Part 2The Trophy Wife's Tax

The scene ended with Lana retreating, face red with rage, and my wife, Mia, leading me back to the bedroom, pinching my ear, looking like she wanted to kill me.

I knelt miserably on the keyboard. "Honey, I swear I'm innocent!"

"I was about to shower! I turned around, and she just flew at me!"

"God knows why she was dressed like that!"

I didn't react quickly enough, and she definitely groped me. The thought of her slightly wrinkled skin touching my abs made me shiver, and my stomach churned. If Mia hadn't walked in, I don't know how much more she would have taken.

Mia shot me a look. "Do I look like an idiot?"

"Of course not!" I yelled.

"Exactly," Mia said. "That means you couldn't possibly be interested in that old hag. I'm mad because I told you to deal with her, and you didn't. Now she's making a move on us!"

I sighed deeply. Who could have seen this coming?

Since my mom died fifteen years ago, Dad never remarried. As a man, I understood the appeal of a loving partner, so after I became an adult, I constantly encouraged him to find someone.

But he never wanted to—until Lana. In just a few days, she completely charmed him. Every day was "Your Lana this" and "Your Lana that," sometimes with a blush on his face. The man looked years younger.

When I saw them acting sweet, I even played matchmaker. When they got married, I gave Lana a generous wedding gift, thanking her for rescuing my perpetually single father.

She initially played humble, saying, "Thank you for your generosity, Jay, but I only care about your father. Taking money would cheapen it."

But a month later, she batted her lashes and asked Dad for $\$100,000$ for her son's house.

Month two, she leaned on him and asked for another $\$100,000$ for her daughter's car.

Dad always happily transferred the money without a word.

Mia often warned me, "I don't trust Lana. You need to watch her."

"What respectable middle-aged woman demands money right after getting married?"

"She's too obviously greedy."

Though I agreed she was greedy, I defended her. "It's fine. She just got married and wants to take care of her kids first. She'll focus on Dad later."

"Besides, Dad saved up a lot over the years. It's fine for him to spend some on his wife, as long as they're happy."

But the reality was a slap in the face. Lana didn't seem to want a quiet life at all!

Now I remembered. She was always "accidentally" touching me before. Bumping my hand while handing me water, or grazing my shoulder in the hall. I thought it was just coincidence in our small house. Turns out, she was lonely and after my body!

"Honey, what do we do? Tell Dad everything?"

Mia was cautious. "They're still in the honeymoon phase. It might be hard for him to believe us."

I threw myself onto the bed, covering my head with a pillow. This involved a man's dignity. Even as his son, telling him his wife was a fraud would be incredibly difficult.