The Billionaire's Red Diamond A Marriage of Betrayal

After Alex Acevedo bought an outrageously expensive diamond at auction, everyone in Harbor City settled in to watch me humiliate myself.

Because every time he threw money around like it meant nothing, it meant he had a new lover.

The White Diamond was to smooth over a sex scandal. The Blue Diamond, an "accidental slip-up." The Pink Diamond, catching him in bed with someone else.

But this time was differenthe'd bid on a rare Red Diamond.

The whole city was betting he'd come home and divorce me.

Instead, Alex professed his love from across the ocean, saying this diamond represented his sincerity. From now on, he would return to our family and love only me.

Everyone congratulated me. The playboy had finally come back.

So I released our signed divorce agreement and left Harbor City alone.

"Gentler, baby."

When the video call connected, his hoarse rebuke came through before the picture did.

The camera shiftedbare chest, headboard, chestnut hair wrapped around his waist.

My throat closed. "Alex, where are you?"

The call cut off. He didn't call back for half an hour.

When he did, he was dressed, sitting by the balcony, expression calm and unbothered.

"Darling, I'm still at the hotel. Forgot to turn off the TV earlier."

"I'll bring the diamond home tomorrow. I love youhappy seventh anniversary."

In the sunlight, the Red Diamond blazed in his palm. Behind him, the TV played coverage of his grand declaration.

The warmth in his eyes blended with his voice on screen as he repeated his confession.

"Darling, I couldn't think of a better anniversary gift. Are you satisfied?"

For a moment, I forgot he'd just climbed out of another woman's bed.

Hope flickered back to life.

When he saw my tears, he smiledteasing, indulgent.

From our wedding day until tomorrow, seven years. His playboy reputation, the parade of womennone of that had changed.

But "returning to the family"? That was new.

I asked carefully, "Alex, I really will take this seriously."

"The whole city heard it. They'll take it seriously too."

Something flickered in his gaze. He lowered his head, lit a cigarette, smiled lazily.

"When we got married, I told youwithin seven years, either we divorce and I leave with nothing, or I buy a Red Diamond and settle down. Live a real life with you."

"I said it. I'll do it."

I was so happy I couldn't speak. I just nodded, dazed.

I looked down at the pregnancy test in my hand, heart swelling with anticipation.

"I have a gift for you too."

"Dad."

When I hung up, a child's muffled voice drifted from the receiver.

I froze, struck like lightning.

I reached to call back, but a flash of light stabbed my eyes.

I looked up. The jewelry cabinet in front of metaller than I wasdisplayed diamonds arranged by color.

Seventeen White Diamond bracelets. Three Blue Diamond brooches. Two strings of Pink Diamond necklaces.

These were the gifts Alex gave me during our seven-year marriage.

Seventeen sex scandals. Three "accidental slip-ups." Two nights catching him in bed at Victoria Harbor.

Compensation for the damage.

Every time he messed up, he'd bring the jewelry home, kneel before me with reddened eyes, arms locked around my waist.

Over and over, he'd say he was sorry.

Over and over, he'd beg me to stay.

"Grace, I'm sorry. I'll change. I really will."

"It's an illness. I can't control myself. Only you can cure me. Only with you am I truly happy."

Again and again I clenched the shirt at his chest to vent, to tear and bite, to hurt, to forgive.

Seven years.

From the two times right after we got married when I caught him in bed with someone, to it being just a drunken, hazy-headed accidental slip-up.

Now, for five years in a row, there have only been baseless sex-scandal rumors.

I thought I'd finally waited for a playboy to turn back.

Turns out it was all my wishful thinking.

I didn't even wait until the next day.

That night, I took the last flight and barged into Alex's place just as the milkman was ringing the doorbell.

The biggest benefit between husband and wife is that I can legally find out his exact location.

And I can also find out what property he bought for other women.

Unlike the villa where he used to keep a mistress, this was an ordinary apartment building.

In front of the dining table, Alex was sitting there, peeling an egg.

A child who looked exactly like him sat across from him, eyes full of anticipation, waiting for him to feed him.

All the blood in my body seemed to run backward. My nose stung, and the last trace of hope in my heart shattered.

Crack.

The woman who came out of the kitchen froze her smile, and the plate of fried eggs in her hands shattered on the floor.

"Grace"

I recognized her. Six years ago she was Alex's secretary, and she was also where the first Pink Diamond bracelet on my jewelry counter came from.

After I caught them in bed, she was fired that very night.

I thought that time, the two of them had completely cut it off.

Alexis Swanson backed away uneasily, inching step by step behind Alex before she dared to speak: "Grace, how did you find this place?"

"I'm here to take my husband home."

I stared at her pretty chestnut-colored long hair with a blank expression.

My gaze moved down and landed on the Red Diamond on her neck, the one that represented Alex returning to the family.

The moment I thought about what they did in this room yesterday, it felt like I'd swallowed countless shards of glass, hurting so much I trembled.

Alex finally reacted, rare unease on his face.

He stood up and yanked off the Red Diamond.

He strode up, grabbed my hand, and just like every time he apologized over the past seven years, he pulled me into his arms and walked me toward the door.

"Darling, don't misunderstand. This Red Diamond is for you. She said she'd never seen it and wanted to try it on, so I let her wear it for a little while."

"When we get back, I'll explain everything."

He pulled me, wanting to leave. Just as we were about to go out the door, the child behind us ran up and tightly grabbed the hem of his clothes, face flushed red as he stopped him from leaving: "Dad, are you not going to want me and Mom anymore?"

Alex stopped in place, a bit of struggle showing on his face.

When that child saw me being held in his arms, he immediately started crying and making a scene.

"You bad woman, you're going to steal my dad!"

Screaming, he rushed over and kicked my calf hard.

Such a small child, but he wasn't weak.

His nails dug into my thigh, and he even swung his fist hard into my stomach.

Two or three punches, and my stomach started cramping with waves of pain, with a faint sinking feeling.

I frowned in pain and instinctively wanted to push him away.

But before I even touched him, the child plopped down on the floor on his own and burst into loud crying.

"Dad, Junior hurts, she hit me, this bad woman hit me!"

Almost instinctively, the hand that had been around my waist went empty.

Alex turned to hold that child.

I was completely unprepared and fell heavily to the floor. It hurt so much my fingers curled, my scalp went numb.

I clutched my stomach and looked up to see that child lying on his shoulder, making a face at me.

In a cutesy, babyish voice, he whined: "Dad, why are you holding this bad woman."

"Don't you want Mom anymore? Don't you want Junior anymore?"

Before I could even speak, Alexis rushed forward and knelt in front of me, crying so hard her whole body was shaking.

"Grace, if you want to hit someone, hit me. If you want to curse someone out, curse me out.

"I'm the shameless one, and I'm the one who insisted on having this child. I never meant to fight you for anything. I just wanted Junior to know that, like other kids, he also has a dad who loves him.

"Please leave Junior here and let him live with Mr. Acevedo. If it's because of me, I'm willing to die!"

She turned her head and was about to slam into the wall.

"Alexis!"

Alex's voice turned stern as he took two quick steps forward and grabbed her.

Looking at her tear-streaked face, his gaze complicated, he turned back to look at Junior, who was also crying on the floor. In the end, he sighed, and his tone softened.

"Alright, alright. I'll handle it."

He turned to look at me. His brows were still knitted, and his voice sounded tired.

"Darling. Junior is a kid, he doesn't understand. It didn't even hurt. Why do you have to be so aggressive? I'll apologize to you for him, okay?

"I was going to tell you tonight, but you just had to run over here and make it so nobody can have any peace.

"Alexis is sick. There's nothing between us. We've always wanted a child, and now we have Junior. From now on he'll live with us. He's our child. You should be happy."

"Happy?"

"Alex, this is what you call coming back to the family.

"Because she's sick, you have to live here with her. Because she's sick, you have to sleep with her? Because she's sick, you give me this 'surprise' on our anniversary?"

I tugged at the corner of my mouth.

I wiped away my tears and let my gaze sweep over this home inch by inch.

A few hundred square feet, piled full of toys and books from a child growing up.

There was even crayon graffiti on the wall.

Blue sky and white clouds. A family of three.

At the bottom, Alex's name was signed there neatly.

On the doorframe, dates were carved in for the child's height at every stage.

The newest one was from yesterday.

I recognized that familiar handwriting instantlyit was Alex's.

Every time, it was the day before our dating anniversary or our wedding anniversary. He would come here.

Keeping this little family company.

Compared to the money he used to spend on other women, this place was too ordinary, yet its warmth was glaringly painful.

This time, I was the third wheel who barged into someone else's happy life.

I turned back. What I was crushing in my hand was no longer Alex's dress shirt.

He was wearing loungewear that matched Alexis's and the child's exactly.

The more I looked, the more I laughed.

As I laughed, tears rolled down.

I shoved him away, pressing my hand against his chest, not allowing him one step closer.

"Alex, how could I be so stupid, thinking you would really settle down."

I raised my hand to wipe the tears from my eyes. "Alex, we're getting a divorce."

"Divorce?"

He was shocked.

The word was taboo for us. No matter how much we fought, we had never touched it.

His face turned pale as he let out a vicious low roar: "Impossible!"

He suddenly rushed over, grabbed me, and strode into the room. Shoving me inside, he slammed the door shut.

The lock clicked outside.

That shove made the pain in my already sore lower abdomen worsen.

I thought of the fall I had just taken and worried something might happen to the baby. I took a deep breath, steadied my voice, and begged him, "Alex, my stomach doesn't feel good. I won't fight with you anymore. Can you take me to the hospital first?"

Through the door, his voice was pained and helpless: "Grace, stop lying to me. If I let you out, you'll leave me, but you promised you'd stay. You promised you'd never leave."

"I won't sign the divorce papers. Just give up."

"I'll handle everything. I want this child, and I'm not letting you go either!"

"Alex, I'm really hurting!"

The footsteps outside the door disappeared.

No matter how much I shouted, no one responded. I don't know how long passedmy throat went raw until I couldn't make a sound anymore.

The pain in my stomach grew worse, and something warm trickled down.

My dress was soaked through with blood. My body turned cold in waves. In the darkness, I could almost see my baby slipping away from me.

Then I heard voices outside the door again. Hope flickered back to life.

"Alex! Alex, I'm bleeding!"

"Call 911, please"

Several lit paper wads were shoved through the crack in the door. The sealed room filled with smoke instantly, choking me until I couldn't open my eyes.

"Bad woman! Dad's taking Mom to the hospital. They won't be back for three days. You can just stay locked in there until you die!"

A child's voice.

My child.

I couldn't wait any longer. I staggered to my feet.

This was a storage roomno windows except a tiny skylight above my head.

I looked around. Nothing but a dirty bedsheet.

I bit my lip hard. The pain cleared my head just enough. I wrapped the sheet around my hand.

Facing the triple-paned glass, I smashed down.

Once. Twice.

The pain blacked out my vision. I nearly passed out right there.

On the seventeenth hit, the glass finally shattered.

I climbed out through that tiny skylight.

Dragging my blood-soaked body to the roadside, I flagged down a car.

"Please. Take me to the hospital."

I passed out before I finished speaking.

When I woke up, I was already in a hospital bed.

Four days unconscious, they told me. The baby couldn't be saved. My arm was fractured from hitting the glassthree months in a cast.

Over thirty wounds covered my body.

I didn't care about any of them.

Only the child. The child that had made me hope again.

I'd imagined telling Alex on our seventh anniversary. Pictured the look on his face when he found out.

None of that mattered now.

He already had a child with someone else. Why would he care about ours?

Against the doctor's orders, I signed myself out. Before I even made it downstairs, Alex called.

I thought maybe he'd seen the blood all over the floor. Maybe he finally remembered to care.

The call connected. His voice was ice-cold.

"Grace, I only locked you up for three days to let you calm down. I even left Junior there to order takeouttold him to get you food too."

"And you set the house on fire? You hit Junior? You were so jealous you attacked a child and almost burned him alive!"

"Alex. You called just to say this?"

My voice cracked. Before, he would have heard it instantly. No matter what happened, he'd appear at my side and coax me until I smiled again.

This time, he just paused. A long silence. Then his voice came againgentle, and devastating:

"You have one day. I'm bringing Junior home tonight. You will apologize to him in person." A beat. "Otherwise, don't bother threatening me with divorce anymore. You know what arson means hereattempted murder of a child. Prison time. And if you go to prison? Even if you don't want the divorce, the Acevedo family doesn't want a daughter-in-law like you."

I couldn't listen anymore and hung up.