The Secret Heir Husband

The Black Lotus Bar

The moment Reed's fleet of cars pulled up outside the Black Lotus bar, the world came to a standstill. 

All eyes were turned to the luxurious collections glittering under the star lit sky. 

Reeds sat quietly at the rear seats of the Rolls-Royce, staring inside the bar. He could make out his wife seated beside a man, her arms intimately linked with his arms.

The dim lights of the bar made it difficult for him to capture the entire picture, but one was for sure. That was his wife and she was having drinks with another man. 

Furious with rage, Reeds stepped out of the car, ignoring the fact that he had drawn the attention of passersby outside the bar. 

How could she? Reeds decided there and then that he won't reveal his secret to Karyl for now. Instead, he'll keep pretending to be poor in order to test his wife. He'll give her one last chance. 

"Take the cars away and leave me,” he ordered the chauffeur. 

The men raced the fleet of cars away from the bar premises as commanded. Reeds began to walk up towards the grand entrance of the Black Lotus Bar. 

He clenched his jaws and fists as he watched Karyl laughing with Zayn Raymond. Ironically, in all the years he had been married to his wife, he had never seen Karyl smile that happily.

Fishing out his phone, he took a seat a stone throw away from her and called her number again. 

Karyl picked up her phone, and her smile vanished almost instantly. She answered the call with an irritated tone, her voice laced with impatience.

"What the hell, Reeds," Karyl said impatiently on the line. "I'm busy. Didn't I tell you not to disturb me?" 

Reeds watched her closely as she excused herself and answered impatiently. 

Reeds clenched his jaws again. "Seraphina is getting worried. It's late. When are you coming home to celebrate our daughter's birthday?" 

Karyl pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "For crying out loud, Reeds. You're not going to ruin my night. Please don't call me again. I'll get home when I get home. Go to sleep." 

Reeds said without any expression. "Turn around." 

"What?" Karyl raised an eyebrow.

"Turn around." 

Karyl slowly turned and her eyes came jamming with her husband's. 

For a brief moment, she caught her breath sharply and panicked, but she quickly composed herself. 

"Is there a problem, Karyl?" Zayn Raymond asked. He couldn't see Reeds in the dimly lit bar. "Your face looks flushed." 

"My apologies, Mr. Raymond," Karyl smiled at him. "I need a few minutes to deal with my private affairs." 

A mischievous glint appeared in Zayn's eyes. "Sure, Why not." 

Meanwhile, as soon as Karyl stood up and left, a sly, triumphant smile crept onto his face. He knew the photo he’d sent to Reeds had worked—just as he’d hoped, that useless fool had gone straight to Karyl. 

Zayn secretly slipped an aphrodisiac into her drink. He planned to take Karyl to his hotel room tonight whatever it takes. 

As long as Karyl ended up in his bed, her marriage with Reeds would be completely ruined.

When the time came, all he had to do was whisper a few sweet words and spend a bit of money on Karyl—then she would naturally become his woman, just as he had planned.* * * * 

Karyl approached Reeds, grabbed his arm and jerked him to his feet. "What in the world are you doing here, Reeds?" She demanded. 

Reeds cocked his head. "I thought I might drop by. Care to explain what this is about?" 

"I don't see how that's any of your business, Reeds," Karyl whispered. "You're the househusband and I'm a career woman. I did what I had to." 

"By hanging out with another man?" Reeds asked. 

"It's not like I'm going to sleep with him or anything," Karyl retorted. "Raymond asked me out for a drink and I couldn't refuse him." 

Reeds' face was expressionless, his voice tinged with sarcasm.

"This is what you call work? Your job is to mess around with other men, is that it? You were so busy drinking with that piece of trash that you forgot your own daughter’s birthday party?"

Karyl sighed in exasperation. "It's not like I have a choice. If you had enough money to support my company then maybe I wouldn’t have to go out drinking with investors." 

Looking at Karyl’s face, Reeds felt a sudden sense of unfamiliarity.

He was a failure? That was ridiculous. He simply didn’t like flaunting his wealth, but his wife looked down on him and credited all his achievements to other men?

She continued after a pause."It's my job to keep my investors happy. I need their fundings or else my company is finished." She leaned away from him, her eyes wandering around the bar.  "Raymond is a very important investor in my company. If he pulls out his investment, the company will collapse within a month. And when that happens, our whole family will starve. But you? You can’t do a damn thing to help me because you're broke!" 

Reeds couldn’t help but laugh out of sheer disbelief at Karyl’s words.

"You didn't have to go out drinking with him. Can't you see he's trying to bed you? If you need funding, come to me. I can help." 

Karyl looked impatiently at him. "You? What can you offer? You're a kept husband who can't even afford the groceries unless I provide the money for it. Raymond on the other hand is a billionaire, worth over $1.9 billion. You can't earn that even if you work for a thousand years." 

Reed's rage threatened to consume him. "I'm not useless, Karyl. If I wanted to, I could destroy Zayn Raymond's entire company overnight and make your company the number one enterprise in the city." 

After all, Zayn's company is nothing more than a tiny branch under the Higgins family. 

“Look, Reeds,” Karyl glanced over her shoulders at Zayn. "Quit being a delusional braggart, Reeds. It's not a good look on you. You're all talk with no real actions to back your words. Now leave. I have to finish my meeting with Mr. Raymond." 

“Screw that,” Reeds reached out and grabbed her arm. "Give me ten minutes. I'll secure a $5 million order for your company right now."