My husband whipped me 20 times because of his silver-tongued mistress.I immediately called my billionaire father: “Dad, just as you told me, destroy his life.”Five minutes later, he was completely stunned and collapsed… The first lash tore across my back before I understood he truly meant to hurt me. The twentieth left the marble floor beneath my knees dotted with blood, while my husband’s mistress smiled like she had just won a crown.

“A misunderstanding?” my father asked.

Adrian straightened. “Serena has been emotionally unstable. Vanessa and I were trying to calm her down.”

Vanessa nodded quickly, as if my father could see her.

“She attacked me first,” she said, her voice suddenly sweet and thin. “I was terrified.”

My father went silent.

That silence was worse than shouting.

Adrian looked down at me. His eyes ordered me to agree. To save him. To protect the beautiful lie we had lived inside for three years.

I raised my chin.

My voice came out weak, but every word was clear.

“He hit me twenty times.”

Vanessa snapped, “You deserved—”

The phone gave a sharp sound.

Not from my father.

From Adrian’s pocket.

Then another.

Then another.

His phone began vibrating violently against his thigh.

Vanessa’s phone lit up on the sofa beside her.

The house phone in the hallway started ringing.

Somewhere beyond the grand staircase, a security alarm beeped once, then stopped.

Adrian looked around, suddenly irritated.