Chapter 170
Eddy took the shattered phone from his chief bodyguard. The device was crushed beyond recognition, reduced to little more than scraps of plastic and glass. His eyes caught the fractured screen, where the words “My Beloved Wife” still flickered, split by the cracks. The pain in his chest was so sharp it felt as if his heart had been ripped apart.
“Sir, the SIM card and memory chip have been sent to the tech team. They’re already downloading and decrypting the data,” the bodyguard reported.
Cradling a drowsy, half–asleep Healy in his arms, Eddy returned to the villa. On the coffee table, a calendar caught his eye–today’s date was struck through with a bold red line.
He remembered the expression on Blanche’s face that first day she crossed out a date. Did she know even then, on that day, that he’d been unfaithful?
The thought that Blanche had suffered for a whole month gnawed at him. Stroking Healy’s sleeping face–so reminiscent of Blanche’s features–Eddy felt his heart clench in agony.
He left Healy in Lauren’s care and slowly climbed the stairs from the first floor to the third. Everywhere he looked, nothing seemed out of place. Their wedding photo still hung on the wall, and the framed pictures of their family of three still smiled from the shelves.
But when he opened the safe in the closet, Blanche’s passport, her ID, and the ruby necklace she treasured most were all gone.
She hadn’t taken a single thing that tied her to them. Not even a photograph.
She wanted nothing to do with their life together. Nothing at all.
That realization sent Eddy’s heart plummeting into darkness.
Her cocktail dress and the delicate chain bracelet she loved were laid out neatly on the bed. Eddy gathered the dress into his arms, pressing his face into the fabric, searching for Blanche’s scent as if by some miracle he could hold her again. But the emptiness in his embrace only made his panic mount.
Sweetheart, are you really gone? Are you truly this angry–angry enough to leave
me, to never come back?
You don’t want me anymore… or Healy, either?
151#
A sharp knock at the master bedroom door cut through his thoughts. The chief bodyguard’s voice was urgent: “Sir, the tech team cracked the SIM card. And the mystery number as well.”
Eddy carefully laid the dress and bracelet back where they belonged, as if Blancher might reappear at any moment to claim them.
He hurried downstairs, taking the new phone from the technician. As he dialed the number, the tech team immediately began signal tracing.
The phone rang and rang, the dial tone echoing through the silent night.
But no matter how many times he called, no one ever answered.
Eddy ended the call and opened his messaging app.
A document flashed across the screen: Life Insurance Policy–Five Million Dollars.
His eyes went cold as ice, the darkness in their depths swirling with rage.
Ingrid. How dare she manipulate Blanche like this?
Blanche must have been deceived by Ingrid. That’s why she misunderstood him—why she left.
With that thought, Eddy turned to his bodyguard, his voice frigid. “Get the investment team. Short the Marshall family’s stock. I want them ruined.”
The chief bodyguard hesitated, his voice heavy. “Mr. Simmons, the board removed you today.”
Eddy barely blinked. “A charity foundation doesn’t have that much power. Do it.”
The bodyguard nodded in relief and left at once.
Eddy scrolled to another contact and had just tapped it open when Jeannette burst into the villa, dragging Lara by the hand.
They’d not only been thrown out of the Anderson estate, but Margaret had repossessed their house as well. With nowhere else to turn, they came to Eddy.
As soon as she saw him, Lara ran over and wrapped her arms around his leg. looking up with wide, hopeful eyes. “Daddy, that mean lady’s gone! Now Mommy, you, me, and Healy can be together forever.”
Eddy stared at the phone screen. A video message, a voice recording, and a string of venomous text awaited him.
Blanche, have you ever heard about those wealthy families who, when their
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Chapter 170
daughter–in–law can’t have children, let the mother–in–law secretly set up a mistress for her son?
Blanche, I really pity you–betrayed by the people you trust most.
Jeannette had sent these taunting messages to Blanche a month ago.
It was her. She was the one who drove Blanche away.
Eddy pried Lara off and strode over to Jeannette, grabbing her by the throat in a lightning–fast move. His grip tightened, his dark eyes burning with cold fury. “You. How dare you think you could ever replace my wife?”
“How dare you keep provoking her, again and again?”
Jeannette’s face flushed red as she struggled to breathe. “E–Eddy, I… I didn’t…”
Eddy’s memory was flawless. In an instant, he recalled exactly what he’d been doing with Jeannette at the times those messages were sent.
The voice call–he’d been drugged at his mother–in–law’s memorial, and Jeannette had stayed with him at the villa…
That was when Blanche came to the villa, golf club in hand, to catch them in the
act.
The video message–Jeannette had just revealed that Ingrid was the true mastermind behind the rumors about Blanche’s supposed affair.
He’d rewarded Jeannette, spent the afternoon with her at the villa…. even clasped the Ocean Jewel necklace around her neck.
Blanche had been resting at their apartment, but suddenly rushed to the police station–then to Jeannette’s place to demand the necklace.
She must have seen the video. She must have watched him betray her in real time.
Eddy remembered the devastated look on Blanche’s face.
His own went ashen, pain twisting through his chest. He shoved Jeannette away, she crashed onto the coffee table and tumbled to the floor, gasping for breath, her voice trembling. “E–Eddy, I swear, I didn’t-
“Throw her in the river. Let the fish have her.”
At his command, the bodyguards entered the villa and dragged Jeannette away.
