“My son is marrying a real woman today, so you do not belong in this house anymore,” my mother-in-law told me as she slammed the front gate right in my face.
I had just gotten out of a yellow taxi in front of the big house in Coral Gables where I had lived for eight long years. I was pulling a heavy silver suitcase after a seventeen-hour trip from San Antonio, still holding my phone showing the message my husband had sent me that morning: “I miss you so much. Please travel safely. We will have a nice dinner together tonight.”
Instead of dinner, a white tent covered the entire yard, flowers hung everywhere, a band was setting up, and over a hundred guests were holding drinks under bright lights. Right at the entrance, a large sign read: “Spencer and Penelope, together forever.”
Spencer was my husband.
My legs felt weak, but I refused to cry. I looked straight at his mother, Evelyn. She wore a nice purple dress and gold bracelets, showing that fake smile she used whenever she needed to ask me for money.
“Where is Spencer right now?” I asked her.
“Do not make a scene here, Laura,” Evelyn said coldly. “He has made his choice. Penelope is young, smart, comes from a good family, and she is pregnant. I am finally getting the grandchild you could never give me.”
Her words cut deep. Eight years ago, Spencer had a terrible car accident on the highway to Key West. I sold the apartment my parents left me, paid all his hospital bills, took care of his health, and cleared all of Evelyn’s personal debts. While rushing to find a nurse one night in the hospital, I fell down the stairs and lost our baby boy, an injury that left me unable to get pregnant again. Back then, Spencer promised he would never let anyone hurt me because of that loss.
Now, his mother was using my tragic past to throw me out of my own home.
Then Spencer walked out wearing a white suit with a red flower. When he saw me, his smile vanished. “Laura, why are you here today? You said you were coming back next week.”
“You changed the wedding date on purpose so I would not catch you, right?” I asked.
He came closer and spoke softly. “We can talk about this later. Penelope can put millions of dollars into my construction company, and her father knows many important people. You never understood what a company boss really needs.”
I laughed out loud. Spencer really thought he built his construction company all by himself. He had no idea that every big contract, every bank loan, and even the house where he was having his wedding were only possible because of my help, as I hid the fact that I was the real boss of Apex Holdings just to save his fragile pride.
I took out my phone and made a quick call to my attorney: “Please stop all services paid by Apex Holdings for this house right now. Turn off the power generator, the water supply, the cooling system, and the security team. Then take this house back immediately.”
Evelyn laughed loudly, thinking it was a joke. But ten minutes later, the music stopped as the power went off, the air conditioners died, and the water stopped running in the summer heat. Guests began fleeing as the bride’s makeup melted under the sun.
Spencer ran toward me, sweating heavily: “What did you just do?”
I put my phone in my bag and grabbed my suitcase. “I just took back what was always mine.”
As the band packed up and left, I realized this ruined wedding was just the beginning, and what happened next in my boardroom would shatter his entire world…
