Love Dies But Money Lives

Three years after getting back together with Xavier, he cheated on me again.

With the same woman from three years ago.

When I ran into them at a restaurant, he lied and told me she was a client.

The next moment, he shielded her behind him, looking at me with wariness and alarm.

I knew what he fearedthat I'd lose it again and hurt the woman he treasured most.

But I simply stepped forward, straightened his slightly disheveled tie, and said gently:

"Alright, I understand. Don't drink too much. Remember to use protection during sex."

After a pause, I suddenly felt my concern was unnecessary, so I corrected myself:

"Or don't do it at all. That's fine too."

I thought I'd been gentle and considerate enough.

But somehow, Xavier's face still darkened.

The restaurant was quiet, with conversations deliberately kept low.

Only the occasional soft clink of silverware against plates could be heard.

The dcor was thoughtfulroses everywhere, no other flowers in sight.

Naturally, the people dining here were lovers.

Or perhaps some were like Xavier.

Everyone just tacitly played along, pretending to be affectionate.

I acted as if I hadn't seen Xavier's darkened expression at all. I gave the woman he was shielding a slight nod, then turned and left.

My friend walking beside me asked quietly, "Why aren't you angry?"

Angry?

I didn't seem to feel anything.

Maybe I had been angry before, but it hadn't helped.

I'd even paid a heavy price for it.

A price I couldn't afford to pay a second time.

I smiled calmly. "Nothing to be angry about. He was just meeting a client."

My friend looked at me in silence, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

I knew what she was thinking.

But I couldn't tell her this was the first lesson Xavier had taught me:

Learn to turn a blind eye to his affairs.

When dinner ended, Xavier was waiting at the restaurant entrance in his car.

I looked at my ride-hailing app still showing a queue, so I didn't refuse. I opened the back door and got in.

As expected, someone was sitting in the passenger seat.

She turned around and smiled at me with a mixture of restraint and smugness. "Sorry, Mrs. Harper. I get carsick."

"Xavier took pity on me and let me sit here. There's no other meaning to itdon't misunderstand."

Xavier opened the door and got into the driver's seat, explaining casually:

"It's just a seat. If you mind, I'll have Bridget switch with you."

I nodded gently, still considerate. "It's fine. I understand."

"I have motion sickness patches. Would you like one, Miss Sullivan? It might help."

Bridget said nothing.

Xavier fell silent too.

The car became quiet in an instant.

It had started raining outside at some point. It looked cold.

My friend sent me a message asking if I'd gotten a ride and whether she should come pick me up.

I looked down to reply, not noticing Xavier gripping the steering wheel tightly.

After a long while, he finally started the car before the rain got heavier.

Bridget spoke again. "Drop Mrs. Harper off first. She lives closer."

At that, Xavier and I spoke almost simultaneously:

"That works."

"No need."

I froze, then understood Xavier's intention and quickly added:

"Actually, it's so late now, and it's pouring rain. Going back and forth would be too much trouble."

"Why don't you stay over? I just messaged the housekeeper and asked her to prepare both the master bedroom and guest room..."

Before I could finish, Xavier suddenly hit the brakes hard. The tires screeched against the pavement.

My forehead slammed into the back of the passenger seat.

Before I could process the pain, I heard Xavier say coldly, "Get out!"

I realized I'd misread his intentions again, so I shut my mouth.

I quickly pulled out my folding umbrella from my bag, opened the car door, and got out.

The rain was heavythe small umbrella couldn't shield much.

I was quickly soaked through.

Xavier drove past me, and the splash from puddles soaked my pants even more.

I looked down at them briefly. When I looked up again, even the exhaust fumes were gone.

In the end, I had no choice but to shamelessly message my friend and ask her to pick me up.

She arrived quickly.

Looking at me drenched, her eyes filled with exasperation. "You deserve this!"

I forced a smile. "Clara, thank you."

"I know you mean well, but I can't help it. I can't leave him."

It wasn't that my feelings wouldn't allow me to leave him.

It was reality that trapped me.

When I finished showering and came out of the bathroom, Xavier was back.

He sat on the sofa with his head down, smokinghe'd probably been at it for a while, as the living room was filled with smoke.

I paused while drying my hair, suddenly feeling this scene overlapped with three years ago.

That was the day before our divorce.

He smoked one cigarette after another until they nearly filled the entire ashtray.

Finally, through the swirling smoke, he handed me the divorce papers with a cold, resolute expression.

I walked forward somewhat stiffly, smiled, and took the cigarette from his mouth. "Stop smoking. It's bad for your health."

Xavier looked up, his eyes filled with emotions I couldn't read.

I forced a smile. "Don't worry, I haven't misunderstood anything about you and Bridget."

"If you say she's a client, then she's a client."

"You already had plans with her. It was right to let her sit in your passenger seat and drive her home. I was the unexpected one."

"Don't worry. I won't cause trouble for her."

I was considerate and understanding, thinking from Xavier's perspective.

But somehow, Xavier still wasn't happy. His lips pressed into a line, his expression dark.

I grew anxious, almost panicked, telling him, "If you want to bring Miss Sullivan back here, I don't mind either."

"If she finds me bothersome, I can move out too..."

"Enough!"

Xavier suddenly snapped, cutting off the rest of my words.

He gripped my hand tightly, his eyes bloodshot as he looked at me:

"If you're so gentle and considerate, why don't you just give up your position as Mrs. Harper!"

I bit my lip, enduring the pain in my wrist, and looked at Xavier. "Then would you stop paying for my mother's medication?"

Xavier's eyes widened.

Not getting an answer, I asked again, unwilling to give up. "If I give up this position, will you still cover my mother's medical expenses?"

"Xavier, I can give it upas long as you keep paying for my mother's medication. Will you?"

Xavier's pupils contracted sharply. He suddenly flung my hand away and stood up from the sofa with a violent motion.

He stared at me intently, not missing any expression on my face.

I wasn't lying.

It was all true.

I could give my position to Bridget.

Really.

Xavier seemed to see something in my face. He laughed bitterly. "And you say you haven't misunderstood?"

He came over again, took my hand, and rubbed the spot he'd just gripped red:

"Bridget is just my client. I'm not lying to you. Really."

"Vienna, don't be jealous for no reason. It's annoying. You know I'm not in the mood to humor you."

I looked down at the spot he'd rubbed, wanting to say I wasn't jealous.

But it seemed pointless.

So I didn't argue. I simply nodded along with what Xavier said. "Okay. I understand."

After that day, Xavier seemed like a different person.

He suddenly stopped going anywhere, leaving late and returning early.

In the mornings, he'd have me walk him to the entrance. After putting on his shoes, he'd turn back to kiss my forehead.

At night, he'd bring me flowerssometimes pansies, sometimes irises...

Different ones every day.

Then he'd kiss the corner of my lips and tell me:

"Today, I missed you very much."

But the man who said he missed me spent his days shopping with Bridget and going to hot springs.

He pretended affection, and I pretended affection too. Neither of us asked or spoke about it.

Until Xavier's mother's birthday.

Xavier said he wanted to take me back home to celebrate.

I agreed.

When he came to pick me up that evening, the passenger seat was already occupied.

It was Bridget.

She smiled at me without a trace of guilt. "Sorry, Mrs. Harper. I get a little carsick."

Was this Xavier testing me?

I smiled and nodded, unbothered. "It's fine. Carsickness is uncomfortable. I understand."

As I pulled open the back door to get in, Xavier got out of the car.

He opened the passenger door and looked at Bridget. "Get out."

Bridget's face changed. She forced a smile. "Mr. Harper, I..."

Xavier held the door with a cold expression. "Don't make me drag you out myself."

Bridget's face looked even worse.

The atmosphere grew tense. Just as I was about to break the awkward silence, Xavier pulled Bridget out.

"Either sit in the back or get your own ride."

He didn't look at Bridget's expression. He simply helped me into the passenger seat.

I felt conflicted, but I knew this wasn't the time to defy Xavier.

So I said nothing.

Bridget didn't call her own ride. She sat in the back.

After the car started, Xavier handed me a gift box and explained simply, "For my mother. You give it to her."

I made a soft sound of agreement. Before I could speak, Bridget spoke first:

"It's an emerald necklace. I took Mr. Harper shopping for it. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

I touched the gift box and smiled gently. "Yes, it really is beautiful."

Seethe man who said he missed me.

His body was always somewhere else.

How could I dare believe him?

Xavier's mother didn't have a big celebration for her birthdayjust a few family members.

She really liked Bridget, finding her articulate and charming.

I heard that when Xavier and I divorced the first time, she'd strongly tried to set him up with Bridget.

But Xavier hadn't agreed.

Perhaps he found sneaking around more exciting.

Today was the same. Xavier walked past me and took Bridget's hand directly. "I've been waiting for you."

"Bridget, you don't visit often. Without you here, I don't even have anyone to share my thoughts with."

She took Bridget's hand and had her sit beside her.

She didn't look at me once the entire time.

I was used to it. I calmly placed the gift on the table. "From Xavier. Miss Sullivan chose it."

Xavier's mother, who hadn't even glanced at me, surprisingly looked my way.

After a moment, she picked up the gift box to look, then had Bridget help her put it on. "You have such good taste."

"Unlike some peopleno taste and no tact either."

"So unpleasant to look at."

If this were before, I definitely couldn't have tolerated it and would've left.

But now, I just stood to the side, listening quietly, reacting no more than a corpse.

Xavier frowned, suddenly feeling something was off.

It seemed that ever since Vienna had run into him and Bridget at the restaurant, she'd been like this.

Too calm.

Or rather... indifferent.

For the first time

Xavier got drunk in his own home.

He didn't know why, but his mind kept replaying Vienna standing to the side, head down, silent, seemingly indifferent to everything.

Was she... really indifferent?

Xavier drank even more.

Unable to go back, he could only stay the night at the family estate.

Bridget stayed over too.

In the room right next to mine and Xavier's.

A deliberate arrangement.

I understood Xavier's mother's intention.

So that night, when Xavier, using alcohol as an excuse, pinned me down to kiss me, I pushed him away.

I straightened his collar and smiled. "Wait a moment."

Then I went out and called Bridget over.

Under Bridget's shocked gaze, I closed the door for her and Xavier.

Then I drove away from the Harper family estate.

Ten minutes later, I received a call from Xavier. He suppressed his voice and asked, "What do you mean by this?"

I looked at the road illuminated by headlights and said softly:

"Last time you got drunk holding me, you called Miss Sullivan's name all night. I assumed it would be the same this time."

Xavier roared into the phone, "I didn't call her name this time!"

My tone remained gentle. "I know. But what if you did halfway through? I was thinking of you."