My ex-husband, Tom, and his rich buddies recently started a twisted game. "The Bankruptcy Challenge." The rules? Fake going broke for a month. The goal? To test the loyalty of their girlfriends. To make it look legit, their friends and family were all in on it. They even installed a "new owner" at their companies. Tom, wearing a $5 t-shirt and a construction hat, confidently went to find the woman he loved most. Instead of sympathy, his precious Chloe screamed at him and had security throw him out like trash. Stunned, he sat on the curb for a long time before his trembling fingers dialed another number. "Sarah... I'm broke. I'm homeless." A soft, childish voice answered from the other end. "Daddy, don't be scared. You can sleep in my room." 1 When Tom called, I was in the kitchen frosting a cake. My four-year-old daughter, Lily, was playing Roblox on my phone and picked up immediately. I don't know what he said, but suddenly Lily’s face lit up. She ran into the kitchen, losing a slipper on the way. "Mommy! Good news! Daddy went bankrupt! He can come to my birthday party this year!" Bankrupt? I looked at the phone. The contact name was still "Ex-Husband." The last time Tom called was Christmas. He only contacted me on holidays. Usually to drag me to his parents' mansion to play the "happy couple" and keep the old folks calm. But the second we walked out the door, he’d drop my hand like it was toxic and speed off to comfort Chloe. I’d watch him drive away, the backseat piled high with designer gifts, the passenger seat filled with red roses. I’d stand there in the cold wind, clutching the $2,000 "performance fee" he threw at me. I wasn't sad. Why would I be? That was six months of rent for me and Lily. Hearing he was broke, my only thought was: Why isn't he calling his precious Chloe? Why call me? We hated each other. Tom’s voice was cautious. "Sarah, I have nowhere to go. I haven't eaten all day. Can I crash at your place?" I opened my mouth to say "No." But Lily tugged on my skirt. Her big, grape-like eyes were wide, filled with hope and pleading. "Mommy, please? Let Daddy spend my birthday with me just this once? All the other kids have their dads..." I looked down, and my heart broke a little. I knew Lily craved a father’s love. Tom actually liked Lily. He used to take her to Disney World, buy her princess dresses, and get her those expensive blind box sets. But one day, Lily came home slumped over, saying she would never "bother" Daddy again. I dropped my spatula and stormed over to his villa. With the arm strength of a woman who washed a thousand dishes a day, I slapped Chloe silly. I shoved her face into the toilet to rinse out that filthy mouth of hers. After that, Tom never asked to see Lily again. 2 But today was Lily's birthday. She just wanted her parents together. I sighed. "Tom, Lily misses you. You can come over for dinner." On the other end, he exhaled. It was the sound of a man who just realized he wasn't completely alone in the world. "You guys still live at The Grandview, right? I'm on my way." I blinked. "What? Where is that? I've never been there." I rented an apartment in the Garden District. It was close to Lily's preschool. Downstairs was a street full of food trucks. At night, we could hear drunk karaoke from the bar across the street, and the roach-spray truck drove by on schedule. It was a far cry from the luxury high-rise Tom mentioned. Tom went silent for a moment, then asked for my current address. Even wearing clothes from a discount bin, Tom still looked like money. The moment he walked in, Lily tackled his legs. Tom patted her head affectionately, but as he scanned our small two-bedroom apartment, his eyes went cold. "You let my daughter live in a place like this?" I paused mid-tea pour. The apartment was clean, decorated in a warm, minimalist style. Everything from the appliances to the cartoon rug was hand-picked by Lily and paid for by me. No matter how hard things got, I never let Lily feel poor. But Tom walked in and immediately started judging. Right. He and Chloe lived in a 5,000-square-foot mansion. Of course this felt like a shoebox. I tossed the tea bag in the trash and pulled Lily over. "Lily, go check your room. Mommy hid a birthday present in there." She squealed and ran off. My smile vanished. I glared at Tom. "A place like this? Who was begging to come here five minutes ago? You're homeless now. What right do you have to judge?" Tom quickly dropped the attitude. Right. He was supposed to be a broke guy now. Not a CEO. He sat on the sofa, looking awkward. "You misunderstood. I meant... why aren't you living in the house I gave you?" I frowned. "What house?" When we divorced, I left with one suitcase and a three-month-old Lily. The only money I had came from selling the jewelry his parents gave me. Tom’s brow furrowed. "Sarah, you gave me a child. Even if I don't love you, I wouldn't let my own flesh and blood starve." "I told my assistant, Ben, to buy you a condo and give you a huge settlement check. Did you not take it?" 3 A condo? A settlement? This was news to me. But I quickly figured it out. "I didn't get a dime. Are you trying to scam me now that you're broke?" Tom leaned forward, regret swirling in his eyes. "Sarah, I would beg on the streets before I scammed you. In this world, the person I wronged the most is you." Our history reads like a bad soap opera. My father saved Tom’s father’s life but died doing it. Tom’s family adopted me when I was eight. His dad treated me like a daughter. His mom loved my quiet nature. Tom, two years older, was the big brother who protected me. He fought off bullies. He took me to the zoo. He did everything to help me get over my grief. And I buried my crush on him in my diary. Sarah loves Tom. Does Tom love Sarah? Senior year of college, I got my answer. Tom proposed. I was overjoyed. I thought he loved me back. We got married at the courthouse for $35. I didn't know Tom’s dad had given me 10% of the company shares as a dowry but forced Tom to start from the bottom in the mailroom. Tom didn't marry me. He married a shortcut to the good life. After the wedding, I lived in a fantasy. I cooked for him, ironed his shirts, picked him up drunk from parties. But while I was pregnant, he cheated on me with an intern. Chloe. She was six months older than me. He said Chloe understood him. She was his soulmate. They were "true love." He said his feelings for me were just... sibling affection. Tom’s dad saw right through Chloe. He called her a gold-digger and banned her from the family. So Tom came up with a compromise. He wouldn't divorce me—he needed me to pacify his parents. But he would give Chloe everything a wife gets, except the marriage certificate. That day, ten days after Lily was born, I snapped. The docile Sarah who let Tom walk all over her grabbed a fruit knife and stabbed herself in the stomach. Marrying Tom was my mistake. I was young, stupid, and love-blind. 4 He cheated. He treated me like a maid. I deserved that for being dumb. But I would die before I let him ruin my daughter. Blood everywhere. Tom froze. He was panicked, terrified, guilty. He pressed his hands on my wound, shaking. "Sarah, don't die." I was stubborn. If he didn't agree to a divorce and give me full custody, I would kill myself. If they saved me, I’d do it again. Until I was dead. If I died, his father would destroy Chloe. To save his mistress, Tom signed the papers. The day I left, he had a condition. We had to hide the divorce. I had to pretend to be his wife in front of his parents on holidays. I said fine. But I charged him. $2,000 a pop. Tom, the man who "wouldn't touch me if I was the last woman on earth," had to pay me to show up. He lost his temper. "Do you have no feelings for me at all? Do you love money that much? Fine. I won't give you a cent of the settlement. I'll wait until you're starving and come crawling back to beg me." He kept his word. The "economic compensation" in the divorce agreement? Never saw a penny. I was broke, yes. But I stood on my own two feet. I never begged him once. Remembering this, Tom rubbed his temples. "That was just angry talk. You were a single mom. How could I really leave you with nothing?" "Your 'angry talk' was my reality for four years." Tom choked. He looked around the apartment again. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't rich. Chloe wore socks that cost $500. I was wearing a t-shirt I bought four years ago. Tom pulled out his phone and called his assistant, Ben. "Mr. Tom... uh, sir? Is there something you need?" Ben wasn't used to the new boss yet. Tom’s voice dropped, carrying his old authority. "Four years ago, the condo at The Grandview and the $10 million settlement check. Did you give them to my ex-wife personally?" $10 million? That would have set me and Lily up for life. Ben hesitated. "Uh... well, Miss Chloe said she would handle it..." Her again. Rage boiled in my chest. Chloe already had everything. If she stole Lily's future too, I was going to destroy her. At 7 PM, I brought out a Shaun the Sheep cake.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "387631", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel