His expression had become colder than I had ever seen it.
“I will say this exactly once. There are plenty of women in this world. If it’s not this wife, I’ll easily get another. I can have a hundred wives, but I only get one mother. If you cannot live with how things are done under my roof, pack your bags and get out.”
I can have a hundred wives, but I only get one mother.
That sentence destroyed the last illusion I had about my marriage.
I didn’t cry.
I slowly stood and looked directly at him.
“You’re right,” I said quietly. “You only have one mother. But listen carefully, Julian. Your precious mother hasn’t been investing a single dime for our future.”
Eleanor’s smile vanished.
“She has been wiring most of your twenty-five thousand dollars every month to your brother in Ohio so he can build himself a mansion.”
Julian’s face twitched.
Eleanor gasped.
“And this penthouse?” I continued. “Every inch of it was purchased with money belonging to the wife you just treated like a burden. Starting tomorrow morning, anyone who wants to live or eat here pays for it themselves.”
Julian blinked rapidly.
“What kind of garbage are you talking about? I pay the mortgage on this place!”
Eleanor’s handbag slipped from her hand and hit the floor.
For the first time, both of them looked nervous.
But they still had no idea who I really was behind the stay-at-home-wife image they had created for me.
And they definitely didn’t know whose name was attached to the five-million-dollar penthouse.
Julian eventually recovered enough to sneer.
“Pregnancy hormones are making you delusional, Genevieve. Maybe you’ve spent too much time reading those ridiculous romance stories online. I applied for the mortgage when we got married. I work myself to death paying that enormous loan every month. You do a few translation jobs online that barely cover diapers. What gives you the right to say this house belongs to you?”
“Exactly,” Eleanor jumped in. “Other daughters-in-law are respectful and grateful. This one gets pregnant and suddenly thinks she runs my son’s house.”
She turned toward Julian.
“You’re an executive. You have a master’s degree. You could buy ten houses like this. Stop arguing with her. Go change. I’ll order proper food. Nobody is eating this ramen.”
I watched mother and son reassure each other until they had rebuilt their preferred version of reality.
Then I turned around, walked into the master bedroom, and locked the doors behind me.
From the hallway came Eleanor’s exaggerated laughter.
A few moments later, I heard Julian pouring himself a drink.
They thought I had gone into the bedroom to cry.
Instead, I sat at my desk, opened my laptop, and called Arthur Vance, my family’s chief legal counsel.
“Genevieve?” Arthur answered. “It’s late. Is everything all right with the baby?”
“The baby is fine, Arthur.”
I paused.
“Execute Protocol Zero on the Manhattan penthouse and my personal portfolio.”
Silence followed.
Arthur had managed my grandfather’s estate and my personal intellectual-property income for more than a decade.
He was also one of the few people who knew that my supposedly insignificant “translation gigs” were actually specialized international patent localization projects for major AI and software companies.
Those projects generated millions.
“Are you certain?” Arthur asked.
“Yes.”
“If we execute Protocol Zero, Julian’s access to anything connected to your assets ends immediately. We’ll separate all joint-access credit facilities and begin tracing transfers from the secondary accounts.”
“Do it.”
I leaned back in my chair.
“And bring the original deed here tomorrow morning at eight.”
At 7:30 the next morning, the kitchen smelled of espresso and expensive pastries.
Eleanor sat at the marble island in a silk robe, talking loudly on the phone with Julian’s brother, Ethan.
“Don’t worry, sweetie! The contractor for your swimming pool will be paid by Friday. Julian’s paycheck clears today, and I’ll wire the twenty-five thousand straight to your account!”
Julian entered moments later, freshly showered and wearing a sharp gray suit.
Whatever embarrassment he had experienced the night before had disappeared.
He looked at me with a smug smile.
“I see you’ve calmed down.”
He picked up an apple.
“Good. Apologize to my mother for your ridiculous outburst, and we’ll pretend it never happened. And I’m taking the corporate card today. Mom needs to do some home-decor shopping.”
Before I could answer, three firm knocks sounded from the front door.
Julian frowned.
“Who is that this early?”
