Housewife Gone Wild

Chapter 20

“Fine,” I replied, closing my eyes to signal the discussion was over.

Like sand, men escaped when held too tightly. Push them too hard, and they’d only push back harder. It wasn’t worth the fight.

Play by their rules, and their better nature might show itself. That was when a smart woman could claim her advantage.

I knew Jared from before–knew the only way to get anything from him was to play vulnerable. Let him pity me, and I might just get what I wanted.

The hours at the hospital passed quickly. Before we knew it, evening had arrived. Yvonne’s cut turned out to be shallow, so after changing the dressing, the doctor cleared us to leave.

Our usually dramatic daughter actually grew more cautious after the scare.

Yvonne’s injury kept her home from school the next day. Though she pleaded for company, I prioritized the hotel negotiations at Jared’s company, confident the servants would care for her properly.

offer to

fake motherly affection, and Jared’s silent stares

in me.

hugged my curves as I perfected

beyond the bedroom door. “You’re really going to

manage.” I fastened my earrings. “Six is plenty old to start

sweeping over me. “There was a time when you’d drop everything the moment Yvonne

baby anymore. Six–year–olds don’t need constant coddling. I walked myself to school at that age.” Even as I said it,

and childhood—still clinging to me one moment, yet quick to take her future stepmother’s side against me the

to comfort Yvonne. The tantrum ended with his

his indulgence with quiet satisfaction.

hundreds of millions in a single year, a

the couch, her injured

we can