My Secretly Rich Husband Left Our Son to Die for His Ex's Dog

On his way home from collecting soda cans for recycling after school, my son was bitten by a stray dog.

To save money, he tried to patch up the nasty wound himself with super glue and duct tape before coming home.

With tears streaming down my face, I rushed him to a local urgent care clinic for a basic bandage.

Leo looked at me, his eyes filled with guilt. "I'm sorry, Mom. The co-pay was ten dollars. Thats our food budget for the day."

But as we walked out, we saw my husband, Austin, at the luxury pet boutique next door. He was swiping his black card for his ex-girlfriends dog.

"Mr. Miller is so sweet to his wife! He comes in every week to get the VIP spa package for Coco!"

"I know, right? It costs thousands of dollars each time. He really spoils her."

Leo and I froze, staring at Austin in disbelief.

He didn't notice us. Holding the dog, he turned and got into a luxury car with Hailey.

Leo pulled at my sleeve. "Didn't Dad say his investments failed and he owes millions? Why is he spending so much on a dog?"

I forced myself to calm down, desperately hoping there was some mistake. I walked into the pet shop to ask.

But the clerk's words threw us straight into an ice bath.

"Are you asking about Mr. Miller? Hes our black card VIP. A few thousand dollars is pocket change to him."

"Even the pedigree French bulldog Mrs. Miller is holding is worth over a hundred thousand dollars."

I let out a bitter laugh and led Leo away, remaining silent the entire way home.

Once inside, as I looked at his poorly bandaged wound, my tears finally spilled over.

Leo also realized Austin had been lying. He looked incredibly confused. "Mom, if Dad is so rich, why did he lie to us?"

"Does he not want us anymore?"

Austin had never revealed his true financial background to me. Even when we got married, he only said he was doing some investments.

Shortly after our wedding, he claimed his investments had crashed, leaving him with a seven-figure debt.

To an ordinary family like ours, that was an astronomical sum.

Yet, instead of leaving him, I took on three jobs to support us.

Leo had been sensible since he was a toddler. Every day after school, he would collect cans to help ease my burden.

Even when his classmates bullied and excluded him for it, he never regretted it.

"If we save money fast enough, Dad can pay off his debts, and we can finally have a good life!"

But now, I was being told that Austin had been playing broke all along.

My son and I lived a life that wasn't even as good as the dog owned by his ex-girlfriend!

Pulled back to reality, I choked out a question to Leo, "If things change, do you want to live with Dad or Mom?"

His eyes dimmed, and his voice trembled with fear.

"Can Dad please not abandon us? I promise I'll be good. I don't want us to split up."

"Mom, can we give Dad one more week? I'll talk to him!"

Seeing how heartbroken my son was, I had no choice but to agree.

Just then, the front door opened, and Austin walked in.

Seeing us standing in the living room, he frowned slightly. "Whats going on? Why do you both look so miserable?"

Leo spoke first. "Dad, I got bitten by a dog today. It hurts so bad..."

He held up his hand. But seeing how raw and ugly the wound looked, Austins immediate reaction was disgust.

"How could you be so careless? Did you waste more money at the clinic? Your mom and I work so hard. Can you stop being such a burden?"

"No dinner for you tonight. Let this be a lesson."

I clenched my fists. "Your son is injured! If you don't care, that's one thing, but how dare you ban him from eating? Do you even care about this family?!"

Austin had never seen me this angry. Once he recovered from his shock, he snapped back.

As we stood there glaring at each other, Leo quickly stepped between us, pulling at my hand.

"Mom, it's fine. I'm not that hungry anyway."

"Dad is right. I caused trouble. I'll go to my room and do my homework."

Perhaps because the disappointment on Leos face was too obvious, Austin's expression softened slightly.

"Alright, Leo. How could I actually starve you?"

"I had a business dinner today and brought home some leftovers. Take them to your room."

With that, he pulled a plastic container of leftover fish from his bag.

It was fish. The one food Leo hated the most.

Watching my son's face fall even further, I snatched the container and threw it straight into the trash can.

"Enough, Austin. We can make our own dinner. We don't need your charity."

Austin's brow furrowed deep. "Chloe, what the hell is wrong with you today? What did I do to trigger you?"

"I brought that back specifically for you guys! That fish cost over a thousand dollars at the restaurant!"

"Oh, so I should thank you?" I let out a cold laugh. "Do you even remember that Leo is deathly allergic to seafood?!"

"For seven years, you haven't contributed a single cent to this house. Every time I ask, you say you're networking for clients. Has a single one of your deals actually succeeded?"

Leos lower lip trembled, tears falling like broken pearls.

But Austin didn't even look at him.

He turned toward the door, his voice dripping with disdain.

"I knew you were just a gold-digger. Now you're even using Leo's allergy as an excuse to complain about money! If you look down on me that much, I'll just leave."

Even at this point, he still thought I was just mad because he wasn't giving me money.

The anger in my chest was so sharp that it physically hurt. I bent over on the sofa, taking several minutes to catch my breath.

Leo wiped away my tears. "Mom, don't be sad. Dad is just angry."

Even though he was hurting, he was still trying to defend Austin just to keep the family together.

He was such a sweet boy. I couldn't bear to let him suffer in silence.

I rubbed his head and forced a smile. "I know, sweetie. Mom is going to make you some delicious pasta now, okay?"

Leo let out a sigh of relief and nodded vigorously.

Once dinner was ready, he took my phone to send a Snapchat voice note to Austin.

"Dad, Mom made pasta. Are you coming home to eat?"

After sending it, Leo stared anxiously at the screen, waiting for a reply.

But we finished our entire dinner, and all Austin sent back was a cold, brief text: "Busy."

I sighed and sent Leo to his room.

Just as I was about to text Austin, I received a friend request on Snapchat.

It was from Hailey.

The moment I accepted, she sent over several videos.

So, this was why Austin was "busy." He was too occupied feeding Hailey's dog to reply to his own son.

In the videos, Austin was incredibly gentle and patienta stark contrast to the cold man who had stood in our living room this afternoon.

"Chloe, so what if you snatched him up and married him back then? His heart still only belongs to me."

"You can never beat me, and you dont deserve to."

It was true. Back then, after Austin and Hailey broke up, he had suffered from severe depression.

He had even tried to jump into a river to end his life.

I had been secretly in love with him for a long time. I happened to be passing by and jumped in to save him without a second thought.

When he woke up, he proposed, saying he wanted to take responsibility for me.

At the time, I wasn't sure if he was over her, so I rejected him.

But Austin insisted. "Don't worry. After facing death, I realize I just want to be with someone who truly loves me."

He made so many promises that I eventually agreed to be with him.

We had been married for seven years. I had no idea when they had reconnected.

I didn't reply to Hailey. Instead, I quietly called a lawyer friend of mine.

"Hey, Serena. Help me draft a divorce agreement."

Serena asked in utter disbelief, "Chloe, you've finally woken up? You're actually leaving that toxic man after sacrificing everything for him?"

It turned out my friends had seen the truth much clearer than I had.

I gave a quiet "Yeah."

Serenas voice instantly turned ecstatic.

"That is amazing! Chloe, you have no idea how much I've wanted you to get out of that miserable marriage. Don't worry, I'll have the divorce papers drafted as fast as humanly possible!"

Hearing her excitement, my feelings remained incredibly complicated.

Before marrying Austin, I had my own life.

Back then, I was successful, bright, and full of life.

But during these seven years with Austin, it felt like I had completely lost myself.

I had given up my career, distanced myself from my friends and family, and dedicated every waking hour to him.

I poured all my love and energy into him.

Only to end up with nothing, living like a hollow shell of a person.

I chatted with Serena for a few more minutes before hanging up.

The moment I looked down at my phone, the screen lit up with more notifications from Hailey.

She had sent a barrage of videos and photos to mock me.

She bragged about how attentive Austin was.

"See this? Austin always brushes my dog's coat so gently. He even prepares warm water to massage my feet."

There were dozens of similar texts.

I wanted to ignore them.

But when I thought about how my son was injured today while his father was playing house with another woman, the anger inside me boiled over.

I opened the chat and fired back.

"If he loves you so much, why hasn't he divorced me yet? Do you enjoy being a homewrecker that much?"

"If you send me one more of these pathetic brag posts, I will post them all over Instagram and make sure everyone knows exactly what you are."

She didn't reply. I assumed she was fuming.

Just as I let out a sigh of relief, I heard a sound behind me.

I turned around to see Leo.

I didn't know how long he had been standing there.

But it was obvious he had heard everything.

He knew I was going to divorce Austin.

Children aren't good at hiding their emotions, but Leo tried his best to be strong. His little face was pale, and though he held back his tears, his voice shook.

"Mom... are you really never going to forgive Dad?"

Looking at the faint hope in his eyes, my heart ached.

A child his age shouldn't have to face the pain of his parents splitting up.

I felt incredibly guilty. Even though Leo was so young, he had worked so hard to make this family happy.

I knelt down and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Don't worry, baby. I remember my promise to you. We'll give him one more week."

If, after a week, he still hadn't changed, I would take Leo and leave.

Leo hugged me back tightly, full of love.

We comforted each other before heading to our respective rooms to sleep.

For once, I didn't stay up waiting for Austin. I knew he wouldn't be coming back tonight anyway.

To my surprise, in the middle of the night, a loud noise came from the front door.

Austin had stumbled home, completely drunk.

The moment the door opened, he almost collapsed.

I caught him out of instinct.

Instantly, a sweet, sickly perfume filled my nose. I knew that scentit was Haileys.

A wave of nausea hit my stomach.

While the door was still open, I dragged Austin right back out into the hallway.

Then I slammed the door shut and locked it. The whole process took less than five seconds.