Chapter 3She Was Reborn to Put Me in Prison

Recently, I discovered that her best friend, Madison Reed, had been helping her set up a burner Instagram account.

I didn't blow up on the spot. I just saved the screenshots and then gave her the silent treatment for two straight weeks.

I also cut off her allowance. I started buying all the groceries myself, making sure she didn't have a single dollar of cash.

At first, she tried to win me back, cutting up fruit for me and drawing my bath. I ignored all of it.

Eventually, she cracked. She knocked on the door of my home office in the middle of the night.

Her eyes were swollen from crying, and she choked out the words.

"Tyler, it was my fault. I won't contact Madison anymore. Please stop ignoring me, okay?"

I sat in my chair and finally looked at her.

"Then tell me what you did wrong."

"I shouldn't have followed Madison behind your back. I shouldn't have gone against what you said."

Her voice shook badly.

"And?"

"I shouldn't have... made that burner account behind your back."

Only then did I set down my mouse, stand up, and walk over to her. I gripped her chin and forced her to look up at me.

"Elena, I've told you so many times! Madison is a bad influence. She'll drag you down. I'm your husband. Would I ever hurt you? Why do you trust some outsider over me?"

"I trust you. I'll always trust you."

She cried and nodded, tears splashing onto the back of my hand.

The sense of control surging through me was intoxicating. I had never felt this powerful.

"Remember this!"

I stared into her eyes and spoke slowly, in the gentlest voice I could manage.

"In this world, I'm the only one who truly cares about you. Without me, you're nothing. Understand?"

She nodded hard, tears still streaming.

That finally satisfied me. I reached up and wiped her tears. "Alright, stop crying. Next time you pull something like this, I won't let you off this easy."

During that period I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment.

Taming a person is actually simple. Cut off every escape route and make her understand that the only way to live in peace is to obey. Then she'll fall in line.

I thought I had trained her perfectly. I didn't realize she was only lying in wait.

As the company's books grew bigger and bigger, legitimate tax strategies were no longer enough to satisfy my greed.

Some transactions were too dirty to put through the usual channels. I needed a foolproof scapegoat.

The ideal candidate, naturally, was my wife Elena.