My Billionaire Husband Arrested Me for Taking His Money Chapter 01
My husband, Ryan Mercer, used to hand me every paycheck he earned.
Even with both our salaries, we barely kept the household afloat. When his father, Robert Mercer, became critically ill, we couldn’t come up with the $3,000 needed for his surgery.
After Robert died, Ryan threw himself into work. He attended endless networking dinners, chased clients, and pitched every investor he could find. He eventually built a company valued at over a billion dollars.
Yet when I began having pregnancy complications and took $3,000 from him for a prenatal appointment, he called the police on me.
The female officer looked at me with sympathy.
“She needed the money for prenatal care. She’s your wife. Shouldn’t you be paying for that?”
Ryan gave a cold smile.
“When my father needed money for treatment, she was the one controlling our finances.”
“She held on to every penny and refused to pay for his surgery.”
His intern, Vanessa Shaw, stood beside him. Nearly $300,000 worth of diamonds glittered at her ears.
Ryan had given them to her when she became a full-time employee.
I wiped the tears from my swollen eyes, then held out my puffy hands.
“Go ahead. Arrest me.”
***
My wrists trembled as I held them out.
The officer tightened her grip on the handcuffs. Then she spun toward Ryan.
“Mr. Mercer, are you seriously sending your wife to jail when she’s nine months pregnant?”
“Three thousand dollars is less than half a day’s profit for you. Do you really have to do this to her?”
“She’s due in a month!”
Ryan rested one hand casually on Vanessa’s waist.
“She admitted she took it. What else is there to discuss?”
“You…”
The officer stared at him in disbelief.
Vanessa hid a smile behind one hand.
“Officer, you don’t know the whole story. When Mr. Mercer’s father was dying, she controlled every dollar in the house.”
“He needed $3,000 for surgery, but she refused to give Ryan the money. His father died waiting for the operation.”
Vanessa dabbed at the corner of one eye, putting on a show of regret.
At the mention of his father, Ryan’s expression darkened. He lit a cigarette and scoffed.
“She brought this on herself.”
The officer fell silent. When she turned to me again, her voice had softened.
“Ma’am, is there anything you’d like to say?”
I looked up at Ryan, my eyes red from crying.
“Your father knew the truth.”
Ryan froze.
Vanessa looked startled. “What are you talking about, Lena?”
“I know those were the hardest years of Ryan’s life, but he still gave you every paycheck.”
“No one would’ve blamed you for spending some of it on yourself. But when his father needed surgery, you…”
She let the sentence trail off and looked at Ryan.
Ryan frowned.
“Take her away.”
The officer cuffed me, and I struggled to walk on my swollen feet. As I passed Ryan, I stumbled and nearly fell.
Ryan stepped back.
The officer was the one who caught me.
When I looked up, Ryan was shielding Vanessa behind him. He looked down at me without a trace of warmth. Vanessa smirked over his shoulder.
I swallowed hard and quietly followed the officer outside.
Once we were in the patrol car, she sat beside me.
“Did you really refuse to pay for his father’s surgery?”
I stared out the window.
“We didn’t have the money.”
“How was that possible?”
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“Ryan makes millions now, but back then, we each brought home barely $2,500 a month. He gave me everything he earned, and I managed all of it.”
“Rent in Westbridge wasn’t cheap. Once I paid the rent, utilities, and groceries, there was almost nothing left. His mother also had asthma, so I had to set money aside for her medication.”
“Some months, I still had to borrow from my best friend just to cover everything.”
The officer looked at me with growing sympathy.
“I understand. When I first joined the force, I couldn’t get by without help from my parents either.”
I gave her a faint, weary smile, and the car fell silent.