I Was His Wife for 8 Years, He Paid Me Like a Maid Chapter 04
Grandma Ashford’s birthday banquet was at The Plaza Hotel.
Crystal chandeliers hung from the dome ceiling.
A single bottle of wine on the table cost enough to pay for my father’s surgery twice.
I stood outside the ballroom in a borrowed gown from the academy.
I called Damon twelve times.
He didn’t answer.
My mother was crying on the other line. “Sloane, maybe we should let it go. Your father says he won’t do the surgery. Don’t make things harder for you with the Ashfords.”
“Mom, tell the doctors to prepare. I’ll figure it out.”
I hung up.
The borrowed clutch was already creased from how hard I’d been gripping it.
All these years, I’d been a wife first, a mother, a daughter–in–law. I’d almost forgotten I was still my parents‘ daughter.
Now my father was lying in a hospital bed, and I couldn’t even say “don’t worry about the money” without feeling like a fraud.
I found Vivian checking the guest list. I handed her the diagnosis paper, creased from my grip.
“My dad needs three hundred thousand for surgery. Just transfer it from what Damon gives me. I’ll pay it
back.”
She didn’t take it.
She stepped back. “It’s Mrs. Ashford’s birthday banquet, and you want to talk about money here?”
“The hospital is waiting.”
“Sloane, your parents renovated their house last month. Now they need surgery this month. Mr. Ashford’s
money isn’t endless.”
People nearby were starting to look.
I lowered my voice. “The renovation money came from my own work.”
She suddenly raised hers. “You’ve been taking Mr. Ashford’s money to support your parents, and now you’re
using a sick man to squeeze more out of him?”
The room went quiet around us.
I wanted to explain. But the stares had already convicted me.
Gemma walked over with a glass of wine. “No wonder my brother never went public with the marriage Marry some nobody, and you inherit a whole family of debts.”
Eleanor’s expression hardened. “We can help with your father. But making a scene at this banquet–are you trying to force Damon to publicly acknowledge you as his wife?”
“I’m not forcing anything.”
“Then go home and wait.”
But the hospital gave me until ten p.m.
I was desperate. I grabbed Vivian’s hand.
“Don’t touch me!” She yanked back.
The diagnosis papers scattered across the floor.
Every head in the ballroom turned. “You already kneeled once at the office. Who are you performing for
tonight?”
I crouched to pick up the papers. My hands were shaking so badly I couldn’t hold them.
The chandeliers were too bright. There was nowhere to hide.
I suddenly remembered my first day at the academy.
I’d thought learning etiquette and wearing the right clothes would make me worthy of Damon.
Three months later, the only thing I’d mastered was smiling while being humiliated.
“What’s going on? Sloane?”
Naomi had been setting up the charity display with a few students. She saw me on the floor and immediately crouched down, pressing her hand over the diagnosis papers before they scattered further.
“This patient is your father? This is critical. How much are you short?”
“Three hundred thousand.”
Aria transferred fifty thousand on the spot. Other classmates reached for their phones too.
I grabbed Aria’s hand. “No. I can’t take this. We barely know each other.”
Naomi could connect me with a job paying four hundred thousand a year, but the first paycheck wouldn’t
come until next month.
The hospital couldn’t wait. I grabbed Naomi’s hand.
For the first time, I didn’t defend Damon.
“Can you introduce me to someone who needs a long–term companion?”
“I can manage elderly care. I can prepare for events. I can memorize client preferences.”
“I only need two things. Lend me my father’s surgery deposit. And Lily comes with me.”
I paused, then looked toward Grandma Ashford inside the ballroom.
“She can’t be left alone right now. I’ll stay until she’s stable. Then I’ll leave.”
The room went completely silent.
My classmates didn’t know what to say.
They just helped me gather the papers.
Eleanor and Gemma shot me disgusted looks before turning away.
Less than a minute later, my phone rang.
Damon.
His voice was low. He’d clearly heard about the scene.
“Sloane, you’re out here finding your next sugar daddy over three hundred thousand dollars?”
Three months of suppressed humiliation came flooding out.
“That’s right. I’m done being your kept woman.”
He went quiet for two seconds. Then his voice turned cold.
“I gave you five million last month. Vivian said it wasn’t enough, so I added two million this month. A three–hundred–thousand deposit could be covered by any card in your wallet.”
“But you had to make a scene in front of everyone. Have I been too soft on you?”
I gripped the phone.
For a long time, I couldn’t speak.
“What five million?”
“Vivian has only ever given me five thousand a month.”
