He Paid Me 1 Dollar For 10 Pounds, He Paid Her 100,000 For A Bag Chapter 02

He Paid Me 1 Dollar For 10 Pounds, He Paid Her 100,000 For A Bag Chapter 02

“Tessa, is this some kind of payback?”

“Because Mallory sent a dollar instead of a thousand? That was a mistake.”

“Because the transfer was late?”

His voice was slurred. He pressed a hand to his mouth and gagged.

“Mr. Halstead, are you okay?”

“He had a business dinner tonight. Closed a huge deal. He had way too much to drink celebrating.”

“Please don’t be upset. The transfer delay was my fault!”

Mallory rushed to steady him. Her hands moved like they’d done this before, loosening his tie, undoing his top buttons.

I stood there watching. Something twisted in my chest.

My body moved before my brain did. I stepped inside.

Mallory’s voice cut me off cold.

“Mrs. Halstead, you need to step on the scale before coming inside!”

My foot hovered mid-step.

I instinctively looked at Everett.

His tone didn’t soften.

“Tessa, we’re doing this for your own good.”

“You can’t keep making excuses when you can’t even drop a few pounds.”

“I can’t have a wife who lacks basic self-control.”

“You want people laughing at me because of how you look?”

Every word landed like a slap.

I pressed my lips shut and pushed the abortion paperwork deeper into my bag.

“All right,” I whispered.

I was about to take off my shoes.

Mallory frowned.

“Mrs. Halstead, isn’t taking off your shoes cheating?”

“Mr. Halstead said last time you refused to weigh in with your shoes on. You were gaming the numbers.”

“The shoes stay on this time too!”

My hand stopped. I stepped onto the scale with my shoes still on.

“One hundred seventy-one pounds?”

“Mrs. Halstead, you didn’t cheat, did you?”

“You lost five and a half pounds in just one afternoon?”

Suspicion dripped from every word.

I looked at Everett.

His expression remained cold.

I swallowed the ache and walked inside without a word.

That three-mile walk. My mouth was cracked dry.

I grabbed the refrigerator handle. It wouldn’t budge.

“Mrs. Halstead, I forgot to tell you.”

“The best way to lose weight is to stop eating after noon.”

“It’s already eleven. The fridge locks automatically. Won’t open again until seven tomorrow morning.”

She delivered every word like a corporate policy.

Then she pulled out a weight loss plan.

“Mrs. Halstead, I had a professional trainer put this together for you.”

“Follow the schedule exactly. No exceptions.”

I took the printed schedule from Mallory.

Every page was crammed with exercises and diet rules.

Almost every minute had been scheduled.

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Everett, my mom is still in the ICU after her car accident. I have to visit her every day!”

I crumpled the paper in my hand.

I looked up and met Everett’s eyes.

He frowned, reaching for the plan.

Mallory suddenly cut in.

“Mr. Halstead, you put me in charge of her regimen. You have to trust me on this.”

“She’s unconscious in the ICU. Sitting by her bed won’t change anything.”

“Mrs. Halstead, don’t make excuses.”

“If you keep slipping, you might spend the rest of your life trying to lose weight!”

Everett’s outstretched hand stopped.

His phone suddenly rang.

He turned away, phone to his ear, and tossed the words over his shoulder.

“Tessa, Mallory is right!”

“Don’t forget, I’m the one paying your mother’s ICU bills…”

I dragged myself to the bedroom, the weight loss plan crumpled in my fist.

My throat was on fire. I bent over the bathroom sink and drank straight from the faucet.

His words wouldn’t stop replaying.

Something inside me went quiet.

That night, I tossed and turned for hours.

Sleep barely came.

The second I finally drifted off, my phone started buzzing like crazy.