Chapter 2

A week later, Matt still hasn't come clean himself.

That's disappointing.

I'm not sure what's been going on between him and Lacey in the interim, but I suspect Lacey ended it. Matt's been in an uncharacteristically bad mood. Not angry, but moping like a child whose favorite play thing has been taken away.

And moping is making him clingy. Something that I have little time or patience for at this stage in our relationship.

The thought of him feeling so entitled not only to Lacey but to me as well is enough to make me fume. I spend most of my off hours cycling through petty revenge plans—nothing criminal, but enough to put him firmly in his place.

"Let's go out tonight," Matt says, lounging on the couch as I try to work from the dining room table.

He's taken the week off work—something he can only do as the chairman's son, which is the very same reason I'm slow to push for divorce. My work, however, is more timely than... whatever it is that Matt presumably does. He's never understood that I can't simply take time off at the drop of a hat.

I glower over at him.

"I've told you, one of my clients has a release at the end of the week. I'm swamped until it's over."

Matt scoffs, making a face that comes a bit too close to disgust. My jaw clenches and I take a calming breath before I say—or do—anything I'll regret.

"They can hire someone else, then," he whines, sounding exasperated, as though *I'm* the one being unreasonable.

"If they hire someone else, they *fire* me. That's a bad thing."

"Why do you even work, anyway? What do you need it for?"

I glare over my laptop at him and he pouts, slumping down on the couch.

"I work," I say icily, "because it's fulfilling. Besides, I like having a fall-back plan in case you ever leave me."

Matt has the audacity to look offended. "I'd never leave you!"

"I forget, you enjoy having live-in company," I snap, then continue over Matt's protest, "Regardless, I can't just drop this because you are bored."

"I'm not asking you out because I'm bored, I want to take you somewhere nice."

"And when was the last time you asked me out, Matt?" I hold up a hand, cutting him off before he can speak. "*Asked*, not commanded. There is a difference. One has a question mark at the end."

Matt's face falls into a put-upon frown. "Don't be spoiled. You act like this is all my fault, but it takes two to tango, you know."

My laptop snaps closed and I pinch the bridge of my nose. I really need to leave before I do something I regret. "And what exactly is *this*?" I demand, catching his eye.

Matt shifts uncomfortably. Could this be the moment I've been waiting for? Might he actually confess and we can work through this issue like adults?

"You know," he waves his hand vaguely between us. "The way things are. Between us."

It's my turn to scoff. "You're telling me that you think this is *my* fault?"

"Yes," he snaps, jumping to his feet.

"Oh, that's rich," I sneer.

Matt takes a step closer, the better to loom over me. "We used to have fun! Now all you do is work."

Fury bubbles through me and I stand so quickly my chair topples over, crashing to the floor behind me. Neither of us pay it any mind.

"Not all of us can drift through life on our parents' coattails, Matthew." I hiss, jabbing him in the chest with my finger.

"I'm not drifting!"

"You don't even know what hard work is when I fucking explain it to you!"

"If you don't want to work so hard, get a new job!"

"I never said I didn't!"

"Then why are you getting pissy at me about work?"

Calm down, I command myself before I can punch him in his perfectly straight nose. He wouldn't be such a hit with the ladies then, would he?

I'm not sure if I'm more angry with him or with myself for expecting anything different. Hadn't I told Lacey that I knew who I'd married. What did I expect?

"We're done arguing," I say. "I don't have time for you right now."
With that, I smooth my shirt down and retrieve my laptop so I can lock myself in our room to finish my work. Without Matt or his moping.

He can sleep on the couch tonight.

Or in one of our four guest rooms.

Hell, he can sleep in Lacey's bed tonight for all I care.

No. That's not true. Not Lacey's bed. She doesn't deserve that. Matt's the one I want to punish.

---

I haven't even heard him trying to enter the room by the time I'm ready for bed. I must have really scared him off today. Part of me wonders if he really did end up at Lacey's.

What would Lacey do if he did?

Would the two of them sleep together? Or would Lacey kick the lout out, too?

Lacey could find another man with no trouble. She's gorgeous and compassionate and honest.

And young.

It's not that I'm old. I'm barely over thirty, but I'm under no illusions about the decline of a woman's desirability after their twenties.

I'm passably beautiful, no doubt—Matt wouldn't have given me the time of day if I wasn't pretty in my own right—but my pretty has been edging on *mature* in the last few years. With my wide hips and full figure, I can't call myself svelte anymore. Realistically, I know that I'm heading towards middle age in the eyes of the masses.

I'm not about to be anyone's trophy wife without my husband's age being a multiple of mine, so my revenge can't be as simple as an eye for an eye, a fuck for a fuck.

It's Matt or it's marrying for love at this point.

And I'm a bit too materialistic for that.

Despite my words, I enjoy the creature comforts that Matt—or his parents—afford us. Besides, my in-laws adore me. His mother treats me like the daughter she never had and his father always comments on my work ethic.

I don't want to destroy the life we've built together, I just want him to suffer a little, too.

And I don't want him to cheat again. I don't know if my pride can take it.

I can't stop remembering the way Lacey said the word "respect."
Somehow, I need to persuade him not to cheat again... or to make it very difficult for him to do so.

The cold, vindictive part of me can't help but fantasize about Matt getting into an accident, something horrific that leads to him being deemed undesirable by society in the same way I am for my sex and my age. Then he wouldn't be able to find another woman to cheat with or, worse, replace me with.

It's not that I *deserve* Matt's money, so to speak, but, then, neither does Matt. He hasn't done anything to end up with rich parents and I have put years of my own life into a relationship with him. Simply put, I'm in too deep to back out now without any kind of recompense.

As I'm not quite willing to push Matt in front of a bus, I suppose I'll have to leave it to fate.

Either he'll keep his cheating under the table from now on and I'll just have to live with it... or he'll eventually find another woman—one who isn't as harsh and demanding and close to his own age—and replace me with her.

Maybe it'll even be Lacey. I can't decide whether it makes the thought better or worse that I *like* Lacey.

She seemed like such a kind person, and I don't like thinking that she'd take advantage of the situation, but the world has a way of twisting that kind of compassion.

How long will it take before she realizes that this kind of opportunity might be the only way to get ahead in the world?

Though... if it *was* Lacey, would it really be so bad? If it was just *one* woman, maybe I could live with it. That's food for thought.
Perhaps we could even form some kind of pact.

But, no, there's no way to ensure that Matt won't get bored of us both and find some new mistress. Younger Woman Version 2.0.
If only I could make *Matt* an undesirable option for a potential mistress, despite his money.

A hard ask. He's young and handsome and of his limited skills fucking remains the top of the list, so a girl can't even complain there. By societal standards, his body is swoon-worthy, too, though he's never been quite to my tastes. It doesn't leave much to—

Oh, but that's a thought.

And it might be possible.

After all, there is one surefire way to make him undesirable in the eyes of society. To make him a joke among his cohorts and peers. Best yet, it's not even illegal. I can just make him more... *comfortable*. Like any good wife should.

And if I play my cards right, Lacey might just be the perfect partner in crime for my little plan. After all, women have to stick together in a man's world and if she's struggling to pay off student loans, I think the situation may be rather mutually beneficial.

A smile tugs at my lips as I pull out the pink business card, typing the number into my phone with absolute relish.

"Hello?"

"Lac ey? This is Sarah."

"Oh! Sarah, I wasn't sure I'd hear from you again." She sounds surprised, but not unhappy that I've called. That's good.

"I wondered if you'd like to help me teach our dear Matthew a lesson and continue using his money towards your loans in the meantime."

There's a pause and I'm worried that I might have overstepped, but then she says. "What do you have in mind?"

I hum deviously then say, "Nothing much, but I'd like to make Matt fat."