su Nian's."
"You were just his bank machine and her stand-in."
My fingers clenched around my phone. My knuckles went white.
"Luna, what are you going to do?" Julian asked.
I walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked out at the glittering city night. The glass reflected the cold look in my eyes.
"Collect evidence. Move assets. I'm going to make him cough up everything he took, with interest, until he's completely broke."Ethan was desperate for money. Starlight Tech's Series C funding had hit a snag, and the deadline for their performance guarantee agreement was closing in.
If he couldn't get the funds, he wouldn't just lose absolute control of the company—he'd face massive compensation claims.
During breakfast, he did something he'd never done before: he poured me a glass of milk.
"Luna, that overseas investment fund your uncle runs... is it currently looking for domestic projects?" he asked, feigning casualness.
I took a sip of milk, understanding him perfectly. He was trying to bleed my family dry again.
"My uncle's fund has a very high bar. Starlight's current financials might not meet their risk control requirements." I set the glass down, my tone calm.
The gentleness on Ethan's face vanished instantly. He threw his knife and fork down on the plate with a harsh clatter.
"What kind of attitude is that, Luna?" he demanded, staring me down with a dark expression.
"I'm your husband. My company is your company."
"You're not helping me, and on top of that, you're discouraging me."
"Without me providing this luxurious life, do you think you could just sit pretty and be a trophy wife?"
"You really think you're irreplaceable?"
Watching his enraged face, I felt absolutely nothing.
"I'll talk to my uncle," I said, lowering my head slightly and putting on a face of compromise.
Only then did Ethan manage a sneer of satisfaction. "That's more like it."
"Remember to dress smartly when you go see him. Don't embarrass me."
I got my laptop immediately.
I didn't contact my uncle. Instead, I logged into Starlight Tech's internal system.
As a co-founder of the company, I'd been sidelined, but my super admin permissions had never been revoked—he didn't dare, because he still needed my public image to prop up the company's facade.
I downloaded and packaged all the company's financial records from the past two years, the dual-contract ledgers, and the records of the fictitious overseas project outsourcing he'd used to funnel money to Su Nian and her son. I encrypted everything and sent it to Julian.
That afternoon, I went to Julian's law firm.
Julian pushed a thick file toward me, his finger tapping the English-language fax on top.
"The registration documents from the Caymans just came through."
"Ethan transferred Starlight Tech's core algorithm patents through cross-licensing to a shell company registered in the Cayman Islands."
He paused for a beat.
"The sole director and legal representative of that shell company is Su Nian."
He was gutting Starlight Tech. He had made preparations long ago so that even if the company went bankrupt, he could run off with the core tech and enjoy a carefree life overseas with Su Nian.
"He sure has a nice dream," I mumbled, flipping through the documents. A cold smirk curled the corner of my mouth.
"Julian, help me register a new MCN agency."”
"Strip the ownership of all my personal social media accounts from Starlight Tech."
"The reason will be that Starlight is reducing operating costs by making my personal IP an independently accounted unit."
Julian gave me a deep look. "You're planning to go solo?"
"No." I shut my laptop. "Old Mr. Lee from the finance department, is he reliable?"
Julian's reply was quick. "Old Lee has been with the company for five years. He was one of the old guard your grandfather recommended back in the day."
"He owes your family a favor."
I stared at my screen and slowly typed a line: "Tell him it's time to repay that favor."
"I'm going to turn Starlight Tech into an empty shell, and I'll be the one holding their lifeline."
For the next two weeks, I played the obedient wife at home every day.
Ethan, thinking I'd already handled things with my uncle, was riding high on life every time he came home.
He even started taking frequent, furtive international calls, his voice dripping with a tenderness I hadn't heard in years.
I knew what it meant. Su Nian was coming back.
Because Ethan figured he was about to have complete control over all the wealth. He didn't need me as a stepping stone anymore.
He was finally ready to bring his true love and their biological son home to enjoy the good life.The annual Tech and Internet Summit Gala. This was Starlight Tech's most important PR event of the year.
Ethan walked the red carpet with me on his arm.
I was wearing a custom black backless evening gown, matching his perfect, loving smiles for the cameras.
Just as we were about to enter the banquet hall, Ethan stopped dead in his tracks.
I followed his gaze.
Under the hall's crystal chandeliers stood a woman in a white lace dress.
Her makeup was flawless, and she watched us with a beaming smile, champagne in hand.
Su Nian.
She had really come back. And right at this critical juncture, just as Ethan was about to secure the "lifesaving" funding.
The hand Ethan had around my waist tightened convulsively. I could feel his entire body stiffen, his breathing turning ragged.
Almost subconsciously, he let go of my hand and strode quickly toward Su Nian.
Leaving me, his wife, standing alone at the end of the red carpet, surrounded by the media.
Whispers erupted around me. Countless pairs of eyes landed on me, eager for a spectacle.
I didn't panic. I just calmly smoothed down my dress and walked into the venue alone.
Halfway through the event, he leaned down and whispered in my ear, "Just going to the restroom," before getting up and leaving.
I watched his retreating figure disappear around the corridor's corner, then slowly counted to twenty.
Exactly twenty seconds later, I picked up my wine glass and followed him out, casually, like I was just out for a stroll.
The thick carpet in the hallway outside the banquet hall absorbed my footsteps.
I walked in the direction of the terrace, my memory guiding me, and near a corner next to the emergency exit, I heard Su Nian's stifled laughter.
"Why did you suddenly come back? Didn't we agree I'd bring you and our son back after I got the investment money from Luna's family?"
Ethan's voice was a mix of urgency and delight.
"I got sick of staying abroad," Su Nian's voice was teasing and coy.
"Leo asks for his daddy every day. And I heard that Luna woman has been acting up recently."
"Ethan, when are you going to divorce her? I don't want to be the woman in the shadows anymore."
"Soon, Nian. Just give me a little more time." Ethan pulled Su Nian into his arms.
"That idiot Luna already went to ask her uncle for money."
"The moment the funds hit, I'll transfer the assets immediately and force Starlight Tech into bankruptcy."
"She won't get a cent, and she'll be buried in debt."
"I'll take the core patents and start over with you."
"She really is such a useful tool," Su Nian giggled.
Ethan's cold voice followed, "That's all she's good for."
"Look at her, all wooden and boring. She's not even worth a single strand of your hair."
"Every day I have to look at that fake face of hers, it makes me sick."
I stood in the shadows and pressed the record button on my phone.
I recorded every disgusting word of this entire conversation.
So, this was his plan for my life, plotted behind my back. He didn't just want to steal my money; he wanted to utterly destroy me.
I put my phone away and silently returned to the banquet hall.
Ethan only rushed back to my side as the gala was ending. His clothes still carried the scent of Su Nian's perfume.
"Got caught up talking with an important client," he brushed me off casually.
"No problem." I looked at him, giving him a flawless smile. "Work comes first."
Once in the car, I sent Julian a text.
"The endgame moves up. I'm not waiting any longer."Just three days after the summit, I deliberately approved a high-risk overseas prepayment in Starlight Tech's internal approval workflow.
That money happened to be the last of the company's liquid cash reserves.
Seeing that this cash was available for use, Ethan couldn't hold back, just as I expected.
He forged an overseas equipment procurement contract, attempting to funnel the sum directly into the shell company under Su Nian's name.
He thought he was being perfectly covert. He didn't know I had already turned the head of finance.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, I pushed open the door to Ethan's CEO office.
He was sitting in his executive chair on a video call with Su Nian.
The moment he saw me enter, he slammed his laptop shut, his face immediately darkening.
"Who told you to come in? Have you forgotten how to knock?" he snarled at me.
I walked up to his desk and tossed a bank receipt for the intercepted payment in his face.
The sharp edge of the paper sliced across his cheek, leaving a red mark.
"Explain this, Mr. Gray." I leaned forward, placing both hands on his desk, looking down at him.
"Why is a thirty-million equipment procurement payment being funneled into an offshore Cayman Islands account that doesn't even have a physical office address?"
Ethan's pupils contracted sharply at the sight of the receipt. But he quickly forced himself to stay calm.
"This is a highly confidential core project. What business is it of yours? You're a woman who knows nothing about operations."
"Call finance immediately and release that money! The company's survival depends on it!" He stood up, trying to overpower me with his presence.
I let out a cold laugh.
"The survival of the company? Or the survival of Su Nian and Leo Gu's future?"
Ethan's expression completely froze. He stared at me in disbelief, as if he was seeing a ghost.
"What the hell are you talking about?" His voice was strained.
"Me, talking nonsense?" I picked up a USB drive from his desk and toyed with it.
"Ethan, did you really think you could deceive everyone?"
"The luxury condo you bought for Su Nian, the international school tuition you pay for Leo Gu, and the core patents you've transferred out."
"I’ve investigated every single transaction, down to the last penny."
Ethan finally realized the jig was up. His face contorted into a mask of pure savagery.
He rounded the desk, suddenly seizing my throat and shoving me hard against the floor-to-ceiling window.
"Luna, you're asking for death!" he hissed through gritted teeth, his strength terrifying.
"Since you know, I won't bother pretending. I used you!"
"Who the hell do you think you are? Your whole family is just a stepping stone for me!"
"Be smart and sign the papers right now, walk out with nothing! Or else, I'll make sure you can't survive in this city!"
A suffocating sensation washed over me, but I didn't struggle.
I just stared coldly at his face, twisted by rage.
"Ethan, you're not just a spineless leech; you're also an idiot who knows nothing about the law."
I forced the words out with difficulty, then raised my hand and pointed at the miniature camera disguised as an air purifier right across from his desk.
"Every word you just said, and your act of domestic violence right now, has been synced to the cloud in real-time."
Ethan's body shook violently, and he let go of me as if burned. He scrambled to smash the purifier.
I rubbed my reddened neck and stepped back.
"We're getting divorced," I said, my voice dropping to a chilling temperature.
"But this is only the beginning. Tomorrow night, during our fifth-wedding-anniversary livestream, I'll give you a gift that will ruin you financially."
Chapters (4)
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Watch & Promotions
- Search this code in the NovelMaster app:
546153Open NovelMaster → Search code → Find the title