CHAPTER 1

“Where have you been?” Paul Leonard asked with suspicious eyes as Sarah returned home very late at night.

“Why are you asking me where I have been? Of course, I had a lot of work to do at the office. Naturally, I won't get back early. Some of us actually know what we're doing with our lives,” Sarah Winston retorted, flaring her hair.

She looked very exhausted. It was her birthday and their 4th wedding anniversary but Sarah seemed uninterested in spending time with her husband.

Paul waited hours at the family restaurant because they planned a dinner date but she didn't show up despite his several phone calls which were left unanswered.

“What is that supposed to mean? Did you forget our dinner date? It's your birthday and our wedding anniversary. I don't want to have another argument with you today but lately, there has been something fishy about your behavior.”

Sarah seemed to have had enough of Paul’s ranting. She wondered why Paul did not seem to get the hints that she had been throwing at him. How could he be so dumb? Or was he just throwing a blind eye at the fact that she doesn't like him one bit? 

Sarah wouldn't even allow her husband to zip her up whenever she wanted to dress up in the morning, not to talk of allowing him access to her body. She would rather go all the way to her mother’s apartment to complete her dressing and get help with the finishing touches.

The whole family was shocked when Lord Winston arranged for Sarah to marry Paul - a lowly pauper who only survived on the little menial jobs he was good at. No one could understand why Lord Winston was very insistent on Paul and why he took a liking to him.

He would always take Paul out with him to Winston Corporation and even ask for his opinions on business strategies. Lord Winston always took Paul’s opinion seriously and acted on it even when his family thought otherwise. Paul’s in-laws hated him deeply but they dared not do anything to hurt him when Lord Winston was alive.

Lord Winston died 18 months ago of a heart attack and since then Paul had been forcibly relegated to the role of a chef, bartender, mechanic, and househelp - anything that involved him not having to earn much. 

Lord Winston’s wife, Lady Winston, took charge of the Winston Construction Corporation after his death and since then, it had been months of humiliation for Paul Leonard. Even Sarah cursed her father's grave for marrying her off to the poor riff-raff. 

“If something is fishy about my behavior, what are we supposed to say about your poverty?” Sarah’s face flushed with anger and she gritted her teeth. 

“You forced me to go on a dinner date because it is my birthday but let me ask you, what gift did you get for me? What is there to celebrate about our anniversary? You can't even afford the tissue I use to clean up after using the toilet.”

Paul’s eyes popped wide open as Sarah inflicted those words into his ears. His veins were visible on his forehead and he slammed the wall angrily. “Bullshit! How dare you insult me like that. You are only being defensive because you went out with Jude again, didn't you?”

Jude Bournemouth was the first son of the Bournemouth family. He was quite rich and his family had rekindled their friendship with the Winston family since Lord Winston’s death. Lady Winston had adopted many approaches to make sure that her last-born daughter, Sarah, got married to Jude. She needed the alliance with the Bournemouth family to keep going. 

“Look over the curtains,” Sarah signaled to Paul with frustration in her voice, snapping her hands. “That is an Audi e-tron car parked at the garage. Guess who bought it for me.”

She paused as if waiting for a response, an evil smirk on her face before she continued. “Your guess is as good as mine”.

Paul’s felt like his heart was shattering into a thousand pieces. He knew that he was losing his wife - the only thing left in the world that was valuable to him. He had always dreamt about how one day he would travel the world with Sarah by his side but she never seemed to believe in him.

“Why will you allow Jude to come in between us? You are aware that I have tried to request loans just to invest in a business. Jude may have money but can you truly trust him? The Bournemouth family are known for shady deals and you know it quite well,” Paul appealed, his head banging low.

“What do you know about trust? Anyways, what if I told you that I have little Jude inside my belly?” Sarah threw her face towards Paul’s gaze as she let the laughter roll out. “Little Jude, hope you are staying comfy in there?” She mimicked a cartoon’s tone, rubbing her tummy slowly while talking to it mockingly.

Paul had heard enough. His world was falling apart and there was his wife mocking him for his situation. His breath felt heavy and his feet went cold. If he had somewhere else to go, he wouldn't think twice before divorcing Sarah but what option did he have? He couldn't even get a dignifying job because he was a high-school dropout.

“You are hurting me just to get in the good books of the Bournemouth family but you know very well that Lord Winston warned us against partnering with them in any way”.

The words came out of Paul’s mouth with conviction and authority but truthfully, he was only trying to suppress his pain. He didn't know how to get back at Jude except he would get himself into more trouble that would be more than his capacity. Jude was the CEO of Bournemouth Enterprises and cutting a strand of hair from such men required climbing multiple ladders without falling.

Paul stormed out of the room slamming the door in frustration. His footsteps were heavy with each one accompanying a resolute force that seemed to pierce the ground.

His eyes were dark and cloudy as he went on the path ahead before he noticed a shadow in front of him. He looked up and it was two persons in front of him - Jude Bournemouth and Lady Winston.

“Speak of the devil,” Lady Winston gloated. “The poor rat who wouldn't stop biting my daughter’s foot nails is here”