Chapter 2<\/p>\n
First thing next morning, I packed my bags and bolted.<\/p>\n
Only then did I text Tristan, lying that I had to fly out for work-wouldn\u2019t be back for two weeks.<\/p>\n
Once I checked into the hotel, I opened that monitoring app I\u2019d never used.<\/p>\n
Within seconds, my phone connected to the bedroom feed.<\/p>\n
What I saw made my blood run cold.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d only been gone half a day.<\/p>\n
Tristan had already brought Ivy home.<\/p>\n
She was wearing my pajamas, sitting at my vanity with her legs crossed, twisting open my five-figure face cream.<\/p>\n
Not on her face. She was rubbing it slowly onto her feet.<\/p>\n
Then, finding it tedious, she shoved her toes right into the jar and stirred.<\/p>\n
Tristan was lying on the bed behind her.<\/p>\n
Didn\u2019t say a word.<\/p>\n
\u201cTristan, this stuff\u2019s expensive. Won\u2019t your wife get mad?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ivy said it, but she didn\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n
Tristan sat up, wrapped his arms around her waist, eyes full of indulgence.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer face isn\u2019t worth it anyway. Might as well use it on your feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
He slid a finger under her pajama strap.<\/p>\n
\u201cSame outfit. But on you? Sexy as hell. On that old hag? Like a potato sack.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ivy melted into him, giggling.<\/p>\n
Watching them roll onto the bed, I immediately shut off my phone.<\/p>\n
One more second and I was afraid I\u2019d catch something through the screen.<\/p>\n
11.07<\/p>\n
Congrats Hubby! Your $1M V-Card Deal Came with Free HIV<\/p>\n
14.3%<\/p>\n
Chapter 2<\/p>\n
Two weeks passed.<\/p>\n
I took my PEP meds, put on a mask and went home.<\/p>\n
I thought Tristan would at least pretend, send Ivy away before I got back.<\/p>\n
Nope.<\/p>\n
I opened the door.<\/p>\n
She was still there, lounging on the couch and eating my $300-per-gram bird\u2019s nest soup.<\/p>\n
I kept my voice level.<\/p>\n
\u201cTristan. You brought stranger into our home without even asking me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Before he could answer, another voice came from the kitchen.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy son bought this house. He can let anyone stay here. Mind your business.\u201d<\/p>\n
I froze.<\/p>\n
His mom was here too.<\/p>\n
Margaret shot me a glare, planting herself between Ivy and me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBesides, Ivy\u2019s not some outsider. She\u2019s pregnant-our family\u2019s most precious now.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach dropped.<\/p>\n
a<\/p>\n
Tristan deliberately avoided my gaze, lips moving.<\/p>\n
\u201cBabe, you know Mom\u2019s been wanting a grandkid. And you\u2026 it\u2019s been years. Nothing\u2019s happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ivy spoke up, voice all soft and shaky.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so sorry, Celeste. It\u2019s my fault. I mixed up my birth control with my vitamins. I didn\u2019t mean to get pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n
She stood up. \u201cIf it bothers you, I\u2019ll get rid of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret lost it.<\/p>\n
She stormed over and slapped me across the face.<\/p>\n
\u201cCeleste Monroe, are you trying to stop my son from having heirs? If anything happens to this baby, I\u2019ll kill you!\u201d<\/p>\n
11:07<\/p>\n
Congrats Hubby! Your $1M V-Card Deal Came with Free HIV<\/p>\n
17.9%<\/p>\n
Chapter 2<\/p>\n
My ears rang. I cupped my face, stunned.<\/p>\n
Turning around, I saw three place settings on the dining table.<\/p>\n
Margaret caught me staring, smug.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know you were coming back. I only made lunch for three.\u201d<\/p>\n
I read between the lines, bit my lip, and walked out.<\/p>\n
The door slammed behind me.<\/p>\n
But I could still hear Margaret\u2019s yelling inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cSon, you\u2019re a billionaire. You should\u2019ve divorced that barren bitch years ago. She\u2019s been holding you back this<\/p>\n
whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned against the door and I laughed.<\/p>\n
Back when Tristan was starting his company, I worked double shifts.<\/p>\n
Daytime at the hospital. Nights washing dishes at restaurant.<\/p>\n
Every cent I made went to him.<\/p>\n
Now his mom was tearing me apart, and he didn\u2019t say a word.<\/p>\n
My face still stung. But honestly? I felt nothing.<\/p>\n
Then my phone buzzed.<\/p>\n
Message from my coworker.<\/p>\n
\u201cCeleste, got Ivy\u2019s medical records from the CDC.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened it immediately, brow furrowed.<\/p>\n
Even though I\u2019d expected it, seeing the data still shocked me.<\/p>\n
Late-stage HIV. Stage-three syphilis. I knew that much.<\/p>\n
But there were over a dozen other infections.<\/p>\n
Most transmitted through blood or sex.<\/p>\n
11:07<\/p>\n
9<\/p>\n
Congrats Hubby! Your $1M V Card Deal Came with Free HIV<\/p>\n
21.496<\/p>\n
Chapter 2<\/p>\n
But even daily contact, shared towels, dishes, or open cuts-could transmit them.<\/p>\n
Lucky for me, that wasn\u2019t my concern.<\/p>\n
Someone else would pay the price next.<\/p>\n
\u2661 (0)<\/p>\n
11.07<\/p>\n
10<\/p>\n
\u2299 (0)<\/p>\n
Congrats Hubby! Your $1M V Card Deal Came with Free HIV<\/p>\n
25.0%<\/p>\n
Congrats Hubby! Your $1M V-Card Deal Came with Free HIV 2 Chapter 2 First thing next morning, I packed my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sold-for-a-million-ruined-for-life-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23564,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23558\/revisions\/23564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}