Love's Bitter Edge (Eva and Leonard) novel Chapter 3

We had an agreement before our marriage. He just wanted me to marry him, and I wanted money. He agreed to give me 200 thousand dollars every month. I could ask for more anytime if it was not enough.

He said he knew I only loved money. If not, I would not have dumped him for that trust fund baby and gone to Manovia with him for two years.

To this day, he still doesn't know who that rich heir really was, but he was convinced that I was just a gold digger.

Ever since we got married, I rarely asked him for money, but I was barely making ends meet even with the 200 thousand dollars every month.

To prevent a relapse, I needed to support myself with expensive medications. The medical check-ups were not cheap either.

This was only the second time I had ever asked him for money. The first was when my mother passed away. Back then, he gave me a million readily and without question.

This time, however, he merely lowered his head as he smoothed Lily's hair gently. He comforted her softly as if he did not hear what I had said.

Only after Lily stopped crying did he look up at me with a cold smirk. "You want money? Sure. Get on your knees and apologize then. Since you've hurt Lily, you must apologize to her!"

Lily seemed shocked at first. Then, she had a satisfied smile on her face. She tugged at Leonard's sleeve coyly. "Leonard, it's fine. I'm not badly hurt. Maybe she didn't mean it."

"She should apologize to you whether she meant it or not. You're my darling." He picked Lily up and gently placed her on the sofa.

Then, he took out his checkbook and wrote a number. "If you kneel and apologize to her, five million dollars will be yours."

Staring silently at the figure on the check, the pain in my chest did not feel as horrible anymore.

He used to bring many women home just to humiliate me, but he would only do that at home. No matter how he behaved in private, he would still treat me as Mrs. Harmon publicly.

But this time, he was actually using money to humiliate me just because of Lily. He wanted me to give in and bow to him.

He clearly knew that I would never ask him for money if it was not for something urgent. He just wanted to destroy my self-esteem and make me feel worthless. Only then would he be satisfied.

Stunned, I stood there. I could sense all of the staff members' gazes on me. There was contempt, suspicion, and pity.

Lily looked at me with challenging eyes. I recalled what she had said earlier.

"The one that's not loved is the "interloper'' in this relationship."

I pressed hard on my chest. It was indeed hurting. Even the pain from cancer was not this unbearable.

"Never mind then." Not wanting to humiliate myself any longer, I turned and strode out of the office.

He hated me, so he naturally wanted to torture me. Humiliating me was not enough for him.

If he found out later on that I needed this money to save my life, he would probably feel satisfied for not giving it to me, wouldn't he?

Using my last bit of strength to get home, I became exhausted. Even though I was tired and sleepy, the pain made it impossible for me to fall asleep. The agony and pain of cancer were terrible even though this was not my first time experiencing it.