Till Wealth Do Us Part

It was a video of Mia and Keith, their unclothed bodies entwined in the most intricate positions I had ever seen. Guttural moans of pleasure emitted from their throats, and I felt my blood boil with rage and humiliation. I slammed my laptop shut and turned to the woman who had brought this disgusting video to my attention. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The woman nudged her sunglasses and said with an air of disdain, "I'm sure you can guess by now who I am. We're both victims, so there's no need to be short with me. I just thought you'd be interested in this. You should keep it. It might come in handy."

With that, she turned and sashayed out of the room, leaving only a trail of her perfume in her wake. Within seconds she was gone, as if she was never there in the first place.

I clenched my fists to stifle the nausea rising within me. It did not take a rocket scientist to figure out who this mysterious woman was—the fact that she had this video in her possession meant that she was most likely involved with Keith somehow.

Nevertheless, every last glimmer of hope I had towards reconciling our marriage dissipated with the discovery of said video.

My injuries were so severe that I had to stay an additional two days in the hospital. There was nothing much to do, so I decided to wheel myself downstairs for a walk.

At a bend in the hallway, I heard a voice that made me stop short in my tracks.

"I'm already three months along, and yet now you want me to get an abortion? In your dreams! Didn't you promise me that once the child is born, you'd divorce her and marry me instead? Why did you change your mind?

"I don't need any more rest! I want to start working immediately!

"What did you just say? You're not offering me the job anymore? And now you don't want to marry me either? What on earth is wrong with you, Keith Lewis? You had no intention of holding up your promise from the start, don't you, you liar?" Mia's voice rang loud and clear in the hallway. Obviously she was on the phone with Keith.

Everything became all the clearer. What a sick joke that life had played on me! She willingly left a man who had given everything up for her, to become a mistress.

When we finally conceived a child after years of trying, she was adamant to terminate it for the sake of her career, and yet now she wants to keep a baby that was not even wanted by the father?

As ironic as this all was, it no longer had anything to do with me, so I kept silent. At that exact moment, Mia hung up and turned around. We locked eyes across the hallway.

She roared, "Miles, you disgusting freak! Were you following me? Were you eavesdropping on me? How shameless are you? Don't you dare think that just because Keith and I are arguing it means you stand a chance! Let me make it clear to you—we are done! We are getting a divorce, and I won't change my mind, not now, not ever!"

I scoffed. "Mia, don't be so full of yourself. I had no intention of eavesdropping on your stupid conversation. All I feel now is disgust. You are nothing but a scarlet woman, a lying, cheating floozy! I will never take you back, not even if you get on your knees and beg me!"

With that, I turned and wheeled away without a second glance. All I could hear were the curious murmurs of the onlookers who had gathered around us. Mia's shouting match over the phone had garnered a lot of attention from passersby, and it was not difficult to deduce what had happened.

It turned out Keith was already married, and had no intention of marrying Mia nor offering her a job since the start. It was no wonder Mia was trying to find a new job, and this explained why she kept threatening to divorce me, and yet suddenly went quiet when it came to approving the legal proceedings. She was probably trying to keep me around as something to fall back on.

Well, I could not let her get what she wanted, could I?

Two days later, I was finally cleared to discharge by the doctors. I returned to the company and took over the interview process of the more crucial job openings.

That afternoon, Mia showed up in my office, looking excited. "Miles, how did you even come into so much money? I've done my research, and there's no way Carter Enterprises can grow so rapidly without at least ten million dollars' worth of investment!"

I stared at her coldly. "What does this have to do with you?"

I could not believe her audacity when she replied, "Why doesn't it? This money is part of our joint assets."

"So?" I asked, trying very hard to conceal my anger.

Our joint wealth was largely made up of my own hard-earned money. I would have been more than happy to share the fruits of my labor with her, but that was before finding out that she had cheated on me for another wealthier man. Since she had trodden on my dignity, what right did she have to claim my money?

"I want half of the profits! Either give me half of the shares of Carter Enterprises, or half of the profits in cash!" Mia said greedily, revealing her true colors at last.

I sneered. "I earned this money with my blood, sweat, and tears. I will not give you even one penny."

Mia snarled. "What gives you the right? If you don't hand over the money, I won't go ahead with the divorce proceedings! You will be legally responsible for raising and caring for another man's child! Is this what you want, Miles?"

I hurled the memory card containing proof of her adultery towards her. "Mia, in the future, before threatening someone, make sure said person doesn't have something on you."