My Billionaire Wife Chose Her Secretary Over Me

Start Reading

The kids were on break, and after years away, I was finally ready to buy a ticket home to see my parents.

But my wifeworth hundreds of millionsshut me down without a second thought. A plane ticket costs thousands. That's enough to hire a nanny for the kids. You're a father now. Can you stop wasting money?

To punish me for my "reckless spending," Selina Weiss had someone pick up the children, froze my bank accounts, and cut the water and power to the estate villa. She was determined to make me suffer.

Then her newly hired male secretary posted on social mediaa screenshot of a million-dollar transfer, captioned:

"The boss not only gave me my year-end bonus early, she's also taking me to the Maldives. How should I thank her?"

The comments suggested he repay her with his body. He replied with a simple "OK."

I laughed coldly and left my own comment: "Wishing you a lifetime of happiness together."

My in-laws were in a car accident. The hospital couldn't reach my wife, so they called me instead.

I forced down my emotions and dialed her, keeping my voice steady. "Your parents were in an accident. Transfer a million dollars for the medical bills right now, then meet me at the hospital."

Her response came without hesitation:

"Those are your parents, not mine. If something's wrong with them, deal with it yourself. What, you expect meyour wifeto run over there and slave away for them?"

She hung up before I could respond. I tried calling back, but my phone was dead. No power to charge it.

I was trapped in that lightless, waterless villa for three full days.

By the time anyone found them, my in-laws' bodies had already gone stiff in the morgue.

I was dizzy with hunger when the lights finally flickered back on after three days of darkness.

Selina's voice crackled through the security camera overheadthe first I'd heard from her since she vanished.

"Luther Sanchez, what the hell is wrong with you? If Adrian Knox hadn't told me he's been hiding in corners, stress-smoking and drinking alone, I never would've known you left that passive-aggressive comment. 'Wishing you a lifetime of happiness together'what's that supposed to mean? You think everyone's mind is as filthy as yours?"

"And now I get why you suddenly asked me to transfer a million dollars. You were jealous. Let me make something clear: Adrian earned that bonus. He works hard for it!"

Bitterness spread through my chest. So this was what she thought of me. This was all I was to her.

When I didn't grovel, her tone sharpened further:

"A kept man who's been pampered his whole life could never understand what it feels like to work hard and be misunderstood. You're going to apologize to him. Right now. Or don't bother waiting for me to come home."

From dating to marriage, this had always been Selina's weaponthe cold shoulder, the disappearing act, the threat of abandonment.

Because I loved her, I compromised. Every time. I endured. Every time.

Until she said those words: Those are your parents, not mine.

The fog in my head lifted instantly.

I stared into the black eye of the camera, knowing she was waiting for me to break, to beg. The word divorce sat on the tip of my tongue

"Why hasn't Daddy apologized yet?"

My son's voice cut through from the other end. My breath caught.

The older twin.

Selina and I had twins. They were six now.

The thought of what divorce would do to them made me hesitate.

Then the younger one chimed in: "Secretary Knox makes money and takes us to KFC. Daddy just spends Mommy's money and makes her mad all the time. I don't wanna hear the bad daddy's voice!"

Adrian's gentle tone floated through: "Now, now. You shouldn't say that. Daddy will be sad if he hears."

Both boys scoffed in unison. "So what if he hears? Mommy says Daddy's lazy and useless. He wouldn't dare do anything to us."

I didn't hide my reaction. My expression went cold.

Selina's voice lashed out immediately through the camera: "That sour face again. No wonder the kids don't like you!"

The twins piled on at once: "Mommy, I don't wanna see the bad daddy! Turn it off! I hate him!"

Something inside me collapsed.

Before I could even process the anger, Selina cut the feed.

She was always like thisdictating everything, never letting me go home after we got married.

Every visit sparked a fight. To monitor my every move, she'd installed cameras with two-way audio in every corner of the estate villa. If I didn't respond immediately, she'd fly into a rage, interrogating me about why I'd ignored her.

I didn't want the kids watching us tear into each other day after day, so I'd patiently explain that I just wanted to see my parentsit had been so long.

But my parents hated seeing me and Selina at each other's throats over something as simple as a visit. They'd smile sadly and tell me to go home, saying a video call now and then was enough.

That one sentence gave Selina all the ammunition she needed.

To keep me tethered to the house, she fired every housekeeper and nanny, leaving me to run the entire household alone.

I used to think it meant she valued me. That she couldn't bear to be without me.

Now I saw it for what it was: a pathological need to own and control.

This time, the kids finally had a seven-day break from preschool. I wanted to take them to see their grandparents.

Selina shut me down cold. Then she took the children and left.

"You married into my family," she said, ice in her voice. "That makes you a Weiss. The second there's a holiday, you want to drag the kids back to your people? Have you even considered that my parents might want to see their grandchildren? God, you're selfish."

She slammed the door on her way out.

Then she had someone bolt the villa from the outside. Cut the water. Cut the power. She was going to make me grovel.

To make sure I couldn't reach her, she pulled her SIM card and powered off her phone.

Which meant the hospital couldn't get through to tell her that her parents were dying.

They called me instead.

I was still furious, but I knew this wasn't the time. I kept calling until she finally picked up.

"Your parents were in a car accident. Transfer a million dollars to the hospital right now, then meet me there."

Her voice dripped with contempt. "Those are your parents, not mine. If something happened to them, deal with it yourself. Or do you expect your daughter-in-law to come running like some kind of servant?"

She hung up.

I tried calling back. My phone was dead.

I was trapped in that villano water, no powerfor three days.

Her parents' bodies were probably stiff in the morgue by now.

But I couldn't think about that anymore. Three days without a drop of water. My stomach condition was already bad; now I barely had the strength to call for help.

It hit me again: she genuinely didn't care if I lived or died. She never had.

I thought about the children's cold words, and I knewthis marriage was over.

I didn't want my wife anymore. I didn't want my kids anymore.

I just wanted a divorce.

Click.

The door finally opened.

The sudden light stabbed my eyes. All I could hear was Adrian's suggestive voice:

"Am I really the only one who gets to work overtime at the boss's house?"

Selina's tone was indulgent, almost flirtatious. "Of course. Not just anyone gets invited here."

I didn't rush out to greet them like I always used to.

Selina's displeasure was instant. She raised her voice, dripping with sarcasm: "If the kids' father wasn't so desperate to run back to his little village, I wouldn't have had to trouble you to help with them."

Adrian gazed at her, his eyes soft with adoration. "It's my job to help my boss. Honestly, your husband is out of linehow could he just abandon his wife like that? When I get married someday, family will come first. I'd never leave the woman I love."

Both boys threw themselves into Adrian's arms. "Don't get married, Daddy Adrian! We want to be your kids! Don't get married!"

Adrian looked at Selina, hesitant, longing. "But a man has to settle down eventually..."

Selina was about to respond when her gaze caught me slumped against the sofa, barely conscious.

The smile vanished from her face. "How long have you been lurking there, eavesdropping? All these years and you still can't drop that sneaky, underhanded behavior."

She rolled her eyes at me. The boys mimicked her, staring at me with open disgust.

Adrian positioned himself beside Selina, all magnanimous charm. "Hello. I don't mean anything by thisthe young masters just needed someone to look after them, so I'm staying for a few days."

A few days. Yet he was dragging an enormous suitcase behind him, like he'd packed up his entire life.

I looked at Selina, exhausted, clinging to whatever shred of feeling remained. "Three days ago, your parents were in a car accident. They're in critical condition. You need to get to Riverton City Hospital. Now."

Her eyes turned to ice. "Don't try to manipulate me with lies. It was your parents in that accident. What does that have to do with mine?"

Adrian frowned. "Even if you're angry, you shouldn't curse your own in-laws. They've been good to you."

Selina grabbed my arm and yanked me off the sofa. "My parents would never be careless enough to get themselves killed. This is just another scheme you and your family cooked up, isn't it?"

Before I could answer, she shoved me toward the door. "You wanted to leave so badlyso why are you still here? Can't bear to give up the lifestyle, can you?"

Days without food had left me too weak to resist. Her rough handling scraped my knees raw against the floor.

Her parents had treated me decently. I couldn't just let them lie there in that cold hospital. I forced the words out:

"Selina, your parents are really at the hospital. Just go see them and you'll know I'm notah!"

She seized a fistful of my hair and wrenched my head back. "Shut up!"

The boys clapped and cheered, bouncing with excitement. "Hit the bad daddy! Hit him!"

Adrian watched with barely concealed glee, then made a show of intervening. "Now, now, don't be too hard on him. He's just jealousgot a little confused. I'm sure he didn't mean it."

Selina let go with a cold snort. "You're too kind, speaking up for him. Have you already forgotten how he made those snide comments on your social media?"

"A grown man, and all he does is sulk and seethe with jealousy. Who knows where he picked up such petty habits."

Adrian put on a wounded expression. "It's just part of the job. A little mistreatment comes with the territory."

They played off each other perfectly, as if I were the villain in their little drama.

My heart went cold and still. Everything Selina had doneit was like she'd taken every ounce of devotion I'd poured into this marriage and ground it into the dirt.

I stared at them, my voice flat. "Fine. Your parents are perfectly fine. I made it all up. And yes, I'm the one who went crazy on Adrian's social media. It's all my fault. Every last bit of it. Happy now?"

Selina frowned, her grip tightening on my wrist. "That's your idea of an apology?"

She'd mistaken my sarcasm for submission.

I stepped back, suddenly curious how she'd react when she learned her parents had been in that accident for days.

I'd told her. Multiple times. She chose not to believe me.

Adrian couldn't quite suppress his smirk as he assumed the air of the man of the house. "Alright, alright, he's apologized. Let's eat. No more fighting."

He pulled several takeout containers from a black bag. "We didn't finish our meal, and I figured you must be starving after all these days, so I packed the leftovers for you."

The distinctive containers were from Riverside Pavilionthe kind of place where a single dish started at a thousand dollars. The receipt peeking out showed a total of sixty-eight thousand.

She could afford to take her secretary to a sixty-eight-thousand-dollar dinner, but she begrudged me a few thousand for a plane ticket home.

"It might be a little cold. Please don't mindI'll heat it up for you."

Selina shot me a look of distaste. "He likes cold leftovers. Don't waste your time. If it weren't for him, I'd never have done something as tacky as taking a doggy bag."

She said doggy bag like she was really talking about me.

Adrian set the steaming containers in front of me. "Two minutes in the microwave. No trouble at all. Go on, eat."

The reheated food had turned yellow and mushy, like slop that had been sitting out for days. Even the rice showed traces of someone else's chopsticks, streaks of sauce where they'd stirred through it.

Adrian gave me an apologetic little wink. "I only had a few bites of this rice. Seemed a shame to waste it, so I brought it back for you. You don't mind, do you?"

My stomach heaved. Days without food meant nothing came up but bile.

Adrian looked wounded. "Are you disgusted by me? Do you have a problem with me?"

Ethan's lip curled. "Mom says Daddy used to dig through garbage cans. He's not picky. Daddy loves eating trash!"

Noah said nothing, but his eyes burned into me with silent fury.

Because both my parents were chronically ill, my family was dirt poor. I had to work part-time jobs from a young age just to get by, keeping only two hundred dollars a month for myself from everything I earned.

Once, my money was stolen. With classes packed back-to-back, I had no time to pick up extra shifts. I did eat other people's leftovers during that timebut I never once dug through a trash can.

I told Selina about this. She cried until her eyes were red and swore she would always be good to me.

Yet what she told our children was that I liked digging through garbage. That I enjoyed eating trash.

I was the one who took care of them day in and day out. But all Selina had to do was take them out for fried chicken and bubble tea a few times after work, play a couple of video games with them, and suddenly they'd gush about how Mommy was their favorite. They called me a useless waste of money who only knew how to spend.

Even now, both my sons were staring at me like I was their enemy.

Selina swept her arm across the table, sending all the dishes crashing. Scalding soup splashed across my body, raising blisters instantly. She didn't even glance at the damagejust glared at me with fury in her eyes.

"Adrian was kind enough to bring you food, and you won't eat it? You don't have to act so disgusted! Finedon't eat then!"

My older son grabbed his toy gun and opened fire, plastic pellets hammering into me in rapid succession.

The blisters that had just formed burst under the impact. Pain twisted my face.

My younger son spat at me. "Ungrateful! Bad Daddy!"

The memory of being hit by that carmy liver rupturing, agony tearing through meall to rush these boys to the hospital... that pain overlapped with the hatred I saw now in their small faces.

I had naively believed all children were like this when they were young. That they'd grow out of it.

But I didn't want to wait for them to grow up anymore. Raising these two felt more pointless than raising a pair of roast pigs.

When the bullets ran out, Ethan balled his fists and started pounding on me. Noah followed his lead.

Blood seeped from the broken blisters. The pain was blinding. Before I could think, I shoved them both away.

They hit the floor.

Their wailing mixed with Adrian's shrill scream:

"They're your children! Have you lost your mind?!"

Selina finally stopped playing dead. She stepped forward and shoved me aside, positioning herself protectively in front of Adrian and the boys. "How can any man be as selfish as you? They only told you how they really feel and you can't handle it?"

The force of her push sent me crashing into the corner of the table. My skull throbbed. The room swayed.

Through the piercing chaos, I heard my sons screaming:

"I don't want this daddy! I want a new daddy! I only want Daddy Adrian!"

"Bad Daddy! Waaahthrow him out! I only want Daddy Adrian!"

I dug my nails into my palm, fighting to stay conscious.

With the last of my strength, I spoke. "As you wish."

"Selina. Let's divorce. You can have both children."

"What?"

"I said divorce. I don't want either of them."