Chapter One 

Chapter One

Sage's POV

“You have to believe me, Sage. It all was a mistake. It was my fault he cheated on you. I am totally to blame for it all,” my husband's mistress sobbed as she sat before me, wiping her crocodile tears for the tenth time since she sat before me.

She does not know how much I wanted to smile with joy and pour myself a glass of alcohol to celebrate the appearance of a tangible reason to divorce my husband.

“I do not mind being his mistress,” she suddenly said, kneeling in front of me to reach out to grab my hands. “I promise, I'll make sure to stay out of your way, and if my child is born, I can leave if you want. But you would not want me away from my child, would you? I'll have to stay with him for a while.”

I wasn't a fool; I understood what she was trying to do perfectly, and I wasn't complaining. It was going better than I had anticipated. “Please, say something, Sage.”

As I was about to open my mouth to voice out something, the door was suddenly flung open, and I saw my husband standing there, looking panicked. “What are you doing here, Emily?” He said, clearly rushing over after hearing she had arrived to meet me.

“You're here, sweetheart.” I smiled at him sweetly, and I could see him shiver a bit. It was so unlike me to take things calmly, but I was just tired of this marriage anyway.

We've been married for three good years, and I only married him at that time because I needed a partner in order to get a couple of contracts and make my parents get off my back. I loved him at first, but it was not deep enough to get married.

I realized he was cheating on me a year into the marriage, and the only reason he was staying with me was for my money. Of course, I had a lot of it, so when the time was right, I would finally divorce him, and this was the perfect time to do so.

“You should have told me about the baby sooner, sweetheart.” I said, faking a sad smile before turning back to Emily, who was still grabbing my hands.

I was a perfect actress, so unless you knew me for a very long time, you would know the intentions behind my act. You might even be with me for years and still know nothing about how I act.

“Emily, you are welcome to stay here anytime you like. You can even move in today if you want.” I patted her hands gently with a smile.

“But I took your man, and we had an affair outside your marriage.”

“Emily, that is enough!” Theo thundered, and we both shot our looks in his direction. “It's not what you think it is, Sage. I can explain to you.”

“I already understood since she stepped in, sweetheart, and it would be so nice for you to have a baby since I'm not ready for one now. You could have just told me about her before now, so I wouldn't be surprised.” I tutted, and I could see the mixed feelings in his expression.

“I did not know she would become pregnant. I'm so sorry if it hurt you.” He laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck while exchanging glances with Emily.

“I have a gift for you. It's impromptu, but I hope you appreciate it.” I said, standing up while heading up the stairs leading to our room. “Give me a few minutes.”

I walked up into my study, picking up the only file in the empty room. I had them empty my things while Emily was waiting for my entry approval. I had a lot of houses, so leaving this one won't be anything special.

As I walked out of the study and down the stairs, I paused to listen to their conversation. “I told you it was okay to tell her about this. She didn't even scream or shout about it and just welcomed me.” I heard Emily say to him.

“But, Emily, I still wanted to have her so I could use her money. I bought you the bag and shoes you requested, and we agreed you wouldn't come to her until I'm done with that project with the project manager. We can get millions, and we can get out of here with it.” I leaned against the railings slightly to listen in on their conversation with a small smile.

He was so easy to read. He thought he could just fool me and get away with everything. You just wait and see the bitch you're dealing with, motherfucker.

Tapping the file in my hand gently, I headed down the stairs, and I heard their conversation stop as they said well on the seat they were on together. “Did I take long? Sorry, it took me a while to get this,” I smiled brightly, handing it over to Theo. “Don't open it yet. It's a surprise.”

“And one thing, Emily, sweetie,” she turned to look in my direction. “You didn't steal my man. You were just doing me a favor I really much needed.”

Theo opened the file, and when he scanned through the entire thing, I could see the shock in his eyes as he looked at me, hands trembling. “Sage,” his voice cracked as he pointed at the file. “A divorce? And an arrest warrant?”

Emily looked shocked too, and she could say a word. “That's my gift to you. You probably wouldn't be out of jail to enjoy the house I would like to give you, but, too bad, you just had to embezzle a lot of funds from my company.”

“But I didn't do that, Sage. You have to believe me. This must have been some kind of setup or mix-up to think that way. You know me well, Sage.” He pleaded, trying to come over to me, but I stopped him by raising a hand.

“What do you mean? Project manager Kang has been arrested and testified to working with you to get the company's funds. I would have taken it easier on you since we were supposed to be married, but now that your mistress finally came out herself, I guess we can just end things here,” I smiled before turning to look at Emily. “Or what do you think, Emily, sweetie?”

“You can't do this,” she protested. “I can't have the father of my child in jail.”

“No need to worry, sweetie. He'll just be in jail for, let's see, fifteen years or more to atone for his crimes. You can come over, and I'll get you a job sometimes.” I stood up with a smile while removing my wedding ring and handing it over to Emily.

“It's yours to keep. It should be worth something since he got it with my money anyway.” I said with a sweet smile before walking out of the living room. “See you in hell, Theodore Lee.”

“Sage, listen to me.” His voice got muffled as the door behind me was closed and my assistant was standing there with her arms folded and a frown.

“Come on, Violet. I'm just thirty minutes late. I had to deal with them.” I chuckled before getting into my car with a fulfilled look.

I'm Sage Willows, CEO of Phoenix Estates, and a real bad bitch.