Jasper spoke with such confidence that it never even occurred to him I might refuse.
At that moment, I completely lost faith in him. Once love fades between a husband and wife, the only thing left is bargaining over interests.
“Fine,” I said flatly. “Leave with nothing, and I’ll consider going with you to get the divorce certificate first.”
His brows furrowed, and his eyes clearly showed refusal. He offered a faint, mocking smile. “Katie, I know you too well. If I leave with nothing, you’re too vindictive ever to remarry me.”
I rose from the floor, set my untouched glass of wine by his side, and left him with only one
sentence.
“Then you know me well enough. You’re wrong, so don’t expect me to compromise again.”
He failed to sway me.
Irritated, he downed half a bottle of wine.
At my retreating back, Jasper shouted, “I’ll give you time to cool down. I know you don’t really want to lose me.”
I only smiled coldly, lowered my gaze to the recorder tucked in my bag, and couldn’t be bothered to waste another word.
Not long after, Bianca learned I had thrown out all her things.
She went hysterical, calling me to scream. “How dare you throw my stuff! No upbringing, no manners! No wonder your parents died so early. With a daughter like you, their early deaths were probably a blessing.”
Her words stabbed at my sorest wound. My parents had died young.
For a moment, anger boiled inside me.
I drew a deep breath, steadied myself, and shot back.
“My parents died in an accident. But everyone knows your father died of sheer rage because his daughter was a whore. And don’t forget that you’re just the mistress. If I throw away things from my own home, what’s it to you? Aren’t you so fond of calling the police? Go ahead, do it again if you dare!”
As we were still in the line, another voice came in from her end.
It was the deliveryman’s.
“Delivery from the court,” he said,
Confused, Jasper asked, “Court documents?”
They tore open the envelope and saw my lawsuit against them for bigamy.
Bianca, forgetting she hadn’t hung up on me, threw the phone aside.
Her panicked voice came through, thick with tears. “Jasper, what does this mean? Katie wants us dead, and she doesn’t care about you at all. What do we do?”
Jasper soothed her. “It’s fine. Don’t panic. Bigamy is hard to convict. Most of the time, the
Chapter 7
4:32 pm P Ppp.
charges don’t stick.”
No sooner had he spoken than his phone rang again.
His assistant’s anxious voice carried urgency. “Mr. Coleman, bad news. Several senior shareholders are pulling out. If they withdraw, the company’s cash flow will break.”
Panic leaked into Jasper’s tone. “How could this happen all of a sudden?”
He quickly hung up and hurried from one major shareholder to another, humbly begging for peace. Due to this crisis, Jasper was left scrambling and too busy to even consider my lawsuit. Soon after, the court date arrived, and I deliberately notified multiple media outlets.
That day, Bianca appeared as well.
In court, facing my accusation, she defended herself with brazen composure.
“We didn’t commit bigamy. It was a one–time mistake after we’d been drinking, and I got pregnant. The child is innocent. Jasper is just doing his duty as a father. We never lived together as a married couple. Katie is lying about me, spreading rumors, all to get more money out of the
divorce.”
Jasper also flatly denied cohabiting with Bianca.
He even turned soulful eyes to me, pretending remorse. “Katie, I know I was wrong. Cheating was my fault. We spent so much time apart, and that’s how these mistakes happened. You are my lawful wife. We’ve struggled through hardships together. You’re in my heart. The divorce talk before was all in anger. Can’t you calm down?”
4:32 pm P P pp.
Chapter 8
