" I was hoping I wouldn't have to fuck you up again "
Bella is stunned at his words, she could feel the dangerous vibes he was given. She quickly distanced herself from him. " You are cheating on me, with my sister!" " No " Vaughn says nonchalently " I cheat with other women too " " How could you do this to me?!" " We've had this conversation countless times before. It's not about you. I want some pussy, and I have enough money to get with whomever I want, so why shouldn't I?" " You...You said you loved me " " Loved you " He scoffed coldly. Vaughn felt like laughing at the moment, it was ironic the number of time they've gone through this same scenerio. This was why he couldn't stand Bella, because everything about her felt like it was repeated. But he really couldn't blame her, it was because of her mental illness. " I never loved you Isabella, I've only tolerated you this much due to your condition. I can cheat as much as I want, and you would remember non of it " Bella felt tears run down her rues, she couldn't believe that the man she loved with all her heart was saying this to her. Perhaps it would have been better if Vaughn had only been cheating on her. Right now he sounded like he hated her very existence. Bella ran pass Vaughn and went to her bedroom. She didn't try to leave the house because she knew Vaughn wouldn't let her go. She hurried took out her jot note and scribbled something inside, she then tossed it under her bed. The moment she had done this, the door of the room was pushed open; She had forgot to lock it. Bella wasn't even given the opportunity to try getting away before she was grabbed roughly by her Husband. " Vaughn, Please.." " I don't fucking have time for this today. I wish you'd just stayed out if my way " Vaughn grumbled. He was very irritated by Bella's actions. To him it was like she was prying into his business. He proffered her to be docile, to just stay put and only appear in front of him when he had need for her. Although he didn't want to hit Bella again; he was afraid that someone might start noticing. However he had no choice, he was going to be busy today and he didn't need her interfering in his business. " Whatever " He says. Bella feels pain shoot across her forehead as it hits the Cabinet. " Just fucking sleep " Vaughn tosses her on the bed and stalks out of the room. He alerts the Nurse to bandage Bella up and then left for the Company. The Nurse hurried upstairs to see Bella laying helplessly on the bed. Her heart moved in empathy for the woman, she carely came to move Bella into a more comfortable position. " Go to sleep, It won't hurt as much " Bella looked at the Nurse hesitantly, and she sudden feel a sense of Déjà vu, even though her face was covered in blood from the cut wound on her forehead, and she was feeling very dizzy, Bella still had to ask. " D...Does he always...hurt me?" The Nurse gave her a surprised look. In all the years she had been attending to the Madam after Vaughn was through with her, this was the first time Bella had openly asked this million dollar question. The Nurse was very hesitant. She knew that Vaughn McCoy's security was very tight, and there could be cameras in the room. However, she knew it wouldn't matter. Afterall, Bella wouldn't remember anything tomirrow and Vaughn wouldn't give a shit about what she told her. " He does. But only when you question him. You should stop, just be contented with the fact that you are his envied wife, the one he comes home to everyday " " The one he beats up whenever he wants " Bella says, she doesn't feel sad now, but there was hatred growing steadily in her heart. " It's alright " The Nurse told her. She went to tgw bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit she had left there, when she returned, Bella had passed out from the pain. She shook her head in Pity and remorse, if only she didn't need this job to sustain herself, she might have helped Bella escape this abusive relationship. Slowly, she cleaned and bandaged Bella's wounds * * * Bella woke up in pain. She groggily looked around her and found a strange woman sitting beside her. " Good morning Mrs Mcoy " " Morning. W..Who are you?" " I am Molly, the personal Nurse assigned to you by your husband. You fell down the stairs yesterday and hit your head. Unfortunalesly, Mr Mcoy had a lot of work to do so he couldn't be here " " He's always working " Bella said, feeling solemn that Vaughn would choose to work rather than be by her side when she was tired. The Nurse gave her a strange look, she hesitated before asking. " Have you...ever considered leaving him?" " What? Why would I want to do that?" Bella was taken aback by the question. Vaughn was her life, she'd loved him since they were teens, he had given her no reason to want to leave him. " I love him, I've never considered a divorce before " " Maybe you should" Bella heard the woman mumble, when she asked her what she meant by that, Molly gave an excuse and hurried out of the room to prepare her breakfast. Bella thought there was something strange about the Nurse. She wouldn't have simply asked her to get a divorce if there wasn't some motive behind it. Was she one of the multiple women who wanted Vaughn? But she didn't seem in anyway malicious towards Bella, it seemed more that she was concerned about her. Whatever. She searched for her phone and found it on the cabinet. She was surprised to see the crack on the screen; when had she dropped it? Bella reached for it but clumsily knocked it to the ground. She rolled her eyes at her own silliness and hunched over to pick it up. She noticed the red cover of her personal journal immediately. It was flung under the bed messily. " Why is this here?" She asked herself as she picked it up. Bella was never careless with her journal, because it contained a lot of important dates and events she might be attending. She went through the pages and paused when she came upon the one that contained her messy hand writing. Her body went cold as she read through the sentence scribbled on the page. ' He's An Abuser. He Cheats. Check The Cameras '' He's An Abuser. He Cheats. Check The Cameras 'What? It was clear that she was the one who had written this, but who was she referencing? Who was the abuser? This was something Bella just couldn't ignore. Bella rose to her feet and scurried out of the room. She walked down to the very end of the hallways ontil she got to the security room. Mark, who was the guy that oversaw the security Cameras hadn't come yet, it was still early in rge day. Bella hesitantly walked in and went directly for the monitors. She scrolled through vidoes after vidoes of boring everyday activity. She was almost tempted to leave after not finding anything, but that was ontil she came upon the footage of her and Vaughn fighting. At first she thought it was just a minor disagreement. But that was ontil she saw Vaughn grab her by her hair and slam her face on the wall. She saw the half naked woman, Vaughn's assistant who had always been kind to Bella snickering as her injured body was flung to the ground. ' T
Vaughn was stunned at the news of Bella's accident, but he quickly recovered. With a scowl, he tossed the phone away. "Send an ambulance to her location."The men exchanged glances, and one of them summoned the courage to ask, "Won't you be going to check on her?""Why the hell should I?" Vaughn glared at him. "She got herself into this mess, she can get herself out." He turned around and walked upstairs to his room.Vaughn stripped off his clothes and went to take a shower. Afterward, he lay on his bed, preparing to sleep. But before he could doze off, his phone started ringing. He groaned in irritation as he picked it up. It was his secretary. "What?""Mr. McCoy, Bella is—""Yes, I know. She got into an accident.""You need to be at the hospital, sir! The media already got wind of what happened. If you don’t go now, they’ll start suspecting something. It’ll be bad for your reputation!"Vaughn wanted to refuse, but he knew his secretary had a point. He valued his reputation above all
It was a miracle from God that she had overcome her mental condition, but Bella feared this freedom wouldn’t last long. And she couldn’t go to any hospital to get herself tested because she just knew Vaughn would get wind of it. The whole world seemed to worship the very ground he walked on; everyone was so eager to please him.This was why Bella hadn’t told him about her recovery. If her husband knew that she remembered all the abuse he had put her through, he might get rid of her. She feared he would hurt or kill her. So, she kept her mouth shut and pretended to still be mentally ill. Vaughn treated her kindly, like she was the most precious thing in the world. It was hard to imagine that this was the same man who had hurt her countless times.“Home sweet home,” Vaughn said as he wheeled her into the house. It was the fourth day after she had awakened from her coma. Vaughn had demanded she be brought home despite the hospital’s protest. He had told her not to worry, that the best nu
The next day, Bella woke up early to cook breakfast for Vaughn. She greeted him with a smile when he came downstairs. "Good morning, dear.""Morning, baby." Vaughn placed a soft kiss on her lips. He eyed the food on the table with surprise. "You cooked?""Yeah. Anna told me about the accident this morning. I felt bad for making you worried, so I wanted to make it up to you.""I appreciate the sentiment, baby, but you know you don’t have to do all this. We have the maids for a reason.""I know. But this is like a thank you for being such an amazing husband to me."Vaughn smiled at her and didn’t bother protesting further. He took a seat and dug into the food. His eyes widened in surprise at the delicious taste. Although it was just a simple breakfast, it was far better than what the cooks made. In all the years he had been with Bella, this was the first time she had cooked something so delicious."This is so good, baby. I didn’t know you could cook.""I’m not that good. I just spent ho
"What is this?"Bella kept her head bowed. Despite hearing the anger in his voice, she didn’t respond; she had nothing to say. Her silence only angered him more."Isabella, what the fuck is that necklace doing in your bag if you didn’t pay for it?!"She raised her head, stunned at the use of her full name. Vaughn had never referred to her by her full name before, and they’d been together for years. It seemed she had successfully managed to piss him off, and this was only phase two of her plan. She was very content with herself.Bella spoke with a nonchalant voice, "I guess I forgot to pay for it."Vaughn was so angry that even the staff became terrified. The manager quickly stepped forward to help resolve the issue. "Mr. McCoy, the fault is ours. Your wife was clearly tired; she truly forgot to pay for the necklace. It’s just a misunderstanding.""Step aside," Vaughn told him coldly. The older man shuffled away. The billionaire advanced toward his wife, and the fact that she seemed un
Westbridge Academy of Music and Arts was one of the most well-known universities in the country. It boasted a large number of celebrity graduates each year, including some of the most famous artists in the world. It was the place to be for anyone seeking connections or looking to boost their fame further.It was safe to say that the school's criteria were very high, and it was extremely difficult to gain admission. For someone like Bella, who had no talent in art, it would have been nearly impossible to be accepted. But here she was, a first-year student of music and dance, something she didn't even have an interest in.But it was alright because she wasn't actually here to study. Bella had enrolled at Westbridge because it was the only way she could meet a certain person without raising Vaughn's suspicion. This person would be her key to escaping her abusive marriage and exacting revenge on her husband.Bella had to move out of the mansion due to her new college being a three-hour dr
“Boss?” Vaughn’s attention was diverted back to his bodyguard, who had also noticed Bella’s fleeing figure. “Should we go after her?”“No need. I doubt she’s the one.” If that had indeed been his wife, why would she have run away after seeing him? Just now, it was as if she had seen a monster. No, that couldn’t possibly be his Bella. Vaughn walked forward, ignoring the crowd that was gradually forming.As someone famous, he always caused a stir wherever he went, which was why he had his security team with him at all times. He hated interacting with people he regarded as beneath him.“Mr. McCoy, welcome,” the Vice-Chancellor of the school, Mr. Adams, greeted him. They shook hands, and he led the young billionaire to his office. “I want to state what an honor it is to have you at our institution.”“Sure, but I’m sure you know the real reason I’m here.”“Of course. Your wife…” Mr. Adams shuffled through a stack of papers until he found what he was looking for—Bella’s schedule, which had
"Indeed," Damien said simply. He accepted Vaughn's outstretched hand, but the handshake only lasted a moment. Both of them were too disgusted with each other to continue touching.Their mutual disdain was palpable; no one could ever guess the deep hatred that ran between the two men. Bella had overheard Vaughn complaining about Damien and his family on countless occasions. While Vaughn's father, Stephen McCoy, was a gold merchant with his main company in South Africa, the Beriosova family had a dark history.There had been speculations that Luciano Beriosova was a drug lord who used his legitimate business as a cover-up. It might have been just rumors, but Vaughn had said the same thing, and Bella didn’t believe he was making it up.“While I would love to catch up, I was just about to take Bella home,” Vaughn said.“Wasn’t she supposed to start classes today?” Damien asked.“She’s tired, aren’t you, baby?”That voice... there was no way she could say otherwise. Vaughn's harsh gaze pro
At the end, Bella couldn't find anything to hit Vaughn with. She shot him a venomous look and shoved past him, hurrying downstairs."Bella," Damien had noticed her enter the Banquet Hall earlier, but when he searched for her, she was nowhere to be found. Seeing her descend with Vaughn trailing closely behind, their clothes disheveled, his gaze darkened.When Bella saw him, she was about to walk toward him when Vaughn held her arm. "It's been a long day, let’s go home first.""I have someone I want to talk to. You can go by yourself."Vaughn glanced at Damien, though his expression didn’t change. Bella could tell he was displeased. "You both go to the same school. I only get you for today before you leave tomorrow. Surely whatever you have to say to him can wait."Bella didn’t bother arguing. She pulled her arm free and walked away. Vaughn watched her retreating form, feeling a sting of jealousy as he noticed how friendly she was with another man. His hand clenched at his side. His eye
"Mr. Winter, please don't be unreasonable. Vaughn and I...are really not that close."Eric smiled at her, his eyes seeming to say, "Really? You've been married for years and you claim you aren't that close? Impressive."Bella just knew this man was taunting her in his heart. He was very gloomy and detached normally, but when he smiled, he became even scarier. The good-looking ones were the most crazy! "We really aren't close!!""I believe you." Such a fucking liar, if you believe me, why am I still here? "But it makes no difference to me. I only want what your husband stole from my company. Surely that doesn't make me a bad person, right?""It does if you kidnap innocent people! If I report to the police, don't think you'll get away with it easily."Eric clearly didn't take her seriously. He gulped down the contents of his glass and stared at her. The longer he looked, the darker his eyes got. At one point, Bella's entire body started trembling in fright. Please tell me, what are you
"Is that?...""The Daughter-in-law of the McCoy family," Isaac Walker said, his voice devoid of any emotion. Though his heart was just as turbulent, he was even better at controlling his emotions than his father. "I've seen photos of her before. I just didn't think she looked this... familiar.""Oh, bro, you also think she looks familiar?" Silas couldn't help but look closely, but the woman had already retreated, and he could only stare at her back. Actually, he had just mentioned it casually to his brother, but he didn't think that his usually stoic brother and father would have such a strong reaction. Isn't it just a bit of resemblance?"Father, it's not possible," Isaac said."I know," the Patriarch of the Walker family lowered his eyes, hiding his complicated emotions. He knew it wasn't possible for his daughter to still be alive. It was just that the woman from the McCoy family looked a lot like her, and it made him remember the bittersweet memories of his little girl before that
The Banquet Hall was decorated lavishly. The heavy scent of expensive perfumes mixed together was very unpleasant, though when Bella saw the table brimming with all kinds of desserts, she felt her mood lighten up a bit.Being married to one of the world's richest men meant that she had a free pass to attend exclusive events like this. It was just a gathering where rich people mingled, compared who had the most assets, and formed partnerships. The rich only favored the rich. It was one of the reasons why she hated attending events like this."Mr. McCoy, it's a pleasure seeing you here," a middle-aged man with a balding head and an obvious potbelly was the first to walk up to them. Bella was ignored as usual; she was treated more like an accessory by her husband's side, only there to make him look good.As Vaughn and the man cheerfully chatted about business, Bella looked around the place. She saw some familiar faces, like her sister, Damien, and her parents. That's right... Bella's par
Bella threw the first punch; unfortunately, the man was able to evade it very easily. Her chest heaved as she faced Vaughn, her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Rage burned in her eyes, frustration bubbling just beneath the surface when she saw the amusement on his face. “Stop smirking like that!” she snapped.Vaughn, calm as ever, tilted his head slightly, dodging another punch aimed at his face. “Is that all you’ve got?”“Shut up!” Bella growled, throwing another punch, followed by a clumsy kick. But Vaughn moved like water, effortlessly sidestepping each attack. His movements were fluid, precise, and unhurried—more like a dance than a fight.Bella stumbled but quickly regained her footing, her frustration evident. She lunged again, this time with more desperation than precision. Vaughn caught her wrist mid-swing and released it just as quickly, almost as if he found her attempts amusing.“Why aren’t you fighting back?” she yelled, her voice a mixture of ang
Vaughn's $26 million mansion was nestled in a high-class neighborhood, standing grand and elegant with its stone walls and steep slate roof. Warm lights glowed from its many windows, creating a welcoming aura. A circular driveway led to the main entrance, flanked by neatly trimmed bushes and vibrant flowers. At its center, a fountain stood, surrounded by lush green lawns and softly lit pathways.Bella had only been here a handful of times. She much preferred living in the villa over staying in the mansion. Whenever she stayed here, she felt uncomfortable. The space was simply too vast. Although there were maids and other staff in the house during the day, they all retired to their homes by dusk, leaving the mansion eerily quiet.Vaughn owned many properties—mansions, villas, vacation homes, and even skyscrapers. But Bella had never been the materialistic type. She longed for a modest home where she and her husband could spend quality time together.Unfortunately, the mansion was teemi
"I’ll send the private jet to pick you up tomorrow at noon. Be ready."Bella wanted to scream in frustration. Couldn't he get the hint that she didn't want to go back to the city? Vaughn's behavior was very strange. First, he broke it off with Jessica, and now he wanted her to attend an event with him? Usually, he mostly avoided being seen with her in public.She cut the call, fearing that if she heard his voice again, she might end up saying something she shouldn't—like cursing him. Honestly, she was getting so used to living a remote life that she felt very reluctant to go back. Maybe she would have preferred it if Vaughn and Jessica were still together; that way, her sister would be a distraction for Vaughn.Bella rubbed her cheeks absentmindedly; it still stung a bit from where Jessica had hit her. It was already late, and she had no interest in watching television, so she might as well go to bed. She took a shower, put on her nightwear, and lay on her soft bedding. It didn't take
Bella was speechless. She couldn’t comprehend why Jessica was in her apartment or why she’d insulted her. It had been a while since they’d seen each other, and Bella couldn’t recall doing anything that might have offended her sister. But how could she not feel angry, seeing the person who had once tried to kill her lounging casually on her sofa, still audacious enough to throw insults? "What are you doing here?" she demanded. "Why can’t I be here? Isn’t this the apartment Vaughn got you? It’s not yours, so what right do you have to kick me out?" Bella couldn’t believe her nerve. "Vaughn is my husband," she replied firmly. She had every right to anything he owned, whether money or property. The apartment was hers, and even Vaughn hadn’t fussed about ownership. So why was Jessica making an issue out of it? "That's what you think!" Jessica spat, trembling with rage. She looked at Bella with such hatred that Bella almost expected her to strike. Thinking back to the text she’d received
For someone like Silas, who had grown up with an overindulgent brother and a workaholic father who used money to solve problems, he’d never once been verbally disciplined. Now, he’d suddenly received a shoe to the face. He was so stunned that he couldn’t react for a long time.When he did, it seemed he didn’t feel anger in the end. He chuckled and wiped his face. Wow, fierce women were really the best. "Okay, don’t be angry. I didn’t mean it maliciously."Bella didn’t even want to acknowledge the man anymore. His thinking aligned with Vaughn’s. As expected, most men raised in wealthy families seemed to grow up with the mindset that they could get whatever they wanted with money."I still have things to do, so I’ll go first." She said her goodbyes to Damien and left.Silas watched her retreating figure, his eyes falling on her slim waist and voluptuous backside, hugged by the short dress she wore. He said to Damien, "How about you give me her number?""She is a married woman.""Huh?" T