Divorce my prentened poor Billionaire husband

A cold chill of anxiety washed over Annika the second it clicked—she’d accidentally shown her hand to Selena. She fought to school her face, forcing every muscle in her body to stay calm.

"Selena, didn’t you have the nurse do the blood draw? Why are you grilling me?" Annika asked, letting her legs go wobbly on purpose. She swayed a little, clutching her head like she was about to pass out. "I don’t feel right. I can’t breathe, everything’s spinning. I need to lie down."

But Selena wasn’t about to let this slide. She clamped a hard hand around Annika’s arm, not letting her move an inch. "Annika, you’re not going anywhere. I need to double-check with the nurse that we got enough for the ceremony. My brother takes this ritual deadly seriously, and he made it very clear how important the right amount is."

Annika clenched her fist until her nails dug into her palm, frustration boiling under her skin. Everest and Selena were both rotten to the core. If she got pulled deeper into this, it would only put her in danger. A direct fight with Selena wasn’t the move—she needed a new angle.

"Selena, if you don’t let go of me right now, I’ll go tell Everest the whole truth about your little revenge plan," Annika warned.

"What the hell are you rambling about? What revenge plan?" Selena scoffed, her smile oozing with so much sarcasm it stung. "My brother trusts me, his own sister, way more than he trusts some gold-digger who bailed on him when he was broke. You really think he’s gonna believe your little story?"

"A gold-digger?" Annika bit her lip so hard she tasted copper, her eyes burning with unshed tears. "Have you ever met a gold-digger who stayed with a man drowning in debt for three whole years? Lived in a tiny rented closet of an apartment, split a single cup of instant noodles for dinner? Have you ever seen a gold-digger work her fingers to the bone to pay his bills, and wouldn’t even splurge on a four-dollar cup of coffee for herself?"

Selena sneered. "And if my brother was just playing you this whole time? You enjoyed the game, didn’t you?"

"Annika, even if my brother took your side, do you really think anyone would believe you left him because you found out he’s actually a billionaire?"

"Believe it or don’t," Annika swallowed back her tears and shoved Selena away hard, her jaw set with determination. "I don’t owe any explanation to trash like you."

"Trash?" A deep, sharp voice cut through their shouting.

Selena froze, panic lurching in her chest. Why the hell was Grandma Murphy here? How much had she heard? What if she’d seen how ruthless Selena really was?

Panicked, she crumpled to the floor, clutching her side like she’d been mortally wounded. "Ow! Annika, why’d you push me? That hurts so bad!"

Murphy Kennedy, leaning heavily on her cane, immediately called for help to lift Selena up. "Selena, honey, are you okay? Did you hurt yourself bad?"

Selena breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Grandma Murphy must not have heard much, only that Annika called someone trash. That could work for her, actually.

She quickly pulled on a sorrowful face, tears pooling in her eyes as she spoke. "Grandma, it hurts so bad. I think I might have broken something. I heard Annika call my brother a lowlife. I just tried to stand up for him, and she pushed me. Don’t blame me, okay? I was just trying to protect his honor."

"What? She called my Everest a lowlife?" Murphy went pale with shock, then started trembling with rage. "My Everest is brilliant, he’s done so much! How dare anyone call him that?"

Murphy yelled for the bodyguards immediately and pointed straight at Annika. "Lock her in one of the guest rooms. I’m gonna get to the bottom of why she dares insult my Everest like that."

Annika’s brow furrowed, frustration coiling tight in her chest. Things were already messy enough, and now Murphy had been dragged into the middle of Selena’s mess. With Selena twisting every word to her advantage, getting anyone to believe her was gonna be next to impossible.

Two bodyguards were there in seconds, stepping to either side of Annika, ready to drag her off if she resisted.

"There’s no need for force. I’ll go on my own," Annika said, one hand curling protectively around her stomach over her dress, shielding her unborn baby as she walked toward the room they’d indicated.

Just then, a nurse rushed in with a message from the doctor for Grandma Murphy. "Ma’am, the doctor sent me to remind you to bring the blood donor to the ceremony right away, or you’ll miss the auspicious time."

"Oh good heavens, I completely forgot. The ritual is the most important thing today. If Peter doesn’t wake up, nothing else matters," Grandma Murphy said urgently, then ordered, "Quick, help Selena get ready for the ceremony."

The nurse blinked in confusion, not knowing what was going on. "But… this young lady is the one who had her blood drawn. The doctor needs the actual donor to be present for the ceremony."

Selena’s face burned bright red with rage. What was this idiot nurse talking about? All the credit for the "sacrificial donation" was supposed to go to her—she’d just bailed because she was scared and talked Annika into taking her place.

Grandma Murphy turned to Selena, her brow furrowed with question. "Selena, what is going on here?"

Selena shoved her rage down, swallowing the bitter resentment clawing at her throat, and curled her hand around Grandma Murphy’s arm, softening her voice into a hurt, whimpering tone. "Grandma, I was gonna donate, honestly. But I suddenly got so dizzy. The nurse said I wasn’t well enough to give blood, that the ritual needed healthy blood to work. So I asked Annika to help me out. And then she pushed me and insulted my brother…"

Tears glinted fake-bright in Selena’s eyes as she pointed at Annika, her voice soft and pitiful. "Annika, even if you didn’t want to donate, you didn’t have to insult my brother. What did he ever do to you? He just wants to help his dad wake up after ten years in a coma. Is asking for a little blood really too much?"

Annika stood off to the side, watching Selena’s whole performance with cold, blank detachment. A sardonic little smile tugged at her lips. She was all out of sympathy for this act.

"Selena, I never refused to donate. I already did it—nurse and the bodyguards can both confirm that. And as for pushing you, we can just check the security cameras to see what really happened."

Panic flashed across Selena’s face, and she scrambled to change the subject immediately. "This isn’t the time to check footage! My dad’s waiting for this to save him!"

Grandma Murphy cut in sharply, her mind made up. "Enough bickering. This is not the time for fighting. The auspicious time is almost here. Young lady, if you donated the blood, come with me to the ceremony."

"If my son Peter wakes up, no matter what grievances you two have, I will personally remember your kindness and stand by you through anything."