On our 10th wedding anniversary, my husband took me to a fancy restaurant. I thought he would be romantic. But when we arrived, his family was already seated… with a suitcase…
The sleek black Bentley glided smoothly down 5th Avenue, but the air inside was icy cold. My husband, Richard, sat beside me, glued to his phone. Today was our tenth wedding anniversary. Ten years of being the wife of the heir to the Harrington Construction Group – a decade of playing the role of the obedient, naive, and money-spending wife.
“Are we going to Le Bernardin?” I asked, trying to break the silence.
“Yeah,” Richard replied curtly, without even looking up. “We've booked a private room. Don't embarrass me.”
I remained silent, gazing out the window. I was wearing my emerald green Dior dress and the sapphire jewelry Richard had given me last year (actually, a gift of apology after I caught him texting his secretary). I'd thought tonight would be different. I thought ten years was a significant enough milestone for him to look back and appreciate me.
The car stopped. Richard stepped out, adjusted his expensive Tom Ford suit, and coldly walked straight inside, leaving me to fend for myself with my 10-centimeter heels.
The restaurant manager bowed and led us to VIP Room No. 1 – the most luxurious and private room.
But when the heavy oak door opened, there were no candles, no roses, and no violin band.
Sitred around the large round table were three people I hadn't expected: Catherine (my mother-in-law), William (my father-in-law), and Sarah (my sharp-tongued sister-in-law).
They sat there, their faces expressionless, like a jury. And right in the middle of the table, covered with a pristine white tablecloth, out of place amidst the silver cutlery, was a gray metal briefcase.
“Mother? Father?” I froze at the doorway. “What's going on? I thought…”
“Come in, Elena,” Richard gently pushed my back, then slammed the door shut. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to his mother, across from me. His boredom was gone, replaced by a sharp, ruthless intensity.
I sat down in the only empty chair. The atmosphere was stifling, almost suffocating.
Catherine spoke first. She was always the one in control. She smoothed her meticulously styled platinum blonde hair, looking at me with the same contempt she'd shown me for the past ten years – the look reserved for a middle-class daughter-in-law, not of equal social standing.
“Elena,” she said, her voice even. “We don't want to beat around the bush. Ten years is more than enough for a mistake.”
“A mistake?” I asked.
“This marriage,” Sarah interjected, scoffing. “Do you think Richard loves you? He only married you because he needed a stable family image to run for the Board of Directors. Now he's CEO. You're no longer useful to him.”
Richard smirked, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. “Yes, Elena. I'm fed up with playing the role of the perfect husband. I have someone else. She's younger, smarter, and most importantly… she's from the Vanderbilt family.”
I looked at Richard. Not as painful as I expected. Just disgust.
“So you all want a divorce?” I asked calmly.
“Not just a divorce,” William, my usually silent but calculating father-in-law, pushed the metal briefcase toward me. “We want to cut ties completely. We know you'll demand a share of the assets. But the prenuptial agreement you signed ten years ago is very strict. You won't get anything.”
“However,” Catherine added, opening the briefcase.
Inside were neatly stacked piles of $100 bills.
“Inside is $2 million in cash. And a one-way plane ticket to Paris departing tomorrow morning. We want you to take the money, sign the divorce papers, relinquish all rights, and get out of New York tonight. Never come back, never contact the press.”
“$2 million for ten years of my youth,” I mumbled.
“That's a generous sum for a gold digger like you,” Richard sneered. “Take it and start your life over. You should be grateful we didn't kick you out empty-handed.”
The whole family looked at me triumphantly. They thought I was a trembling lamb. They thought I would cry, beg, or angrily take the money and leave.
I started to laugh.
At first it was just a giggle, then it grew into a hearty laugh. I laughed until tears streamed down my face.
“Are you crazy?” Sarah frowned.
I wiped the corners of my eyes, looking each of them straight in the face.
“Do you think $2 million is a lot?” I asked. “And do you think you can get rid of me so easily?”
“Don't challenge us, Elena,” Richard snarled. “You have no choice.”
“Yes, I do,” I said, my voice turning icy. “If I leave, the whole family leaves too.”
The table fell silent for a second, then they burst into laughter.
“What nonsense is she talking?” Mrs. Catherine laughed, shaking. “The whole family leaves? Where? Begging on the streets with you? Who do you think you are? You're just a parasite clinging to the Harrington name!”
Richard shook his head in exasperation. “Alright, if you want to play hardball, I'll call a lawyer and security to drag you out. You won't get a penny.”
I said nothing. I bent down and opened the large Hermes Birkin bag I was carrying. I didn't take out a handkerchief.
Paper.
I pulled out a thick, black leather-bound file and slammed it down on the table. The loud thud cut short their laughter.
“What is this?” Mr. William narrowed his eyes.
“Richard,” I looked at my husband, my gaze gentle but venomous. “Do you remember three years ago, when the Harrington Corporation was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for tax fraud and money laundering?”
Richard's face changed color. “That was a long time ago. What does it have to do with anything?”
“You and your father were terrified then,” I continued. “You feared asset seizure. You needed to transfer all your shares and real estate to a ‘clean' name, someone you believed to be stupid and easy to manipulate, to avoid government scrutiny.”
I flipped to the first page of the file.
“He gave me a stack of papers one drunken night. He said, ‘Sign these, honey, just some business paperwork, help me hold onto these warehouses and subsidiaries for a few months, and then I'll give them back.'”
Richard started sweating. “So what? You signed them. It was just a temporary power of attorney…”
“You didn't read what your lawyer drafted, Richard. Or rather, you didn't know that your private lawyer… is actually an old college classmate of mine.”
“WHAT?!” The three Harringtons shouted in unison.
“I didn't sign the temporary power of attorney,” I smiled, turning to the second page, where the court and notary's seals were bright red. “I signed the Irrevocable Asset Transfer Deed.”
I pushed the documents toward Mr. William—the most knowledgeable man in the room.
Mr. William trembled as he picked them up and read. His face turned from red to purple, then deathly white.
“No… it can't be…” he stammered, clutching his chest. “A penthouse in Manhattan… A mansion in the Hamptons… 51% of the Harrington Corporation… The entire real estate portfolio…”
He looked up at me with horrified eyes.
“All… all of it is in Elena Vance's name.”
“That's right,” I said calmly. “For the past three years, you've lived in my house, spent the dividends from my shares, and driven cars registered in my name. I intended to return it, really. I intended to be a good wife. But I waited. I waited to see how you would treat me.”
I looked at the suitcase of money on the table.
“And tonight, I have my answer. You want to use my two million dollars to kick me out of my own two billion dollar fortune.”
Catherine collapsed into her chair, her mouth agape, speechless. She, who had always prided herself on her lineage and wealth, now found herself penniless.
Richard lunged forward, grabbing my hand and kneeling. His arrogance vanished completely, replaced by utter depravity.
“Elena! My dear wife! You're kidding, right? We're husband and wife! I… I was just testing you! I wanted to surprise you…”
“Testing?” I pulled my hand away and slapped him hard across the face. *Slap!*
“Do you think I'm stupid, Richard? Do you think I don't know about your Vanderbilt mistress? Do you think I don't know you and your mother have been planning this for months?”
I stood up, walked around the table, and looked down at each of them like insects.
“Now, let's talk the facts.”
I pulled out my phone.
“I just sent an email to the Board of Directors, announcing a change in the Chairman of the Board. Mr. William and you, Richard, have been dismissed from all executive positions for… incompetence and moral decay.”
Mr. William slumped his head onto the table, breathing heavily.
“And your house, your Hamptons mansion, and those Bentleys out there…” I glanced at my watch. “My lawyer is probably sealing them off already. You have 24 hours to move your personal belongings out of all my properties.”
“You can't do that!” Sarah yelled, tears streaming down her face. “Where am I going to live? I don't know what to do!”
“You can use your sharp tongue to get a job,” I shrugged. “Or take this suitcase.”
I lightly kicked the $2 million suitcase under the table.
“This is my final act of mercy. This $2 million is cash you pulled from your slush fund to bribe me, right? Legally, it's mine, but I'm giving it to you as charity.”
“Divide it up. Four people. $500,000 each. Enough to rent a small apartment and live frugally for a few years. Good luck.”
I turned my back and walked towards the door.
“Elena! Don't go! I love you!” Richard yelled, trying to run after me but tripped over a chair and fell sprawling onto the floor.
I stopped at the door, turning back to look at the pathetic scene: A fallen aristocratic family, fighting over the suitcase of money they had just used to humiliate me.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” I said, a radiant smile on my face. “I've already paid for dinner. Enjoy your meal. It's your last luxurious meal.”
I stepped out of the restaurant, breathing in the cool but free New York air.
Richard's Bentley was still parked there, the driver waiting.
“Take me back to the Penthouse, James,” I told the driver. “And starting tomorrow, you'll be working directly for…”
“Me. Double my salary.”
“Yes, Mrs. Harrington… no, Mrs. Vance,” James smiled, opening the car door for me.
The car rolled away, leaving behind a family that had just been devoured by their own greed and arrogance. They had wanted to kick me out of the house, but they forgot one thing: Never give the keys to a kingdom to someone you despise, because one day, they will change the lock.