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The Billion-Dollar Cage My Husband Built for Me

NovelShort Completed

Billionaire Mafia CEO Hot

Chapters (5)

第1章

A fever hit 103°F in the middle of the night. I called Curtis Delgado three times. He never answered. Half-delirious and barely able to stand, I used the black card he'd given me to have medicine delivered from a private pharmacy. By the next morning, my name was everywhere. "Emma Henson, the Delgado Family's Gold Digger." Someone had leaked the transaction record. The luxury brand contract I'd spent months fighting for was terminated before noon. The few business partners still willing to work with me began pulling out one after another. My reputation, already hanging by a thread, collapsed overnight. The Henson family had only recently crawled out from under the mountain of debt left after our businesses were destroyed. I couldn't afford another scandal. So I swallowed my pride and went to find Curtis. I was prepared to explain. If necessary, I would even apologize. But just as I reached the private lounge at the Delgado estate, I heard Curtis's voice from behind the half-closed door. He sounded amused. "You know the easiest way to control a woman?" Someone inside laughed. "Money?" Curtis chuckled. "No." "It's making sure she owes you." My hand froze on the door. His voice continued, calm and almost careless. "Destroy her family's business. Cut off every source of money she has. Make sure no one in the city dares hire her without your permission." "Then give her a contract she can't afford to break." "Once the debt is big enough, she won't leave." "She can't." The men inside laughed. I didn't move. Slowly, I lowered my eyes to the contract clutched in my hand. My gaze landed on the penalty clause. Seven figures. For years, I'd believed the Henson family's collapse had been bad luck. I'd believed every investor had simply chosen the wrong moment to pull out. I'd believed my career had stalled because the Delgado name had made people wary of me. Now I finally understood. None of it had been an accident. My family's bankruptcy. The debts that had nearly buried me. The contracts that vanished whenever I was close to succeeding. Every road that had mysteriously closed in front of me. They all led back to one man. Curtis Delgado. …… While I stood outside the lounge, frozen in place, my phone began buzzing nonstop. Dozens of new messages flooded the screen. Greedy. Shameless. Ungrateful. You married Curtis Delgado and still weren't satisfied? Someone had found the address of the Henson family's old estate and sent funeral wreaths to the gates. Another package contained a dead rat. The attacks were everywhere. People were digging through every scandal connected to my family, demanding that the Delgado organization cut me off for good. My social media had become a cesspool. Every post was buried under insults. My face had been turned into vicious memes, all carrying the same message. Leave the Delgado family. Disappear. And all because I'd used Curtis's card to buy fifteen dollars' worth of fever medicine. I opened the post that had started it all. "This woman might be the most shameless wife in the entire underworld." "After the Henson family collapsed, Curtis Delgado poured millions into cleaning up their debts and keeping their enemies from tearing apart what was left." "And how did Emma Henson repay him?" "She climbed into his bed and became Mrs. Delgado." "For years, she's lived off Delgado money, surrounded by luxury while contributing nothing to the family." "She has access to more money than most people will see in a lifetime, yet she still uses her husband's card for a fifteen-dollar box of medicine." "I've never seen anyone so greedy." The post was calculated. Every sentence had been chosen carefully. Not one word about what I'd sacrificed for Curtis over the years. Not one word about the deals I'd helped secure, the people I'd offended for him, or the parts of my own life I'd given up to stand beside him. Just fifteen dollars' worth of medicine. "The smallest things reveal a person's true character." That was how the post ended. A lie wrapped in moral judgment. Yesterday, the fever had left me too sick to think straight. Today, with my head finally clearing, I noticed something I should have seen immediately. The account belonged to Curtis's new private secretary. Margot Pruitt. I'd met her several times. Young. Beautiful. Ambitious. And every time she looked at me, there was something almost vicious in her eyes. I'd once assumed it was arrogance. Now I understood. Margot had already started imagining herself as the next Mrs. Delgado. I opened her profile. It was filled with photographs of her life beside Curtis. Ski resorts in Switzerland. Private dinners in Monaco. Delgado estates in Tuscany. Black-tie gatherings attended by men whose names never appeared in newspapers. Then I saw the photograph from last night's Delgado charity gala. My finger stopped. Margot stood beneath the chandeliers in a couture gown, diamonds covering her throat. Curtis stood beside her. One hand rested lightly at her waist. They looked like they belonged together. Suddenly, everything made sense. Why my invitation to the gala had been revoked at the last minute. Why Curtis hadn't answered a single one of my calls. He hadn't been busy. He'd been with her. Margot was his new favorite. And with Curtis Delgado standing behind her, she couldn't wait to destroy what little I had left and take my place.

第2章

I couldn't help looking back into the private lounge. Under the dim lights, Curtis was sharing a drink with Margot, their faces almost touching over the rim of the glass. Margot suddenly stumbled and fell straight into his arms. Her cheeks flushed as the men around them whistled and laughed. One of Curtis's friends raised his glass. "Curtis, you really know how to play the game." "You didn't even have to spend your own money, and you still got Emma Henson. She's stayed loyal to you all these years." He grinned. "But aren't you worried she'll find out the truth someday?" Curtis took Margot's hand and pressed a casual kiss to her knuckles. "Do you know how much Emma owes if she breaks her contract?" He paused. "Eight hundred million dollars." The room went quiet for a second. Then Curtis laughed. "Without me, she couldn't repay that debt in ten lifetimes." "So whatever happens, she stays where I put her." The men around him burst into laughter. Curtis leaned back and began explaining how he'd kept his wife under control all these years. How he'd arranged the collapse of the Henson family, then appeared when I was desperate enough to see him as my savior. How he'd turned a fifteen-dollar box of fever medicine into proof that I was greedy and ungrateful. How he'd quietly closed every door that might have given me a way to rebuild my life without him. He spoke about it all with pride. As if destroying me had been his greatest accomplishment. He had no idea I was standing outside the door. Or that tears were already running down my face. When I first met Curtis Delgado, I was at the lowest point of my life. The Henson family had collapsed almost overnight. My father couldn't bear the humiliation and took his own life. My mother suffered a heart attack soon after and was hospitalized. And I was left with the ruins. Debts. Lawsuits. Enemies who had been waiting years to see the Hensons fall. Men who used to shake my father's hand suddenly refused to take my calls. Families that once welcomed me into their homes acted as if they had never known my name. Only Curtis stepped forward. I still remembered that day. Sunlight poured through the hospital windows as he crouched in front of me. "Emma, I know what kind of woman you are." His smile had been warm. "You're not like the people in our world. You don't care about power or money." He held out his hand. "Give me a chance to help you." Before I could answer, Curtis had already begun. He settled the Henson family's most urgent debts. He brought in specialists from Europe to treat my mother. Jewelry. A mansion. A diamond ring. He gave me everything without seeming to hesitate. When he learned how much I loved animals, he even bought a vast private estate outside the city for me. Everyone said I'd been saved by the most powerful man in the Delgado family. Curtis Delgado had pulled the disgraced Henson daughter out of the gutter and placed her back among the most powerful families in the country. And I believed it too. I was young enough to mistake possession for devotion. So I fell in love with him. On our wedding day, Curtis held my hands and looked into my eyes. "Emma, I've been betrayed before." His voice was quiet. "The one thing I can't tolerate is a woman who marries me for the Delgado name or my money." "I want what we have to be real." That was why he'd prepared a special prenuptial agreement. The terms were simple. On paper, Curtis took a salary of only one dollar a year from the Delgado family's legitimate businesses. If our marriage ended, my share of his personal assets would be exactly the same. One dollar. I wanted him to believe that I loved Curtis Delgado, not his fortune. So I signed without hesitation. Only after the wedding did I learn how carefully he'd planned everything. The money he'd used to save the Henson family had never been a gift. Every payment had been structured as a private loan. Principal. Interest. Penalties. Every dollar had to be repaid. Even the jewelry he'd supposedly given me wasn't mine. Every piece was registered under Georgina Delgado's name.

第3章

None of it belonged to me. Every time I wore one of those pieces, I was charged a staggering rental fee. The mansion and luxury cars were no different. Curtis had covered only the down payments. The loans were in my name. And I was the one expected to pay them. That wasn't even the worst of it. The prenuptial agreement laid out my obligations as Mrs. Delgado in meticulous detail. I had to protect the Delgado name at all times. I had to accompany Curtis to family gatherings, charity galas, private dinners, and endless meetings with politicians, businessmen, and other powerful families. Whenever the Delgados needed a respectable face for one of their legitimate businesses, I was expected to appear without compensation. The gowns, jewelry, gifts, and appearances required to maintain that image all came out of my own pocket. Little by little, the Delgado family consumed every hour I had and every dollar I'd managed to save. The life I'd once built for myself disappeared. My savings followed. I'd confronted Curtis more than once. Every time, he would pull me into his arms and give me the same answer. "Emma, I don't want this either." "But the Delgado family isn't mine alone. There are too many people involved, and I can't overrule every decision." "Give me a little more time." "Once I have complete control of the family, I'll repay you for everything you've sacrificed." So I endured it. For three years. Three years of giving him everything I had. And what had I gotten in return? My family destroyed. My name dragged through the dirt. And thanks to Curtis's carefully designed contracts, a mountain of debt and penalties I could never hope to repay. His love. His promises. His devotion. None of it had ever been real. From the beginning, Curtis Delgado had been bleeding me dry. I couldn't take another second. I rushed into the bathroom and turned on the faucet, letting the sound of running water cover my sobs. When I finally lifted my head, Margot was standing behind me. She was still wearing the couture gown from the gala, diamonds glittering at her throat. There was satisfaction in her eyes. "Emma." Her lips curved. "You heard us, didn't you?" She stepped closer. "Heartbreaking, isn't it?" "Knowing exactly what he did to you and still being completely powerless to stop him." I said nothing. Margot smiled wider. "Here's some friendly advice. Divorce Curtis while you still have the chance." "You still have the Henson name. There are plenty of men in our world who'd pay well to have a fallen heiress on their arm." "Maybe you'll even earn enough to pay off your debts someday." Her gaze swept slowly over me. "But once your name means nothing and the Delgados throw you out?" She gave a soft laugh. "Things won't be nearly as easy." She knew exactly where to cut. Every word found the deepest wound and twisted. When I still didn't answer, Margot leaned closer. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Oh, there's something else Curtis never told you." I looked at her. Her smile turned vicious. "I drafted your prenup." My fingers went cold. "And the Henson family's collapse?" She paused deliberately. "That was my plan too." For a moment, I couldn't breathe. Margot moved even closer. "So don't waste your time trying to get rid of me." "I'm not like you, Emma." "You're a pretty Henson girl who inherited a famous name and never learned how this world actually works." She touched one of the diamonds at her throat. "I'm the woman who helped Curtis build everything he has." "I'm the one who deserves to stand beside him." Something in her expression brought back a memory I had spent years trying to bury. My father's face before he died. The exhaustion in his eyes. The hopelessness. The humiliation. My hand moved before I could stop it. The slap cracked across Margot's face. Her head snapped sideways. Before I could even lower my hand, someone shoved me hard. I stumbled into the marble counter. Curtis. He stepped between us immediately, shielding Margot with his body. His hand went to her face, carefully examining the red mark spreading across her cheek. Then he looked at me. The tenderness I'd once known was nowhere in his eyes. Only anger. "Emma, what the hell is wrong with you?" I stared at him. "Apologize to Margot." His voice hardened. "Now." I didn't move. Curtis's jaw tightened. "Do you have any idea what happens if someone sees you attacking my people inside a Delgado gathering?" "Do you know what that does to the family name?" The Delgado name. Margot. His reputation. Those were the things he cared about. He hadn't even noticed that I'd nearly fallen. Or maybe he had. Maybe he simply didn't care. Something inside me finally went quiet. I pushed myself away from the counter and stood straight. "Curtis." He frowned. I looked directly into the eyes of the man I'd loved for three years. "I want a divorce." For the first time that night, Curtis went completely still. "Divorce."

第4章

I could pay Mom's medical bills myself. I could work until every cent of the Henson debt was repaid. Even if it took the rest of my life. Even if I ended up with nothing. Anything was better than spending another day trapped beside Curtis Delgado. For the first time, my words seemed to catch him off guard. Shock flickered across his face. Then it disappeared. That familiar arrogance returned, the confidence of a man who had spent years believing he controlled every part of my life. Curtis pulled Margot behind him. "Emma, stop being ridiculous." His voice was cold. "You know what people think of you right now." "Walk away from me, and whatever protection the Delgado name gives you disappears with me." "No bank will touch the Henson debt. No family in this city will risk doing business with you." He reached for my arm. "Apologize to Margot. I'm trying to protect you." Protect me. My entire life was in ruins because of him. What else could he possibly take? I pulled my arm away. For once, I didn't lower my head. I didn't look back either. I simply walked away. My phone buzzed constantly as I left the estate. Curtis. Again and again. He still didn't know I'd heard everything. His messages were almost laughable. Apologize to Margot. Don't make this worse. Trust me. I'm doing this for you. I deleted every one. But before I reached the front entrance, two Delgado security men stepped into my path. "Mrs. Delgado." One of them gave a slight nod. "Mr. Delgado's legal counsel needs to speak with you." I was taken to a private office. A lawyer was already waiting. He placed a tablet on the table. The security footage showed exactly what had happened. Me slapping Margot. "The Pruitt family is demanding compensation for the assault." He slid a document toward me. "Three hundred thousand dollars." I stared at him. "And if I refuse?" "Then Ms. Pruitt wants a public apology." The lawyer paused. "On your knees." Before I could respond, my phone vibrated. A notification from the Henson family medical account. Three hundred thousand dollars had been transferred out. Curtis. For one brief, stupid second, I thought he'd paid the settlement for me. Then the lawyer turned the tablet around. A video was playing. My mother lay unconscious in a hospital bed, her face almost colorless. My blood went cold. The lawyer spoke calmly. "Your mother needs emergency surgery." "The hospital requires a deposit of three hundred thousand dollars before they proceed." He glanced at the document in front of me. "Unfortunately, the same amount has just been transferred to cover Ms. Pruitt's settlement." I stared at him. He continued without emotion. "So you have a choice, Mrs. Delgado." "Apologize to Ms. Pruitt and the settlement will be canceled." "The money can go back to your mother's surgery." His eyes met mine. "Or refuse." My hands began to shake. Curtis had done it perfectly. He played the devoted husband, stepping in to clean up my mess. Then quietly took the money keeping my mother alive and placed it on Margot's side of the scale. He wasn't giving me a choice. He was forcing me to kneel. Curtis Delgado deserved an award for his performance. Three years of tenderness. Three years of promises. Three years of pretending every cage he'd built around me was meant to keep me safe. My chest hurt so badly I could barely breathe. Finally, I closed my eyes. "I'll apologize." I couldn't gamble with my mother's life. Not for pride. Not for anything. So beneath the amused stares of the people gathered outside the lounge, I walked toward Margot. Whispers followed me. I ignored them. Then I bent my knees. And knelt. Margot looked down at me with undisguised satisfaction. There were fresh marks along her neck now, half-hidden beneath the diamonds Curtis had given her. She leaned closer. "Emma Henson." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "On her knees." She smiled. "If your father could see you now, I wonder what he'd think." My fingers curled against my palms. Margot straightened. "Then again, who cares?" "Your life has been over for years." She touched the diamonds at her throat and smiled. "I have better things to do. Curtis gave me another present tonight." Then she walked away. I stayed there for several seconds before forcing myself back onto my feet. At least Mom was safe. That was what I told myself. I returned alone to the Henson estate. The moment I stepped through the door, Agnes Lambert rushed toward me. Her face was white. "Ms. Henson, where have you been?" Something in her voice made my stomach drop. "Agnes?" Her eyes filled with tears. "The hospital called." She struggled to get the words out. "Your mother passed away." I stopped breathing. Agnes covered her mouth, crying. "I went to the hospital myself. They told me the emergency surgery never happened." My ears began to ring. "What?" "The payment was held back." Her voice broke. "They waited too long." "Your mother didn't make it."

第5章

"What did you just say?" I stared at Agnes, my mind going completely blank. Before she could answer, my phone buzzed. Curtis. "Emma, your mother's hospital expenses were paid through a Delgado account. Three hundred thousand. Make sure you reimburse it." Three hundred thousand. That number again. Curtis had taken three hundred thousand dollars from my mother's surgery fund to force me onto my knees in front of Margot. I'd knelt. I'd apologized. And my mother had still died because the money never reached the hospital in time. To Curtis, three hundred thousand dollars was nothing. Less than what he might spend on a watch or a bottle of wine at some private auction. To me, it had been my mother's life. Something inside me snapped. I surged to my feet, ready to go after Curtis. I wanted to find him. I wanted him to pay for everything he'd done. Agnes caught me before I reached the door. Her eyes were swollen from crying. "Ms. Henson, please." She held on to me. "Your mother is gone. Nothing you do tonight will bring her back." "Please don't destroy yourself too." I don't remember how I ended up back on the floor. I stayed there until morning. I cried until there were no tears left. Curtis finally returned just before dawn. He smelled of whiskey. When he saw me sitting on the floor, he stopped. "Emma?" For once, he looked genuinely startled. He crossed the room and pulled me to my feet. The moment his arm wrapped around me, I smelled Margot's perfume on his shirt. Sweet. Familiar. Disgusting. Curtis didn't seem to notice. He held me closer. "What's wrong? Why have you been crying?" His voice softened. "Is this about Margot?" "Or what people have been saying about you?" He stroked my hair. "It's okay." "If you're tired of all this, you don't have to deal with it anymore." "You can stay home from now on." "Just be Mrs. Delgado." His hand rested against my back. "I'll secure my position in the family. Once I have full control, no one will ever be able to humiliate you again." I looked at him. And suddenly, I remembered the man I'd met years ago. The man who'd crouched in front of me when my entire world was collapsing. "Emma, you're capable." "Don't let what happened to the Hensons decide the rest of your life." "Whatever you want to build, I'll help you build it." "I'll stand behind you." I'd believed him. I'd thought I'd finally found someone who understood me. So after marrying Curtis, I'd worked harder than ever. I attended every negotiation he needed me at. Every charity dinner. Every gathering with politicians, bankers, businessmen, and other families. I'd used the Henson name and every connection I had left to open doors for him. I worked until I was sick and kept going. Because I believed we were building something together. I hadn't realized Curtis only needed me while my name was useful. Now his position inside the Delgado family was secure. He didn't need Emma Henson anymore. He only needed Mrs. Delgado. Quiet. Obedient. Dependent on him for everything. Maybe even my mother's death was convenient. Now there was one less person left for me to turn to. The thought hurt so badly that I couldn't speak. I pulled away from him. Before I could take another step, Curtis's phone lit up. He glanced at the screen. His expression changed immediately. "Emma, get some rest." He was already reaching for his coat. "I'll ask Agnes to stay with you." "Something urgent came up with the family." Then he left. Just like that. What Curtis didn't know was that I'd received a message too. From Margot. A photograph appeared on my screen. A sprawling villa overlooking the Mediterranean. Thirty million dollars. Curtis's gift to her for finally helping him "tame" his wife. The next photo showed Margot inside the bedroom, dressed in lingerie. Her message underneath was short. "He's on his way." I stared at it. Then I laughed. It sounded almost like a sob. How pathetic. How absurd. I opened social media. My name was still everywhere. People demanding that the Delgado family cast me out. Calling me greedy. Calling me worthless. Celebrating the destruction of a woman they'd never met. Why? My father was dead. My mother was dead. My family was gone. Everything I'd spent years building had been destroyed. And the people responsible were drinking champagne in a thirty-million-dollar villa. While I was the one everyone hated. I sat there for a long time. Then I wiped the tears from my face. Curtis had spent years turning my life into his carefully staged performance. Fine. Before I disappeared from his world for good, I'd give Curtis Delgado one final performance of my own.