Wife You Discarded is a Billionaire's Crush novel Chapter 41

Before, Liliana thought she knew.

She thought Cedric liked her.

Now, she just shook her head. "I don't know."

"Because you were obedient," he said, leaning back against the seat, making a rare effort to reason with her. "I thought you were different from other women."

He hated arguments and women who made trouble. He believed a man's place was in the world, and a woman's was in the home, and for the last two years, Liliana had played her part perfectly. He'd been very satisfied. She never asked about his whereabouts or interfered with his work. In return, he never brought the stress of his job home; there, he was just a husband. They were compatible in bed, and other than her stamina sometimes flagging before he was fully satisfied, he thought they were a perfect match.

Of course, he had no idea that besides being a competent lover, he failed at every other aspect of being a husband.

Confused, Liliana turned to study him, her face suddenly draining of color. The Forrests were well aware of how her parents, Vida and Chuck, interacted. The Forrest and Preston families had been allies for generations, and her marriage to Cedric had been arranged by their grandfathers. However, due to Chuck's blatant favoritism for his son and his questionable character, Stoddard had distanced himself from him over the years.

Did Cedric think she was just like her mother, a woman to be molded and controlled by her husband? Is that why he'd married her? Did he assume she would quietly tolerate his affair with Sylvia and play the part of Mrs. Forrest without a single complaint?

"Do you know why I want a divorce?" she asked, her brows knitting together as she pressed her lips into a thin line.

Cedric said nothing, either because he didn't care or because he truly didn't know.

Liliana's eyes widened. So Stoddard had passed the matter on to Cedric after all. He had her right where he wanted her.

Seeing the change in her expression, Cedric's face relaxed. He was back in control, the master of the situation. He spoke to her not as a wife, but as if he were bestowing charity upon a beggar on the street. As if the title of Mrs. Forrest was a blessing she should have spent lifetimes earning. She was expected to be grateful and obedient, never dreaming of asking for love or anything more than the position he allowed her to occupy.

The color drained from her lips and her breathing went shallow under the weight of his condescension.

She looked utterly broken in that moment.