My Husband Gave Me a Pie as a Birthday Gift. I Exposed His Assistant

"Adrian's already under enough pressure. We shouldn't make things harder for him. When do you need us to leave?" Sabrina blinked, momentarily thrown off. But her practiced smile returned almost immediately. "Mr. Preston's thinking is... the sooner the better." "Ideally today." "Today?!" My mother's voice trembled. "But today is my birthday..." "I'm truly sorry, ma'am." Sabrina bowed deeply to my mother. But I caught the cold look in her eyes. There wasn't a trace of remorse. "I hope you'll understand. Mr. Preston doesn’t have a choice, either." I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palms. It was Thanksgiving, and my mother's birthday. Adrian had sent her two cheap, store-bought pies, and now his assistant was telling us to leave our own home before the day was over? No, this was nothing like Adrian at all. The floating comments had to be telling the truth. "Fine." I took a slow breath and kept my voice perfectly steady. "We'll move." After Sabrina left, my father paced the living room, his face dark with anger. "How did Adrian become someone like this?!" My mother sat on the couch, quietly dabbing at her tears. There was nothing I could explain. If I told them the truth, they'd think I'd gone crazy. Still, Adrian had always treated my parents well. Even as they grumbled, they clung to the belief that they shouldn't cause him any trouble and started packing their clothes anyway. Watching them bustle around with their backs to me, I quietly opened the recording on my phone. I'd left it running the entire time, and it had captured every single word Sabrina had said while ordering us out in Adrian's name. I backed it up to the cloud, then saved another copy to an encrypted drive. By the time my parents finished packing, it was already night. I went straight to a real estate agency. The moment the agent saw my parents, he shook his head. "I don't rent to elderly people. If something happens to them in my place, I'll be the one held responsible." I tried a dozen places. Every landlord turned us down for the same reason. Only one kind-hearted landlord was willing to rent to us. But the apartment was on the sixth floor of a walk-up, and with my mother's heart condition, there was no way she could manage all those stairs. The agent told us there was nothing he could do. My father lugged our bags around, breathing hard, his shirt already soaked through with sweat. My mother spoke softly. "Nessa, let's not look anymore tonight. We could stay at a hotel and figure things out tomorrow." I nodded and agreed. We checked into the nearest hotel. The front desk said they only had one standard room left, $380 a night. I pulled out my bank card and handed it over. The clerk swiped it on the reader, then paused, her expression shifting. "Sorry, ma'am, this card has been frozen." My stomach dropped. How could that be? Adrian had given me this card before leaving for his trip, specifically for emergencies. He'd told me it was a black card with no spending limit. I handed the card over again. "Miss, could you try again? Maybe the first transaction didn't go through." The clerk was about to take it back when a familiar voice came from behind me. "Mrs. Preston, I thought I'd find you here." I turned. Sabrina stood in the hotel lobby, car keys in hand, wearing that same carefully composed smile. Seeing me turn, she walked over quickly, putting on a concerned expression. "Mrs. Preston, please don't misunderstand. I came to explain what happened with your card." "Mr. Preston says money's tight on the overseas project, so all the domestic cards are being temporarily suspended. He asked me to let you know and to be patient until things settle down."

"Be patient?!" My dad's voice shook with anger. "You threw us out of our own home. It's the middle of the night now, we have nowhere to go, we can't even afford a $380 room, and you're telling us to endure it?!" "Sir, I truly am sorry." Sabrina bowed deeply again, as if it were her signature move. "Mr. Preston has it hard too. Overseas, he only sleeps four hours a night..." She paused, then added, as though the thought had only just occurred to her. "The truth is, this little bit of money is nothing to Mr. Preston. But he believes every little bit of savings counts." Every little bit of savings counts. The words cut straight to the heart, wounding my parents more deeply than any insult could have. My mom burst into tears. I let out a long breath and gently patted her shoulder, trying to calm her down. Then I pulled my savings card from my bag and handed it to the front desk clerk. "Use this one." I'd saved that money before I got married and hadn't touched it since. There should have been more than enough to cover a hotel room for my parents. The clerk took it politely and ran it through the reader. Less than two seconds later, the machine let out a sharp beep. The young woman frowned slightly. "Ma'am, your card has been declined due to insufficient funds." "Insufficient funds?" "Yes. There's only $138 on this card." That couldn’t be right! There should have been at least $130,000 on it. The moment I took the card back, the memory hit me. The very day Adrian left for overseas, he called me in a hurry just before boarding. "Honey, one of the company's suppliers ran into a problem. I promised him I'd settle his account early. Can you handle it for me?" I'd transferred $130,000 to the supplier straight from my savings account. A flicker of doubt crept in before I could stop it. Was Sabrina really acting on her own, or was there more to this than I'd realized? And could I really trust the comments appearing before my eyes? But my parents looked so worn out that I couldn't bring myself to dwell on it. I handed the card, with its measly $138 balance, back to the clerk. Thankfully, she was kind, and after calling over the manager on duty, they cleared out a small linen storage room and let my parents stay there for the night. "Mrs. Preston, now that you're all settled, I'll be on my way." Sabrina turned to leave, then glanced back and added one more thing. "Oh, and Mr. Preston asked me to pass along a message. He's swamped with work these days and might not be able to answer your calls. If you need anything, just let me know, and I'll pass it along to him." I pressed down the doubt in my mind and smiled. "All right. Thank you for your trouble, Assistant Lowell." Once we were in the room, my dad unpacked the luggage, his voice low. "Adrian's cutting us off, isn't he? He'd even had the cards frozen." My mom leaned back against the pillow. "Do you think he's... seeing someone else?" "Mom, don't let your mind run off like that." I sat down beside her. "Adrian isn't that kind of man." "Then why won't he even pick up the phone? And why does he keep having his assistant tell you over and over not to call? What are we supposed to do?!" My dad looked up at me. "Call him. Right now!" I'd barely reached for my phone when the comments flashed into view. [You have to trust me! Calling right now is useless!] [That woman tampered with the phone. You won't get through to Adrian himself!] I hesitated. According to the comments, Sabrina had made sure the call wouldn't reach Adrian. But with my parents staring at me like that, I couldn't refuse. Besides, a small part of me still hoped they were wrong.

"Fine. I'll call." I immediately pulled out my phone and dialed Adrian's number. The line rang. Three times. Then someone picked up. "Hello?" It was Sabrina's voice. "Mrs. Preston." I could hear the smile in her voice. "Didn't I already tell you? Mr. Preston's been very busy lately. Whatever you need, you can tell me. See? Your call came straight to me, too." Every drop of blood in me went cold. The comments had been right about everything. When the call ended, my dad looked at me. "Why did she answer?" My mouth opened, but I had no idea how to explain it. My mom sighed. "Forget it. Don’t call him anymore." That night, I lay awake on the cold floor, staring into the darkness until dawn. Only one thought kept running through my mind. Adrian, you'd better get back here soon. Early the next morning, my mom suddenly took a turn for the worse. She got up and said her chest felt tight. At first, I thought she was just tired from a sleepless night. But within ten minutes, she was gasping for air, her lips turning purple. She clutched her chest, unable to get a single word out. Her heart condition was acting up. My dad panicked, his hands shaking so badly he couldn't even open the pill bottle. I grabbed it from him and slipped a fast-acting heart medication under my mom's tongue. Then I grabbed my phone, booked a ride, and rushed her straight to the Preston private hospital. It had the best cardiology department in the city, a facility Adrian had established specifically to care for my mom. The moment we reached the entrance, I started wheeling her toward the entrance, desperate to get her inside. But someone stepped in our way. It was Sabrina. She stood at the lobby entrance in a sharply tailored business suit, blocking the way like a guard at a temple gate. "Mrs. Preston." The fake concern she'd worn the day before was gone. Her voice was flat and cold. "This hospital is a Preston resource. Mr. Preston says the group is tight on funds right now, so all nonessential VVIP services have been suspended until further notice." "My mother is having a heart attack!" My voice nearly broke as I shouted. "How can that possibly be nonessential?!" "Mrs. Preston, please don't get so worked up." Sabrina stood her ground. "Mr. Preston's point is that public hospitals can treat heart conditions too, and besides..." Her gaze drifted to my mother's deathly pale face. "Given the state you're all in, showing up at a Preston hospital could damage Mr. Preston's reputation if anyone sees you." Damage his reputation?! My mom slumped in her wheelchair, too weak to speak, and Adrian's assistant was standing there telling us she was an embarrassment to him. My dad trembled with rage and raised his hand to slap Sabrina. The comments flashed across my vision in a frantic warning. [Save her first! Don't get tangled up with her!] I gritted my teeth and grabbed my dad's arm. "Let's go." We turned and walked out of the Preston hospital, heading straight for the nearest public hospital. We went through the ER, got her registered, ran the necessary tests, and started an IV. After more than two hours of it, my mom was finally settled into a hospital room, her condition stable for the time being. I sank into a chair beside her bed, completely spent. But I knew Sabrina wouldn't leave us alone. Sure enough, less than thirty minutes later, the door swung open. Sabrina walked in with two bodyguards. "Mrs. Preston." She glanced around the room, her brow furrowing. "Why are you staying in a place like this?" "This is a public hospital." I looked at her coldly. "We haven't used a single Preston resource, and there's nothing here to damage Adrian's reputation. So what exactly is your problem, Sabrina Lowell?" Sabrina hesitated for a moment before turning to the two men. "Help the gentleman and the lady pack up. We're moving them somewhere else. Mr. Preston says the shared ward is too crowded, with too many people around. If someone recognizes them and takes a picture, it'll reflect badly on him."

"I've already found a nursing home in the suburbs. It's quiet, and they'll be well looked after." The suburbs? That was at least forty kilometers away. My mother was in no condition to survive a trip like that. "We're not going." "Ma'am, this is Mr. Preston's wish." Sabrina looked me straight in the eye, no longer bothering to hide her contempt. "You'd do well to cooperate." "Mr. Preston's wish?" I smiled. "Sabrina, are you brave enough to call Adrian right now, in front of me, and let him tell me that himself?" Her expression flickered. Then, a second later, she composed herself and gave me a chilly smile. "Ma'am, I was trying to spare you the humiliation." She took a step forward and lowered her voice. "But if you insist on pretending you don't understand, I'll spell it out for you." "As long as I'm here, none of you will ever see him again." "Mr. Preston is overseas. He's far away, out of reach, and I'm the only one by his side. Everything he needs to know, everything that happens here, goes through me. So you'd better all be good and do as I say." My father finally snapped. "You bastard!" He lunged to hit her, but the two bodyguards grabbed him before he could reach her. One of them shoved him hard. He stumbled backward into the headboard, cracking his forehead against it. Blood streamed down his face. "Dad!" I rushed over to steady him. My mother was crying on the bed, panicked and struggling to breathe. Her condition was getting worse by the second. Sabrina stood over us, looking down as though we were nothing but ants beneath her feet. She took out her phone and started filming. "Go ahead. Make a scene. The bigger the better. In a minute, I'll send these videos straight to Mr. Preston and tell him his in-laws were causing a scene and throwing punches in a public hospital, humiliating him in front of everyone." I was shaking with rage. Just then, the comments flooded my vision again. [Hold on! Just three more minutes!] [Adrian's flight has already landed. He's on his way here!] [Three more minutes! Don't let your dad swing at her! Hold it in! Wait for him!] I clung to my father, doing everything I could to hold him back. "Dad, stop, just wait a little longer, just a little..." His eyes were bloodshot. "Wait for what? Wait for her to bully us to death?" "Wait for Adrian." I forced the words out, one at a time. "He's almost here." Sabrina threw back her head and laughed, brazen and mocking. "Wait for Mr. Preston?" "Ma'am, you don't actually think he'd drop his overseas project and fly back for you people, do you?" "Let me tell you something. Even if he does come back, I have a hundred ways to make him believe this is all your fault. That you're spoiled and unreasonable. That your parents are nothing but trouble. That you were never good enough for him. And I'll be the one he remembers as the woman who stood by him through his hardest times and cleaned up every mess without asking for anything in return." She raised her voice again, making sure everyone in the room could hear. "Mr. Preston got sick of your whole family a long time ago. Everything I've done, I've done on his orders. He wanted me to put you in your place." She'd barely finished speaking when a man's voice rang out from the doorway, cold enough to freeze the room. Just then, a familiar voice rang out from the doorway. "I told you to?"