Chapter 1 - THE ANNIVERSARY GIFT HE CALLED HIS
My husband stormed into my office, slammed his palm on my desk, and demanded the keys to the Lamborghini my billionaire parents had given me.
“That sports car is mine,” Derek said.
When I refused, he leaned close enough for my receptionist to hear him whisper, “You’ll regret embarrassing me.”
Three hours later, he called from our driveway, laughing.
“I burned your dream car, Sam. Now neither of us gets it.”
He thought he had destroyed my anniversary gift.
He had no idea the real Lamborghini was still locked inside the dealership.
The night before, my parents had taken Derek and me to dinner for our third wedding anniversary. Just before dessert, my father slid a small black box across the table.
Inside was a key fob stamped with a silver bull.
I stared at it. “A Lamborghini?”
My mother smiled. “You’ve worked for everything you have. Let us give you one ridiculous thing.”
Outside the restaurant sat a bright yellow Huracán. I touched the roof like it might disappear.
Derek didn’t smile once.
My father handed me a sealed folder containing the title, insurance documents, and delivery agreement.
“It’s registered only to you,” he said. “The dealership is keeping it overnight for protective film. Pick it up tomorrow afternoon.”
On the drive home, Derek gripped the steering wheel of his Audi so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
“Must be nice,” he muttered. “Getting toys from Mommy and Daddy.”
“It was an anniversary gift.”
“To us.”
“No,” I said quietly. “To me.”
His jaw tightened.
Derek had always been sensitive about my family’s money. I worked full-time, paid my share of our expenses, and kept my inheritance separate because I never wanted our marriage to become a financial arrangement.
I used to think his resentment was pride.
That morning, I finally saw what it really was.
At 10:17, he pushed past my receptionist and entered my office without knocking.
“Give me the keys.”
I closed the contract I was reviewing. “Why are you here?”
“Your parents gave us a Lamborghini. I’m driving it to work tomorrow.”
“It isn’t yours.”
He laughed once, but there was no humor in it. “Do you understand how stupid I’ll look when my wife arrives in a supercar while I’m driving an Audi?”
“Your coworkers are not part of our marriage.”
His face reddened.
He snatched the black anniversary box from my desk and shook it. The key fob rattled inside.
“You’re hiding the car from me.”
“It’s at the dealership.”
“Then call them.”
“No.”
The office outside my glass walls had gone silent. My receptionist stood near the door. Two managers had stopped in the hallway. Everyone could hear him.
Derek noticed them watching.
Instead of calming down, he raised his voice.
“You think having rich parents makes you powerful? Without them, you’re nothing.”
I didn’t argue.
I reached beneath my desk and pressed the security button that saved the room’s audio recording.
Then I held out my hand.
“Put the key back.”
For a moment, I thought he might throw it at me.
Instead, he dropped the box onto my desk and leaned forward.
“You’ll regret embarrassing me.”
Then he walked out while twenty employees pretended not to stare.
At noon, I called the dealership.
“Please keep the Lamborghini inside until I arrive personally,” I told the manager. “Do not release it to my husband.”
“Understood, Mrs. Hale,” he said. “Your father already added that restriction to the delivery order.”
That detail unsettled me.
My father had never trusted Derek as much as I did.
At 1:46, my phone rang.
Derek was laughing before I even said hello.
“I burned your dream sports car.”
My entire body went cold.
“What did you do?”
“I’m standing beside it now,” he said. “You wanted something I couldn’t touch. Now nobody gets it.”
May you like
Behind his voice, I heard popping metal and the distant scream of a siren.
I grabbed my purse and ran.
