Chapter 4Split Every Bill to Help the Intern

My vision went dark, and I nearly collapsed right on the sidewalk. By the time I stumbled into the cemetery, I froze in shock.

Susan was swinging a paintbrush, slathering the massive word 'demolish' across my mother's headstone in dripping red paint. Miles stood right beside her, watching silently.

I rushed forward like a madwoman and yanked the brush out of her hand.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Susan put on an innocent face and held up a corporate title deed.

"Mrs. Thornton, this cemetery is a real estate investment project under Thornton Group. It can only be used with Mr. Thornton's explicit permission. If you wanted to lease a plot here, you needed to cover half the capital investment costs. You can't just take it."

Blood rushed to my head as I whipped out my bank transfer records. "I paid for this plot!"

Susan leaned in for a look, then scoffed, "Looks like you got scammed. That seller didn't have the legal right to sell you a blade of grass on this land. I know money's tight for you lately, but you shouldn't resort to shady, underhanded tricks..."

Unable to take it any longer, I shoved her back. Miles caught her swiftly, wrapping an arm around her before turning an icy glare on me.

"Susan is just stating facts. Why are you putting your hands on her?" He looked down at me, his eyes filled with profound disappointment. "When did you learn to pull cheap stunts like this? It's fine to be broke, but you can't throw away your dignity."

The paint dripped down my mother's portrait on the headstone, making it look as though she were weeping tears of blood.

"You can't treat my mother like this!" I screamed back, shaking with rage.

Miles's face grew even darker. "I'm trying to teach you to do things by the book. We made it crystal clear before we got married that boundaries mattered. Using company assets through illegal means just doesn't fly. Guys, tear it down!"

Susan immediately motioned for the demolition crew to push over the headstone. The ceramic photograph shattered into a web of cracks, and Susan triumphantly stepped right on top of it.

I screamed and tried to charge forward, but Miles seized my wrist in an iron grip.

"When are you going to grow up?" he snapped. "We can just find another plot to lay her to rest. She wouldn't mind anyway."

Catching the tears in my eyes, he lifted a hand to wipe them away just like he used to, but I recoiled from his touch.

An impatient edge flickered in his eyes. "You've been married to me for five years. You should have learned how to conduct yourself by now."

Leaving me with those words, he walked off with Susan without a backward glance.

The headstone was reduced to a pile of rubble. I sank to my knees on the cold dirt, clutching the paint-stained fragments of stone as tears finally broke through.

My heart had died completely.

...

At eight o'clock that night, Miles paced restlessly across the living room floor.

When the doorbell rang, he assumed it was me and snapped before he even reached the door. "Where have you been? Why are you only getting home now?"

He pulled the door open, only to find a sharp-dressed attorney holding a Manila folder.

"I am representing Ms. Daisy Dudley," the attorney said calmly. "I have a document here that requires your signature."