The Husband’s Tactics

On my mother's 39th birthdaythe year I graduated high schoolmy father came home with his mistress, her son, and a single red rose.
My mother took the rose from the boy. That night, she slit her wrists in the bathtub.
So on our wedding day, I told my wife Rina, If you ever want a divorce, just give me a red rose.
She held me tight. Dont worry, Jim. There will never be a single flower in our house.
She kept her word. Five years later, during a partner pitch, she noticed the man wore a rose boutonnire. She threw him out and blacklisted his firm instantly.
That day, I believed our marriage was a sanctuary.
Until six months later, when I finished my pharmaceutical research and stepped out of the lab.
The corridor was a blood-red river of roses.
Beside Rina stood the same man shed expelled, smirking.
My face went cold. Rina waved a hand.
Its a surprise from Milesfor you, she said lightly. Hes your half-brother, Jim. Hes here to make amends.
I stared at her for two hollow seconds, then turned and walked away.
I never had a brother.
And from that day on, I no longer had a wife.

1.
I stood before my mother's grave for three hours. Today was her birthday, and the tenth anniversary of her death.
Red roses. They were once the symbol of my parents' love.
Ten years ago, my father stood by and watched as Miles Croft placed that rose in my mothers hand, shattering the last fragments of her spirit.
The red rose. My trigger. My taboo.
And today, ten years later, my own wife brought my mother's killer back into my life, armed with the very symbol of my pain, to deliver the final, fatal blow.
In the distance, a shower of fireworks lit up the evening sky. It was the celebration party Rina had thrown for the successful development of the new drug.
My team and I had poured half a year into it180 days of sleepless nights and skipped meals.
And now, this moment felt like nothing more than a victory lap for Miles.
I said my goodbyes to my mother and turned to leave. Just then, my phone rang. It was Rina.
Her voice was thick with champagne. "The party's almost over, where are you? It looks bad, you know, the head of R&D not even showing up."
I said nothing.
Any other time, I would have feigned annoyance, let her coax me with sweet words, and then waited happily for her to come pick me up.
But tonight, the words wouldn't come.
Rinas voice sharpened. "Jim Ward, I'm talking to you! Where the hell did you go?!"
"The cemetery."
Silence. A beat of it, as if the cogs in her wine-soaked brain were slowly turning. It seemed she finally remembered what day it was.
Maybe she also remembered that I'd given up my own birthday celebration for this project. That Id canceled our anniversary dinner.
My only request had been for her to come with me today, to visit my mother.
The silence stretched for another two seconds before she finally spoke, her voice strained.
"I I was just so excited today. I forgot."
"Wait for me there," she added quickly.
I hung up and walked away.
But by the time I reached the parking lot, a text from her buzzed on my phone:
Jim, its too late tonight. Let's do it next time.
Miles is drunk, I have to get him home first.
Don't worry, I promise I'll make it up to you.
I felt no surprise.
Of course Miles would find a way to keep her occupied tonight. His manipulations were obvious.
I could see them.
And Rina, a veteran of the cutthroat business world, could certainly see them too.
But Rina didn't care.
Because she enjoyed it.
Because she didn't give a damn about how I felt.
It didn't matter anymore.
From now on, I wouldn't have to care about her, either.

2.
Rina didn't come home that night.
Not a single text. Not a single call.
I didn't check. I didn't ask.
The next morning, I arrived at the company early.
Rina was the CEO; I was the Head of R&D.
In five years, we'd moved our company from a garage to a skyscraper in the heart of the CBD.
But our marriage had journeyed in the opposite direction.
With the first phase of the new drug's development complete, things were quiet for now.
I was sipping my coffee, reviewing the divorce papers my lawyer had emailed me, when Rina walked into my office.
"Miles twisted his ankle getting out of the car last night, so I stayed to look after him for a bit," she began, a practiced explanation. "It got too late, so I just crashed at a hotel nearby."
I nodded, my eyes still scanning the legal document. "Right. Got it."
We were getting divorced.
Who she slept with, where she sleptit was her business now.
She didn't need to report to me.
Rina froze, looking like she wanted to say more but held back. "Let's do dinner tonight. You're the hero behind this new drug. You deserve a proper celebration."
She paused, glancing at me. "Should we invite Miles? I think you two should talk. He was just a kid when your mother passed away, after all."
Hearing her try to whitewash Miles's actions made my hand freeze for a fraction of a second.
Rage, cold and sharp, coiled in my gut. I wanted to ask her, And I wasn't a child when my mother died?
I forced the anger down with a sip of bitter coffee. "My business is my own," I said softly. "Tonight, let's just make it the two of us."
It's hard to discuss a divorce with an audience.
As for a brother?
My mother only had one son. I didn't have a brother.
Rina stared at me, then a slow smirk played on her lips, as if she thought I was jealous. She was about to say something when her phone buzzed, cutting her off.
The name 'Miles' lit up the screen. A genuine smile touched her face as she answered and hurried out of my office.
Near the end of the workday, I received a text from her: a reservation confirmation for an exclusive private restaurant.
Her way of making amends, I knew.
I printed the divorce papers, tucked them into my briefcase, and prepared to meet her.
As I left the building, her car purred to a stop beside me. She rolled down the window.
"You head home and get ready. I'm just meeting a client quickly, I'll be there soon."
The car was already pulling away before she finished the sentence.
In the past, I would have spent two hours getting ready for a date with Rina. I was clumsy with styling my hair and picking out clothes, a process that was both a chore and a joy.
This time, there was no point.
I found a nearby spa and treated myself to a deep-tissue massage, letting the tension from months of overtime melt away from my exhausted body.
When I arrived at the restaurant, Rina wasn't there yet.
I sent her a text. No reply.
I shook my head. Instead of waiting like I always did, I ordered for myself.
The restaurant's ambiance was serene, the food exquisite. A universe away from the takeout boxes I'd been eating at the office.
So when Rina never showed up, I wasn't angry.
She had already betrayed seven years of our life together. What was one missed dinner?
She didn't know it, but her signature on those divorce papers would be the only compensation I needed.

3.
After dinner, I took a slow walk home.
The endless cycle of work had left me feeling disconnected from the world, but the simple, lively energy of the streets breathed a little life back into me.
Suddenly, I stopped. I was on a familiar street.
I realized the garage where Rina and I had started our company had been torn down long ago.
And the little bakery where we used to buy cheap buns to save a dollar a day was now a fancy pastry shop.
The world had moved on, and so had we.
Even the memories I once cherished had been eroded by time.
My phone rang, pulling me from my thoughts. It was my old professor.
His voice was hesitant. "Jim, your application to join the secret research for Project Chimera the board approved it yesterday."
He paused. "But I have to ask you one last time, are you absolutely sure about this?"
"This mission will take at least five years. Without you, your company with your wife could collapse."
"Will she agree to this?"
I started walking again, leaving the street of ghosts behind me. My voice was firm.
"Professor, I'm getting a divorce."

The project was starting immediately, and I was eager to leave this life behind. I arranged for the professor's team to pick me up the next day.
With no desire to wander any longer, I hailed a cab home.
The living room lights were on. Rina was on the sofa, texting.
The moment she saw me, the frown on her face vanished. She rushed over, grabbing my hand. "Why didn't you wait for me at the restaurant? I got there and you were gone. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that was?"
I was momentarily stunned that she'd actually gone.
But her entitled indignation was almost laughable.
Then again, it was normal for her. She was used to me waiting.
I pulled my hand from her grasp. "I was done eating. Why would I stay?"
Perhaps sensing she was in the wrong, she reined in her frustration and handed me a gift box.
"I bought this especially for you today. Open it."
I wasn't surprised. After standing me up twice, she had to offer some form of compensation.
This was Rina's pattern. Every time she messed up, shed toss me a small treat afterward.
And I, like a fool, would always be waiting, hoping the treat would be bigger this timemaybe a little more of her time.
I took the gift box and casually tossed it onto the sofa.
"You shouldn't have," I said, my tone polite but distant.
The smile froze on her face. For the first time, she seemed to register my indifference.
A flicker of panic crossed her eyes, and she reached for my hand again.
Just then, Miles's voice drifted down from the second floor.
"Rina, maybe I should just go home. I wouldn't want Jim to get the wrong idea when he gets back"
He appeared at the top of the stairs, and upon seeing me, his feigned surprise was betrayed by the triumph in his eyes.
Rina rushed to explain. "Miles hurt his ankle yesterday, so I took him for a check-up today. That's why I was so late for dinner."
"He can't move around much, so I told him he could stay in the guest room for the night."
She watched me intently, as if expecting an explosion.
I just nodded. "Fine. Then I'll go to a hotel. I won't sleep under the same roof as him."
Rina was speechless, clearly not expecting this reaction.
"If you really don't want Miles here, I'll send him"
Before she could finish, Miles let out a yelp, tumbling down the last few steps and clutching his ankle in agony.
Rina gasped and rushed to help him back to his room, fussing over him.
As I was dragging my suitcase to the door, Rina reappeared in the living room.
She bit her lip, her hand clamping around my wrist, refusing to let go.
The guilt in her eyes deepened with every passing second.
Finally, spurred by another pained groan from Miles's room, she spoke.
"Tomorrow," she pleaded. "I'll go with you to see your mother. We can talk, really talk, in front of her."
My face was a mask of indifference. I turned and left.
Talk?
She could talk to my lawyer.
The moment Miles Croft was in my house, the conversation was over. There was nothing left to discuss, not even a divorce.

4.
The next morning, the car from the institute arrived right on time.
But before I left, I had one last stop to make. I had to go to the office and get the photo of my mother from my desk.
I would not let that picture fall into Miles Croft's hands.
The moment I stepped into the company, I was met with strange looks from my colleagues. When I reached my office, I understood why.
Miles was sitting in my chair, a smug, provocative look on his face.
"Jim, my dear brother," he began. "Looks like we'll be working together from now on."
When I didn't respond, his smirk widened. "Dad invested in the company. The Crofts are majority shareholders now."
"I'm the new Vice President. Which means, from now on, you report to me."
My eyes narrowed. "An investment? The Croft family assets are nowhere near enough to become a majority shareholder in this company."
Miles scoffed. "Don't you worry about that. We have our ways."
"I like this office, by the way. I'm taking it. This is where you'll be giving me your reports."
I looked at him, a cold smile touching my lips. "It seems you and your mother both have a taste for other people's things."
"But you're not as smart as she is. At least she knew when to be patient."
With that, I picked up my mother's photograph and turned to leave.
Rina appeared in the doorway just as I was walking out.
Her face tightened when she saw the photo in my hand.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm just"
Miles cut me off, his voice dripping with arrogance. "He's clearing out his office for me. I like this one."
Rina grabbed my arm as I tried to move past her.
"No," she said firmly. "This has always been your office. No one is taking"
I cut her off. "If he wants it, he can have it."
My resignation was already submitted. If she approved it, I was gone. If she didn't, it didn't matter.
It was a notification, not a request.
Just like she hadn't notified me before letting Miles into our company.
Rina stood frozen, her expression unreadable.
She only snapped out of it when my back had disappeared down the hall.
She stormed into the office where Miles was humming and rearranging the furniture. She grabbed him, dragged him out into the open workspace, and, in front of everyone, slapped him hard across the face.
"I warned you," she hissed, her voice dangerously low. "You are here to support Jim's work. To serve him."
"He is the Head of R&D. The entire next phase of this drug depends on him. Who the hell gave you the idea you could run your mouth at him?"
Down in the lobby, my phone buzzed with a series of texts from her.
If you don't like Miles, I'll make him leave. I'll fire him right now.
The Philharmonic is in town tonight, your favorite. I got us two front-row seats.
We'll go see your mother first, and then we can have the whole night to ourselves.
I'll meet you at the cemetery. 5 PM. Don't be late.
I shook my head, popped the SIM card out of my phone, snapped it in two, and dropped it into the nearest trash can.
Don't insult my intelligence.
I got into the waiting car and headed for the airport.
At five o'clock that evening, Rina Ward stood at the gates of the cemetery, dressed in somber black.

First, search for and download the MotoNovel app from Google. Then, open the app and use the code "285673" to read the entire book.