My Husband Dared Me to Take a Lover of My Own to Match His Mistress—He Never Imagined I’d Walk Out and Come Back as the Majority Shareholder Who Owned His Company

PART 3: THE BIRTHDAY TRAP

The day Nathaniel picked me up, he drove himself. I stood outside the car, inspecting him, and feigned a dramatic sigh.

“I really want to fight you rich kids sometimes. I spend every day scheming against one person or another in the boardroom, yet I can’t even compare to a fraction of the Crown Prince, who was born with everything.”

Nathaniel laughed. “Are you saying you’re not rich?”

I hesitated. “Can I sit in the passenger seat? If I sit in the back, people might think you’re my chauffeur.”

“Just get in the front.”

When I was little, I heard people say that eventually, you become the kind of person you hate the most.

I broke the ice as Nathaniel drove. “So, what kind of people do you hate?”

“Rich people,” he replied effortlessly.

The restaurant the Crown Prince booked was incredibly romantic. We sat by the window, chatting casually. Halfway through the meal, a waiter pushed a cart over, carrying a birthday cake.

I looked up in surprise.

The young man across from me looked into my eyes and smiled. “Happy birthday. I didn’t know what to get you, so I figured I’d just buy you dinner.”

I smiled back. I knew perfectly well that people in our circle were cunning foxes, and with a status as exceptional as Nathaniel’s, he was certainly no fool. He definitely knew my ulterior motives for approaching him.

The best way to close the distance between two strangers is through an ambiguous, undefined relationship. But Nathaniel always stood firmly on the edge of that boundary, never advancing, never retreating. It wasn’t that he didn’t know what to buy me. It was just that, compared to a physical gift that lasts, a meal placed our relationship in a much more ‘appropriate’ context.

But why? If he hated it, he could just stay away. His status as the Crown Prince meant virtually no one in this city could force him to do anything.

I took a bite of the cake. Before I could say anything, the restaurant lights suddenly flickered. The piano music in the center of the hall swelled into a sweeping, romantic melody. Several waiters carrying massive bouquets pushed out a giant, multi-tiered cake, topped with two incredibly lifelike fondant figurines.

I rested my chin on my hand, listening to the staff congratulate the couple at the table next to us. Happy anniversary. Wishing you a perfect life. Together until your hair turns gray.

“What an extravagant display,” I sighed. “True happiness.”

Nathaniel glanced over, his expression complicated. “Maybe your husband is preparing a surprise like this for you at home right now.”

He stuttered slightly as he said it.

I looked at him and smiled. Meeting my gaze, he immediately looked down, as if avoiding something.

“You really don’t have an ounce of curiosity about me, do you?” I teased.

I reached across the table and tilted his chin up, pointing toward the happy couple. “One of them is Audrey, the girl you saw the other night. And the guy? That’s my husband over there.”

The moment Nathaniel shot to his feet, he nearly knocked over his wine glass. I reached out and grabbed his wrist. The young man froze, looking down into my eyes, which were brimming with amusement. The fury on his face softened just a fraction.

For the first time, the flustered Crown Prince didn’t yank his hand away as if I were a plague.

I rested my chin on my other hand and smiled. “Why don’t you sit down and have a drink with me?”

When I took Nathaniel back to his hotel, I honestly hadn’t drunk that much, and neither had he. But just as I was about to say goodbye, I heard him ask, “Victoria… the first time we met, you were at the bar because of him, weren’t you?”

Nathaniel sat on the edge of the chair, looking up at me without looking away. His pale, porcelain skin was flushed pink from the alcohol. His eyes were shining so brightly they seemed to hold an entire galaxy.

Since the day I met him, he had always been the one rejecting others—aloof, cold, a perfectly educated scion of wealth. Only when he was facing me did he occasionally reveal glimpses of his youthful, boyish temperament.

Maybe the night was just too beautiful, or maybe the alcohol made it too easy to bare one’s soul. Everything seemed to be telling me that this was the perfect moment to spill my guts.

I took a step forward and reached out. Nathaniel didn’t dodge.

I gave a bitter smile. “My marriage is a total failure. Honestly, I’ve always known he had other women. As long as he didn’t flaunt it in my face, I ignored it. Everyone laughs at me for being stupid—he lives like a playboy, and I stubbornly keep wearing my wedding ring.”

“The day I met you at the bar, the news of his latest mistress had just leaked. It was his birthday. I was foolish enough to want to wait for him to come home to celebrate. I didn’t expect someone else to already be celebrating with him.”

“I was so sad that day. I asked myself, why couldn’t I do the same thing? Why was I the only one desperately trying to protect this illusion of a home?”

I touched Nathaniel’s cheek. He stiffened.

I whispered, “Then, I saw you. You were so special, unlike anyone I’ve ever known. You gave off this distant, lonely feeling, always seeming close but actually far away. I felt like, deep down in your soul, you were the only one there. You were always wearing a mask.”

I leaned down. Our eyes met, so close our breaths mingled. The young man’s face shifted from pink to burning red.

“I’m choking on it,” I murmured. “Will you stay with me? Or…”

I leaned right next to his ear and whispered, “Transfer a business partnership to my firm.”

Nathaniel was utterly speechless. “Am I just a joke to you?”

I stepped back, nearly bursting into laughter right in his face. Nathaniel’s expression cycled through a kaleidoscope of emotions. It took him a long time to regain his bearings. When he did, his face darkened so much it looked like a thunderstorm was about to break.

“Victoria.” He ground my name out through clenched teeth.

I grinned back. “Watch fewer prime-time soap operas, kid.”

“Your Highness,” I waved my hand dismissively. “Get some rest. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning and take you back to campus.”

I turned to walk out, but the exact moment my hand touched the doorknob, the person behind me moved. A faint scent of alcohol surrounded me, and his tall frame pressed against my back with overwhelming pressure. In a moment of distraction, a hand with prominent, elegant knuckles wrapped around my waist and locked the door shut.

Tsk. I played too hard.

The back of my neck was lightly bitten—like he was venting his frustration—leaving a slightly itchy mark.

“Victoria,” Nathaniel’s voice was hoarse, laced with anger and an undeniable sense of indulgence. “You win.”

I was pulled into a scorching embrace. His voice rang in my ear, full of gritted teeth. “If you want me, you can have me. If you want a business partnership, I’ll give it all to you. But I only have one condition.”

“Tomorrow, you dump that bastard of a husband immediately.”

Even the most well-behaved people have a breaking point.

I lay in bed, my mind fuzzy from the heat of the bath. Moonlight spilled through the window. I twitched my fingers, trying to grab the sheets, but someone sharply noticed and intertwined his fingers tightly with mine.

My phone suddenly rang, shattering the quiet night. I reached for it, and the name on the screen jolted my sluggish brain slightly awake.

Preston.

My husband had apparently finally remembered it was my birthday, and that I still hadn’t come home.

I was about to toss the phone aside, but Nathaniel was faster. He hit ‘Accept’.

Preston’s voice echoed through the speaker. “Victoria, why aren’t you home yet?”

Go back to that ghost house of yours? I replied in my head.

The spoiled, vicious little puppy next to me suddenly squeezed my hand, scattering my thoughts completely. Preston was incredibly sensitive to these kinds of things.

“Victoria, what are you doing?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Nathaniel abruptly hung up the phone. Preston’s shouting was cut off instantly.

I looked at Nathaniel. He lowered his head, and I slapped a hand over his mouth.

“Listening to your demands, I thought this was going to be a classic romance novel.” I clicked my tongue. “Your Highness, I didn’t know you had such a fetish for playing the homewrecking other man.”

The palm of my hand was bitten. Nathaniel pulled my hand away and bit down hard on my shoulder.

“Victoria,” the Crown Prince growled. “I’m a purist. I only love one person.”

Sometimes, the stamina of youth is a fatal mistake. When I woke up, the Crown Prince was still asleep, his arms and legs wrapped around me like a giant octopus. I peeled him off and quietly got out of bed.

There were over forty missed calls from Preston on my phone.

While driving past a luxury boutique, I thought for a moment, then pulled over.

It was almost noon by the time I got home. When I opened the door, I saw Preston slumped on the sofa, his clothes rumpled and his hair a mess. His phone was next to him, and a pristine birthday cake sat untouched on the coffee table.

I walked over and reached out to smooth his hair, but he suddenly grabbed my wrist in a vice grip. Preston opened his eyes; they were bloodshot.

“Victoria. Where were you last night? Who were you with?”

He paused, as if realizing something, and felt my hand. “Where is your ring? Victoria! Where is your ring?!”

Stripped off by a certain young master.

I pouted, pulled my hand back, and smiled at Preston. “I brought you a gift.”

Under his suspicious glare, I pulled a mug out of the shopping bag. A customized ceramic mug with bold, neon green letters that read: World’s Greatest Cuckold.

Ta-da. I placed the mug squarely on the coffee table in front of him, took two steps back, and admired it. “It suits you perfectly. My eye for design is never wrong.”

Preston was so furious he nearly passed out. He grabbed the mug and smashed it against the floor. We were both smart people. He looked at me, his eyes dark and volatile.

“Who is it?”

“Are you going to go cause trouble for him?” I asked. “For the sake of our years of marriage, I advise against it. Even if you want to ruin him, he’s not someone you can touch.”

“Who is it?!” Preston demanded again.

I smiled. “Nathaniel Vance.”

The title of ‘Crown Prince’ was so resounding it left Preston stunned for a solid minute. When he came back to his senses, he grabbed my arm. “Victoria, you’re lying to me, aren’t you?”

He either didn’t believe the Crown Prince would look twice at a married woman, or he didn’t believe I would actually betray our marriage.

I smiled, pulled a stack of documents out of my designer bag, and threw them on the table in front of him.

Divorce Agreement.

The papers had been drafted a long time ago. I had been waiting for this day for ages; it was just that Audrey had been too useless to pull the trigger herself.

I sat across from him. “Take a look. The division of assets is very simple. What’s yours is yours, what’s mine is mine. I’m not taking advantage of you. I hope you sign it today so we can get this over with as quickly as possible.”

Preston didn’t move. “Victoria, we don’t need to get a divorce. If you care about Audrey, I can tell her to—”

“Preston,” I interrupted, looking exhausted. “I’m not asking for your opinion. I’m informing you. If there’s an issue with the contract, we can amend it, but the divorce is non-negotiable.”

“Victoria, I won’t ignore our years as husband and wife. I don’t want us to end up like this.”

I looked him dead in the eye and spat out three words. “Corporate embezzlement fraud.”

Preston’s face instantly changed.

“Mr. Hayes,” I smiled pleasantly. “You wouldn’t want the media finding out about that, would you?”