Chapter 5 - Kerri’s True Colors and the Crumbling Illusion
While Andrew stood frozen before the television screen, staring at the woman he had treated like a doormat now commanding the global financial stage, the doorbell to the penthouse chimed.
Stunned and operating on pure autopilot, Andrew walked to the double doors and swung them open. Standing on the threshold was Kerri. She was wrapped in a cashmere shawl, her face artfully pale, playing the part of the frail, suffering victim to absolute perfection.
"Andrew, darling," Kerri breathed, leaning weakly against the doorframe. "I couldn't sleep all night. My kidneys... I felt so weak. Did you talk to Callie? Did she agree to the medical evaluations? We don't have much time."
Normally, this performance would have instantly triggered Andrew's fierce, protective instincts. He would have wrapped his arms around her, promised her the world, and cursed Callie for her heartlessness. But today, the magic was entirely gone. As he looked at Kerri, the romantic fog that had clouded his judgment for six months abruptly evaporated, replaced by a cold, searing wave of realization.
He saw the subtle calculation in Kerri’s wide, doe-like eyes. He saw the way her posture straightened the moment she realized he wasn't immediately pulling her into a comforting embrace. He remembered the exact words Callie had spoken the night before: You wanted me to sacrifice a kidney for Carrie... now live with your choice.
"Andrew?" Kerri blinked, her voice taking on a slightly sharper, more demanding edge. "Why are you looking at me like that? Did Callie refuse? You need to force her! She owes me! She stole my life, she stole—"
"Shut up, Kerri," Andrew said. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a razor-sharp edge that made Kerri physically recoil.
"What did you say?" Kerri gasped, clutching her shawl tighter. "Are you defending her? After everything she put me through? After she threatened—"
"I said, shut up," Andrew repeated, stepping forward, his eyes locked onto hers with terrifying clarity. "There was never any threat, was there? You manufactured that entire confrontation in my office. You planted yourself in my life, whispering poison into my ear, playing on my guilt because you knew I never forgave myself for letting you slip away years ago. You manipulated me into bullying my own wife."
Kerri’s face drained of color, the delicate act instantly slipping. "Andrew, you're not thinking clearly. That woman brainwashed you! She’s cold, she’s—"
"She is the sole heiress of Jon Enterprises," Andrew interrupted, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. He watched with grim satisfaction as the color drained completely from Kerri's face, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "She is the billionaire titan holding the debt notes on half the commercial properties in this city. And I treated her like a servant."
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Kerri stumbled backward, her facade completely shattered. "An... heiress? That's impossible... she was just a quiet nobody..."
"She was everything good in my life," Andrew said, the full weight of his colossal stupidity crashing down upon his chest, "and I threw her away for a ghost who only cared about my bank account."
