The Housewife’s Counterstrike Chapter 07
“I know you hold the highest audit authority on that line.”
Herman’s voice carried a terror I had never heard from him before. “Selena, I’m begging you—withdraw the complaint.”
“This is already destroying my reputation inside the family! A lot of the capos are turning against me. Just withdraw it. Anything you want—I’ll give you anything.”
I gave a cold laugh. “In six years of marriage, you never cared that I existed. Now that I use my power, you’re suddenly afraid? Herman, it’s too late.”
Herman grabbed my shoulders like a madman, his eyes bloodshot.
“You can’t let this investigation go forward! Absolutely not!”
“Afraid you’ll lose the Don’s chair?”
“It’s more than that!” He was breathing hard. “It’ll drag the whole line’s underground network into the light—the arms trade, the trafficking! Once public outrage forces the government to send in the military, it won’t just be the Vance family. Ordinary people living nearby will get caught in the crossfire!”
I stared him down. “So *now* you remember innocent civilians? When Clara was down there trafficking human beings, did you spare one thought for those civilians?!”
The strength went out of him. He sank to the floor. “I was wrong… Selena. I know I was wrong.”
In six years of knowing him, this was the first time the word *wrong* had ever crossed his lips.
But he was not repenting for what he had done to me.
He only felt it now because the blade in my hand had finally punched through his armor and pressed against something mortal.
The next day, Clara arranged to meet me at a café at the foot of Downton Manor.
This time she wasn’t wearing that glaring blue diamond necklace. She looked drawn, hollowed out.
“Selena, you really do have your ways.” Clara sat down with a cold smirk.
“You were the one who got greedy.”
She leaned back in her chair, curling her lip in a provocation. “Herman told you everything, didn’t he? He’s about to lose everything. You think ruining him means you get to live the good life? Without his protection, the Vance family’s enemies will come for you first!”
“You don’t need to worry about my safety.” I took a sip of coffee.
“You really have to have this divorce?” Her stare turned dark.
“Yes.”
“Then what do you want? Money? Property? Or do you want to see Herman get down on his knees and beg like a dog? Name your price. Just let him go, and I’ll return every last piece of jewelry to you.”
I set the cup down. Every word was ice.
“What I want is justice. And the truth that belongs to me.”
Clara laughed as if she’d heard the funniest joke in the world.
“The truth? The truth is he never loved you. To him, you’re a good little shield—stable, obedient, and blessedly incapable of causing him any trouble!”
“You think you’ve won?”
“Why wouldn’t I have won?” There was manic triumph in Clara’s eyes. “I don’t have to sit at home a widow the way you did. I don’t have to butter up that revolting old woman. The moment his ship docks, he comes straight to my bed. The best prizes always come to me first. Selena, six years of your hard work, and all you got is a marriage certificate that’s worth about as much as scrap paper. But I—I got every ounce of his tenderness, his favor, his love.”
I listened quietly, then reached over and calmly switched off the voice recorder.
The color drained from Clara’s face.
She lunged across the table like a wild animal to snatch the recorder.
I dodged easily. Her own momentum sent her crashing into the table. Boiling coffee upended straight across her lap.
“Selena! You conniving little bitch!” she shrieked.
I wiped my hands on a napkin. “When you stole what belonged to me, you should’ve known there’d be a day of reckoning.”
Clara glared at me with pure venom. “You just wait,” she spat, and staggered out of the café.
Half an hour later, Herman came crashing through my front door like a lunatic.
“Selena! You went to see Clara?! What the hell did you do to her?!”