Chapter 2 - THE HUSBAND COMES HOME
Daniel stopped beside Elena.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
He looked at the red wine covering her dress.
“Who did this?”
Victoria immediately smiled.
“It was an accident.”
Daniel stared at her.
“An accident?”
“Yes.”
“I saw you holding the bottle.”
Victoria's smile disappeared.
“You're misunderstanding.”
Daniel turned toward the others.
“Did anyone see what happened?”
Nobody answered.
His younger brother, Marcus, looked down.
Daniel's eyes hardened.
“Everyone out.”
Victoria stared.
“What?”
“Everyone out.”
“This is a family dinner.”
“No.”
Daniel's voice became cold.
“This stopped being a family dinner when my pregnant wife was humiliated in front of everyone.”
The guests began leaving.
Victoria remained.
“You are embarrassing me.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“You embarrassed yourself.”
He turned toward Elena.
“Come with me.”
Victoria stepped forward.
“Daniel, don't let her manipulate you.”
He stopped.
“Manipulate me?”
“Yes.”
“She knows exactly what she's doing.”
Daniel turned around.
“Do you?”
Victoria's face tightened.
“I'm your mother.”
“And she is my wife.”
He walked toward Elena.
Victoria shouted:
“You'll regret choosing her!”
Daniel stopped at the doorway.
He looked back.
“No.”
“I regret not choosing her sooner.”
Then he took Elena upstairs.
In the bedroom, Elena began crying.
Not because of pain.
Because she had held everything inside for too long.
Daniel knelt in front of her.
“I'm sorry.”
She shook her head.
“You didn't do it.”
“But I let it happen.”
“You weren't here.”
“I should have been.”
Elena looked at him.
“I don't want to stay here.”
Daniel's eyes filled with anger.
“Neither do I.”
He helped her change clothes.
Then he called his attorney.
“Prepare everything.”
“What everything?”
“My personal assets.”
“Your shares?”
“All of them.”
“Daniel, are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He ended the call.
Elena looked at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Leaving.”
She stared.
“Tonight?”
“Tonight.”
Daniel walked into his mother's office.
Victoria was waiting.
“You're not seriously leaving.”
Daniel picked up a folder.
“You've been living off my wife's family's money for three years.”
Victoria's face changed.
“What?”
“The townhouse.”
“The investment account.”
“The company loan.”
“The renovation.”
“Everything.”
He opened another folder.
“My father didn't build this company alone.”
“Elena's father saved it.”
Victoria shook her head.
“He did not.”
“I have the records.”
She became pale.
“Daniel.”
“I'm done.”
He placed the documents on the desk.
“From tonight forward, my wife and I have no financial connection to this family.”
Victoria stared at him.
“You can't abandon your family.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You abandoned your own son when you hurt his wife.”
He turned.
“I'm taking Elena.”
“And you are going to learn how to survive without her family's money.”
The words hit harder than any insult.
Victoria followed them downstairs.
“Elena!”
Elena stopped.
Victoria stood at the bottom of the stairs.
“You're destroying this family.”
Elena looked at her quietly.
“No.”
“I've been trying to hold it together.”
“You've been holding it hostage.”
Victoria went silent.
Daniel opened the front door.
Rain poured outside.
He took Elena's hand.
“Let's go.”
They stepped outside together.
Behind them, the mansion remained brightly lit.
For the first time, Elena didn't look back.
May you like
She didn't know it yet, but the moment she walked through that door, the Caldwell family fortune had begun collapsing.
Because nearly everything they owned depended on the woman they had just humiliated.
