I Gave You My Heart First — You Gave It Back in Pieces

“The footage is perfect. I’ve already transferred your payment.”

“Just got word from the nursing home—the old hag committed suicide. She was tougher than expected. But imagining Serena crying her eyes out right now? That makes my day. Honestly, if she hadn’t helped him build the company from scratch, Ben would’ve ditched her a long time ago.”

“She still has the nerve to cling to the title of Mrs. Doyle. I’ll make sure she regrets it. Serena’s a bitch, her daughter’s a little bitch, and her mother was an old bitch. Now she doesn’t have to worry—her mother can go ahead and serve that little brat in hell! Hahaha…”

Fury erupted inside me. I charged forward and slapped Cassandra in the face.

Ben stormed in and shoved me hard. I stumbled backward and crashed into the cactus on the bar, my palms instantly shredded and bleeding.

“Serena, are you insane?!” he shouted.

“Ben, I don’t even know what I did wrong,” Cassandra whimpered. “Miss Shaw hit me the moment she walked in. Is she mad because she found out about the celebration you planned for our 100th-day anniversary tonight?”

“I know she’s always thought I wasn’t good enough. To her, I’m just some poor scholarship student, only suitable to be a nanny for your family. Maybe I should just leave and go back to school…”

Ben pulled her into his arms, eyes filled with disappointment as he looked at me.

“When did you become so cruel and arrogant, Serena?”

“Cassandra’s an orphan who’s worked so hard to pay for her education. She’s never even known what it’s like to be cared for. I’ve loved you for years, but that’s not enough for you? You’re so eaten up with jealousy that you’d strike her over something so petty?”

I laughed bitterly, my hands trembling.

“You’re calling me arrogant? Do you even know what Cassandra did? My mother died because of her! She sent those men to torture and kill her. They—”

Slap.

The crack of his palm against my cheek echoed through the room. My lips split open, blood trickling down.

“I told you,” Ben said coldly, “don’t call Cassandra by those words again.”

“You already blamed her for Lily’s death. Now you’re dragging your dead mother into this? Do you even have a conscience left?”

Seeing how easily he stood by Cassandra, my last thread of hope snapped. There was no point trying to reason with a heart that had already turned against me.

“Forget it,” I said flatly, “just sign these two documents, and I’ll disappear from your life.”

I handed him my resignation and divorce agreement.

Without a second glance, he scribbled his signature and flung the papers in my face.

“I know you’re grieving, Lily. I’ll sign whatever you want. But you’ve humiliated Cassandra in public—more than once. If you don’t kneel down and apologize to her now, I can’t guarantee that Lily’s ashes won’t disappear from the funeral home. And maybe they’ll end up in a dog’s mouth.”

I stood frozen, trembling from head to toe. How had the man I once loved turned so monstrously cruel?

“Ben, you’re despicable.”

Choking on my pride, I fell to my knees before Cassandra.

“I sincerely apologize for disrespecting you today.”

No sooner had the words left my mouth than Cassandra seized me by the hair and slammed my forehead against the floor.

“Ms. Shaw, do you even understand what an apology means? If you’re going to kneel, at least do it properly.”

My forehead split open, blood soaking into the carpet. Ben stood nearby, looking concerned—but not for me. Cassandra leaned into him pitifully.

“Ben, check my face. Did she ruin it? My looks are all I have. How could she be so heartless, hitting a girl right in the face?”

Ben said nothing.

Without another glance at me, he led her back to the office. Soon, muffled moans and breathy gasps came from behind the closed door.

I ignored the judgmental stares from the employees and dragged myself out of the office building, still bleeding.

Just then, a sleek Bentley limousine rolled up and stopped in front of the building. A dozen well-dressed men in sharp suits—some Americans, some European—stepped out in unison.

They bowed in perfect unison.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Shaw. Wells’ elite legal team—at your full disposal!"