Bankrupting My Husband’s Fake Perfect Family Chapter 09

Bankrupting My Husband’s Fake Perfect Family Chapter 09: The Mistress’s True Colors

“He posted bail twenty minutes ago,” Sebastian stated.

He tapped a key on the control console.

A massive wall of monitors flickered to life inside the VIP lounge of the Obsidian Club. The high-definition screens cast a cool, blue light across the darkened room.

“A public defender and a cheap bail bondsman,” I noted, settling into the plush leather chair beside him.

“Exactly. Watch screen four.”

I focused on the top right monitor. The feed showed a cramped, dingy living room. Peeling wallpaper lined the walls, and a stained mattress lay shoved against a radiator.

“Where is this?” I asked.

“A short-term rental in the garment district,” Sebastian answered. “Chloe’s emergency backup. My private investigators installed the cameras this morning.”

On screen, Chloe paced the faded carpet. She wore sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt. Her usually perfect hair stuck to her sweaty forehead.

“You ate the last protein bar!” Chloe shrieked.

Liam sat on a lumpy sofa, scrolling on his phone. “I was hungry. Buy more.”

“With what money?” Chloe screamed, grabbing a ceramic plate from a tiny kitchenette counter. “Your father’s cards are useless!”

She hurled the plate at the wall behind Liam’s head.

The ceramic shattered into a dozen jagged pieces.

Liam ducked, covering his face with both arms. “Are you crazy?!”

Mia huddled in the corner chair. She flinched as fragments rained down around her.

“I am not your maid!” Chloe yelled. She grabbed a heavy coffee mug next. “I didn’t sign up to babysit two broke, ungrateful brats!”

“Stop it!” Mia sobbed.

Chloe threw the mug straight at the floor near Mia’s feet.

It exploded on impact.

Mia shrieked. She clutched her calf. Blood instantly welled from a deep gash near her ankle, staining her designer jeans.

“Mom!” Mia wailed, rocking back and forth. “I want my mom!”

I watched the dark red drops hit the cheap rug.

My pulse remained entirely steady.

“She remembers you exist when she bleeds,” Sebastian murmured.

He stood close enough that his tailored sleeve brushed my shoulder.

“Pain is a great motivator,” I replied.

I leaned forward, studying the screen. The sight of my daughter crying for me just felt incredibly absurd. Two days ago, she laughed with that woman in those vacation photos. Now, she wept under her abuse.

The front door of the apartment slammed open.

Julian stumbled inside. He still wore the wrinkled blue dress shirt from his arrest. Dark circles hung heavily under his eyes.

“Dad!” Liam shouted, jumping off the sofa. “She’s throwing things!”

“Look at my leg!” Mia cried, pointing at her bloody calf.

Julian ignored his daughter. He didn’t even glance at her bleeding leg.

He marched straight toward Chloe.

“Where is the emergency cash?” Julian demanded, his voice rough and frantic.

Chloe backed away, hitting the edge of the kitchen counter. “What cash?”

“The twenty thousand I gave you to hide in the mattress!” Julian roared. “I need it to pay the bondsman!”

“I spent it!” Chloe spat back.

Julian grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her violently. “On what?!”

“On my son’s hospital bills!” Chloe screamed, clawing at his hands. “Because you got caught, you stupid failure!”

Julian slapped her across the face.

The sharp crack echoed through the club’s surround-sound speakers.

Chloe lunged forward. She dug her manicured nails into Julian’s cheek, tearing the skin.

They collapsed onto the floor, trading vicious blows.

“Stop!” Liam yelled, backing into the wall.

Mia just sat in the corner, sobbing uncontrollably as her father wrestled his mistress on the dirty floorboards.

I watched the pathetic brawl play out. The grand, perfect romance they paraded around for months had rotted away in less than forty-eight hours.

Bile rose in my throat at the sheer filth of their behavior.

I turned away from the monitors.

I closed my eyes, shutting out the shrill screams echoing from the speakers.

Sebastian shifted his stance.

I stepped closer to him. The faint scent of cedar and expensive cologne washed over me, masking the imaginary stench of that cheap apartment.

His suit radiated a steady, intense heat.

“Disgusted?” Sebastian asked softly.

“They belong in the gutter,” I whispered.

Sebastian lifted his hand. His knuckles grazed the side of my jaw.

I leaned into his solid frame, letting his presence anchor me against the chaos. His touch offered absolute power, a stark contrast to the weakness fighting on the screen.

“Look,” Sebastian ordered, his tone shifting.

I opened my eyes.

On the monitor, Julian shoved Chloe away.

He crawled across the torn carpet, panting heavily. Blood smeared across his jawline from the deep scratches.

He reached under the sofa and snatched his cell phone from the floorboards.

His thumbs tapped frantically across the cracked screen.

“Who is he calling?” I asked.

“He doesn’t have a lawyer on speed dial,” Sebastian noted.

Two seconds later, a sharp ringtone pierced the quiet air of the surveillance room.

The sound did not come from the speakers.

It came from inside my leather purse.

I unclasped the metal latch. I pulled out the prepaid burner phone I bought yesterday.

The screen glowed brightly in the dim room.

An unknown number flashed on the display.

“He found the new number,” Sebastian said.