Guilty Hearts The Scumbags Original Sin

Ninety-nine.

That was how many mistresses had shown up at my door, screaming provocations, demanding I step down to make room for them.

And Jackson Sharp? Not a single word of explanation. Not one.

Instead, he praised me. Voice smooth. Detached. Well done. You're finally acting like a proper Mrs. Sharp.

My gaze dropped to the pregnancy test report crumpled in my fistevidence the woman had shoved at me moments ago. A bitter laugh clawed up my throat.

"You said you'd never let any of your women get pregnant."

Jackson smiled. That same charming, practiced curve of his lips. The one he wore like armor. "People change, Maya. Worst case? If she births it, I'll take the brat and give it to you to raise."

He reached out.

Patted my head.

Like I was a dog.

"Be good. Stop making a fuss." His fingers lingered, condescending. "Isn't this all because you can't have children of your own?"

The words died in my throat.

I had nothing left to say to this man.

The three-year agreement had expired.

It was time to return to my real life.

Over the past three years, the women surrounding Jackson Sharp numbered in the hundreds.

Maybe thousands.

Without exception, none lasted. They were flavors of the weekdiscarded as easily as used tissues.

Just like me.

His lawful wife.

In the beginning, I fought back. I screamed. I made scenes. Once, I even slammed divorce papers on the table hard enough to crack the wood.

Back then, Jackson would do anything to keep me. He'd drop to his knees on the cold marble floor, slap his own face until his cheeks bloomed red, and wield every weapon in his arsenalsoft pleas, hard threatsuntil I crumbled.

I was naive. I kept thinking, *Maybe next time. Maybe he'll change. Maybe he'll go back to the man he used to be.*

After all, he had loved me so deeply once.

But this timecombined with the ninety-eight betrayals before itsevered the last thread.

*I can't have children?*

On the surface, yes. That was the narrative.

But was that an excuse for infidelity? He could have divorced me. Instead, he kept me bound as a figurehead while he bedded half the city. He even forced me to clean up his messes, making me personally dismiss every discarded mistress like I was running a revolving door of heartbreak.

He didn't know the truth.

My "infertility" wasn't a defect.

It was a safeguard. A biological protection mechanism unique to the women of my lineage. I could only conceive with a man who was cleana man who was my true love.

And I I was not the orphan with no connections Jackson believed me to be.

My parents were the Hensons.

The apex predators of the capital's aristocracy. I was their only daughter. The heiress to a dynasty.

But family law was absolute. Every heir who came of age had to undergo a "Relationship Trial." Three years of living without identity, without resources.

Pass the trial, and your spouse ascended to the heavens, elevated by Henson influence.

Fail it?

They faced the most brutal retaliation imaginable.

I forced the corners of my mouth up, though a dull ache still throbbed behind my ribs. "Jackson, do you remember what you said when we first got together?"

He didn't look up. His thumbs flew across his phone screenprobably charming his next conquest. "How would I remember something from that long ago?" Impatience sharpened his voice. "Wife, I'm busy. I don't have time to walk down memory lane with you."

*But I remember.*

I remembered the sincerity in his voice. The way he looked at me like I was the only woman in the world.

*"I love you, Maya. I will love you forever. No matter what the future holds, I will protect you. I won't let anyone harm you."*

*"Even if the world stands against us, I will stand in front of you, sheltering you from the wind and rain."*

Whatever true feelings existed back then had been ground to dust by three years of neglect.

I wanted to tell him: *Jackson Sharp, I don't love you anymore.*

When I met him, he was the outcast of the Sharp familya discarded son facing bankruptcy. I was the one who secretly pulled strings, who helped him navigate the storms and build his empire from rubble.

I had planned to tell him the truth once the trial ended. I wanted to take him home, to give us a brand-new life at the summit of society.

But looking at him now

There was no point.

Three years. And all I had to show for it was heartache.

I didn't hesitate. I walked to the bedroom and packed my pitifully small suitcase.

When I dragged it into the living room, Jackson finally glanced up. Surprise flickered across his face.

"Going on a business trip? I don't recall approving any travel."

Since I had decided to step back onto the right path, the filth festering in the dark deserved to be cast back into the swamp where it belonged.

But a phantom ache still lingered in my chest.

My feelings for Jackson Sharp over these past few years had been genuine. If they weren't, I wouldn't have given him chance after chance. But he was the one who failed me. He was the one who let me down.

Stepping out of the marital home I once shared with Jackson, I breathed in deep.

For the first time in a long time, the air actually tasted fresh.

I deleted every trace of Jackson Sharp from my phone and blocked his number. Our wedding rings? I tossed them into a roadside trash can without breaking my stride.

Right on cue, a message pinged on my screen. Amy Kemp. The mistress desperate to leverage her pregnancy into a social climbing ladder.

**Amy Kemp:** [Ms. Henson, the hen who can't lay eggs. Have you thought it through? Are you going to pay me fifty million, or are you going to step aside and let me become the new Mrs. Sharp?]

A short, cold laugh escaped me.

"I was so busy deleting him, I almost forgot to take out the rest of the trash."

A few taps. Blocked. Deleted.

Finally, my world was quiet.

I dialed my father immediately after.

Dad knew my situation like the back of his hand. He didn't waste time with pleasantries. "Silly girl. The family required you to undergo a test of character, but we never said you had to smash your head against a brick wall."

"So what if you came back a little earlier? I would have handed the company's inheritance rights to you regardless. Not just because you're my only daughter, but because you are worthy. Only you are qualified."

The scolding was gentle, wrapped in warmth. He was blaming meboth openly and implicitlyfor not reaching out sooner.

Before leaving the house, I had warned myself to be strong. Crying over a piece of trash like Jackson wasn't worth it.

But the moment I heard the gruff warmth of my father's voice, the dam broke.

"Dad..."

My throat tightened. My voice came out thick with unshed tears.

He sighed, his tone softening into that familiar indulgence he reserved only for me. "Forget it. It's not too late to turn back now that you've learned your lesson. Your mother and I have already prepared a banquet to announce your return. It's in a week. Come home."

I nodded obediently, though he couldn't see me. "Okay. Thank you, Dad."

It took until today for me to truly understand one simple truth: no matter what happens, there is only one man in this world who will love and protect me unconditionally.

That man is my father.

...

The news of my return banquet dropped the moment I stepped through the door of my family home.

As the only child of the capital's top power, my return was destined to make waves. Everyone with even a shred of status began making preparations, desperate to curry favor with the elusive Henson heiress.

At the same time, another piece of news began circulatingJackson Sharp and I were divorcing.

Jackson was a rising force in the capital, someone not to be underestimated, so the dissolution of his marriage was equally explosive. To make matters worse, Amy Kemp was secretly leaking the fact that she was pregnant with his child.

Jackson's circle of rich friends began whispering, trying to verify the rumors.

"Is it really a divorce?"

"No way. She's such a sensible woman. Sure, she doesn't have much status or background, but she handles everything perfectlyeven the mistresses. How could he bear to let go of a wife like that?"

"It has to be fake, right? Is sister-in-law playing hard to get again? Jackson, just coax her a bit. Though, I have to say, you've been playing too hard lately. How could you let another woman get pregnant?"

Unfortunately for them, Jackson responded to none of it.

Instead, after discovering I had blocked and deleted him on everything, he went into a frenzy, using every means available to track me down.

It couldn't be denied that he had feelings for me. That was why he had never brought up divorce himself.

But his scumminess and moral rot were just as real. He would always be blinded by hormones and novelty, entangling himself with other women again and again.

It was unfair to me, and frankly, unfair to the other women too.

Perhaps in his eyes, I was just a fragile little woman with no support system, someone who couldn't survive without him. That was why he had been so unscrupuloushe believed that no matter what he did, I would never truly leave.

But for the past week, I had evaporated.

Completely disappeared from his world.

Well, except for the divorce papers my father had arranged.

Thanks to Dad's connections and efficiency, Jackson and I had already entered the mandatory divorce cooling-off period. We only needed to wait one month to pick up the final certificate.

And that was when Jackson panicked.

The night before the banquet, I sank into a hot bath, letting the water soothe my nerves. Maybe it was the steam, or maybe it was the memories, but my emotions felt raw.

For the first time in a week, I turned on my old phone.

It vibrated violently in my hand. A bombardment of 99+ notifications flooded the screen, nearly causing the device to freeze. Messages and missed calls from unfamiliar numbers.

I scanned them briefly.

Jackson.

**Jackson Sharp:** [Maya Henson, have you made enough trouble yet? Come back now, and I'll pretend none of this happened!]

**Jackson Sharp:** [How did you do it? I didn't sign anythingwhy has the cooling-off period started?]

As I scrolled down, his attitude shifted. The arrogance crumbled into desperation.

**Jackson Sharp:** [Please, Maya. I was wrong... Honey, come back, okay? As long as you come back, I'll cut off all those women. I swear.]

**Jackson Sharp:** [What will it take for you to forgive me? Are you telling me our feelings these past few years were fake? You can't be willing to part with me... Honey, where are you?]

**Jackson Sharp:** [Divorce or not, can you just see me once? Don't disappear like this. I really know I was wrong...]

Reading until the end, a weight lifted off my shoulders. The heavy, suffocating feeling in my chest dissipated.

It seemed... I didn't care about Jackson Sharp as much as I thought.

At least, seeing him beg for reconciliation didn't trigger any impulse to forgive him.

Instead, I felt a distinct, cold pleasure.

The satisfaction of striking back.

But this revenge was only just beginning.

I thought for a moment, then typed a reply to one of the numbers:

**[If you want to see me, find a way into the Henson heiress's return banquet.]**

Then I turned the phone off again.

A knock came at the door. "Maya?" Mom's voice was laced with concern. "Are you asleep? Your dad wants to talk to you."

"Not yet," I called back. "Wait a moment, Mom. I'll be right out."

A few minutes later, in the living room.

Mom and Dad had prepared a table full of my favorite dishes. They sat there, smiling warmly as they waited for me. I sat between them, savoring the taste of home I hadn't experienced in so long, my eyes narrowing in pure contentment.

They watched me with indulgent smiles until I had nearly finished eating.

"Maya," Dad started, his tone serious but gentle. "There's something I want to discuss with you."

I looked up, wiping my mouth. "What is it?"

They exchanged a glance before Dad spoke. "It's like this... Your mother and I agree that Jackson Sharp is trash. The divorce is set in stone. But you're going to be managing a massive company in the future. Without someone by your side to support you, you'll be exhausted."

He paused, gauging my reaction. "It just so happens that your Uncle Blake's son is returning to the country tomorrow. We plan to let you two meet. If it's suitable, you can try getting along. Of course, if you don't agree..."

My father, a man who made business titans tremble in fear, looked at me cautiously, terrified of upsetting me.

I didn't hesitate. "Sure. I'll meet him."

Jackson Sharp had drained me physically and mentally.

But one rotten man wasn't enough to destroy my desire for love or a true partnership.

As I said at the beginning, I have the capital to start over.

However, thinking about Uncle Blake's son gave me pause. When we were little, our families were neighbors and very close. I saw him often. But back then, I was a little tyrantthe neighborhood bully.

And the Delgado boy was my favorite target.

Thinking back, it had been over ten years since we last saw each other. I wondered if tomorrow would be awkward.

Dad laughed heartily at my agreement. "Alright, then it's settled! Rest early tonight. Tomorrow, we go to the banquet together. I want to see who dares to bully you now!"