Chapter 4 Be His Lover

My lip twitched. I wanted to ask him if he’d lost his mind, but he was rich now, no longer the pushover I used to torment. I swallowed my curse and forced a smile. "Mr. Humphrey, stop kidding me. I have work to do. Gotta go."

"Why are you okay with Reese, but not me?" Reynaldo's voice suddenly cut through the air, tinged with coldness.

I frowned. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

"Just now, you asked Reese for 1.5 million dollars to spend one night with him. So why do you refuse my offer?"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I knew 15 thousand dollars was a fortune to Reese; he'd never part with 1.5 million. I’d deliberately named that exorbitant price to irritate him, but Reynaldo took it seriously.

He walked toward me, took a drag from his cigarette, and blew a smoke ring. "Aren't you short on money now? Spend one night with me, and you'll have 1.5 million dollars. How about that?"

My fists clenched. I knew exactly what he was doing: he merely wanted to humiliate me. I struggled to control my emotions, sneering, "Just because you're rich doesn't mean you're superior to me. Yes, I need money, but I won't earn it this way."

Then, I stormed out of the room, tears blurring my vision. Human emotions were truly strange. My one-time lackeys could humiliate me endlessly without consequence, but Reynaldo's humiliation pierced my heart with sharp pain.

I ran to the lobby on the ground floor, only to see Quentin kneeling before Zane, Reese, and the others, begging for money. In that moment, my dignity and pride shattered. I covered my mouth, tears streaming down my cheeks. For money, Quentin would go this far. And Reynaldo had agreed to give me 1.5 million dollars for one night. Why had I refused?

I turned and ran back upstairs, praying Reynaldo hadn't left. Bursting into the private room, I saw him sitting on the sofa, smiling as if he’d known I’d return.

I walked up to him. "Do you resent me for humiliating you before?" Before he could reply, I added, "Fine, as long as you help pay off my family's debts, you can do anything with me."

Reynaldo lowered his eyes to look at the wine and asked with a smile, "Then, what about being my secret lover?"

I took a deep breath. "Yes." He had divorced me to remarry his crush, yet he still demanded I remain his secret lover. What blatant humiliation!

The next day, my father came home, excitedly telling my mother and me that our debts were paid off. My mother rejoiced, tears in her eyes, asking what happened. My father explained that Reynaldo had not only paid off our debts but also bought us a fancy house. Hearing this, my mother praised Reynaldo endlessly, convinced he loved me deeply to have done such a big favor. I simply smiled, saying nothing.

In the afternoon, Reynaldo's driver came to pick me up. My parents believed I was still Reynaldo's wife, being taken to his lavish home for a good life. But the truth was, I was going to be his lover, for his humiliation and amusement.

Reynaldo was now living in the villa that had once been my family's. The housekeeper and servants were the same ones who had previously joined me in humiliating him. Now, they were still working there, which evidently meant Reynaldo was quite lenient. I wondered if he'd be lenient with me too. But the thought of how he'd humiliated me in the private room earlier filled me with dejection. I was different from those servants. They had only verbally insulted Reynaldo. I had not only scolded him but also hit him and splashed wine on his face in front of many people. A prickling sensation crawled across my scalp as I recalled my past actions. "Well, I should have been nicer to him," I thought.

Madisyn, one of the maids, led me to a room. "Ms. Duffy, Mr. Humphrey asked you to wait for him in there. And…" She hesitated. "He also said you must clean yourself before he comes back."

I bit my lower lip bitterly. Just as expected, he wanted to humiliate me. But what could I do? Since I'd agreed to be his lover, I had to cast aside my dignity.

This room was where Reynaldo and I had stayed. Everything was the same as before, yet subtly different. There used to be a makeshift bed by the proper bed—that's where Reynaldo slept while I took the bed, always condescendingly warning him to stay away. Now, the makeshift bed was gone. And so was my pride. The honest, meek husband I could bully as I pleased… he was gone too. What was gone was gone. I reined in my emotions and took a shower.

Then, I lay in bed, waiting for Reynaldo. Since I was his lover, I’d do my job well. My family had gone bankrupt, but on second thought, things weren’t so bad. At least their debts were paid off. My parents could finally live in peace. Quentin didn't have to struggle or grovel for money. Thinking of that, I felt somewhat comforted.

I wondered when Reynaldo would come back. These days had been quite tiring, and I fell asleep shortly after lying in bed. Somehow, I felt a weight on my body. I opened my eyes to see Reynaldo on top of me, his hand already in my clothes!

"How… How dare you!" I instinctively raised my arm to hit him, but the next second, he seized it.

He sneered, "You're already down and out, but your temper hasn't changed."

Looking at the familiar room and the familiar man, I was in a trance for a few seconds before reality set in. Right, he's the owner of the villa now. And I'm just his lover.

I withdrew my hand and said servilely, "I'm sorry." With a snort, he rose and went to the bathroom. Hearing the sound of water, my fingers twisted nervously. I hadn't resisted his touch after I'd grown fond of him, but sex with mutual affection was different from a retaliatory, humiliating one. As I thought of what was to come, I wanted to run, but I couldn't.

A while later, he finally finished his shower. The sound of the door opening rubbed on my nerves.