He Kicked My Mother Out for His Ex,So I Took Everything He Had

My mother had asthma, so I'd gone out of my way to buy a villa by the sea where she could rest and recover.

My husband said his assistant Zoe Fox's mother had asthma too, and asked if she could stay with us for a while.

I agreed. What I didn't expect was that a few days later, my husband would come to me with another request.

He said Zoe's mother loved watching the sunrise and wanted the east bedroom. When I refused, he went straight to my mother.

My mother was afraid we'd fight, so she gave up the room.

And then this morning, Corey Mason came at me with something even more outrageous.

"Your mom's always up in the night. It's seriously disturbing Aunt Constance Shepherd's rest. Have her move out."

I thought I'd misheard, and asked him to say it again.

"I said your mom keeps getting up at night and it's disturbing Aunt Constance's rest. Have her move out."

Someone did need to move out. But it sure as hell wasn't my mother.

I gave Corey a long, hard look. "Fine. I'll bring it up at breakfast."

——

Half an hour later, my mother, Zoe, her mother, and I were all seated at the dining table.

Lena Lambert, our housekeeper, and Corey brought the food out between them.

The meals for Zoe and her mother were the nutritious dishes Corey had prepared himself. Aunt Constance's breakfast was tailored to help with her asthma.

The one made for Zoe suited this northern girl's tastes.

Six years of marriage, and if Zoe and her mother hadn't moved in, I never would have known he could cook.

The first morning Corey cooked, I'd already let my displeasure show.

"It isn't easy for Zoe, coming all the way out here on her own with her mother to make a go of it. As her boss I ought to look out for her. Don't be so petty."

I picked at my breakfast in silence, the last two weeks running through my head.

Corey didn't just make breakfast for Zoe and her mother every morning.

He rode to and from work with her too. The chairman of a corporate group looked more like Zoe's personal chauffeur.

And his kindness to her went beyond the way he treated her.

After my mother was diagnosed with asthma, I'd asked Corey more than once to take her to see Dr. Les James, the renowned asthma specialist.

Every time he agreed readily enough, then put it off, claiming work kept him too busy to find a good time.

The day Zoe's mother moved in, he had Dr. James come to the house in person to examine her.

These past few days, my mother kept quietly wiping away tears.

"Sweetheart, back when you wanted to marry Corey, your father was against it, and I had my doubts too. You're a top student, sure, but compared to a family like his, the gap is just too wide."

"Right now Corey likes you, so there's no problem. But the day he stops, your life will be very bitter."

My mother's tears made it hard for me to sleep.

These past few days I'd been turning it over and over: what exactly had gone wrong between Corey and me.

What had made him bold enough to bring another woman to live in our home.

Was it because I loved him, so he felt he had nothing to lose?

Or was there simply no place left for me in his heart?

The truth was, he used to be good to me.

Every matter in my family, big or small, he'd taken to heart. It was only now that his heart had wandered elsewhere.

"I'm done." Corey set down his chopsticks and stared at me.

His meaning was plain enough: he wanted me to say it to my mother.

I got up and went to my room, and soon came back with the deed and the purchase receipts, laying them all out in front of Corey.

He was the chairman of a publicly listed corporate group, true. But this villa was one I'd bought myself.

"You say it." I looked him dead in the eye.

The purchase contract had my mother's name on it, plain as day.

This villa was the one I'd bought for my mother, for her to live out her retirement in peace.

Corey looked at me, his face dark. "You've really disappointed me. When I get home from work, I expect a satisfactory outcome."