He Fed Me Dog Food for Her

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the line, followed by a dry chuckle. He clearly thought I was joking. "You really haven't changed at all, have you? Still trying to push my buttons." "Look, I know you’re mad because I didn't visit or call you guys for three years." "But Chloe, you have to understand the reality. I just finally cleared all my debts. The moment I was free, I called you." "I’ll be at the island the day after tomorrow to bring you and Leo back." Before I could cut him off, my phone screen flickered and died. Out of battery. My new husband, Christian, stirred in his sleep. He rolled over, wrapping his powerful arm around my waist, pulling me effortlessly back into the warm covers. After a passionate, exhausting night, we both needed the sleep. By the time I woke up in the afternoon, Christian had already left for his company. Our son, Leo, had been driven to his elite private prep school by our security team. Feeling refreshed, I decided to go to the local high-end supermarket to buy some ingredients. I wanted to cook a delicious steak dinner for my husband and son tonight. As I was picking out some fresh, marbled ribeyes, a woman’s voice suddenly sneered from behind me. "Chloe?" I turned around. It was Amber. She was flanked by two maids, one of whom was holding a two-year-old girl. No DNA test was needed. The little girl looked exactly like Ethan—they were cast from the very same mold. Amber looked incredibly shocked to see me standing there. My eyes instantly locked onto the vintage emerald necklace resting against her collarbone. My blood boiled. That necklace belonged to my mother. It was her final gift to me before she passed away. Three and a half years ago, Ethan told me he had accidentally lost it. We had called the police, and he pretended to be so devastated that he didn't sleep for three days straight, searching everywhere. He had apologized to me with red, teary eyes, and I had wept for weeks over the loss. He knew exactly how much that necklace meant to me. It was the only piece of my mother I had left. Yet, he lied to me and gave it to his side chick. Aside from the necklace, she was dripping in designer labels and luxury jewelry. Clearly, Ethan had been pampering her over the last three years. Amber put on a fake, sweet smile. "Well, hello, Chloe." "Welcome back." Her tone was dripping with provocation. Three years ago, whenever she saw me, she would lower her eyes respectfully and call me "Mrs. Miller." Back then, she owned a pet food business. My mother-in-law loved dogs and frequently bought specialty kibble from her. Amber had always played the part of a polite, well-mannered girl. Who would have thought she was actually a scheming, home-wrecking leech?

Without a second thought, I reached out, grabbed the necklace, and ripped it off her neck! The sharp tug left a bright red scratch on Amber's pale skin. She gasped in pain, clutching her neck. "Ouch!" "This necklace belongs to me," I said coldly, clutching the emeralds in my palm. "Don't you dare flaunt it in front of me again, or I won't be this polite next time." I didn't want to waste my energy making a scene with her. When a man cheats, the root of the problem is always the man. Amber looked half-aggrieved and half-furious, her voice rising so the surrounding shoppers could hear. "I only call you Chloe out of respect for Ethan. He gave me this necklace. I suggest you return it to me." "Besides, Ethan and I are together now. This is our daughter. I’ve always believed that women shouldn't make things hard for other women, which is why I always tell Ethan to treat you well." I let out a harsh laugh. This woman truly had a gift for twisting the truth. She did the dirtiest, most shameless things, yet managed to sound so righteous. She took her daughter from the maid's arms and thrust the toddler toward my face. "Sweetheart, say hi to the old lady." She stood there with a look of supreme generosity, making it seem as though she was being magnanimous while I was just a petty, bitter woman. The little girl mumbled cutely, "Hi, old lady." My anger flared, but I had no intention of taking it out on an innocent child. Ignoring Amber, I spun around to walk away. Suddenly, Amber grabbed my arm. Before I could even shake her off, she dramatically threw herself and her child onto the polished floor, making it look like I had violently pushed them. She let out a loud, theatrical cry of pain, and the little girl began to sob hysterively. Within seconds, a crowd of onlookers gathered, whispering and pointing at me. "How could she lay a hand on a woman holding a baby?" "How vicious! No matter what the issue is, you don't take it out on a child." I stood there, my face freezing into a mask of pure ice. I pointed down at Amber. "She’s a homewrecker who destroyed my family. And I didn't touch her. She threw herself down to play the victim. It's just a cheap trick to secure her sugar daddy." With that, I turned on my heel and walked out. Within half an hour, my phone was blowing up with calls from Ethan. Amber had obviously run to him crying. I refused to answer. Then, a flurry of texts came flooding in on Snapchat. “When did you get back? Why didn't you wait for me to pick you up?” “You went too far today. What happened between Amber and me is my fault. If you want to blame someone, blame me.” “Where are you? I'll come pick you up. Let's sit down as a family and talk this out.” “Chloe, I want you to know something. No matter how many children Amber and I have, you will always be the most important woman in my heart. My love for you will never change.” I felt an overwhelming wave of nausea. In truth, the moment I returned, I had already instructed my lawyers to begin building a case against him. A moment later, a notification popped up on my phone. It was an alert for a loan approval. The loan amount was fifty million dollars. Over the past three years, Ethan had used my personal information, conspiring with corrupt bank managers to take out loans totaling one billion dollars behind my back. My lawyers had tracked the money trail. Every single cent of that one billion dollars had been transferred directly into Amber's personal accounts. During those three years, he had spent money on her like water—buying her luxury sports cars, penthouses, and starting bidding wars at high-end charity galas just to put a smile on her face. In the beginning of my exile, I had tested him. I had called him, sobbing over the phone: "Ethan, our son has a raging fever. He's incredibly sick, and there are no meds on this island. Please send some money so I can take him to a hospital." He had simply sighed over FaceTime and said, "Boys need to build up their immune systems. Just use cold compresses. Chloe, to be honest with you, I'm so broke I can barely afford instant ramen right now. I don't have a single penny." "We have to be strong. We'll get through these hard times together, okay?"

The very next day, I woke up with severe appendicitis. The pain was so agonizing I was rolling on the floor, sweating so heavily it felt like I had been pulled out of a lake. I didn't even have the strength to hold my phone. My young son, Leo, had initiated a FaceTime call to Ethan, begging him to come save me and take me to a hospital. Ethan’s eyes showed a brief flicker of concern, but it quickly vanished. He simply told our son: "Just rub your mommy's tummy. She'll be fine in a bit. It’s probably just a mild stomach ache. She won't die from it." Then, he hung up in a hurry. After I collapsed and lost consciousness from the pain, Leo was absolutely terrified. He called Ethan again, crying. But all he got was a harsh scolding from his father: "Tell your mother to stop faking it!" When Leo tried to call back, the phone had been switched off. Appendicitis might be a routine issue, but the pain of a near-rupture is torturous. It was at that exact moment I realized: a husband who has had a change of heart is more terrifying than any monster. I screenshotted the loan notification and sent it to my lawyer via WhatsApp: "Secure this evidence. Prepare to file the lawsuit when I give the word." I took a deep breath, calmed my racing heart, and went home to cook a beautiful four-course dinner. Christian was absolutely thrilled when he walked through the door. He didn't even put down his briefcase before wrapping his arms around me and kissing my cheek. "Sweetheart, you're too good to me. I definitely need to reward you tonight." His idea of a "reward" always involved a very long, passionate night in our bedroom. He was utterly insatiable. I gave him a playful shove. "Behave yourself." After some sweet, teasing banter, his expression turned serious as he got down to business. "Ethan sent me an invitation. He's hosting a massive birthday bash for his daughter." Our eyes met, and we both shared a knowing, cold smile. How could I possibly miss such a grand occasion? Two days later, Christian and I arrived together at the massive estate for the party. As we walked in, Christian had to step aside to take an urgent international conference call, so I went in ahead of him. I looked around the sprawling, French-style estate. It was located in the most expensive, exclusive neighborhood in the city. While Ethan was lying to me about being bankrupt, leaving a ton of rancid dog food for his wife and son to eat on a deserted island, he had dropped 1.5 billion dollars to outbid everyone else for this mansion. All because Amber liked it. A wave of absolute hatred crashed over me, making my steps firm and filled with quiet fury as I walked inside. As I entered the grand ballroom, Amber, dressed in a breathtaking custom gown and holding her daughter, spotted me immediately. A smug, mocking look flashed in her eyes as she sauntered over. "Look, sweetheart," she said loudly, drawing the attention of nearby guests. "Your Auntie Chloe is here to wish you a happy birthday." She raised her voice further, "Let's ask Auntie Chloe what beautiful gift she brought for you today?" Her loud voice immediately drew Ethan over. When Ethan saw me, shock registered in his eyes, quickly followed by a patronizing look of relief. "I’m glad you’ve finally come to your senses. Amber is generous enough not to hold what happened at the supermarket against you. It seems you’ve finally learned to control that nasty temper of yours. That’s a good step forward." His eyes then landed on the vintage emerald necklace resting on my neck. His face darkened, and he spoke in a commanding, yet soft tone: "Give the necklace back to Amber. She's been in poor health lately. I took her to see a spiritual master, and he said only this specific emerald can protect her energy." "A beautiful piece like this should belong to someone who actually needs it. That’s how it holds true value." "Be a good girl. I’m incredibly wealthy again now. I can buy you as many necklaces as you want." "Amber is young. You're the older, mature one. You should let her have this." Let her have it? My mother's necklace. He wanted me to give my own mother's legacy to his mistress? I laughed, a sound dripping with pure rage. "Ethan, I’ve met shameless people in my life, but you take the crown!" "This necklace was left to me by my mother. You stole my property to give to your cheap side chick, and now you have the nerve to ask me to hand it over?!"

Amber immediately began to sob softly, looking as though I had subjected her to the ultimate cruelty. "Chloe, you called me a homewrecker and attacked me at the mall the other day. Today is Lily's birthday party. I beg of you, stop throwing that word around to humiliate me, please?" "I can take the abuse, but I'm just so worried that your childish screaming will embarrass Ethan and his parents in front of all these high-profile guests." I watched them both like I was watching a comedy show. "Oh, look. A shameless homewrecker suddenly cares about dignity. How fascinating." "You!" Amber clutched her chest, gasping for air as if she were having a sudden medical emergency. Ethan’s face twisted in panic and rage. He lunged forward and grabbed the necklace on my neck, pulling it with brutal force. The sharp chain dug into my skin, and tears of pain welled up in my eyes. Amber chose this exact moment to pour more fuel on the fire. "Chloe said she would rather throw the necklace into the trash than let me have it. Ethan, can we just buy it from her instead?" Hearing this, Ethan lost his mind. He snatched the emerald necklace and slammed it violently onto the marble floor. With a sickening shatter, the precious emerald broke into several jagged pieces. I froze. For a second, I forgot how to breathe. I could literally hear the sound of my own heart breaking into pieces. Ethan roared at me: "A necklace! You’re throwing a tantrum over a stupid, useless necklace! Let's see how you throw a tantrum now that it's gone!" A primal fury took over me. With a wild cry, I lunged at Ethan, my nails clawing at his face. "You monster! Give me back my mother's necklace! It was all I had left of her!" Amber rushed over, pretending to play the peacemaker while whispering maliciously in my ear: "Chloe, our husband is furious. You need to drop your attitude and do something to make him happy, okay?" "Oh, by the way, Chloe, there's an old tradition in my hometown. The first time a stepmother meets the child, she has to let the baby spit her formula right in her face." "It proves you’ll love the child unconditionally. Come on, kneel down, and let our sweet baby spit on your face. This is our husband's precious daughter." "If you do it, he won't be mad at you anymore. Take my advice, kneel down." My vision turned red. I raised my hand and slapped Amber across the face with all the strength I had. "You filthy, disgusting leech! You really want to die today, don't you?!" "I'll gladly oblige!" I threw her to the ground and began beating her furiously. The screams and chaos grew louder, drawing almost every single guest in the ballroom to circle around us. Ethan, burning with rage, violently yanked me off Amber and delivered a stinging slap across my face. "If you dare to act like a wild animal in my house again, I will ruin you!" Ethan's parents, Richard and Victoria, came rushing through the crowd, pointing and screaming at me. "You crazy bitch! What kind of event is this?! How dare you make a scene here and humiliate the Miller family!" "Call the security guards! Throw this garbage out! She is a curse on our family. She should have been locked away on that deserted island forever. We never should have let her back!" Amber was helped up from the floor by her maids. She put on a saintly, pitiful expression. "Chloe clearly came here tonight just to ruin the party. Even if we throw her out, she’ll just find a way to sneak back in and cause more trouble." "She’s so wild and aggressive, behaving no different from a stray dog. It's terrifying. Why don't we lock her in the dog cage in the basement first? We can let her out after our baby's birthday party is over." Without a single shred of hesitation, Ethan turned to his security team and barked: "Grab her! Lock her in the basement dog cage! No one is to let her out without my explicit permission!" On his command, two massive security guards grabbed my arms, pinning me down as they prepared to drag me to the basement. As I struggled with everything I had, a voice cut through the ballroom like ice—a voice that instantly brought me absolute peace. "If anyone dares to put my wife in a cage, I will personally destroy them."