Man Of Honour: Never The Loser, Ex-wife!

Glorified Housekeeper

Thud!

The phone fell out of Julian's hand as his eyes drilled into Susan's.

“What did you do that for?!” she snapped as she bent to pick her phone.

For a moment, he thought he saw embarrassment on her face. But when she straightened, anger was clear on her face as she tapped the phone screen.

Sudden silence followed the obscene sounds of slapping skins.

“How dare you let my phone fall when you can't even afford to buy it even if you work ten years at that miserable teaching job?!” She glared at him.

Really?

Julian couldn't believe that was the first thing she could think of despite what she had done.

She looked more sober now, but not remorseful. She was rather angry. At him!

“You just cheated on me in front of the entire world, and your priority is your phone?” he asked calmly.

When his hand wanted to curl into a fist and slam against something, he instead tucked them into the pockets of his frayed jeans.

“How is that any of your concern? I told you to stay out of my business!”

She turned away from him, glancing at her phone as a shadow of worry creased the beautiful face he had been enthralled with since he met her five years ago.

“We are not done, Susan,” he said and grabbed her hand.

When she wanted to struggle against him, he immediately let her go. Raising his hands in surrender as his voice trembled silently, he asked, “How can you do this to me, Susan? For five years, I have loved you faithfully. I have taken care of you and your family despite how much you all looked down on me. I took care of your grandpa diligently till his last days. Because of my first-sight love for you, I agreed to be your husband when you were so heartbroken from your breakup. I have been nothing but loving to you, hoping you would love me back half as much as I do. I thought you would at least come to recognise my love and devotion for you one day. But this? This is too much, Susan. You just made yourself a national laughing stock with no regard for me at all!”

His words got heated on the last statement.

Conflicted emotions flitted on her face for a moment as her eyes went to the phone again. 

Still, she gave him a dirty look while saying, “Stop acting like you are a goddamn saint. You have been mooching off my family all this while, haven't you? I pay for every damn thing, while you just laze around. So, stop acting like you did me any favours. Feeding and housing you is more than enough payment for whatever favour you think I owe you. Now, get off my back and stop being so annoying,” she hissed and walked away from him.

“Don't you even dare show your face in my room tonight. You can sleep out on the street for all I care,” she sneered as she climbed the stairs.

The glow of her phone bathed her face before she turned the corner upstairs.

Julian sat heavily on the couch as the video he had seen jumped gleefully behind his closed eyes.

He knew Susan. She was definitely worried about what this would do to her reputation and to her grandpa's legacy.

Gibson Mining Company.

It had been a small-time company before Julian started helping them secretly. Now, it was a well-known corporation in Jetrovale City and even in the entire Auriele Country.

“Useless?” He snorted with a shake of his head.

Normally, his first reaction to anything that could hurt the woman he loved would have been to make sure the problem go away and make things easier for her.

It was obvious she wanted nothing to do with him again though. He had truly been fooling himself.

He looked towards the staircase. Pain twisted in his heart, his emerald eyes glinting with it as he whispered, “You want freedom that bad, Susan? Well, for the last time. I will do exactly as you wish.”

Five years of devotion and hope crumbled in his heart as he pulled out his phone and dialled a number.

***

The next morning, Julian left the house very early to pick up what he had requested. He didn't want the man coming close to the estate where Susan's family mansion was. That would only attract attention and raise questions.

Less than an hour later, he was walking back to what he had called his home for the past five years.

Light snow covered the driveway, making light crunching sounds as he headed for the ornate doors he had once walked through with so much hope.

The envelope in his coat weighed heavy. Almost heavier than his leaden heart.

Last night, anger had mixed with the pain of betrayal he felt from Susan's unrepentant action. Tossing and turning throughout the night on the couch had messed so much with his emotions that he even asked himself if Susan's attitude towards him was his fault.

Still, that had not stopped his decision.

He stomped the snow off his shoes on the porch, pulled his thin coat tighter around his body, and entered the house.

“Mom, will that work?”

Julian's brow raised in surprise as he realised her parents were back. That was fast. She really had panicked last night despite the carefree attitude she showed to him.

“Of course, it will work. That is…” Madea was responding to her daughter when Julian's approach caught her attention.

“What are you doing skulking about, eh? Where were you when we got back? If you cannot even make yourself useful to carry our luggage in, what do we need you here for?”

“Oh, you will be getting your wish soon,” Julian thought.

He responded to her. “Welcome back, Mr and Mrs Gibson. Hope you enjoyed your trip?”

Susan frowned at his formal address, but Madea only glared at him.

“Thick-skinned bastard,” Carlos spat in his direction before facing his daughter again.

“Your mother is right. You need to talk to Mr Anderson. I know his family is superior to ours, but announcing your engagement is the fastest way to deal with this.”

What?! Julian, who was on his way out of the living room, turned back in shock. He couldn't have heard right, yeah?

“And it's not as if my daughter is bad too. She is a catch. She single-handedly built your father's dwindling business from something that was barely making a profit to the multimillion-dollar corporation it is now. We are not inferior to him, if you ask me,” Madea said proudly.

Though she knew they were definitely not on the same level with the Andersons, she was still proud of what her daughter had achieved. She never failed to let everyone hear it.

“Mom, don't let him hear that. I already invited him here,” Susan said with a sheepish smile.

Julian couldn't believe his ears. She was going to get engaged to the man who fucked her in front of the whole world!

“Oh, that's great. Maybe we should prepare…”

“You are getting engaged while you are still married to me?” Julian's voice cut into Madea's excited chatter.

Susan looked less hostile this morning as she gave him a sheepish look, saying, “It's just for…”

“And so what?! You don't really count yourself as my daughter's husband, do you? You are nothing but a glorified housekeeper. Mr Anderson is the type of man who fits Susan's status. Someone like you should just slink away like the homeless trash you are.”

“Mom,” Susan softly called her mum.

“What? Am I wrong?! If this idiot is man enough, would this scandal have happened? Instead of him making himself useful like Mr Anderson, he even dared to spew nonsense here!”

“So, it is my fault now?” Julian asked with a slight nod. “Yeah, I think I see it now. I led Susan to another man, made her shamelessly moan while displaying herself to the camera, and…”

Thwack!

Madea slapped his face so hard that her fingerprint showed on his face.

“How dare you talk about my girl that way, you idiot?!” she spat at him.

Susan's face was livid with anger too. “You are really shameless, Julian. I was just defending you and you dare to mock me? What kind of man are you?!”

The kind who would no longer be your pushover, he thought in anger as he turned to Madea.

The cold look in his eyes made her automatically take a step backwards as he said, “That would be the last time you lay your hands on me, Mrs Gibson.”

Madea sputtered with shock. “You… who…?”

The doorbell rang, making her eyes jerk towards the door with relief.

“Stop standing there like a fool, and go open the door, boy,” Carlos snapped at him.

Julian turned his cold gaze on Carlos and watched the man's Adam's apple bob as he swallowed nervously.

He was about to tell the man to shove his command up his arse, but he was more curious to see who was at the door. His wife had invited a very important guest, after all.

He smiled sweetly at Carlos as he said, “Of course, Mr Gibson.”

While the Gibsons looked at each other, wondering what had gotten into the always agreeable Julian, he walked leisurely to the door.

He opened the door just as the man on the other side raised his hand to press the bell again.

The blond man had slight annoyance on his average-looking face. He was dressed sharply in a dark suit and slick shoes. He gave Julian a disgusted look as he took in Julian's simple clothes.

Julian, on the other hand, recognised that face even though it was not currently twisted in ecstasy.

“Well, will you invite me in, or stand there all day like a mo…”

Julian's fist connected solidly with his face.

The man yelled as he fell hard on his butt on the porch.