Chapter 2
Friends kept sending me videos recorded live from the White Lily Club. Liam Foster, truly looking like a delicate, wilting flower.
His afternoon white tee and jeans were replaced with skimpy clothing, just a few silver chains barely covering his body.
He cowered on the stage, his face full of resentment, yet he had no choice but to comply.
The audience below went wild. The audience, used to bold, hot male models, were absolutely electrified by this starkly contrasting performance, their restless souls wildly agitated.
“Do you know who’s on stage? Ms. Hayes from Hayes Group’s toy boy!”
“Apparently, the real boss caught them red-handed, and that’s how we got this amazing show!”
“Holy cow, Mr. Thorne, you’ve got quite the entertainment lined up! My club’s revenue today is going to double!” my friend excitedly messaged me.
“This is just the beginning.”
The next second, I told my assistant to go to the club and scatter a billion dollars on the spot.
The entire club floor was covered in red cash, like heaven.
“Liam Foster’s dance was great today. Mr. Thorne is in a good mood, so let everyone have some fun.”
The cheers from the crowd were deafening, enough to blow the roof off. “Mr. Thorne is a legend! Happier than winning the lottery, that’s what this is!”
“But Alex, are you really okay?” my friend asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
I scoffed. “You call this ‘something’?”
Half an hour later, Vivian Hayes returned, her face haggard, a cold, defeated expression etched on her features.
“Alexander Thorne, are you satisfied now?”
I held my red wine, scrutinizing this broken, haggard woman, and shook my head.
I scoffed and walked directly into the bedroom.
“Alexander Thorne, I’m truly so disappointed in you! I never thought you’d treat a young man fresh out of college like this!”
“He’s so naive and kind. How will he ever be able to hold his head high after being publicly humiliated by you like that?”
Through the closed door, every word of Vivian Hayes’ voice was laced with resentment.
I opened the door and leaned against the frame, watching the woman who claimed to have loved me for five years, now gritting her teeth and questioning me with hatred.
Instead of getting angry, I laughed. “Naive?”
“Vivian Hayes, tell me, is there any part of you that he hasn’t touched? And you call him ‘naive’?”
Vivian’s face flushed instantly. “Are you listening to rumors again? Alexander Thorne, I know many people in the company are loyal to you, but do you have absolutely no trust in your own wife?”
“Hmph, trust?”
“You were practically sleeping with him right in front of my damn face. What? If there’s no evidence, it doesn’t count as cheating, right?”
“Well, I’ll tell you what. I just don’t f***ing like him, alright?!”
Seeing my indifferent expression, Vivian clenched her fists, wanting to say something, but ultimately remaining silent.
“And another thing, Vivian Hayes. If you had reached where you are today purely by your own merit, even if you kept a hundred toy boys outside, you’d still be my wife when you came home. But now, you’re taking my money and spending it on other men? Whose face are you slapping now?”
As I spoke, I walked up to her, looking up at her eyes, which, though showing faint lines, were still beautiful.
Pat, pat, pat. I lightly slapped her cheek, a faint smile on my face.
As if suddenly realizing something, she tensed. “Alex, you wouldn’t…”
I turned around and took a stack of photos from my bag.
“Yes, exactly what you’re thinking.”
“Look, they’re all lining up to be Mrs. Thorne. Looks, figure, education – which one isn’t better than you? And they know how to please, they’re good in bed.”
“More importantly, they’re all younger than you.”
With that, I gave a pitying glance at her increasingly fatigued face.
Vivian Hayes deflated like a punctured balloon.
“If it weren’t for the fact that you’re my wife, heh.”
At the bottom of the stack of photos was that prenuptial agreement, the one with the ten thousand times payback clause.
“What happened with your brother and your dad was just a warning. You should know that if I can take you from having nothing to becoming Ms. Hayes, a woman everyone gives face to, I can also make you…”
I didn’t say the last few words, just gave her another scrutinizing look.
And that single glance caused Vivian Hayes to suddenly lunge into my arms.
“Honey, I’m sorry, I… I’ve just been under too much stress lately.”
“But I really didn’t cheat. I, I’ve always loved you…”
The moment she embraced me, the scent of alcohol, cigarettes, and cheap men’s cologne from her overwhelmed me.
A violent wave of nausea surged through me. I pushed her away, perhaps a little too forcefully. She stumbled, hitting the doorknob, but I felt no pity.
“Vivian Hayes, why do you think I’d believe a word you say?”
Thud. Vivian suddenly knelt down. Slap, slap, slap, slap…
Left cheek, then right cheek, she kept slapping herself.
In that instant, I felt absolutely nothing.
I got up and walked directly to my study. Only when I opened the door did I turn my head, my tone serious for the last time.
“You don’t need to put on this act for me. I’m busy. But I am seriously informing you: this is the first and last time between us. I won’t give you another chance. Think carefully.”
“Think about how you got to where you are today. And then give me a satisfactory answer tomorrow.”
The next day, Vivian Hayes fired Liam Foster in front of the entire company.
Liam walked out of the company, clutching a cardboard box, tears welling in his eyes, resentment clear in their depths.
“Oh, isn’t that the guy who tried to climb into bed to get ahead? What, found another rich woman?”