Jared looked like he’d been punched in the gut; his face went pale. But lately he’d gotten better at keeping his cool; no matter how much I tried to piss him off, he just stayed calm.

He said, “I know you’re mad right now. I’ll transfer the money to your account later, and let me treat you to dinner tonight.”

“No need. Just add the dinner money to the transfer,” I said, raising my hand to cut him off.

Jared seemed at a loss for words. Then he said, “Yvonne already talked to your parents and arranged to stay with them for two weeks. I had someone take her to the airport. They’ve probably picked her up by now.”

“If my parents are fine with it, I don’t care,” I replied flatly.

“Yvonne seems different these days. Have you noticed?” Jared asked.

“No,” I said flatly. Honestly, I had stopped caring about Yvonne altogether.

Jared gave me a disappointed look and sighed. He said, “Alright, I’m leaving. I’ll do my best to keep my mom away from you from now on.”

I shot back, “You better. If you can’t stop her and she tries something again, who knows who’ll end up getting hurt. I don’t care how old she is—I’m not letting her off the hook.”

Jared’s face went pale, and he nodded. Before leaving, he said, “Tracy had a miscarriage. She came back to the country with Yvonne last time. But don’t worry, I won’t have any more contact with her.”

I said, “I’m really not worried, because honestly, I couldn’t care less if you two keep in touch. Your mom seems to like her a lot. Maybe you should give her a shot—she seems to care about your daughter, too.”

Jared’s face darkened. He said, “Yvonne doesn’t like her anymore. Tracy’s capable, but she’s too calculating and self-serving. She’s not the right person to help take care of our daughter.”

I froze. Jared had just called Tracy out for exactly who she was—turned out he’d been seeing through it all along.

“And what about me? In your eyes, what kind of person am I?” I asked, arms crossed, putting on a bossy front.

Jared looked me up and down for a couple of seconds before answering, “You’re still that gentle and thoughtful woman—just like the one I met back then.”

“Well, I’m all about the money now,” I shot back.

Jared said, “You just want enough to look out for yourself. Besides, it’s not like you’re asking for a fortune.” With that, he pushed the door open and walked out.

I frowned. Jared had deeper schemes than anyone else. He had always known exactly what was going on, but even in my previous life, he still chose to hurt me just to take Tracy’s side.

As soon as Jared left, Ryan came over to me. He asked, “Ms. Murphy, did you and your husband fight?”

I replied, “No. Don’t worry about it. It’s all taken care of.”

“How did he handle it? Did he just take his mom’s side and tell you to suck it up?” Ryan asked, looking worried.

I shook my head and said, “No, I made him pay up.”

“But you guys are married. Doesn’t that mean his money is yours too?” Ryan blurted out.

I let out a sigh and said, “Nope, we signed a prenup agreement. What’s his stays his.”

Ryan said, “That’s just too much. He’s always so guarded with you. Ms. Murphy, why haven’t you kicked him to the curb already?”

I waved my hand and said, “Soon. Go on, get back to work.”

For the next week, Sally and Quinn stayed out of sight. What really caught me off guard, though, was that Tracy showed up to see me herself.

Tracy pulled up outside the hotel and parked her flashy sports car smack in the center of the entrance. Gone was her usual business attire; she was head-to-toe in an expensive Chanel ensemble. She called and asked me to come out and talk.

I watched her through several panes of glass.

Tracy’s gaze was openly provocative as she challenged, “Don’t tell me you’re too scared to face me now.”