Ten Ways To Annoy Her Husband

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 hours trying to get the recipe right. I’m glad you enjoy it."

So, she had been awake all morning trying to perfect this dish for him? Vaughn might be a cold-hearted bastard, but even he could appreciate hard work and dedication. He decided in his heart that he was going to get Bella something special. He knew she loved jewelry, so he’d grab her some diamonds on his way from the hotel. That’s right, he’d be meeting Jessica today.

When Vaughn had his fill, he poured himself a glass of orange juice. Bella made to get up and take the dishes to the sink, but she accidentally shook the table, causing Vaughn’s drink to tip over and spill all over his suit.

"Oh no, I’m so sorry!" Bella grabbed some tissues and tried to help her husband dry off, but she only managed to irritate him further. Vaughn pushed her away and got to his feet. "Vaughn, I didn’t mean to..."

"It’s fine. I’ll just change into something else."

Bella nodded and stepped aside as he bypassed her and went upstairs to change. Only when he was gone did she allow herself to laugh in delight. Yes, this was all part of her plan. She recalled the conversation she had with Anna early that morning when the nurse had come to check on her recovery.

---

When Anna came to give her employer her medication, she found Bella curled up on her bed. Due to the crying and lack of sleep, she knew immediately that something must have happened between Bella and Vaughn.

"Are you alright?"

"I don’t know what to do." Bella didn’t even try to hold back her helplessness. "This would be much easier if my family were on my side. But my parents have chosen Vaughn’s money over me, and my sister isn’t even trying to hide the fact that she is sleeping with my husband. I feel so hopeless."

"I know it may seem bad now, but please don’t give up hope. You still have time to figure things out. Your husband doesn’t know about your recovered memories, so you have the element of surprise at hand." Anna helped her sit up and gave her a glass of water. She continued, "Besides, people like your husband are narcissists. If he beats you up at home, it’s only a matter of time before he loses control and does it in public. And then everyone will see what kind of person he truly is."

Bella took a sip of water and pondered over what Anna said. She found it completely reasonable. If Vaughn hits her in front of others, then people will see that he was a scumbag who was only pretending all this while. She wouldn’t need to get video evidence, not when there were witnesses to testify against Vaughn!

---

She had made her decision. She was going to do her best to piss him off, to tarnish the reputation he worked so hard to build, and when he finally snapped, she would ensure it was his downfall.

Bella went upstairs and took out her notepad. On the middle page, she had scribbled in bold letters the title of her master plan: "Ten Ways to Annoy My Husband." She marked the first one as completed. Now, moving on to the other part of her plan...

---

When Vaughn had changed into a new pair of clothes, he came downstairs and found Bella waiting for him. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her clinginess when she insisted on seeing him off to his car. He’d never noticed this side of her before; she was acting a bit strange, but he had too much on his mind to make a big deal out of it.

"Vaughn," Bella called out to him before he could drive off. "I was thinking of visiting the mall today. I hope you don’t mind."

"Not at all. You have your card with you, get whatever you like. Just don’t drive yourself—you know what happened the last time."

"Of course. Have a nice day."

Vaughn didn’t return her goodbyes and directly started the car, zooming off like he was impatient to get away from her. Bella watched his car disappear out of the mansion, her gaze becoming cold as she went back into the house to change. She ran into Anna along the way. They exchanged knowing looks but didn’t say anything to each other due to the maids and butlers around.

Bella changed into a dress, did her hair, and took one of her designer purses, then had one of Vaughn’s men drive her to a private jewelry store. The moment she walked into the store, the attendants came to welcome her.

"Welcome, Mrs. McCoy. What may you be interested in today?" All the staff were already familiar with Bella due to how frequently Vaughn brought her to the store to spoil her. The male attendant led her further into the store after exchanging greetings. "We have a new arrival of emeralds which I think you may like."

"That sounds lovely, Rodrigo, but I’m more into diamonds this time around."

"Excellent. We have those as well. Let me take you to—"

"Pink diamonds," Bella said, cutting him off.

The attendant paused and gave her a stunned look. "Pardon?"

"Yeah, pink diamonds. That’s what I want."

"Do you perhaps mean blue diamonds, madam? I’m not sure our store has p... pink diamonds."

"Why don’t you go check with your manager? I came all this way; I’d hate to return home disappointed. My husband wouldn’t like that as well."

At the mention of Vaughn, the attendant became very serious. The store wasn’t a normal jewelry shop where anyone could come and go; in fact, it was owned by a very powerful diamond merchant. However, even among the rich, there was a hierarchy, and Vaughn was at the very top. So even a store like this couldn’t afford to displease the wife of Vaughn McCoy.

"Let me check in with the manager. Please make yourself comfortable."

When the attendant had left, Bella looked around her, ensuring that the coast was clear before she made her way to one of the displays. She grabbed a diamond necklace and placed it inside her bag. She then went to the sofa and settled down with a smile on her face.

The manager came to meet her moments later, apologizing for the inconvenience of not having what she wanted. He offered to show her a collection of blue diamonds, which Bella accepted to see and buy. After paying a huge sum of money, she was soon being escorted out of the store. But as she passed by the door, a loud buzzing sound rang through the room.

Everyone stared at Bella, all looking stunned.

---

Vaughn was in the middle of hosting a conference meeting when his attendant rushed to whisper something into his ear. None of his staff knew what the matter was, but they all saw how their boss’s face turned scary, and he immediately left the meeting room without saying anything.

Vaughn drove directly to Pandora Jewelry Parlor, where his wife was being kept. The moment he walked into the room, he saw Bella seated on the sofa, holding her bag tightly.

"What the hell is going on here?"

The manager quickly rushed to greet Vaughn. He was already sweating because he was uncertain how to proceed with the situation. While he didn’t wish to offend Vaughn, he was becoming very irritated with how uncooperative Bella was being.

"Mr. McCoy, pardon the interruption. But your wife..."

"You’re saying my woman stole something from your store?" Vaughn asked coldly. "Why would she? It’s not like she doesn’t have the money to purchase the whole store if she wishes to!"

"I... I know that. But... the alarm went off, and it only does that when an unremoved security tag on the jewelry is about to leave the store. We remove the tags of each jewelry that has been purchased, so... but we are willing to apologize if we are mistaken! If only Mrs. McCoy would let us search her purse."

Vaughn turned his gaze from the middle-aged man to his wife, who was still clutching onto her bag, very suspiciously. He narrowed his gaze. "Give them the bag."

"Why should I? I didn’t take anything from them," Bella said.

Vaughn signaled to one of his men, who advanced toward Bella and took the bag from her. She didn’t even try to get it back as the man unzipped the bag and poured out its contents on the floor. A diamond necklace with its security tag still intact was on the ground.

Vaughn's fist clenched by his side