Jared’s veins bulged as he clenched his fists. “You-”
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Madam Sarah’s face turned cold. She rapped her cane hard against the floor. “I was the one who slapped him. Why are you blaming Tracy? Or is it that I’m too old now, and my words mean nothing in this house?”
No one dared to answer.
Jared glared at Tracy one last time, then stood. “I’ve got work to do at the company. I’m leaving.”
Faye quickly stood too, fussing after him. “Jared, you barely ate. I’ll pack you something to take along-you can eat at the office.”
She ordered Linda to fetch a lunch box and carefully packed up Jared’s favorite dishes.
He accepted the food, thanked her curtly, grabbed his jacket, and left.
Chase sat with a hand over his stinging cheek, the hatred in his eyes for Tracy deepening further. But with their grandmother protecting her, he could do nothing but swallow his anger.
After the meal, Tracy accompanied her grandmother for a while.
Madam Sarah stroked her face with tender affection. “You’ve lost so much weight. Haven’t you been eating properly?”
Tracy smiled lightly. “I’m dieting. Don’t I look better slimmer?”
“Nonsense. My Tracy looks good no matter what.” Madam Sarah narrowed her eyes. “Tell me, Tracy, do you have a young man you like? Bring him home sometime so I can meet him.”
Someone she liked… once upon a time. Not anymore.
She and Chandler had kept their marriage a secret, partly to avoid dragging the Xander family into it. She had thought Chandler would be her safe harbor. Childhood sweethearts-yet even that hadn’t resisted a man’s weakness for novelty.
In the end, love had collapsed into nothing more than meals and bills, sour glances across the table.
Tracy tilted her head. “I only like Grandma.”
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Chapter 11 When Will You Transfer My Thirty Million?
Her grandmother smiled and soon drifted into her usual nap.
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Once she was asleep, Tracy quietly slipped out, told Linda she was leaving, and drove off.
On the road back, her phone rang. She tapped her steering wheel controls to answer.
Natalie’s lazy voice floated through the speakers. “Tracy, what are you up to?”
Eyes on the traffic light ahead, Tracy slowed her car. “Driving. Why?”
Natalie groaned, disappointed. “Ah? I was hoping to drag you out shopping. Don’t tell me you’re off with your husband.”
Watching the red light tick down, Tracy chuckled. “No. I just came back from the Xanders. Are you home? I’ll swing by and pick you up-we can go together.”
“You’re not with your husband?”
“He already has company. He doesn’t need me.”
Natalie caught the bitterness beneath her words and didn’t press. “Fine. Come to my place. I’ll get ready and head down.”
“Alright,” Tracy replied.
When the light turned green, she made a U-turn toward Natalie’s apartment.
Soon, Natalie slid into the passenger seat, chatting nonstop while Tracy answered calmly, almost serenely.
Her composure unsettled Natalie. She studied her friend’s face, finding it still, expressionless- as if the two of them weren’t talking about Tracy’s own marriage at all.
It was like she had transformed, her former anguish gone, leaving only a chilling calm.
Natalie couldn’t help asking softly, “Are you really okay?”
Eyes fixed on the road, Tracy shook her head. “What’s there not to be okay about? You think I can’t live without a cheating man?”
The words were true enough, but Natalie knew how deeply Tracy had clung to Chandler. For years, no amount of advice had swayed her.
And now suddenly, she was letting go?
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At the mall, Natalie picked out clothes for her. She settled on a red silk dress and shoved Tracy into the fitting room. “This is perfect for you. Try it.”
Tracy didn’t argue. She slipped it on and stepped out, turning before the mirror. “Natalie, how do I look?”
Natalie’s eyes lit up. “Stunning! With your figure, everything looks good, but this—this is gorgeous on you.”
Tracy liked it too. The red silk draped smoothly over her frame, accentuating graceful curves, as though tailored just for her.
They picked out a few more pieces, paid, and stepped out of the store-only to run straight into Hailey and Yvonne, arm in arm, shopping together.
Hailey spotted Tracy at once. Disgust flickered across her face, but in the next second, fearing Yvonne might notice, she grabbed her and hurried to leave.
Tracy’s voice cut through the air. “Ms. Hailey, long time no see.”
Hailey’s heart gave a violent jolt. Instinctively, she tried to drag Yvonne away.
Feigning ignorance, Yvonne tugged her hand. “Ms. Hailey, I think someone’s calling you.”
Hailey patted her arm briskly. “I don’t know that woman. She wasn’t calling me.”
She was determined not to let Yvonne know her son had married Tracy once, unwilling for her to think Chandler was a secondhand man.
“Oh,” Yvonne murmured, nodding as if she believed her.
If Hailey wanted to pretend not to know her, so be it. Yvonne herself had no wish to reveal that Tracy was the Xanders’ other daughter.
But watching Hailey’s guilty expression only made Tracy’s mood lift. The more Hailey tried to erase her, the more Tracy wanted to force her acknowledgment.
Once, Hailey had bullied her endlessly. Because of Chandler, she had swallowed it all in silence.
But not anymore. With divorce imminent, she had no reason to keep quiet. Now was the time. to press her advantage and reclaim what was hers.
She quickened her steps, caught up to Hailey, and curved her lips in a cool smile. “Ms. Hailey, about that thirty million you owe me-when exactly do you plan on transferring it into my
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Chapter 11 When Will You Transfer My Thirty Million?
account?”
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Chapter 12 As Long as the Money’s in Place, Anything Can Be Discu…
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
