Chapter 6

A few days later, Mia returned from her mother's house.

I had come home early and prepared a feast, waiting for her. Her coveted designer handbag sat on the table.

When Mia got home, she barely glanced at me.

Then she noticed the bag on the table and scoffed, "Don't think buying me a bag makes everything okay!"

I bit my tongue and gently led her to sit at the dining table.

"I know, I know. It's all my fault," I said contritely. "Look, I made all your favorite dishes to apologize. And got you the bag you wanted."

Mia still seemed wary after hearing this.

No problem - I had more tricks up my sleeve.

I continued, "And you know that severance money from my company? You have full control over how to use it. What do you think?"

Mia's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Of course! You're the love of my life. Who else would I give it to?"

Mia fell for it, thinking I was the same pushover as always.

She smirked, "That's more like it!" She picked up her chopsticks, ready to dig in.

I stopped her, putting on an air of mystery. "Wait, there's one more thing."

I pulled out a bottle of wine from under the table. "Let's have a drink and really talk. What do you say?"

"Sounds good!" Mia got up to grab wine glasses from the bar.

By the end of the night, Mia was drunk. I carefully extracted all her true thoughts.

Every other sentence was a lie. The more she lied, the more excited I got.

Watching my bank balance climb higher and higher, I knew it was almost time to make my move.