My Billionaire Husband Arrested Me for Taking His Money Chapter 07
“I… I wasn’t really paying attention.”
Vanessa forced a smile, but it looked more like a grimace.
Ryan stared her down.
“Pull the security footage. I want to know everywhere Vanessa went that day.”
“Mr. Mercer!”
Vanessa dropped to her knees.
“I only wanted to teach her a lesson, so I put something in her oatmeal that pregnant women aren’t supposed to have. I never thought she’d lose the baby!”
“I was terrified too. When I saw Lena bleeding, I regretted it. I swear I did!”
Ryan slapped her hard across the face.
Vanessa clutched her cheek, trembling as she looked up at him. Then Ryan seized her by the collar.
“Who the hell gave you the nerve?”
The fear slowly drained from Vanessa’s face, leaving behind cold resentment.
“If a gold digger like her can still mean so much to you, then why am I not good enough? I came to you with nothing to hide. How am I any worse than she is?”
Ryan went still, looking at the assistant he’d hired as if she were a stranger.
“You were never in her league.”
He reached for the emerald earring and tore it from her ear.
Vanessa let out a piercing scream.
She collapsed, clutching her bleeding ear as she scrambled backward in terror.
Ryan tightened his fist around the bloodstained earring.
“Take her to my wife.”
When Ryan came to see me again, he threw Vanessa at my feet.
All her arrogance was gone. A jagged wound marked the place where her earring had been. Ryan looked far more worn down than before.
“Lena, I found out the truth. She killed our baby.”
My heart clenched.
“Do whatever you want with her. I won’t stop you.”
Vanessa trembled and looked up at me.
“Mrs. Mercer, I didn’t mean to do it. I swear I’m sorry!”
“I never meant for you to lose the baby. Please forgive me. You’re the only one who can save me now!”
She clung desperately to the hem of my dress.
Vanessa had never begged anyone before. With Ryan backing her, she’d never had to.
Ryan clenched his jaw.
“Take her to the east stables. Use the riding crop.”
“Yes, sir.”
“No! Mrs. Mercer, help me! Please!”
Vanessa was dragged into the stables right in front of me.
Moments later, the riding crop cracked, and Vanessa screamed.
I looked at Ryan without emotion.
He shifted uneasily beside me, his voice tight.
“Lena, can we start over?”
“You really think we can?”
His throat worked.
Without another word, he stripped off his jacket and shirt, walked into the stables, and knelt where Vanessa had been.
“Mr. Mercer?”
The bodyguard holding the crop gaped at him.
“Hit me.”
“But…”
“I said, hit me!”
“Hit me!” Ryan shouted, his eyes bloodshot.
The guard’s hand trembled. After a moment, he raised the crop and brought it down.
The first blow cracked across Ryan’s back.
His face tightened as a vein throbbed at his temple.
“Harder.”
“Mr. Mercer…”
“I said harder!”
“Sir…”
“Do it!”
Ryan planted both fists on the floor. A bead of sweat slid from his chin and hit the floor.
He gritted his teeth.
“Don’t stop until you’ve given me a hundred.”
“Sir, a hundred strokes could…”
“If you can’t do it, get out. All of you!”
The relentless crack of the crop eventually brought Diane running to the stables.
She hurried inside and stared at her son’s bloodied back. She reached toward him, then stopped and covered her mouth instead.
After a moment, she gently patted my shoulder.
“If this helps you let some of that anger out, then so be it.”
I let out a quiet laugh. “If you mean my anger toward him, that disappeared a long time ago.”
“He stopped mattering to me a long time ago.”
Ryan’s body went rigid.
“But what happened to my baby…”
I paused.
“I’ll never forgive that.”
The final blow sent Ryan crashing to the floor. A thin line of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.
“Lena…”
He struggled to reach for me, but I stepped back.
“The show’s over. Now sign the divorce papers.”
“No… Lena!”
I had already turned away.
His guards hauled him up, but he could barely stand. All he could do was scream my name.
“Lena!”
Diane looked at him, sighed, and motioned for the guards to take him away.
Ryan was soon rushed to the hospital.
I found Diane and placed an envelope of cash in front of her.
“Mom, thank you for letting me stay with you. This should cover what you lent me, along with my room and board for the past few days.”