The Name Tariff

“Money, money, money. Does being married to me make you feel like you’re settling for less? Is money all you ever talk about with me now?

“How did you turn out this way?

“The way you’re acting makes me feel like remarrying you has been a huge mistake.”

A mistake?

I certainly felt the same way.

If I had known she was still involved with her ex-boyfriend, I never would have married her.

I laughed out loud and made the gesture for money again.

“I’m just that shallow and in no way as refined as Mr. Speke. So, you’d better hand over the money.”

Lana looked stunned.

Emma hung up the video call and rushed over to spread her arms to shield Lana behind her.

“Bad Daddy, I won’t let you bully Mommy.

“It’s only two hundred thousand dollars. I’ll give it to you.”

The next second, a bank card was hurled at my face.

The child had no control over her strength, and the corner of the card sliced across my face.

That gesture was identical to the way Lana had thrown a check at me.

True to both mother and daughter’s wealthy background, regardless of age, they could casually produce a sum I could not even dream of if I borrowed from every relative I had approached during my divorce.

Blood trickled down my cheek onto the floor.

I paid it no mind and bent down to pick up the card.

With that two hundred thousand dollars, I could get my mother better medicine.

Emma was just a child, after all. Seeing me bleed, she panicked and instinctively cried out, “Daddy…”

She reached out to help me up but was stopped by a fair, delicate hand.

Lana held her daughter in one arm and looked at me with a smirk.

“Be a good girl, Emma. Watch and learn. When you grow up, there’ll be plenty of penniless scoundrels like this trying to extort money from you.

“You’d better be on your guard. Even if it’s your own father, you need to be careful.”

With that, she walked away with Emma.

She did not look back at me even once.

After tending to my wounds, I returned to my room and drifted off into sleep.

When I woke up again, it was to the sound of laughter coming from downstairs.

On the sofa, Eliot was playing enthusiastically with Emma.

Meeting my gaze, Lana showed no remorse and spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “Eliot has been down in the dumps because you didn’t handle the trending topic well. I was afraid he might do something reckless, so I called him over to hang out.

“Don’t take it personally.”

I did not say a word and just stared intently at Emma.

How long had it been since I had seen her smile so happily?

When I remained silent, a hint of unease flashed across Lana’s face, and she softened her tone.

“If you mind, you can—”

“I don’t mind.”

Lana’s words got stuck in her throat, but she quickly composed herself.

“Is playing hard to get fun?

“You know you can’t stop me, so you’re trying a different approach?

“You weren’t like this before.”

That was right. Back then, whenever I saw her with Eliot, I would go crazy. The moment I caught a whiff of another man’s cologne on her, I would smash everything in the house to smithereens.

The old me could not stand even the slightest provocation.

But I had wizened up.

What good was love? Money was far more important.

I held out my hand to her again. “You mentioned his name twice just now. Two hundred thousand dollars.”

Lana snorted derisively and nodded repeatedly.

“Fine, I’ll give it to you.

“I’ve got something even more valuable here. Are you in?”

I looked up and met her gaze.

Would she really be that generous?

As if reading my mind, Lana spoke casually, “Hold a press conference and say the video online was photoshopped by a reporter you bribed out of jealousy toward Eliot.

“Once it’s done, I’ll give you twenty million.”

“Are you crazy?” I could not help but retort. “Didn’t you suppress that trending topic the very first moment it appeared?”

I could not wrap my head around it. It was clearly her own failure to handle the situation properly. Why was she trying to smear my name?

Lana’s voice was icy.

“Yes, I did suppress it. But Eliot suffered because of this. Don’t you think you owe him an apology?”

Furious, I laughed bitterly. “What makes you think I’d agree?”

Lana calmly pulled out her phone and pulled up a photo of my mother in the ICU.

“Here’s why. I recommended your mother’s current attending physician. I invested in the hospital too.”

As I looked at my mother’s pale face on the screen, a long-forgotten fear coursed through my body.

I clenched my fists tighter and tighter, but eventually let go.

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

The moment I nodded, all my strength drained away. Cold sweat broke out all over my body.

My daughter, standing nearby, cheered with delight.

Finding me in the way, she shoved me aside and ran to hug Eliot.

“Yay! Bad Daddy is finally going to apologize to Eliot.”

Eliot laughed out loud. His gaze toward me was filled with smug satisfaction.

“Sorry, Lyle, Emma might be closer to me.”

I curled the corners of my mouth into a bitter smile. “Yeah, we’re not that close.”

As I turned to leave, I did not notice the unreadable look in Lana’s eyes.