CHAPTER 10: The Mistress Who Wanted My Life
CHAPTER 10: The Mistress Who Wanted My Life
There is a difference between wanting someone’s happiness and wanting their life.
One comes from admiration.
The other comes from envy.
For a long time, I believed Chloe wanted a better future.
I believed she was a young woman who had struggled and simply needed someone to give her a chance.
I was wrong.
Chloe did not want my help.
She wanted my position.
She did not want to build something of her own.
She wanted to step into something I had already built.
My home.
My marriage.
My name.
My life.
And the most painful part was knowing I had opened the door myself.
After my lawyer told me Marcus had been preparing to take control of my companies, I spent the next several days doing something I should have done years earlier.
I investigated.
Not emotionally.
Not as a wife.
As a business owner.
I reviewed every contract.
Every account.
Every partnership.
Every person who had access to my world.
And slowly...
The picture became clearer.
Marcus had not planned this betrayal alone.
Chloe was involved.
The woman who once stood in my kitchen with a suitcase.
The woman who once thanked me for giving her a chance.
The woman who once told me she would never betray my trust.
She had been studying me.
Not helping me.
Studying me.
I found the first clue in an email.
A simple message.
Nothing dramatic.
Nothing obvious.
But the date caught my attention.
It was sent two months before Chloe admitted she was having financial problems.
The email was from Marcus.
"You were right. She doesn't question anything."
My stomach tightened.
She.
Me.
I continued reading.
"Once everything is transferred, we won't have to pretend anymore."
I closed my eyes.
Pretend.
That word hurt.
Because while I was living a marriage...
They were performing one.
Then I found another email.
From Chloe.
"I still can't believe she gave me everything so easily."
I stared at the sentence.
Everything.
That was how she saw my kindness.
Not as generosity.
As weakness.
The more I searched, the more I discovered.
Chloe had asked questions.
Not normal employee questions.
Personal questions.
How much was the house worth?
Who controlled my businesses?
What accounts did I manage?
What investments did I have?
At the time, I thought she was interested.
I thought she wanted to learn.
I was proud to teach her.
I forgot that not everyone asking questions wants to grow.
Some people ask questions because they are looking for a way in.
A week later, I saw Chloe for the first time since the wine cellar.
She came to my office.
I almost refused to let her enter.
Almost.
But curiosity won.
"Why are you here?"
I asked.
She looked different.
Not because of her clothes.
Not because of her appearance.
Because the innocent mask was gone.
She was no longer the frightened young woman who needed saving.
She was someone who had made choices.
"I wanted to talk."
I sat down.
"Talk."
She looked around my office.
The walls were covered with awards.
Photos.
Memories.
Everything I built.
Her eyes stopped on one photograph.
Me standing in front of my first bakery.
Before the mansion.
Before the success.
Before Marcus became someone important.
"You were always lucky."
I looked at her.
"Excuse me?"
She quickly corrected herself.
"I mean..."
She smiled.
"You had opportunities."
I leaned back.
"Opportunities?"
She looked uncomfortable.
"I didn't have what you had."
I nodded slowly.
"No."
A pause.
"You had something different."
She looked at me.
"What?"
"A choice."
Silence.
"Everyone has choices, Chloe."
Her expression hardened.
"That's easy for you to say."
There it was.
The resentment.
The thing she had hidden beneath gratitude.
"You think my life was easy?"
I asked.
She didn't answer.
"You saw the house."
I pointed around the room.
"You saw the success."
I touched the photograph.
"But you didn't see the years before this."
My voice became quieter.
"The failures."
"The sacrifices."
"The nights I cried because I didn't know if my business would survive."
"The years I gave up because I believed in someone."
I looked directly at her.
"You don't want my life, Chloe."
She said nothing.
"You want the reward without the struggle."
For a moment, she looked almost ashamed.
Almost.
Then she said something I never expected.
"Marcus loves me."
I stared at her.
Not because it hurt.
Because it was sad.
After everything...
That was what she held onto.
A man who betrayed his wife.
A man who planned financial attacks.
A man who used her too.
She still believed she had won.
"Do you know what Marcus told me?"
I asked.
Her face changed.
"What?"
I smiled sadly.
"He told me he loved me too."
Silence.
Chloe looked away.
Because deep down...
She knew.
A man who cheats with you can cheat on you.
"You're angry because you lost him."
She whispered.
I shook my head.
"No."
I stood.
"I'm angry because I lost the person I thought he was."
She left without another word.
But she left something behind.
A folder.
I found it after she walked out.
Inside were documents.
At first, I thought it was another attempt to hurt me.
Then I looked closer.
And my blood ran cold.
It was a copy of Marcus's plans.
But this copy had notes.
Written by Chloe.
Comments.
Questions.
Suggestions.
She wasn't just following his plan.
She was helping design it.
One note stopped me.
"The divorce should happen after the anniversary. She will be emotionally vulnerable."
I stared at the words.
Emotionally vulnerable.
That was how they saw me.
Not as a person.
As a weakness to exploit.
I closed the folder.
And for the first time...
I felt something stronger than anger.
Determination.
Because Marcus and Chloe had made one fatal mistake.
They thought they were destroying my life.
They never considered that they were waking me up.
That evening, I called my attorney.
"I need to make some changes."
She asked:
"What kind of changes?"
I looked out at the mansion.
The place where everything began.
"The kind that make sure nobody can ever take what I built again."
The next morning...
Marcus and Chloe would believe they were closer than ever to winning.
They would celebrate.
They would make plans.
They would think the woman they betrayed was finally defeated.
They had no idea...
I had already started preparing their downfall.
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END OF CHAPTER 10
NEXT: CHAPTER 11 — “The Trap Behind My Smile”
