Chapter 201
“It’s a shame that you are already married, Emmanuel! If you hadn’t gotten
married, I would have introduced you to my sisters. Then, you will be the
son–in–law of the Lenoir family. We will be brothers!” Quintus exclaimed.
Emmanuel quickly waved him off and said, “There’s no way I can compare to
you when you are rich. Plus, your sisters are definitely heiresses. There is no
way they will like someone like me.”
“Hahaha… That’s true. They both have high expectations. However, you are
treating me like a stranger. Here, drink this as punishment!”
“Okay!”
Emmanuel wasn’t one to ruin the mood. Thus, he called a cab beforehand
and drank with Quintus.
After they had drunk a lot of alcohol, Emmanuel wanted to use the restroom.
As he left the room, he forgot where the restroom was. However, on his way
to finding it, he saw a man and woman hugging each other as they entered
a room. He could see the man’s hand on the woman’s *ss! In that split
second, Emmanuel regained consciousness. He could have sworn that the
woman was Abellyn! As for the man, Emmanuel felt that he looked a lot like
Quintus‘ sidekick.
What is going on? How did those two end up together?! Emmanuel was
furious. After all, Abellyn was married and had a six–year–old child. She had
betrayed Ryder.
Thus, Emmanuel couldn’t care less and slammed his fists on the door. “Come
out! Come the f*ck out, you two!”
His actions attracted attention, and the hotel manager even brought some
men over!
On the other hand, inside the room, Abellyn was terrified. Why is Emmanuel
here? Now that he has seen me, he will surely tell Ryder about this! Since
Abellyn was still Ryder’s wife, her reputation would be ruined if this were to be
on the news.
In the meantime, the manager warned Emmanuel when he saw the latter in
cheap clothes. “What are you doing, sir? Please stop making a scene, or I’ll
have you pay for the loss!”
At this moment, Quintus arrived and scolded the manager. “What do you
mean by that? Do you think my friend can’t afford to pay?”
“Huh? Mr. Lenoir? I’m sorry. I didn’t know that he was your friend!” The
manager immediately apologized.
Luckily, Quintus was a reasonable man. He dragged Emmanuel away from
the door and said, “I didn’t know you are a lightweight drinker, Emmanuel. Are
you drunk?”
“I’m not. I know those people!” Emmanuel said hastily.
“You know them? Is it your wife in there?” Quintus asked jokingly.
At that moment, Emmanuel didn’t know what to say. Although he was
enraged, he was still rational. That was why he wanted to barge into the
room when no one was around. Unfortunately, now that many people were
watching him, Ryder’s reputation would be ruined if the others knew that
Abellyn had been cheating on Ryder. He wanted to expose Abellyn but didn’t
want to make things hard for Ryder. If they were to get a divorce because of
this matter, Ryder would be the laughingstock of the town!
Thus, in the end, Emmanuel didn’t tell the truth. “The woman is not my wife,
but that man seems to be your subordinate.”
“Zane isn’t married yet, so it’s fine if he finds a woman to sleep with. Let’s
forget it and continue to drink!” said Quintus. Then, he grabbed Emmanuel’s
shoulder and dragged him away.
Emmanuel gritted his teeth. As the manager and crowd left, he couldn’t
restrain his frustration anymore and went to kick the door open.
Bang! In that split second, Quintus was shocked by how strong Emmanuel’s
kick was. As not even he would be able to break down such a solid door with
one blow!
Chapter 202
At this moment, Zane was the only one left in the room. He was in a
disheveled state and looked nervous. “Mr… Mr. Lenoir, what’s the matter?” he
asked hastily.
“Didn’t you bring a woman into the room? Why is she?” asked Quintus.
“There’s no one here except for me!” Zane was still lying.
Emmanuel pushed him aside and stormed into the room. Although there was
no sight of Abellyn, he noticed the window was open. When he walked over to
the window, he saw Abellyn running away.
“What’s wrong, Emmanuel?” Quintus didn’t know what Emmanuel was doing
and was confused.
Emmanuel glared at Zane and said, “Sir, I don’t care if you want to find a
woman to have S** with, but please don’t try to find a woman who is already
married!”
Zane kept his act and smiled. “I don’t know what you are talking about, Mr.
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Lowe. Although I did find a S** partner, she isn’t here yet.”
“Okay. Since there isn’t any woman here, let’s keep drinking.” Quintus didn’t
want to linger on this matter for too long. Since the woman wasn’t
Emmanuel’s wife, he couldn’t care less about it.
“It’s almost 11.00PM, Quintus. I should get going. Let’s drink another time.”
Emmanuel wasn’t in the mood to do anything now. If he had known that
Abellyn would be here to seduce other men, he would have kept an eye on
her.
“Fine. How boring of you!” Quintus was slightly upset, but he still let Emmanuel
Emmanuel hailed a cab and went back to Yociam Residence.
Since it wasn’t past 11.00PM, Mackenzie left the door for him. She was applying
a mask while sitting on the couch. When she saw Emmanuel’s grim
expression, she found it odd. “What’s wrong?” she asked. Did he and Quintus
get into a fight after they were drunk? If that’s so, that’s great! Mackenzie
thought. She didn’t want him to be near Quintus, nor did she want them to
become best friends. After all, she couldn’t imagine what would happen if
Quintus had used Emmanuel just to confess his love to her.
“I saw Abellyn with another man, Mackenzie! Should I tell Ryder about this?”
Emmanuel needed her opinion since he viewed her as family.
“Abellyn? Did you see her in person?” Mackenzie asked with a frown. Although
she wasn’t shocked that Abellyn was a cheating harlot, she was surprised
that Emmanuel knew about this. She wondered how Emmanuel caught
Abellyn in the act when he was out drinking with Quintus.
“I guess so. I saw her hugging another man as they entered a room. When I
burst into the room, she had already escaped from the window!” he told her
everything.
“That means she is cheating on Ryder.” Unlike Quintus, Mackenzie believed
Emmanuel’s words and immediately started devising a solution. “If it
happened once, it would happen again. It’s best to get it over with, so just tell
Ryder to get a divorce with her!”
“What?” Emmanuel looked at her in shock and thought, As expected from a
rational woman like her. She always comes up with the best solution.
“But.., I’m afraid it wouldn’t be good for Tommy’s growth if his family were torn
apart.”
“What did Tommy ever get when she was around? There’s no making without
breaking. Maybe Ryder will find a better partner after leaving Abellyn. The
longer you keep this from him, the worse the situation will be!” Mackenzie’s
words rang true.
Realization dawned upon Emmanuel when he heard her analysis. He sighed
and smiled at her. “You are so smart, Mackenzie. You are always here to help
me out whenever I’m in trouble.”
“That’s because you are dumb!”
Chapter 203
Mackenzie scolded him before going back to her room to sleep.
Her words didn’t hurt Emmanuel at all. After all, although he wouldn’t admit
he was a fool, Mackenzie was indeed smarter than him..
In the meantime, after Abellyn had escaped from Nightfall Bar, she quickly
went to Chloe’s house.
“How did it go? Did Zane fall head over heels for you?” Chloe asked hastily.
After she got Abellyn and Zane to meet up, she returned home and waited
for Abellyn’s good news. Initially, she thought Abellyn would come back
tomorrow morning. Yet, she had returned so early, and her expression
seemed off.
As expected, Abellyn snapped, “He did like me, but we didn’t sleep together.
Emmanuel caught us!” Initially, Zane would give her money after she had S**
with him. Alas, her plan was all ruined now! It was Emmanuel’s fault that she had become poor and couldn’t play poker!
“What? Why was he there? Did he know about our plan?” Chloe was surprised.
She had gotten Zane’s contact number from the Sheppard family’s
connections. Thus, there was no way Emmanuel would have known about it.
“How should I know? What do I do now, Chloe? He will definitely tell Ryder
about this!” Abellyn didn’t know what to do.
Chloe was out of ideas too. After some time, she quickly said, “It doesn’t
matter what Emmanuel tells Ryder, all you have to do is deny it. Don’t ever
admit to it no matter what. Do you understand?”
Abellyn nodded, but she was still clueless.
“I know you want to get a divorce with Ryder, but the fact is that the person
who cheated would be at a disadvantage in the eyes of the law, especially
when it comes to dividing up their a*sets and gaining the child’s custody. If
you admit to what happened, you won’t get anything once Ryder has filed for
a divorce!”
Abellyn made up her mind to deny it after hearing Chloe’s words. After all, it
would be a huge loss for her if she did!
“Alright. Hurry and go home. Don’t let Ryder gain any evidence of you
cheating on him.”
“Okay. I’ll get home right away!” As she walked to the gate, she turned back
and asked, “What about Zane and me?”
“Let’s set this aside for now. I’ll arrange another meeting for you two once
everything is over.”
“Okay, Chloe. I’ll listen to you.” Abellyn nodded and quickly went back home.
At this moment, Ryder had already put Tommy to sleep. Thus, not even
Emmanuel was able to contact him.
Today was a restless night.
The next day, Emmanuel called Ryder and wanted to have a meal with him.
He told Ryder to be prepared since their topic would be about Abellyn.
“What are you talking about, Manny? Did she betray me?” Although Ryder
was an honest man, he was not stupid. When he heard Emmanuel’s words,
he immediately knew what was going on.
“That’s right, Ryder. I saw her go into a room with another man yesterday!”
“What?!” In that split second, Ryder was enraged. Initially, he was going to
work with his bike. However, he wasn’t in the mood now as he hastily rushed
home.
“Calm down, Ryder! Let’s think of a plan before taking… Hello? Ryder?!”
Emmanuel was going to comfort Ryder, but the latter had already hung up
the phone.
“Get out of here, Abellyn! Get out right this instant!”
Since Tommy had already gone to school, Ryder had no qualms about
venting his anger, and his expression looked terrifying.
In the meantime, Abellyn was hiding behind the door. She was afraid when she saw the grim expression on Ryder’s face. Still, she soon took a deep
breath and acted like she had just woken up. “Are you crazy, Ryder? Why are
you shouting in the house when you are supposed to be at work?”
“You b*tch! Did you go to the bar and cheat on me with another man?”
Ryder was a traditional man. He loathed those who were not loyal to their
marriage and family. Thus, he grabbed Abellyn’s curly hair in a fit of fury.
Chapter 204
Although Abellyn had mentally prepared herself for Ryder to lose his mind,
she still couldn’t believe that Ryder would be so rough with her. In that split
second, she screamed at him, “Are you crazy, Ryder? Who told you I had
cheated on you when I was sleeping here last night?”
“It was Emmanuel who told me! He saw you hugging another man at Nightfall
Bar with his own two eyes!” said Ryder as he shoved her harshly onto the
couch.
Although Abellyn constantly bullied Ryder due to his honesty, he was still a
terrifying person when he was furious.
“You… He… He’s lying! That’s right! Emmanuel is lying!” Abellyn vehemently
denied it and retorted, “I knew it! He harbors resentment at me for saying that
you love his wife. That is why he told you that I was cheating on you! He was
trying to avenge himself!”
“Bullsh*t!” Although Ryder wasn’t smart, he was not an idiot either. “I have
watched Mariny ever since he was a child. I know him better than you! He will
definitely not accuse others without any reason, especially when it’s
something like this. So, I’m sure he must have caught you red–handed! What
else is there to say?!”
“I didn’t do it!” Abellyn denied it once more.
“How dare you refuse to admit it? I’m going to punish you for lying!” As Ryder
spoke, he slapped her leg.
“Ah!” Abellyn screamed but didn’t run away. Instead, she scowled at him and
hissed, “You are abusing me again, Ryder! I’m going to have a divorce with
you! I will take away half of our money and Tommy. You are the one in the
wrong!”
Ryder became even more furious after hearing her words. He pressed her
against the couch and slapped her butt multiple times, trying to vent his
anger. The more he used to adore her, the angrier he felt right now!
“Go on! Hit me! I dare you to beat me to death. Otherwise, I will have you pay
for the consequences! I will kill you, Ryder!” Even if Abellyn were to be armed
with a knife, she was no match to Ryder, not to mention she had nothing to
defend her now.
Ryder only stopped after smacking her bottom until it was swollen.
Then, Abellyn stood up angrily and took off her clothes. Once she was
butt–naked, she screamed like a madwoman. “Fine! Since you accused me
of cheating, why don’t you find someone to check my body? Isn’t Emmanuel
a gynecologist? Why don’t you let him check to see if I have had S** with
someone else for the past few days? I’m innocent! Emmanuel has wrongly
accused me!”
There was no way Ryder would tell Emmanuel about this. After all, how could
he tell others about this matter? If Abellyn had not cheated on him, he would
be the one in the wrong. Moreover, he would also be embarra*sed if she
cheated on him! At this moment, Ryder fully understood the difficulty of not
exposing his family matters to the public.
“Go on! Why are you just standing there? Let me tell you, Ryder. If you don’t
get on your knees and beg for forgiveness, I will never forgive you!” After
Abellyn had gotten the upper hand, she began to be unreasonable. She
didn’t grab a knife and hurt anyone, yet Ryder had beaten her until she was
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swollen. Thus, she wanted to call her family over. When that happened, there
would be hell to pay!
“No! Don’t call them!” After Ryder had vented out his anger, he was afraid
when he saw how intimidating Abellyn was. He quickly hugged her to prevent
her from calling her family. If Abellyn’s parents were to come, the house
would be in utter chaos!
“Are you afraid now, Ryder? Why didn’t you think that this would happen when
you hit me? I won’t let this matter slide if you don’t make it up to me!”
“What… What do you want?”
Chapter 205
Ryder was suffering because he wasn’t exactly an intellectual. He had the
guts to do whatever he wanted when in a fit of rage, but when the deed was
done, he would not know what to do to de–escalate the situation.
“5,000, now! Give that to me and I’ll forget about the whole thing. Otherwise,
I’ll call my parents! You abused me! I will be seeing you in court!” Abellyn
demanded hotly.
“5,000? I don’t have that kind of money!”
“I know that you were paid just two days ago. Give that to me, now!”
Faced with Abellyn’s threats, Ryder had no choice but to pay her 2,500. Finally,
she relented and left their unit with a cold scoff.
Misery overwhelmed him. What should he do now?
That afternoon when Emmanuel stepped out of the hospital and intended to
drive to Terence Group, he found Ryder waiting for him by the hospital
entrance.
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“Oh, God. Ryder, what happened to you?”
Then, he hastily dashed out of the car upon seeing Ryder’s messy hair and
red–rimmed eyes.
“…”
Ryder released a heavy sigh, not knowing how to start.
As Emmanuel was concerned that Ryder might be in trouble, he hurriedly
messaged Beatrix to tell her he was taking the day off. Then, he led Ryder to a
place where they could talk freely.
They soon arrived at a taco truck.
After Ryder downed two cans of beer, he told Emmanuel all about his day.
Finally, he sighed wearily, complaining, “I was too impulsive! I shouldn’t have
made a move before I had proof. Now, I’ve tipped her off and suffered for my
rashness!”
Emmanuel wholeheartedly agreed with that. He had told Ryder to control
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himself, but it was obvious that Ryder didn’t heed his warnings.
Still, at this point in time, the only advice he could give was, “Don’t beat
yourself up over it. Abellyn is the one in the wrong. In the end, justice will
prevail. I’ll make sure of that!”
Ryder nodded and continued drowning his sorrows in beer.
Emmanuel’s first task was to find out what Ryder thought of the situation.
“Have you ever thought of divorcing her?” he bluntly asked.
He did not have the nerve to question Ryder about this before, but now that
she had definitely cheated on Ryder–well, at least mentally, for now–Ryder
needed to make up his mind on this.
“I don’t know. I really don’t know…”
Ryder’s mind was in chaos. Tommy was only six! There was a high chance
that he would feel abandoned or experience other negative emotions that
might drastically affect his childhood and cause irreparable damage if Ryder
decided to divorce Abellyn.
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Still, Emmanuel had discussed this particular matter with Mackenzie, so he
knew what Ryder was likely worried about, “Ryder, don’t overthink things. Just
focus on the now. As Mackenzie has said, there’s no making without breaking.
If this family isn’t capable of surviving turmoil, you should let it die on good
terms… Or, whatever pa*ses as good terms at this point. You’re only 35 years
old. You’re still in your prime, perfectly capable of building a better
household.”
Ryder’s lack of confidence was his greatest weakness.
He was not well–educated, and he was not as handsome as Emmanuel. He
had only married Abellyn because he was afraid he would never be able to
find a wife. Thus, he doted on her with all his might.
Now, he realized he had made a terrible mistake.
However, he was not a young man any longer. Abellyn had also gambled
away most of his savings. He was actually in a more unfavorable state than
he was seven years ago. It was no wonder that he had no self–confidence to
speak of.
“If worse comes to worst, you can raise Tommy all by yourself. Abellyn never
did anything for the family anyway!” Emmanuel exclaimed.
Then, he solemnly swore, “I promise I will help you find proof of her cheating
on you last night. You will surely be granted custody of Tommy once I have
solid evidence. There’s no need to be afraid. You can’t spend your whole life
being taken for a fool by that woman!”
Ryder sighed and nodded but did not say anything.
“You can’t keep dragging this on, Ryder! The man Abellyn seduced last night
is quite rich and high in social status. She has already made her first move,
so she’s probably looking for a better catch. I’m certain that she plans to
divorce you!”
“In that case, you need to strike while the iron is hot. You cannot give them
the chance to attack you, or you’ll lose a lot more than just Tommy. There’s
no way you can live with yourself then,” Emmanuel concluded.
He was actually just repeating what Mackenzie said to him.
Women always had a deeper insight into other women.
Moreover, Mackenzie was a smart woman. Although she had not spent time
getting to know Abellyn, she knew exactly what kind of woman Abellyn truly
was.
Chapter 206
“You’re right, Manny. I can’t just wait for the inevitable. I’ll get useful blackmail
on that woman and sue her. If she insists on going down this path, I’ll divorce
her!”
Ryder finally decided that he could not live in denial any longer.
His wife was determined to cheat on him, so he could not just pretend
nothing happened.
“I’ll go with you, Ryder.”
Emmanuel followed Ryder to Nightfall Bar, thinking of asking for last night’s
surveillance records.
Unfortunately, they were nobodies. It didn’t matter what they said, the bar
refused to give them access to the footage. It certainly didn’t sway them
when Ryder shouted in their faces that his wife had been cheating on him at
their premises.
They had no choice but to leave empty–handed.
“You should head home first, Manny. I’ll camp out by the bar. I will catch her
red–handed tonight!”
Ryder had the utmost faith in Emmanuel.
This whole time, he was certain Abellyn had been lying. If Emmanuel said she
had been flirting around with other men, then she was definitely guilty of that.
Emmanuel was out of ideas as well, but he still advised Ryder, “You should
only stay here for one night. I just caught Abellyn here last night. There’s no
way she’s foolish enough to come back here. Don’t let this matter with her
affect your work. It’s not worth it.”
“I know, Manny.”
Emmanuel only returned home when he received Ryder’s promise to be
more careful this time.
When he drove Mackenzie home later that evening, Emmanuel drove past Nightfall Bar. Then, he told her all about what happened with Ryder during their journey home.
While she found Ryder’s actions foolish, she did not see a need in throwing
rocks when someone was already down.
As expected, Abellyn did not head to Nightfall Bar that evening. Therefore,
Ryder ended up drowning his sorrows in drink.
“It’s getting late, Ryder. Let’s go. I’ll drop you off at home,” Emmanuel said
gently.
Ryder had intended to go along with the suggestion, but when he spotted
Mackenzie in the car, he adamantly refused to get into the car.
“Go home with your wife, Manny. Leave me be! I’ll just hail a cab.”
“It’s fine. She won’t be mad. You’re not in a good place financially. Every little
bit counts.”
“No, no, no. You should go!”
Ryder would rather die than get into that car. He might be a fool, but he was a self–aware fool. They belonged to two completely different worlds. How
could he sit in the same vehicle as Mackenzie?
He was afraid his presence would stain her ethereal image.
When Mackenzie noticed what was happening, she let out a discreet huff.
Only Emmanuel would be foolish enough to suggest that idea.
She was the great CEO of Terence Group. There was no way she could sit in
the same vehicle with a drunkard.
“Tell Ryder to stop with this foolish nonsense. I’ll find his evidence for him.”
That was what she said when Emmanuel finally got back into the car.
“Really?” His eyes lit up with joy. “What do you have in mind? Ms. Quillen?”
“Hmph! That’s none of your business!”
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