James had barely stepped out of the car when he stumbled. He looked up and saw his wife, stalking toward him like a tigress, a posse of imposing women nking her.
"Well, well, James," Mrs. Mercer seethed. "So this is your ''business entertainment'' that keeps you froming home. Entertaining a woman all the way to a hotel room."
Recognizing his wife''s face, the alcohol in James''s system evaporated. He was sober in an instant. "Honey, please, let me exin."
He''d barely gotten the words out before Mrs. Mercer''s hand cracked across his face, sending his sses flying. "Exin? What is there to exin? Did you think I was dead? All these years, I knew you were out there womanizing and drinking. I just chose to turn a blind eye!
"Have you forgotten how you got to where you are today? Do you really think you''re some big shot on your own merit? You wouldn''t be Mr. Mercer without my father''s connections. That goddamnpany, your big-shot title it all came from my family''s resources! Without us, you''d be a fucking nobody. What, you make a little money for a few years and it all goes to your head?
"Now you don''t even bother hiding it? You bring this whore to a hotel right under my nose? I''m not dead yet! Younded one big project and suddenly you think you can toss aside the wife who got you there, is that it?”
Mrs. Mercer was five years younger than James, but a life of leisure had left her with a voluptuous figure, easily weighing twice as much as him. She grabbed him like a chicken and shoved him to the ground.
James trembled, not from fear of her, but because he knew how relentlessly she could make a scene. She was well aware that he waspletely dependent on her father, which meant she could have him beaten to a pulp without consequence.
"My dear wife, I''ve been framed! It''s not what it looks like, I swear!” At this point, any lustful thoughts had vanished. He was just terrified for his life.
Just a moment ago, Patti and James had been tangled in a passionate embrace in the back of the car. The next, she was being dragged out by her hair. Mrs. Mercer threw her at James''s feet and
pointed an ac sine finger at them.”
"Still dare to say it''s nothing? Look at this hussy, dressed to the nines to seduce men! You were in the car, on your way into the hotel. Don''t even try to fool me.
"Today, I''m going to beat you two adulterous dogs and then drag you through the streets. Even that won''t be enough to quell my rage."
As Mrs. Mercer and her burly friends advanced, ready to rain down blows, Patti
remembered the baby in her belly. The color drained from her face. "Mrs. Mercer, it''s
not that kind of rtionship! You have to believe me, I''m not his woman!"
A couple of ps cut off her
exnation. Mrs. Mercer spat on
her. "Do
ou think I''m blind or
stupid? If you have nothing to d
with my husband, why were
You
in
the backseat of his car, all over each other? Did you think I couldn''t see because the windows were tinted? I know your type, you little sluts. Trying to climb the socialdder, are you? Well, you picked the wrong man. Today, I''ll show you what happens when you cross me."
Patti was beaten until she was screaming, crawling on the ground to escape. Her face was scratched, her hair was a mess, and her clothes were torn. Themotion had drawn a crowd of onlookers, but no one called the police. Catching
a cheater was a satisfying spectacle, a drama they watched with detached amusement. No one felt any sympathy for Patti.
After taking a few hits himself, James saw Ratti being brutally
attacked and panicked. She was his key pawn against Hawthorne Everhart. If she hurt, he couldn''t deliver on his ns. Worse, if she ended up in hospital and they discovered the baby was his, the situation would explode. His wife would never forgive him, and Hawthorne might actually have him killed.
s serious not
When Mrs. Mercer saw James trying to shield Patti, her rage intensified. She
yanked Patti back by the hair and beat her even more viciously, then turned on James, hitting him until he coughed up blood.