The Underestimated Husband's Dominance

Chapter 1

Connor sat at the small dining table, waiting. He had cooked lunch and set everything up for their wedding anniversary, but the food had already gone cold.

He checked his phone again and again, but there was no message, no call from her.

When the door finally opened, Lena walked in wearing a black gown, looking calm and distant, like she’d just come from somewhere far more important.

Connor’s face brightened instantly. “You’re home,” he said softly, taking a step toward her. “I made lunch. I know you’ve been busy, but… I thought we could celebrate.”

Lena glanced at the two plates, the candles, and the small cake on the table. Her expression didn’t change. “What is all this nonsense.”

Her tone was chilling, but they hurt more than if she had shouted.

Connor hesitated, trying to keep his voice calm. “I just wanted us to have a moment together. It’s our anniversary.”

“I remember,” she said, slipping off her earrings. “But I have somewhere else to be. It is important.”

“I understand,” he murmured. “But I thought maybe… we could still sit for a while.”

Lena gave a faint sigh, as though the suggestion were a burden. “Connor, I’ve had a long day. Let’s not drag it out.”

He swallowed his disappointment and forced a small smile. “At least open your gift. It’s not much, but—” He handed her the small box.

She took it without emotion and unwrapped it slowly. Inside lay a delicate silver necklace with a tiny heart pendant. Her eyes lingered on it briefly before she shut the box with irritation and set it down.

“Where did you get this? Don’t you think it is too faded for a new necklace?” she said in a calm tone. “You didn’t think about who you were buying it for, did you?”

Connor looked at her carefully. “You don’t like it.”

“You know very well I can’t wear something that looks this cheap,” she said coldly, rubbing her forehead as if she were tired of explaining herself. “You really should stop wasting the little money you have on things like this.”

Before he could respond, her phone rang. She checked the screen, and for the first time that day, a faint smile touched her lips.

She turned slightly away before answering. “Hello, Ben,” she said softly. “Yes… I’m almost ready. Don’t worry, I’ll spend the night there. I’ll be there soon.”

Connor’s chest tightened at the sound of the name. When she ended the call, he asked quietly, “Was that Benjamin Carver?”

Lena looked at him, her face calm and unreadable. “Yes. Why?”

“I thought you said you don’t talk to him anymore… He is your ex, Lena!” Connor said carefully.

She set her phone down. “He’s also now an investor in my company. Should I also not do business because he is my Ex?.”

Connor’s voice shook slightly. “You smiled when you spoke to him, Lena. You haven’t smiled at me like that in a long time. You’re spending the night at his house, and you call that business?”

Lena didn’t flinch. “Connor, don’t make this dramatic. You should worry less about where I’m going and more about what you’re doing with your life. Maybe if you focused on finding a job instead of following my every move, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

“How about you stop being useless first?” she said with a detached tone.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Then Lena turned away and walked toward the bedroom. “I’ll change and head out,” she said quietly. “Lock the door when you leave.”

Connor stood there in silence. After a while, he blew out the candles, took his jacket, and stepped outside. His mind was spinning with her words.

All he could think about was proving her wrong.

He walked down the empty street with no clear direction, his thoughts full of frustration and shame.

When he reached a tall glass building with a bright sign that read “NOW HIRING,” he stopped and stared.

“Maybe this is it,” he whispered. “Maybe this is the chance I need.”

He walked in, filled out a form, and waited.

A manager soon called him into the office. Entering the office, he sat nervously while the man looked over his papers and the form he filled earlier.

The manager frowned as he lifted his head from the paper. “Mr. Drayton, you don’t have a degree?”

Connor shook his head. “No, sir. But I’m hardworking. I learn fast. If you give me a chance I—”

The manager cut him off with a sigh. “This role is only for graduates. We need people with qualifications. You don’t fit what we’re looking for.”

“Please just,” Connor leaned over on the table, desperation in his eyes. “I’ll do anything. Just give me a chance—”

“Mr. Drayton,” the manager said firmly as he stood, “leave. This job isn’t for you.”

The words hit like a heavy punch. Connor’s chest hollowed out. He walked out of the building, dragging his feet toward the bus stop. His world was spinning.

After waiting for over an hour, he was walked out of the manager’s office?

-------

Minutes later, Connor sat on the bus, staring blankly out the window as the streets slid by. Lena’s cold words and that of the manager he just met frustrated him.

His heart paced faster as he leaned against the glass.

“I just wanted one chance to make her proud,” he muttered. “One chance to prove I’m not the mistake she thinks I am.”

Before the thought could settle, the bus jolted violently. The tires screeched, and the metal casing of the car shrieked.

“Driver, slow down!” an old woman shouted from the back.

“If you can’t handle the wheel, park this bus before you kill us,” another man grumbled.

The driver freaked out as he jerked the wheel suddenly, trying to divert from a car spinning towards his path. Everyone screamed and the horn blared. And Then…

CRASH!

The world spun. The bus slammed into something with violent force and screams erupted.

Connor’s head cracked against the window, sharp pain shooting across his skull. He felt blood dripping down his forehead.

Passengers scrambled. “My God! He hit a car!”

“Jesus, somebody call an ambulance!”

Connor blinked as his vision became fuzzy. Through the shattered window, he saw the wreckage, it was a black luxury car, its front crushed like paper. His breath caught when he noticed a figure sprawled on the ground.

But what froze him wasn’t the man. It was the woman running toward him.

“Lena…” Connor whispered weakly.

Lena Montgomery, his wife. She walked pass his bus, but didn’t even look at him for up to a minute, and then she rushed, not to him, but to the man bleeding by the black luxury car.

“Benjamin!” she screamed, dropping to her knees. “Stay with me, do you hear? Don’t you dare close your eyes!”

Benjamin Carver…

The name struck Connor like lightning. Lena’s ex-lover, the same man whose house she had panned to spend a night earlier.

Connor tried to move, his head spinning.

“Help me!” Lena cried, her hands trembling as she touched Benjamin’s face. “Don’t just stand there, help me carry him into my car! Now!”

The crowd murmured.

“Wait… isn’t that the billionaire daughter, Lena Montgomery?”

“Yes, that’s her. The wife of Connor Drayton.”

“But… her husband’s in the bus, bleeding too. Shouldn’t she take him instead…”

“Miss Montgomery!” a middle-aged woman shouted but not daring to call her Mrs. Drayton. She pointed at Connor slumped against the window of the bus. “Your husband is hurt! Why are you leaving him? He needs you!”

Lena’s eyes darted briefly toward the bus. Her gaze fell on Connor, her husband, his head covered in blood, looking back at her with hope. For a second, there was something in her eyes. Then her expression hardened.

“His injury is minor,” she said coldly. “The ambulance can take him. Benjamin doesn’t have time to wait.”

The crowd gasped.

“Minor? Look at his head!”

“She’s choosing another man over her husband? How shameless!”

“What kind of wife abandons her husband like that?”

Lena ignored them coldly, not even giving an ear to their words. “If you won’t help me, I’ll do it myself!”

“No, no, we’ll help,” two young men said quickly, lifting Benjamin by the arms.

“Careful!” Lena snapped, guiding them. “Put him in the backseat, gently. Don’t hurt him more.”

Connor’s lips trembled. His chest burned, not from the injury, but from watching his wife, his supposed life partner, cradle another man with desperation she never once showed him.

“Lena…” he whispered hoarsely, reaching out, though his hand barely lifted.

But she didn’t turn back. She climbed into her car with Benjamin and slammed the door.

The last thing Connor saw before blacking out was his wife driving away, with another man in her car.

-----

The steady beep of a monitor woke him. Connor blinked against the harsh hospital lights, his head throbbing under the tight bandage.

His first thought was Lena. She had to be here. She had to.

He turned his head slowly. The chair by his bed was empty. His heart drowned in pain.

Then he heard her voice but not near him, but across the room.

“You don’t understand, doctor,” Lena was saying, clutching the sleeve of a man in a white coat. “You have to save him. Do you hear me? No excuses. I don’t care what it costs, money is not an issue. Just make sure Benjamin lives.”

Connor’s chest rose and fell with irritation.

The doctor sighed. “Mrs. Drayton, we’re doing everything possible. His injuries are severe. There are multiple fractures and heavy blood loss. We need time.”

“There is no time!” Lena’s voice cracked. She pressed a trembling hand to her chest. “I can’t lose him, I just can’t. If Benjamin dies…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “If he dies, I’ll never forgive myself.”

Connor’s lips parted, but no words came.

A nurse noticed his eyes open and walked over. “Oh, you’re awake,” she said softly. “How are you feeling?”

“My… my wife,” Connor croaked. His throat felt dry. “Did she… has she asked about me?”

The nurse hesitated. “She… she’s been here, but—”

“But not for me,” Connor finished bitterly.

The nurse looked away, guilty.

Connor forced a weak smile, though it hurt. “It’s fine. Could you… get me some water?”

“Of course.” She hurried off.

Connor turned his gaze back to Lena.

“Doctor, listen to me carefully,” Lena said, her voice rising. “I don’t want to hear about risks or chances. You must save Benjamin. Hire the best surgeons, bring in specialists, do whatever it takes. I’ll pay double, triple, whatever you ask. Just don’t let him die.”

The doctor nodded reluctantly. “We’ll do our best.”

“Not your best,” Lena snapped. “I said everything possible.”

Connor closed his eyes, his heart splitting open. Each word was like a dagger, not only because she cared for another man, but because she had never, not once, spoken with that kind of fire for him.

When the nurse returned with water, he sipped slowly, staring at the ceiling.

“So this is what I am to her,” Connor thought. Just the husband in name. The man she can abandon without looking back.