The Billionaire She Humiliated Was Her Secret Backer

At the engagement banquet, during the exchange of tokens, Yolanda Morton did it right in front of everyone.

She took the ancestral jade pendant the heirloom meant for the groom and hung it around her assistant Nathan Harding's neck.

The guests exchanged uneasy glances, casting pitying looks in my direction.

Yolanda pinched Nathan's cheek with a doting smile, her tone utterly casual.

"It's not like you could've brought anything of value to the table anyway, so let's just skip this part."

"Nathan's been having nightmares lately. The jade pendant will keep him safe and sound."

"And wipe that look off your face. I already agreed to marry you. What more could you possibly want? Don't be greedy."

Nathan had his arm around her waist, grinning like a lovesick fool.

The Morton family's jade pendants were traditionally crafted as a matching pair one for husband, one for wife.

The spotlight fell on my bare neck like a slap across the face.

I smiled and burned the share-transfer documents I'd prepared for her, right there on the spot.

"You're right. I shouldn't be greedy."

"So your fiance? She's all his now."

The entire room went silent. The only sound was paper curling in the flames.

Yolanda's brow furrowed, displeasure flashing across her face.

"Clement Delgado, it's just a jade pendant. Do you really have to be this petty?"

"Stop making a scene. Finish the ceremony like a good boy, and I'll pretend that little outburst never happened. Consider yourself forgiven."

Looking at her up there on her high horse, that magnanimous, charitable expression on her face revulsion churned through me. I shook off her hand.

"Does Ms. Morton not understand plain English?"

"Then let me spell it out. The engagement is off. We're done."

The air pulled taut.

Nathan strolled over with a smile, playing peacemaker.

"Come on, Clement. She's just worried about my health. Don't hold it against her."

He shoved something into my hand.

"Here to make up for it. I had someone make a matching one just for you."

"Of course, I'm not like you. All I know how to do is mooch off a woman, so I couldn't exactly afford top-grade jade. Had to use a beer bottle instead. Hope you won't mind."

Because today was the engagement, I'd coordinated with Yolanda to wear matching outfits.

The funny part? Nathan's suit was identical to mine.

The day we'd picked out the suits, it had been just Yolanda and me.

Which meant she hadn't just told Nathan about it she'd gone out of her way to buy him the same one.

Now here they stood, in their matching outfits, wearing the ancestral jade pendants that symbolized husband and wife, looking for all the world like the real couple of honor at this banquet.

And I was the clown.

I grabbed the red cord around Nathan's neck and yanked him toward me, a cold smile cutting across my face.

"A woman who's gone rotten? I've never wanted her. You like picking through trash, she's yours."

"But you had the nerve to pull this stunt to my face. I need to settle that score. How about I use this little 'gift' of yours to carve up that pretty face?"

The edges of the beer-bottle fake were razor-sharp. One wrong move and it would slice skin open.

Every detail, calculated.

Nathan's face went white. His eyes welled up as he turned to Yolanda for rescue.

"Ms. Morton, look at him... I'm so scared..."

Pain shot through my wrist, forcing me to let go.

Yolanda pulled Nathan behind her and shoved me back.

"Nathan didn't say anything wrong. What gives you the right to touch him? I skipped the token exchange to save your dignity!"

"The Morton family's ancestral jade pendant is worth a fortune. And you a deadbeat, a parasite who can't survive without clinging to me what could you possibly offer in return? Learn to be grateful!"

"And don't think I don't know what those papers you burned really were. That was a list of things you wanted as a dowry, wasn't it? What's the matter even you thought it was too shameless to let anyone see?"

Even though I'd already decided to end things, hearing those words still felt like a wad of cotton had been stuffed into my chest.

Suffocating. Unbearable.

Yolanda didn't like me showing my face in public, and she refused to eat food from restaurants. So I'd willingly become the man behind her, content to stay in the shadows.

Four years of genuine devotion, and in her eyes, I was nothing but a parasite leeching off her money.

She had no idea that those papers weren't some gift registry.

They were share-transfer documents worth over a hundred million dollars.

I looked at her quietly.

"Yolanda, you know exactly what that jade pendant represents. It's the symbol of the Morton family patriarch."

"And you gave it to Nathan. What does that make me?"

Yolanda let out a derisive laugh, one brow arching high.

"Nathan's work is outstanding. He's my right hand at the company. He deserves it."

"You're nothing but a deadbeat who lives off a woman's money. The fact that I even agreed to get engaged to you should've been enough. You should've been grateful."

"Clement, I'm telling you to quit while you're ahead. Walk through the ceremony like a good boy. If you want a jade pendant so badly, I'll pick one up for you at an antique auction. But if you keep throwing a tantrum, don't blame me when I cut you loose for good."

She still didn't understand.

It was never about the object. It was about what it meant.

Or maybe, in her mind, my feelings had never mattered at all.

"Is that so? Be my guest."

I said it calmly, then turned to leave.

But at the door, several bodyguards blocked my path. They stood shoulder to shoulder like a wall across the exit.

Yolanda drained the last of the wine in her glass, her tone languid and unhurried.

"Clement, since you insist on breaking up, shouldn't you return what belongs to me?"

"Don't forget. That suit you're wearing? I paid for it."

Her gaze carried a thin edge of cruelty.

"So. Take it off."

I froze.

I'd come straight here in the suit. I hadn't brought a change of clothes.

And Yolanda knew that.

Looking at that familiar face, I suddenly found it laughable. I must have been blind back then to have ever fallen for someone like her.

Someone nearby couldn't bear it and spoke up. "Ms. Morton, there are so many guests watching. Why not let Mr. Delgado keep a little dignity?"

Yolanda crossed one leg over the other, unmoved.

"That's exactly the problem. I gave him too much dignity in the past, and it spoiled him rotten. Made him think he could act however he pleased. It's time he learned to behave."

"Clement, if you don't want to strip, fine. Admit you were wrong. Promise you'll never make trouble for Nathan again. Then we can carry on with the engagement banquet."

Nathan draped his arm around her shoulder and covered his mouth with a laugh.

"Come on, Clement. She's giving you an out. Why fight it?"

"Don't worry, nobody here will judge you for going back on your word. After all, we've all seen plenty of gold diggers like you."

Yolanda pressed a tender kiss to Nathan's fingertips, clearly pleased by the way he'd put me in my place.

The gawking stares of the crowd burned against my skin like open flame.

A thick, choking wave of humiliation rose inside me.

This was exactly what Yolanda wanted.

She wanted me to understand that I was nothing more than a plaything tethered to her. She could grant me dignity, and she could crush it underfoot whenever she pleased.

Just when everyone expected me to cave, I unfastened the suit without a flicker of expression, pulled it off, and tossed it into the trash can beside me.

I walked out of the hotel without looking back, ignoring the shock frozen in Yolanda's eyes.

Outside, it was raining.

I thought about hailing a cab, but my phone was already dead. My ID was still back at the villa, so all I could do was walk through the downpour.

My shorts clung to my skin, soaked through, drawing sidelong glances from passersby.

By the time I neared the villa district, it was already eleven at night. The world around me was silent.

Three punks with bleached-blond hair had been tailing me for a while now. I had no idea when they'd started following.

They whistled at me every few steps, and no matter how fast I walked, I couldn't shake them.

Unease crawled through my gut. I broke into a run toward the villa.

But when I reached the front door, I discovered the keypad lock had been changed.

The three of them stood under a tree a few yards away, leering at me with sickening grins.

They watched me like I was putting on a show for them. Like I was a piece of meat they could swallow whole whenever they pleased.

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I pressed the doorbell over and over, but no one answered.

The second-floor window swung open. Yolanda appeared in a silk camisole.

She hurled my suitcase out the window without a second thought. The light caught the hickeys on her neck, vivid and shameless.

"Clement, I thought you had so much pride. Then take your garbage and get out of my house."

"I've already frozen your cards. That pitiful balance in your bank app probably won't cover half a month's rent."

I didn't have time to care about her contempt. I was panicking.

"Yolanda, there are creeps following me. Can you just let me inside first?"

"Or at least call the police for me. My phone's dead. They're standing right there under that tree. Come out and look if you don't believe me!"

Yolanda froze for a moment, instinctively turning around.

"What? Don't worry, I'll"

A pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back.

Nathan appeared behind her, shirtless, flashing me a taunting smile.

"Hey, buddy. This is a gated community. Without a resident's permission, security won't let strangers through the gate."

"You publicly called off the engagement today and humiliated Ms. Morton. You won't even apologize, and now you're making up lies to trick her? That's pathetic."

"Ms. Morton, if you don't teach him a lesson this time, people will walk all over you."

Yolanda's expression shifted. She looked down at me with undisguised disgust.

"Clement, I didn't realize you were this manipulative. You can kneel out there tonight and let the rain wash some sense into that head of yours."

"Tomorrow morning, I want to hear you go on a livestream and beg me to take you back."

"And rememberwithout me, you're nothing. A man I've used up and thrown away isn't worth a dime."

She shut the window without hesitation.

Behind the curtains, two silhouettes tangled together in shameless abandon.

My heart went cold, inch by inch.

The three bleached-blond thugs stalked toward me, grinning like wolves. One of them dragged his tongue across his lower lip.

"Pretty boy, your girl's busy with her new man. She can't even be bothered with you. Why keep embarrassing yourself? Come play with us instead."

"Don't worry, we don't pay for our fun. Damaged goods like you aren't worth the money anyway." He threw his head back and cackled.

They clamped a hand over my mouth and dragged me toward a dark corner.

I thrashed and fought. Then someone came running out, brandishing a bat.

It wasn't Yolanda.

It was a middle-aged couple who also lived in the community. They'd just gotten back from out of town and had been sitting in their car talking. They'd witnessed the whole thing.

The three thugs bolted the moment they realized they'd been spotted, too fast to catch.

I picked up my suitcase and politely declined the couple's offer to let me stay the night.

The husband insisted on giving me two shirts from his younger days, then drove me to a nearby hotel.

Yolanda really was ruthless. To force me to grovel, she'd confiscated every expensive accessory she'd ever given me.

Not that I cared. Things like thatI'd never been short on them.

I borrowed a charger from the front desk and planned to catch a flight home the next morning.

But on the way to the airport, the rideshare driver suddenly changed direction.

The man who'd gotten in halfway through the ride was staring at me like a predator sizing up its prey.

I reached for my phone to call the police. The driver let out a cold laugh.

"Mr. Delgado, today is Assistant Harding's birthday. Ms. Morton arranged a lawn party for him at the estate, and youwell, you're the special gift she's prepared."

"Ms. Morton says if you behave yourself and keep Assistant Harding happy, she'll consider throwing you that engagement banquet after all."

He jerked his chin toward the heavyset passenger beside me.

"Otherwise, we dump you right out that door. This is the highway. You probably won't even finish dialing before the cars behind us turn you into roadkill."

"So sit tight if you want to live. A pretty boy mooching off Ms. Morton's charity, and you actually thought you were the man of the house?"

Only then did I realize I'd been tricked.

I had no idea what Yolanda was playing at.

But no matter what, I wasn't about to gamble with my life. I put my phone away in silence.

The estate was decorated to perfection, even more lavish than the engagement banquet had been.

Yolanda had her arm looped through Nathan's, clinking glasses and exchanging pleasantries with the guests who'd come to celebrate.

Matching jade pendants hung around both their necks.

Anyone who didn't know better would have thought this was their wedding.

When she spotted me, Yolanda walked over, her gaze appraising.

"I hear you were trying to get to the airport. Where exactly were you planning to go?"

My voice was calm. "Home. Is that a problem?"

Something smug flickered in her eyes.

"So you've finally figured it out. Without me, you can't survive in Pearl City. Your only option is crawling back to whatever backwater you came from to till dirt."

"I'm not heartless, though. All you have to do is wear this and play Nathan's little pet for the day. Do that, and I'll let yesterday slide. We'll have the wedding next week."

It was a wooden sign, roughly the size of a laptop screen.

Five words were carved into it in bold, unmistakable letters.

Nathan Harding's Dog.

I stared at her in disbelief.

"You want me to be Nathan Harding's dog?!"

"In your dreams. He could drop dead and still wouldn't deserve it!"

Yolanda's expression went cold in an instant.

"Today is Nathan's birthday, and this is the one gift he wants more than anything. I promised him that whatever he asked for, I'd deliver."

"Besides, you nearly hurt him yesterday. You owe him."

She produced a small resin pendant and held it up like a threat.

"You care so much about sentimental value, don't you?"

"If you don't cooperate, I'll burn this. And then you won't even have a memory left."

The pendant itself was worthless. But sealed inside the resin were strands of my mother's hair.

She had died in an explosion. There was nothing left of her.

Those few strands were all I'd managed to gather, collecting them one by one from around the house.

Having them set in resin made it feel like she was still with me.

The moment I saw Yolanda raise the pendant toward the barbecue grill beside her, I clenched my jaw so hard my teeth ached.

Every word came out ground between them.

"I'll do it."

The crowd erupted in mocking laughter the second I put the sign around my neck. Phones shot up from every direction.

Yolanda smiled, satisfied.

"There we go. Now remember, whatever Nathan asks you to do, you do it. No fuss."

"Don't worry. Keep him happy, and once the party's over, I'll give the pendant back. And everything I promised youI'll follow through."

I lifted my head, my face completely blank.

"Can I use the restroom?"

Yolanda didn't refuse, but she confiscated my phone.

She even posted two bodyguards at the door, terrified I might try to run.

What she didn't know was that I no longer wanted to leave.

Because leaving would be letting her off too easy.

I shut the stall door and pressed a button on my watch.

A crackle of static hissed through the connection, and then a voice bubbled up from the other endbright, affectionate, playful.

"Big brother! Didn't you say you were coming back to Harbor City today?"

"I figured you'd be tired, so I brought people to pick you up. Pretty thoughtful of me, right? Where are you?"

I drew a slow breath and kept my voice even.

"I've been detained. She betrayed me. She's trying to force me to be her lover's pet."

"The Delgado Family Codeevery kindness repaid, every wrong avenged. You don't need me to tell you what to do."

Silence hung in the air for a single heartbeat.

When Gwendolen Delgado spoke again, every trace of that bubbly warmth was gone. Her voice was ice wrapped around a blade.

"Send me your location. I'm on my way. That piece of filth is dead."

Yolanda had me dragged before Nathan, her tone dripping with tendernessthough none of it was meant for me.

"Nathan, darling, Clement is your personal pet today. You can make him do whatever you want."

"Wow, I always knew Ms. Morton spoiled me the most!" Nathan planted a gleeful kiss on her cheek.

Then his gaze dropped to the wooden sign hanging from my chest, and he burst out laughing.

"So that's why Clement didn't like yesterday's sign made from a beer bottleturns out he prefers this kind. A born glutton for punishment."

He cocked his head, grinning wider.

"But I've never seen a dog standing in front of its master before. Looks like someone needs to learn some manners first."

The words had barely left his mouth before Yolanda flicked a glance at the bodyguards.

A boot slammed into the backs of my knees.

I crashed to the floor with a dull, heavy thud, pain shooting up through both legs. The entire room erupted in laughter.

I tried to push myself up, but hands clamped down on my shoulders and pinned me in place.

Nathan sauntered over, swaggering with every step, and slapped my facehard, twice.

"That's better. Dogs should look like dogs."

"Good boy. Are you hungry? Your master prepared something delicious for you."

He snapped his fingers, and someone brought over a trash can from the banquet table. Inside were chicken bones he'd just finished gnawing on, tossed in a heap.

And beneath themthe vomit of some lightweight guest who'd barely managed half a glass before getting sick.

Nathan leaned in close, his lips nearly brushing my ear, his voice a low, taunting whisper.

"You worthless piece of trash. You were so full of yourself yesterday, weren't you? Too bad the one picking through garbage now is you."

So that was what this was about. He was getting back at me for what I'd said the day before.

I lifted my gaze to Yolanda. My voice stayed level.

"Is this what you want too?"

Something flickered behind her eyeshesitation, maybeand her lips parted as if to speak.

But Nathan beat her to it, his lower lip jutting out in an exaggerated pout.

"Ms. Morton, I'm only doing this to teach him to behave. So he doesn't throw jealous tantrums whenever he pleases, or threaten you with divorce once you're married."

"Besides, you promised you'd stand up for me. Was that all a lie? Fine thenforget it. I'll return the jade token, resign on the spot, and get out of your sight!"

Yolanda pulled him into her arms, soothing him like a wounded child, then turned to me with the cold authority of a command.

"Clement, don't forget what you just promised me. Or do you not want the pendant anymore?"

"Nathan only has your best interests at heart. What successful woman doesn't have a man on the side? As her husband, you need to learn to be generous and accepting. Consider this a test of your character."

"Don't ruin Nathan's birthday. Eat it, and I promise I won't think less of you. After today, you'll be my one and only Mr. Morton."

My fists clenched slowly at my sides. I stared in silence at the woman I had once given my whole heart to.

When the Morton ancestors left behind that pair of jade tokens, they'd said the tokens could serve as protection in ordinary timesand if the family ever hit rock bottom, they could be sold as seed money for a comeback.

But generation after generation, no matter how bitter or desperate things got, not a single Morton had ever parted with them.

Yolanda's ambitions reached the sky. She wanted to build her own empire, but she refused to sell the heirlooms to do it.

I couldn't bear to see her struggle, and I didn't want to wound her pride.

So I hid my real identity and invested in her from the shadows. Every executive who owed me a favor, I redirected toward Yolanda, quietly funneling projects her way.

Four years of that, and Morton Corp had grown into something formidable.

But she hadn't even reached the top yet before she'd already mastered the art of pampering her lover and trampling the man who'd built her up.

Fine. At least this way, I had no reason to be soft-hearted anymore.

I didn't surrender. Instead, I whipped my head around and sank my teeth into Nathan's wrist.

He'd been leaning in close to savor my humiliation. He never saw it coming.

Nathan shrieked, shoving at my head with both hands. By the time the bodyguards pried me off, the bite mark on his wrist was deep enough to show bone. He was sobbing, wailing.

"Ms. Morton, he's jealous that you gave me the jade pendant! He did this on purpose to get back at me!"

"You have to stand up for me, or I swear I'll kill myself!"

Yolanda was livid. She drove the point of her stiletto into my stomach.

The pain folded me in half. I collapsed to the ground, every organ inside me feeling like it had been knocked loose.

"Clement, you never learn! Fine. Since you don't appreciate the chance I gave you, Nathan will be the groom instead. He's a thousand times more obedient than you'll ever be!"

"You like biting people? A dog that bites its owner doesn't deserve teeth. Someone hold him down and rip out every last one!"

"No anesthesia. Let him remember this pain so he learns to stay in his place as my side piece and never lays a hand on Nathan again!"

A bodyguard fisted my hair and wrenched my head back, forcing my face upward. My scalp screamed, then went numb.

Nathan's face split into a grin. He mouthed the words silently: You lose.

Another bodyguard pried my jaw open. Cold steel pliers clamped around a tooth.

Before they could pull, a deafening roar erupted overhead.

Ten helicopters materialized out of nowhere, hovering low, their rotors shaking the air itself.

Over a hundred bodyguards in black-and-gold uniforms descended from rope ladders, steel batons holstered at their hips. They fell into formation behind a striking woman whose beauty was matched only by the killing intent carved into her expression.

Nathan stared, slack-jawed, then clapped his hands over his mouth in excitement.

"Ms. Morton, did you hire a performance troupe for my birthday? This is amazing!"

I let the corner of my mouth curl upward, slow and deliberate.

Let's see if you're still smiling when they grind you into the dirt.