Flaunting My Ring? Too Bad Your Man Is My Husband—and I Hold the Pen to His Fortune! Chapter 01
Before Christmas, I spent all my savings for the year on a business-class ticket so I could surprise my husband, who lived far away.
Severin Vescari said he was still in New York taking care of business and was too busy to even come home for the holidays.
But no sooner had I sat down than the young woman next to me jingled the ring on her finger and smiled smugly.
“Isn’t it pretty? I had my Don take it from his wife.”
What are the odds?
That ring… was exactly the same as mine.
She said that man was the youngest Don on the East Coast. Power, money, status. He was sick of his first wife—the woman who’d suffered ten years of hardship with him, now only fit to be tossed aside into the past to rot.
I listened quietly.
Turns out my husband, who always claimed he was killing himself for the family, had long since become someone else’s sugar daddy.
But you’re all wrong.
I’m not the kind of wife who can’t live without her husband.
Back when Severin loved me the most, he signed an agreement with me himself.
If I ever caught him cheating, he’d leave with nothing. Every asset from the marriage would go to me.
I looked at the ring on her finger and smiled.
“Thank you.”
She froze. “What are you thanking me for?”
“For” bringing the evidence right to me.”
Merry Christmas, Mirella.
Now face my revenge!
***
I stared at her ring finger.
“But that’s a wedding ring. Are you married to him?”
“This?” She held it up and admired it. “I made him take it from his wife.”
The air left my lungs.
What are the odds?
That ring… was exactly the same as mine.
Christmas was right around the corner. I’d planned to surprise my long-distance husband… but I got a surprise first.
The woman next to me was bragging about her “sugar daddy”—same name as my husband, wearing my ring.
“I didn’t want to bother his wife, you know? But on my birthday, she had a miscarriage. She told him to rush to the hospital. And he actually left me all alone on my birthday.”
My hand went to my stomach.
I remembered that winter. The ice on the sidewalk.
Severin’s salary was nothing back then. A car was still a dream.
I slipped. I fell hard.
The three-month-old life inside me turned into a dark stain on the ice.
Severin dropped everything and stayed by my bed for three days.
When I woke up, the ring was gone—stained red with blood.
He held me. “It’s okay. We’ll have another baby. I’ll buy you a new ring.”
I shook my head, crying. “You said the family might have to cut back. We need to save money.
Once you’ve made it big, you can buy me a new one then.”
His eyes welled up. “I’m sorry. I’m a failure. I can’t give you the life you deserve.”
I told him none of that mattered anymore.
Did it really not matter?
The woman beside me was still admiring the stolen ring.
My voice stayed calm. “So you made him steal his wife’s wedding ring and give it to you?”
“Yeah, he didn’t want to at first. He said he’d buy me a more expensive one.”
“But that old hag thinks she’s the boss. She needed to be taken down a peg.”
I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw ached.
“Honestly, this ring isn’t worth much compared to what he bought me. But it’s the principle. This is his wife’s ring.”
She smiled at me, pity in her eyes. “A woman like her… her life is over.”
I gripped the armrest and forced a smile. “A man who spends that much on his mistress… his wife will demand a fortune to keep quiet.”
She leaned closer. Her perfume was sickeningly sweet.
“I’ll let you in on a secret. His wife doesn’t even know he’s a Don yet.”
“How could she not know?”
She studied her diamond-covered nails. “What good would it do? She wasted her best years helping him build his career.”
“If you were a powerful man, would you waste your money on a wife past her prime? Money can’t buy back her youth.”
I saw my reflection in the window. Tired. Worn out.
“Look, you’re older, but you still have something. Let me give you some free advice. Women need maintenance. Get some work done. Your skin is dry. Your husband has definitely lost interest.”
I didn’t say anything.
Her skin was flawless.
I used to look like her. Better, even.
But ten years in that tiny safe house, always terrified… I barely recognized myself in old photos.
“Surgery is expensive.”
“So what?” She shrugged. “My man gives me half a million a month just to live on. Cosmetic work? He covers it.”
My hands shook against the cheap fabric of my dress.
“How long have you been his mistress?”
“Since June twelfth, 2023. Why?”
My blood froze. June 12, 2023. The” day my mother died.
She needed a five hundred thousand dollar surgery.
I remembered Severin begging, pulling every string he could, draining our pathetic savings.
He’d scraped together three hundred five thousand. Still not enough.
I was crying. He held me tight. “I’m sorry. I’m such a failure. I couldn’t save your mother. You’ve suffered because of me.”
My heart was breaking, but I wiped his tears anyway.
“I’m grateful. Mom said you did everything you could. She doesn’t blame you. Neither do I. It’s my fault we couldn’t find the rest.”
His tears fell on my hand. He squeezed it tight.
“Elara… wait. Wait for me.”
“I swear, I won’t let us live like this anymore.”
I nodded, crying.
Five hundred thousand…
So it could be taken out after all.
“You know, that lady’s mother needed five hundred thousand that same month.”
“He was going to give it to her.”
I held my breath. “He gave you the money? Pocket money?”
“Don’t be stupid. He’s loaded. He gave me five hundred thousand and still had plenty left. He didn’t give it to her because…””
“If her mother died, that lady would be completely alone. No family left.”
“Then even if she found out about me, she’d have nowhere to go. She’d have to keep her mouth shut.”
I bit my cheek. I tasted blood.
“Besides, I really wanted that new Chanel bag. It was exactly five hundred thousand.”
I stared at her. “Aren’t“ you afraid his wife will find out?”
“Please. I’m not that dumb. I made him give her three hundred five thousand. That way, she thinks it’s his life savings. She’ll believe her poor, loyal husband did his best. She won’t even think to check if he’s seeing someone else.”
Her smile vanished, replaced by anger.
“The worst part is, he only agreed because he was scared his wife would leave him if she found out. Ugh. That old hag got lucky.”
SMACK!
A sharp crack echoed through the cabin.
Before I even knew what I was doing, my hand had already hit her cheek.
