The Billionaire Wife's Second Chance at Revenge

The poor girl I supported for three years slept with my husband and spent my money the whole time.

And when she shoved my son and me off that rooftop, laughing, she leaned close and said, Your golden life ends right here.

My grievance wouldn't die. I came back.

I opened my eyes to find her kneeling in my living room, sobbing, begging me for three hundred thousand to pay for her mother's kidney failure surgery.

Margot Henson knelt dead center in the entryway, forehead scraped red from bowing, a crumpled diagnosis sheet clutched in her hand, weeping so prettily she could break your heart.

My mother-in-law, Rosamond Chavez, sighed over her teacup. A handful of distant relatives chimed in from every direction. Eugene Delgado stood by the window, impatience all over his face.

I stood in the doorway, and in my ears I could still hear Boris Coleman's screaming as he fell, and Margot's icy whisper against my cheek: Jasmine Fox, everything of yours is mine now.

I never imagined I'd actually come back.

And come back to this exact day, the first time Margot ever showed up begging for help.

In my last life, this was the very spot where I softened.

Not only did I transfer her three hundred thousand on the spot, I covered every cent of her mother's follow-up treatment after that. I doted on her like a real little sister, kept her fed and clothed, found her a job.

And in the end? I raised myself an ingrate who bit the hand that fed her.

Margot sobbed at me, "Jasmine, I know I shouldn't have come to trouble you. But I've got nowhere else to turn."

"My mom's kidney failure is terminal. The doctor says if she doesn't get the surgery she won't make it through the month!"

"Three hundred thousand is all I need for the medical costs. I'm on my knees begging you!"

And she drove her forehead into the floor again, hard.

Aunt Priscilla, the distant one, jumped in at once. "Jassie, sweetheart, your family's so well off. Three hundred thousand is what, the price of one handbag to you?"

"Help the poor child. It's a good deed, a blessing. How can you just stand there and watch someone die?"

Rosamond turned her accusation on me. "You've already supported her for three years. What's another three hundred thousand?"

"Margot's had a hard life. Her father died young, it's just been the two of them leaning on each other, and now the poor woman's lying in a hospital bed. If you won't lift a finger, word gets out and people will be pointing at this family behind our backs."

Eugene reached for me. "Jasmine, just give her the money!"

"We'll run it through the company account later. Call it corporate charity. Buys us a good name too."

The moment his fingers touched my wrist I yanked my arm away like I'd been burned.

In my last life he was exactly like this, playing the thoughtful husband who made my decisions for me, when the whole time he'd already been in bed with Margot.

This three hundred thousand was nothing more than the first sum the two of them conned out of me.

I lifted my eyes and swept them over everyone in the room, then let my gaze settle on Margot's tear-streaked face. "No," I said, flat and cold.

The living room went dead silent.

Margot froze mid-bow, her eyes full of shock, as if it had never once crossed her mind that I'd refuse so cleanly.

Aunt Priscilla recovered first, her voice all sour edges. "Jassie, what a thing to say!"

"The girl's on her knees. Where's your compassion? Your heart must be made of stone!"

I gave a cold little smile. "Aunt, you've got so much compassion. Why don't you put in a hundred thousand?"

"We'll scrape together the other two hundred. Consider it a blessing earned for your family. Quite a bargain, really!"

Her face stiffened, and she shrank back at once. "You know exactly what my situation is. My son just bought a house. Where would I ever get a hundred thousand?"

I let my eyes drift over the relatives lined up to enjoy the show. "You can't spare it," I said coldly, "so where do you get the nerve to demand I hand it over?"

"Three hundred thousand isn't pocket change. Whoever finds her so pitiful can pay for her."

"Don't climb up on your moral high ground and be generous with other people's money."

Rosamond exploded, jabbing a finger at my face. "Do you have any of a decent woman's kindness left in you at all?"

"You've disgraced this whole Delgado family!"

"The girl kneels at our door and you just refuse, flat out. Word gets around and how are your father and I supposed to show our faces in public!"

I answered calmly. "That isn't how kindness works."

"If it were really money to save a life, of course I'd help if I could. But who's to say this diagnosis sheet is even real?"

"Who's to say she'd take the money to a hospital and not somewhere else entirely?"

Margot burst into loud, wailing sobs. "How can you slander me like this!"

"Jasmine, I know you look down on me for being poor, but you can't gamble with my mom's life!"

"If I had any other option at all, I would never have come to beg you..."

Before she finished the words she swayed on her knees, looking like she was about to faint.

Eugene stepped in at once to catch her, then whipped his head around and roared at me. "Jasmine, you've gone too far!"

"You know exactly what kind of person Margot is. How could she possibly lie about something like this?"

"I'm telling you, this money, you're paying it whether you want to or not!"

I watched him shielding her and felt nothing but the sheer irony of it.

In my last life I'd been blind, that was the only reason I ever thought this man was steady and dependable.

I didn't give an inch. "If you want to play the good guy," I said mildly, "reach into your own pocket. Leave mine out of it."

With that I stopped bothering with their ugly expressions and turned to go upstairs.

Behind me came Rosamond's cursing, Margot's crying, and the vicious crash of Eugene hurling a cup.

I shut the door, leaned back against it, and felt a thrill I couldn't contain at being alive again.

Boris. My son.

This life, Mama will never go soft again. I will never let the wolf through the door again. No one will ever lay a hand on the two of us again.

I thought that once I'd refused her the first time, Margot would at least stay quiet for a few days.

I didn't expect that the very next morning, the moment I reached the foot of the company building, I'd see a dense ring of people crowded across the plaza.

Dylan James, my assistant, came running over in a panic, his face pale. "Ms. Fox, we've got a problem!"

"That Margot Henson has been kneeling downstairs for almost an hour now, holding up a sign that says you'd rather let her mother die than lift a finger to help."

"People are filming videos and posting them online, and the comments are all calling you cold-blooded"

I walked to the glass wall of the building and looked down.

Margot was in that same old T-shirt, washed until it was nearly gray, kneeling in the center of the plaza. A large sheet of white paper was spread in front of her, reading, "Please, kind souls, save my mother from kidney failure. Rich sister won't lift a finger."

She was crying her eyes out, sobbing to the crowd in broken fragments, "I'm not trying to force her. I really am at the end of my rope..."

"I offered to sell myself to Jasmine, to slave for her, just to borrow three hundred thousand to save my mother's life. But she said I wasn't worth three hundred thousand, and then she insulted the two of us..."

At once someone in the crowd chimed in.

"That's way too much. So what if she's got money!"

"Bullying poor people like that, isn't she afraid of what's coming to her?"

"Expose her! Let everyone see the face of this heartless woman!"

Camera flashes went off one after another, countless phones aimed at her.

I watched her performance coldly.

I was still watching when my phone rang. It was Eugene.

I picked up, and the other end came at me full blast. "Jasmine, are you satisfied now?"

"The whole city is laughing at the Delgado family!"

"Wire five hundred thousand to Margot right now, then run a public apology in the paper and make this go away!"

I laughed coldly. "She asked for three hundred thousand and you're throwing in another two hundred on your own. Eugene, aren't you generous with her."

"Is this about the money?" Eugene roared. "It's about our name!"

"I'm warning you, fix this fast, or I'm not done with you!"

I let out a soft sigh and, pretending to give in, said, "Fine, I'll give her the money."

"But on one condition. She signs a formal loan agreement, with the repayment date and interest spelled out. Otherwise, forget it."

Eugene faltered for a second, probably not expecting me to fold so suddenly, then said impatiently, "Fine, fine, she'll sign, whatever!"

"I'll send her to your office this afternoon. Have the money ready and don't pull any more stunts!"

I hung up and gave a cold little smile.

Margot, you think this three hundred thousand comes free?

This is the first piece of hard proof of your fraud.

At two in the afternoon, Margot showed up at my office right on time.

She wore that same pitiful look, apologizing under her breath the moment she came in. "Jasmine, I'm so sorry, I've caused you trouble."

"I really had no other choice, that's the only reason I stooped to this..."

I cut her off, pushing the printed loan agreement across to her, my voice flat. "Three hundred thousand, six percent annual interest, paid off within two years."

"Sign it, press your fingerprint, and the money hits your account right away."

Margot looked at the agreement, her whole face wronged. "Jasmine, do we really have to sign this?"

"I thought you were helping me because you actually cared..."

I cut her off again. "Helping you is a kindness. Not helping you is my right."

"For the three years you were in college, I paid for every last expense. I've already helped you plenty!"

"This three hundred thousand is a loan, not a gift."

"If you won't sign, you can leave right now, and you won't get a single cent."

She looked as if she'd suffered some unbearable humiliation, but in the end she picked up the pen and signed, then pressed down a bright red fingerprint. "Thank you, Jasmine. I promise I'll pay it back as soon as I can."

When she walked off with the bank card, her steps were light, the smugness in her eyes impossible to hide.

I watched her back with cold eyes, forcing down the urge to tear her apart on the spot.

That same evening, the hashtag "Rich woman relents and funds poor girl" hit the trending list. People praised the "power of public opinion" and praised Margot for being "strong and devoted to her mother."

I scrolled through the comments, expressionless, and saved the scanned copy of the loan agreement into an encrypted folder.

The higher she climbs now, the harder she'll fall later.

Half a month later, Eugene came home from a work dinner one night, drunk, fumbling with his shoes.

I took his suit jacket from him, and the moment I did, I saw ita faint pink lipstick mark on the inside of his shirt collar.

I knew that shade too well.

In my last life, Margot had used this exact lipstick to leave her marks on Eugene, letting me find them on purpose, stirring up my emotions one step at a time until everyone was convinced I was a paranoid, jealous wife.

I stood in the entryway holding the shirt, waiting for him to sober up.

Eugene took a sip of water, looked up, saw the shirt in my hands, and his face changed in an instant.

"What are you doing with my shirt?"

"This lipstick mark. Whose is it?" I held the shirt up, my voice calm.

His eyes darted away. He tugged at his collar and lied without missing a beat. "Probably some female client brushed against me at the dinner tonight. An accident."

"Can you stop being so paranoid?"

I smiled at him, mocking. "What female client leaves lipstick on the inside of your collar?"

"Eugene, when you lie, could you at least put some effort into it?"

That set him off. "Can you stop making a scene over nothing?"

Rosamond naturally took his side, laying into me, scolding me for being suspicious.

Right then, the doorbell rang.

Margot stood outside, a soup thermos in her hand, her makeup flawless, nothing like the shabby, worn-down girl she'd played before.

"Auntie, Eugene, Jasmine." She stepped in timidly and set the thermos on the table. "My mom's surgery went really well, so I made some black chicken soup and came to thank you all"

As she spoke, her eyes flicked, seemingly by accident, to the shirt in my hands, and she immediately lowered her head, her voice going smaller. "I'm sorry. Did I come at a bad time?"

"Were you two fighting? This is all my fault"

"What does it have to do with you!" Rosamond grabbed her hand at once, aching with sympathy. "Some people are just petty and love stirring up trouble over nothing!"

"Margot, don't take it to heart. Come, sit."

Margot's eyes reddened instantly. "Jasmine, please don't misunderstand Eugene."

"This afternoon I ran into him downstairs at the company and told him how my mom's follow-up went. Maybe I brushed against him then without meaning to."

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have stood so close"

Rosamond shot me a hard glare and said in that snide tone of hers, "See? See? I told you it was a misunderstanding!"

"You just had to twist it into something ugly. Why do you have to be so small-minded?"

Eugene let out a breath too, and said to me impatiently, "Hear that? It was an accident."

"Jasmine, chasing shadows every single day. Is it fun for you?"

I watched the three of them play off each other, like watching a cheap little farce.

I looked at Margot with a cold smile. "Your mom just had major surgery. Instead of staying at the hospital with her, why are you off finding my husband every day?"

"Dressed up like that, too. Who knows what you're really after?"

Margot's face filled with wounded outrage. "Jasmine, how can you say that about me?"

"I just wanted to thank Eugene in person. He's the one who found me the best doctor. I can't even repay him enough, how could I have any other intentions"

I gave a cold snort. "Gratitude that lands on his collar? Gratitude that arranges a chance meeting every single day?"

"Margot, you take my money to pay for treatment, then turn right around and go after my husband. Do you have any shame left?"

"I didn't!" She shook her head, sobbing, covering her face, her shoulders heaving violently. "Jasmine, if you hate me, I'll just leave, but you can't slander me like this!"

"I'm a girl from the countryside. My good name matters more to me than my life"

Eugene pulled Margot behind him, his face livid, and shouted at me, "Have you had enough?"

"Look at the state she's in, and you're still going after her for no reason at all!"

"I think you're just jealous. You can't stand to see anyone else do well!"

Rosamond chimed right in, shrill. "For our family to end up with a daughter-in-law as small-minded as you, we must have terrible luck going back generations!"

"You can't even find room in your heart for a girl as pitiful as Margot. Are you even human?"

Three mouths turned on me, every word an accusation, as if I were the one who'd done something wrong.

I said flatly, "Fine. I'm jealous. I can't stand anyone."

"So I'll ask Miss Henson not to set foot in my home again, and not to seek out my husband on her own."

"After all, avoiding the appearance of improprietysurely Miss Henson understands that much?"

Margot nodded through her tears, her voice choked. "I understand, Jasmine. I won't come again."

"I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

And with that, she covered her face and ran out crying.

Eugene shot me a vicious glare and chased after her.

Rosamond stormed into the kitchen, slamming things around, cursing under her breath the whole way.

I stood alone in the empty living room, took out my phone, and pressed stop on the recording.

From that day on, Margot really did stop coming by.

Instead, she moved into an apartment downstairs from us.

Word was that Eugene had rented it for her, saying it would make it easier for her mother's follow-up checkups.

After that, she staged a "chance encounter" every single day.

Morning, Eugene left for work, and she just happened to be stepping out to take the trash down.

Evening, Eugene came home, and she just happened to be downstairs picking up a delivery.

Even when I took Boris down to play, she could somehow "just happen" to walk past with snacks and come over to fuss over him.

Boris was too trusting, and he was always saying "Miss Margot is so kind."

In my last life, it was exactly that trust of his that let her coax him up to the roof, where she shoved him off.

I started keeping Boris away from her, and Rosamond kept saying I was blowing things out of proportion, sneaking him off to see her behind my back.

Then one day I got off work early. I'd just reached our front door when I heard Margot's syrupy voice coming from inside.

"Darling, Jasmine's guarding against me so hard now. When can we finally be together out in the open?"

Eugene answered with a laugh. "What's the rush? She's holding that stack of assets from her family, plus thirty percent of the company's shares. We have to take this slow."

"Once I've moved all the company's core assets into your name, then I'll catch her in some fault and send her out of this marriage with nothing. By then this whole house will be ours to run, won't it?"

Margot answered in a wheedling voice. "But I can't wait!"

"One look at that superior air of hers and I'm furious."

"Why should she be born with money and looks and a husband and a kid, while I had to suffer from the time I was little?"

Eugene soothed her. "Relax. It'll be over soon."

"I've already lined up people at the psychiatric hospital. Give it a while longer, then we say she's got mental problems, violent tendencies, and we put her away."

"By then Boris's custody is mine, the family assets are all ours, and all you have to do is sit back and enjoy it."

Then Rosamond's voice came from inside the house, cheerful as she spoke. "Margot, you're so much more sensible than Jasmine. Gentle, thoughtful too."

"Once we've shipped her off, you move in, give the Delgado family another big fat grandson, and everything the Delgados have will belong to you and your son from then on."

I stood outside the door and felt the blood in my whole body go still.

So in my last life, they'd had all of it planned out long ago.

The family I'd poured my heart out to had marked me, from the start, as a thorn in the eye, a splinter in the flesh.

I drew in a deep breath, pushed down the hatred surging up in me, and opened the door.

The three of them in the living room froze on the spot.

Margot had her arm hooked through Eugene's, Rosamond held a fruit plate, and the smiles hadn't had time to leave their faces.

"Jassie, why are you back at this hour?"

Margot pulled her hand back at once and laughed awkwardly. "I just came up to bring Auntie some fruit we grew ourselves..."

I said coldly, "Bringing fruit requires you plastered against my husband?"

"Or is it that the two of you can't wait to take over the nest?"

Eugene's face went ugly, and he shouted at me, "Jasmine, what nonsense are you spouting!"

"Margot just came to see Mom. Can you not be so snide every single time?"

Rosamond glared at me, brows raised, and snapped, "I invited Margot up to sit. So what?"

"This household is not yours to call the shots on!"

I gave a small laugh and didn't argue with them.

Arguing with rabid dogs is pointless.

"Fine, you all talk. I'll go check on Boris in my room." I turned and headed for the nursery, and behind me came the sound of all three of them letting out a breath at once.

I shut the door, leaned back against it, and took out my phone.

That conversation at the door just now, I'd recorded the whole thing.

At the same time, the information I'd hired a private investigator to dig up came through.

In the photo, a middle-aged woman in a floral shirt was doing morning aerobics in the park at the complex's plaza.

She was Margot's mother, spry in her movements, beaming, nothing at all like someone who'd just come out of major surgery for kidney failure.

Below it was a detailed report. Margot's mother, Shelagh Lambert: no history of serious illness. The so-called kidney-failure diagnosis was forged by a contact at the county hospital, and the hospitalization records were bought.

After Margot got the three hundred thousand, she'd already paid cash in full for a three-bedroom back in her hometown county, and spent the rest on luxury goods and paying off online loans. Not a cent went to any medical bills.

The chain of evidence was one link more complete.

Two weeks later, they finally made their move.

I'd just gotten up and finished washing when I heard the racket in the living room.

Two men in white coats stood in the living room, ringed by seven or eight relatives and neighbors, all pointing and muttering.

Rosamond sat on the sofa dabbing at her eyes, slapping her thigh as she wept. "It's a curse! I don't know what's gotten into my daughter-in-law lately. Every day she's suspicious of everything, always saying someone's out to hurt her. Last night she nearly strangled Boris to death!"

Eugene stood off to one side, his expression grave, holding up a stamped diagnosis and telling the people around him, "The doctors diagnosed severe depression with schizophrenia, serious violent tendencies."

"For Boris's safety, and the neighbors' safety, the only option is to send her to the psychiatric hospital for treatment first."

The neighbors and relatives immediately fell to buzzing.

"My goodness, she looks like such a normal person. How does someone just go crazy like that?"

"Poor child, with a crazy mother. What's he going to do from now on?"

"Mr. Delgado really doesn't have it easy either, holding up the company while his wife loses her mind. So hard on him."

Margot stood at the back of the crowd, dabbing at her eyes in that fake way, her voice pitched just right so everyone could hear. "How could Jassie end up like this?"

"If I'd known, I'd have come to keep her company more. It's all my fault..."

I stood at the top of the stairs, watching them perform, cold-eyed.

Now that everyone was assembled, it was time to let the show begin.