I Turned My Cheating Marriage into a Business

I walked away from my divorce with two hundred million dollars. But after Nathan Luo's mistress took my place, she got even more. For years, I couldn't let it go.

I watched him set up an offshore trust for her daughter. Then, when he died, I watched him leave most of his company shares to his tenyearold illegitimate son.

All of it should have belonged to our child. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day before his company went public. Back then, I had been so naive.

I had insisted on making him pay. Now the attorney asked me the same question once more. "Mrs.

Luo, are you sure you want to expose your husband's affair the night before his company goes public?" I cut Attorney Dai off at once. My palms were sweating. "No.

I'm not sure." Chapter 1 My exhusband died at fortyfive. He was at the height of his success, with money and status, when he suddenly dropped dead.

I rushed back from overseas, but I was still too late. By the time my son and I reached New York, Nathan had already been cremated.

His mistress, Kelsey Jiang, had spent ten pampered years as his wife. She was nothing like the timid woman she had once been.

Surrounded by entertainment reporters, she cried through an interview. "My husband's death was so sudden.

I was blessed to have ten years with him." Her words sounded polished and formal.

But the moment someone brought up the estate, her tone hardened. "My husband always told me that everything he owned belonged to our children. "Yes, he had a son with his exwife.

But that woman divorced him ten years ago, kicked him when he was down, and took two hundred million dollars with her. "That boy was never there for his father.

I will not let my husband's money fall into the hands of that mother and son." The backlash swept across the internet. Everyone called her calculating.

I thought she had been far more clearheaded than I was ten years earlier. By becoming the other woman, Kelsey had changed her own fate and moved her children up the social ladder.

I had won nothing but the moral high ground. She had taken firm hold of the tenbilliondollar empire Nathan had built.

Different choices by two mothers had led their children to entirely different futures. My son was about to graduate from an Ivy League school. He was hardworking and bright.

He could inherit my company or build a career on Wall Street. Kelsey's son, on the other hand, had begun life as an illegitimate child and ended up inheriting his father's fortune.

He had become someone my son could never hope to rival. I couldn't accept it. In the final second before the car crash killed me, I asked myself a question.

I had always claimed my conscience was clear. I was forever saying that heaven saw everything people did. But did I truly have no regrets? No. "Mrs. Luo? Mrs.

Luo?" A hand waved in front of my face, snapping me back to the present. The sensation of dying had been real. After my death, I had somehow returned to ten years earlier. "Mrs.

Luo, are you sure you want to expose your husband's scandal the night before his company goes public?" Attorney Dai asked again. "No." I shot to my feet and cut the attorney off. "I'm not sure." "Then what do you mean?" Attorney Dai stared at me.

Only moments ago, I had been shouting that I would ruin Nathan Luo at any cost. I gathered every document on the table. They were the result of an expensive private investigation.

Chapter 2 Every one of them was an intimate photo of Nathan and Kelsey.

I had gone to enormous lengths to make Nathan stumble at the finish line and regret it for the rest of his life. In the end, I was the one who lived with regret. "Cancel the plan.

Do nothing," I said. "I want to make sure my husband's company goes public without a hitch." Attorney Dai stared at me in shock, started to speak, then decided not to ask a single question.

Outside the windows, the lights along the East River glittered like stars. I stood before the floortoceiling glass and looked at the office towers across the water.

In Manhattan, where every square foot cost a fortune, Nathan and I had worked for ten years to occupy the entire twentysecond floor.

One floor would someday become two, then an entire building. I would not let that wealth slip through my fingers.

In my previous life, I had handed proof of Nathan's affair to my attorney and the press that very night. The scandal broke the next morning, and he was overwhelmed.

The company's stock plunged thirty percent when trading opened. It took his public relations team three months to bring the situation under control.

I had gotten my revenge, but it had hardly left me better off. After that spectacle, I was exhausted.

I managed to divorce him and walk away with two hundred million dollars, but I was forced to move overseas, far from New York.

Ten years later, Nathan died suddenly, and the bulk of the assets in his name passed to Kelsey's two children.

Her fouryearold daughter had a trust fund worth four hundred and fifty million dollars. Her tenyearold illegitimate son inherited Nathan's seventypercent stake in the company.

My son, Caleb, got nothing. He was silent for a long time that day.

At last, he looked up at me. "Mom, did Dad really not leave me a single cent?" I looked at him and couldn't say a word. He had a tender heart, perhaps even a weak one.

As Nathan's first child, he had once received all of his father's love. Even after Nathan had an illegitimate son, he had still missed Caleb. I was the one who couldn't let go.

To punish Nathan, I stopped him from seeing Caleb. I took away my own child's right to his father's love. For years, I had been like a madwoman.

I couldn't accept that I had suffered beside Nathan for so long. I couldn't accept that I had sold our house to support him during the hardest days of his startup.

And what had all that resentment accomplished? It only made my son quieter and more withdrawn. It only allowed an outsider to reap the rewards.

Those assets and shares should have belonged to my Caleb. I closed my eyes as a dull ache spread through my chest. There was no time to waste. I hurried home.

Nathan was holding a video conference in his study, his voice tense. When he saw me, he froze. "Rachel?

What are you doing here?" Suppressing my disgust, I wrapped my arms around him. "I'm sorry I worried you. I shouldn't have let you down when your company is about to go public.

No matter how serious our problems are, can we deal with them later?" He stood perfectly still, nearly overcome with joy. "Rachel, have you finally forgiven me?" I handed him the evidence of his affair that I had collected. "I was never really angry with you.

I've been away these past few days because I was handling this. Your competitors hired someone to collect these materials so they could use the scandal against our company.

I paid four hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the exclusive rights. Nothing will go wrong tomorrow." Nathan held me tight, guilt written all over his face.

Before he could apologize, I stopped him. "It's all right. You don't have to say anything." Chapter 3 "I understand what you mean," I said.

Early the next morning, I had the housekeeper make Nathan's favorite driedscallop congee, then accompanied him to the office.

The openingbell ceremony took place at the New York Stock Exchange. Nathan looked sharp in his suit, brimming with confidence. I stood beside him in a business suit.

One of Nathan's business partners looked startled to see me. Pulling Nathan aside, Taylor whispered helplessly, "I thought we agreed Rachel shouldn't come.

What if she's still furious about the affair?" I walked over and pretended I hadn't heard. "Nathan, the reporters are waiting to interview us.

You can talk to Taylor later." He took my hand and smiled. "All right." At lunch, I watched him eat his congee and took some hangover medicine from my purse. "Eat something first, then take this.

It should keep you from getting drunk tonight. You have a sensitive stomach.

Take care of yourself." Nathan looked ashamed. "Rachel, I could spend the rest of my life trying and still never repay what I owe you." The words made me want to vomit.

But once I decided to run my marriage like a business, my entire outlook changed. A deal that paid off millions of times over was hard to come by. I had to make the most of it.

I didn't force a false smile. I simply reached up and straightened his tie. "We've waited ten years for this. Don't overthink it.

I'll always be by your side." For the entire day, I played the devoted wife to perfection.

I stood with Nathan for the bell ceremony, then spoke with his partners at the evening reception and helped him bring in new business.

The press took plenty of photographs, and I paid for several rounds of promotional coverage.

By the next day, news sites and social media were filled with headlines. [Luo Group's Decade of Work Pays Off as Shares Soar Overnight] [Devoted Wife Stands Beside Husband at Opening Bell] I felt no embarrassment as I read the praise.

Nathan might cheat again someday. But after this, everyone would remember me. They would know I was the wife who had struggled beside him for ten years.

I was building reputational capital for myself. If we did eventually divorce, a mere two hundred million dollars would never be enough.

I wanted everyone to believe that, after all I had done, even taking half of Luo Group would be entirely fair.

That evening, my motherinlaw called me for once. "Rachel, I saw the news today. You did very well yesterday.

You finally acted like a good wife." "I was too immature before, Mom," I said, offering peace. "Mm." Her tone softened. "At least you understand that now.

Nathan's career is finally on track. Take good care of your home, and stop making trouble over nonsense." "I know, Mom.

Don't worry." After hanging up, I leaned back on the couch and played on my phone as though nothing had happened.

In my previous life, my relationship with my motherinlaw had been terrible. She had never liked me much.

She thought my education was unimpressive and that I wasn't good enough for her son.

When Nathan and I later divorced, she told anyone who would listen that I was ungrateful and unreasonable. This time, I had no intention of fighting her. What was the point?

Fight Nathan, fight his mother, fight until the woman outside our marriage walked away with everything.

Just as she had in my previous life, Kelsey arrived with a pregnant belly as soon as the company went public.

I calmly finished my last round of Wing Pals, then spoke to the housekeeper. "Let her in." Chapter 4 Kelsey was polite enough when she entered. She greeted me first. "Mrs.

Luo, I'm Kelsey Jiang. We've met before… Do you remember me?" My fingers tightened around my phone. She actually dared to mention our last meeting.

Somehow, she had gotten my number and asked me to meet her. We argued so fiercely in the café that everyone there turned to watch us.

She cried as she told me she truly loved Nathan and begged me to step aside. I was so furious that I threw a cup of coffee all over her.

Nathan arrived later, his face livid, and berated me. It was the most humiliating day of my life. Looking back on it now, it felt like another lifetime.

Kelsey wore a loose beige dress, and her lower belly was beginning to swell. She looked pitiful as she spoke. "Mrs.

Luo, I know I shouldn't have come to you, but I… I have nowhere else to turn. A child shouldn't grow up without a father. I… I want to have Mr.

Luo's baby." "Then have it," I said flatly. She stared at me, clearly unprepared for that answer. "Mrs. Luo, thank you for accepting us.

I…" Her tears began to fall. "Miss Jiang, I think you've misunderstood me." I interrupted her calmly. "Did I ever tell you I was divorcing Nathan?" This time, I was much more relaxed.

In my previous life, when I first learned she was pregnant, Nathan and I fought endlessly. I slapped him and hurled my purse at him.

Nathan apologized and tried again and again to soothe me. He said Kelsey had worked for him for two years and was the most capable assistant in his company.

He begged me to think of the bigger picture and let him take the company public first. But I didn't listen to a single word.

I sat on the couch, wishing the illegitimate child would disappear at once, yet said the opposite of what I meant. "If you like her so much, why don't you let her have the baby?

You're about to become rich. What's one more child to support? You don't have to consider my feelings. What am I worth, anyway?" Nathan had felt guilty at first.

But after I kept pushing, he frowned. "Rachel, do you have to talk like this?" I continued to mock him. He suddenly gave a cold laugh. "Fine. You'll get exactly what you asked for.

I'll let her have the baby. Are you satisfied now?" I had thought that shouting louder would put me in the right. I had forgotten that a person's character always had another side.

A man capable of building such an enormous business and carrying so much responsibility was never going to tolerate being cornered. In my previous life, I had miscalculated.

I looked at the selfsatisfied Kelsey, calmly lifted my coffee cup, and smiled. "Go ahead and have it.

Do you really think the baby won't be placed in my arms the moment it's born?" "Have as many as you want. I'll take every one of them.

Who would ever complain about having too many children?" Kelsey stood frozen