Chapter 3 Three

Rowan

"What are you about to do, Channel?" I barked out her name, grabbing her by the waist and holding her so tight so she wouldn't jump.

Seeing her about to jump off the bridge sent my heart flying into my mouth. I had been so scared when she refused to turn back and get down that I had begun pleading with a soft voice.

"Channel, please, get down from there. It's Rowan, your husband. I am here to get you. I believe you, Channel; please don't jump." I had begged, my voice failing me as it began to crack when she raised one leg up, still acting deaf to my pleas.

My body stiffened, my hands began shaking, and without thinking, I fell onto my knees on the bridge where some people stood watching the drama.

"Channel, please, don't jump. I promise to accept you back. I'll bring you back into my mansion. Don't take your life like this; you can't leave me alone in this world. Please." I pleaded sincerely, jamming my hands together.

My eyes were red, and I wore a pained and helpless expression on my face. My heart was pounding as I desperately hoped that she wouldn't jump.

How was I going to live if I watched the only woman that I have ever loved die in my presence?

I was going to die of guilt-real guilt-if she should take her life because of the verdict of the judge.

I had intentionally taken everything she had even when I knew that she didn't have anyone to run to.

Her father was mentally unstable. He had no house or property to his name before his sickness. While her father was in the hospital, Channel was all alone and trying to deal with the harshness of life by herself. I saw her and fell in love with her in a coffee shop where she worked as a cashier at age twenty-one.

My family was against her because she wasn't someone they could reckon with in terms of class. They hated her and were very mad at me for being clear on marrying her, but they couldn't do anything.

I was a man of my own. At age twenty-four I was already the heir of Reynold's group, and I got married to Channel at age twenty-five. I could boldly say that I am smart, wise, and extremely handsome. I am every girl's dream husband, and Channel was considered lucky by everyone to catch my attention.

What had gone wrong? What didn't I do right? To the best of my knowledge, I treated her so well regardless of her inability to give birth to my child. I visited her father every two weeks in the mental hospital and clearly instructed the nurses to make sure that he was well taken care of.

Cars?? Channel had a fleet of cars. I gifted her two mansions on different occasions of her birthday.

She had my black card and could do whatever thing she wanted with my money. We went on different trips, and I was constantly by her side to satisfy her sexual needs.

What had caused Channel to look outside of her marriage? Why had she decided to shatter my heart and make me an object of ridicule to my mother and sister?

"Fuck!" I was in pain. Hurt and terribly devastated.

To say that I didn't love Channel was a big lie. I loved her to a fault. My deep love for her made my family think that I had been jazzed with magical powers by Channel, and that thought worsened their hatred for her.

They had warned me. Told me that Channel was from the slum and that she could go back there anytime because it was where she belonged and the right place for her.

Channel had friends before I met her. She had male friends whom she said were just casual friends.

I met Channel as a virgin, so I believed her when she said that she had never had a boyfriend. I trusted her even when I saw her enclosed in a warm hug with one of her male friends in the coffee shop where she had worked before I met her.

I had nothing against the idea of Channel spending two days outside the mansion all because she wanted to attend the birthday of one of her high school male friends.

Blinded by my love and the deep trust I had in her, I refused to see these little hints of Channel's cheating activities.

Ironical, right? Someone as smart and handsome as me failed to keep a wife and also couldn't see that I had been played for almost three and a half years.

Little wonder Channel couldn't bear a child. She had been in and out of the hospital after doing a series of abortions. I believed my sister now. I could now understand what my parents had been trying to tell me.

Laying down the sleeping Channel, who had cried herself to sleep in my car after I had grabbed her and stopped her from dying, I stood back to stare at her.

Hatred rippled in my blood. My fist tightened in anger as I stared hard at the face that I had once loved.

She looked so innocent and weak as my eyes traced the lines of tears that had stained her cheeks. Who could believe that this weak, pretty-faced woman was a chronic cheat?

Who could believe that she was a perfect liar and a very good actress who was acting all sad and helpless after the judge's verdict and was about to kill herself so that she could make everyone see me as a monster and blame me for her death?

Well, I wouldn't allow her plan to work out. I was glad I was able to save her in time before she could jump off the bridge. I can't let her die without getting my hundred million dollars for compensation.

Within me, I knew that she didn't have the money because I had taken everything she had away from her. She also had no one to lend her that outrageous amount of money, and it was either she pays or goes to jail.

Well, her being in jail wouldn't make me feel better. Getting my revenge and seeing the pains she feels as I dish each stroke of revenge on her would quell my anger. Since I was sure that she couldn't pay my compensation fee in cash, the only way I could get it was by turning her into my slave.

My thoughts were interrupted by the groan of Channel, who stirred on the bed for a few minutes, her face squeezed in a frown like she was having a bad dream.

After some minutes of rolling from one side of the bed to another, she got up, opened her eyes, and instantly closed them as the rays of sunlight stealing their way into my room from the corner of the blue curtains blinded her.

I watched her while still standing like a predator who was prepared to pounce on his prey till she finally opened her eyes and looked around the room before finally dropping them on my stern face.

"What am I doing here, Rowan?" She questioned me as soon as she saw me.

"What are you doing in your husband's house? Is that a reasonable question to ask? Do you prefer to be in one of your sugar daddies' houses?" I snapped at her through my teeth.

"You are no longer my husband. You divorced me and chased me out of the mansion. Why didn't you leave me to jump and die? Do you truly want to kill me with your own hands?" She asked helplessly, staring deeply at me.

Those eyes-those sad and pretty eyes-struck a cord of pity within me, but the hatred in me was far heavier than the little tinge of pity I felt.

"Yes, I divorced you, but that doesn't mean I don't own you anymore. You are very much still mine because you still owe me my money, which you have to pay before I totally let you go." I said in a dangerous voice.

With a mean expression on her face, she asked, "How can I get your money if you don't release me? How do you expect me to pay your godforsaken one hundred million dollars?" She raised her voice in annoyance.

With an evil grin on his face, I said in a low, scary voice, "by becoming my slave and crawling beneath me, calling me master till your debt is paid.