He Got the Mistress. I Got the Empire. Chapter 09

He Got the Mistress. I Got the Empire. Chapter 09

“Fine. The family estate can be yours, but the company stays with me. That business is my life’s work. I can’t give it up. I’ll buy the shares in your hands at market price.”

I gave him a long, meaningful look.

“Alright. As long as you recover every cent you squandered on Lisa and her son, I won’t touch your company.”

Freddy agreed without hesitation and moved swiftly. The very next day, he had his lawyer file suit against Lisa, demanding the return of all property and money he had gifted her over the years.

In court, Lisa wept pitifully, claiming the funds were voluntary support for her and the child. Over the years, Freddy had poured eight million into her and Eugene.

The final judgment ordered her to repay 800,000 dollars. Not the full sum, but enough to leave her utterly ruined.

On the day of sentencing, Lisa broke down, screaming hysterically in court, “Freddy, you heartless bastard! I gave you years of my life, bore you a son, and this is how you repay me?”

Freddy looked at her without the faintest flicker of emotion. “It was never yours to begin with.”

Outside the courthouse, he hurried after me, eyes glinting with fragile hope.

“Valerie, I understand now. I can’t lose you. I’ll prove my sincerity to you.”

I only smiled faintly.

“Alright. Prove it when you’ve rebuilt your company.”

Not long after, Freddy came looking for me again. This time, his eyes were bloodshot, his hair disheveled, and all traces of his former confidence gone.

“Valerie!”

His voice was hoarse, edged with barely contained fury.

“Was this your scheme all along? I reclaimed the money from Lisa, and I gave you the estate just as you asked. So why won’t you let me go?

“The company has lost three major clients in a row. None of them would even give me a reason. The bank suddenly tightened its credit as well. You’ve forced me into a corner. You want me destroyed, don’t you?”

I regarded him calmly, as though he were a stranger.

“Freddy, do you still believe those clients worked with you because of your ability?”

He froze, then frowned.

“If not by my skill, then what? Don’t tell me it was charity from you. Valerie, don’t overstep. Maybe you had a good father, but that company—I bled and burned for it.”

I rose slowly, walked to the safe, and pulled out a thick stack of documents. I tossed them onto the table before him.

“Take a good look. See for yourself who stood behind every single client over the years.”

Hands trembling, Freddy opened the files. With each page, his face grew darker.

My voice was cold.

“Remember your very first client? You thought you won him over with that proposal you stayed up nights to polish. The truth? He was a close friend of my uncle’s. That year, I humbled myself before his wife for an entire month before he finally gave you that contract.

“And Mr. Sandow, your biggest investor… The guy’s notorious for being impossible to deal with. You tried three times and were turned away each time. It was through my father’s former subordinates that I secured an introduction. Without that connection, do you really think anyone would waste time on a fledgling company like yours?”

For years, Freddy had lived inside the myth of his own entrepreneurship.

Bitterness edged my voice.

“Do you know why my father never interfered in our affairs after I married you? He’s always been too proud to watch his daughter debase herself, begging for favors, burning through connections, all to prop up her husband’s ambitions.

“Every night you stayed up working overtime, I stayed up too. Every battle you thought you fought alone, I was there beside you. Back then, I told myself it didn’t matter—as long as helping you build the company meant we could build a happy home together, it was worth it.”