My Husband Claimed He Was On A Business Trip. I Found Him At The Hospital With My Pregnant Best Friend. Little Does He Know, I Just Cut Him Off From Every Penny He Ever Stole. What Should I Do Next?

“Do not ever mention another man in front of me again. I lost everything for you—my fortune, my career, my perfect legal wife—for you! A piece of trash like you!”

Richard turned, grabbed a pillow, and left the room.

“Where are you going, Richard?” Lauren screamed.

“To sleep outside! I am sick of looking at your face!”

Richard slammed the door again, leaving Lauren crying alone in the narrow room with a ruined face and a broken heart. In the dark hallway, Richard curled up on some newspapers, trying to sleep, surrounded by mosquitoes, lamenting his fate.

Chapter 35: The Laborer

And far away on a security camera screen, Sarah smiled with satisfaction.

“The isolation phase is over,” Sarah murmured.

“Next phase: hunger.”

Three weeks had passed since Richard and Lauren were expelled from their paradise—three weeks that felt like three centuries. The rooming house room now seemed even smaller and more suffocating. The air was stale; a pile of dirty laundry was accumulating in a corner. Richard sat on the edge of the sagging mattress. He was thinner, his cheekbones prominent. His designer shirts had been sold at a flea market; now he only wore a basic t-shirt and shorts.

“Honey,” Lauren’s voice was weak from under the blanket. Richard turned.

Lauren’s condition was much worse. Her once flawless face was now covered in inflamed red marks. The infection had turned into small, pus-filled boils.

“What?” Richard replied in a hoarse voice.

“My stomach hurts a lot, Richard. Cramps. And my face burns, it itches like it is on fire.”

“Hold on, i am thinking,” Richard cut her off.

“Thinking about what? We need a doctor! i am out of ointment!” Lauren started to cry.

“Money? Where do I get the money, Lauren? We are broke! We have $5 left in our wallet! That is only enough for one day’s food!”

The money from the watch sale and the cash had evaporated on rent, Lauren’s medicines, and her still extravagant lifestyle during the first week.

“Sell something else of yours! Your leather shoes!”

“I already sold them to pay for the electricity!” Richard snapped.

Chapter 36: The Wedding Ring

Silence. Richard looked at his left ring finger. One last thing still shone there: his wedding ring, the platinum band with a small diamond, the symbol of his sacred bond with Sarah—the Sarah he betrayed. He tried to take the ring off; it was difficult. Finally, the ring came off, leaving a white mark on his skin.

“I will be back in a moment.” Richard got up.

“Honey, buy me something to eat on your way back, please.”

Richard did not answer, slammed the door, and went out into the New York heat. At a jewelry store, Richard placed the ring on the glass counter with a trembling hand.

“The papers?” the jeweler asked.

“I do not have them. I lost them in the move,” Richard lied.

“Well, it is a nice piece—platinum, European diamond. But without papers, I cannot pay much. $200. I will melt it down.”

Richard stared at him.

“It cost me $2,500!”

“That is the retail price. The resale price is low, especially without papers. Do you want it or not?”

Richard clenched his fist. $200 was a humiliation, but Lauren’s festering face and his own empty stomach came to mind.

“All right $200 in cash now.”

Richard left the jewelry store with the money. He felt empty; his last link to Sarah had been sold to feed his mistress. He bought a generic antibiotic ointment and prenatal vitamins. Then he bought two daily specials; he wanted to eat a little better today. Arriving at the rooming house, he fed Lauren, who was lying weakly.

“Honey, how much money do we have left?” Lauren asked.

“About $180. Enough for two weeks if we save, but next month we have to pay for water.”

“And you are not working, are you? Just going to be a bum?”

The question stabbed. Richard: hundreds of résumés sent, no response. Richard Miller’s name was blacklisted thanks to Sarah’s network.

“I am working tomorrow,” Richard said suddenly.

“Doing what? As a director again?” Lauren’s eyes lit up.

“You will see.”

Chapter 37: Fifty Dollars a Day

The next morning, Richard stood in front of a construction site. The cement dust and the noise of concrete mixers greeted him. He wore clothes bought at a flea market. He approached the foreman.

“You want to work? You have an office worker’s body. You will not last.”

“I need the money boss, i will do anything—carry cement, mix sand, whatever, as long as I get paid daily,” Richard pleaded. The director’s arrogance was gone.

“All right. We need a laborer to carry buckets of cement mix up to the third floor all day. $50 a day, lunch is included.”

$50. It used to be the price of a coffee and a croissant; now it was the price of his back for an entire day.

“I will take it, boss.”

Richard’s hell began. The first hour, he felt like his arms would break. The bucket of cement weighed a ton. He had to go up and down makeshift ladders with his legs trembling.

“Hey faster the mason is waiting.” Someone shouted from above.