Chapter 2

[Seriously, I'm about to explode! Can Julia just have some guts? Her husband's been cheating and she still forgives him? Now he's messing around with Emily again, and soon her son will come after the inheritance!]

[Julia, get your act together! Don't let this jerk ruin your whole life.]

I lowered my eyes and answered him, "Maybe it's just what's popular now. Have you seen other kids use these?"

Charles hesitated for a moment. "Actually, it was my assistant. He mentioned to me once that his kid wanted one."

I let out a small scoff and kept quiet.

Sophia had finished her breakfast, so we all got up to walk her to school.

Suddenly, Charles' phone chimed. He looked calm, but I caught a tiny flicker in his eyes.

Then he turned to us and said, "There's a problem with a project at work. Why don't you have Mr. Carter drive you? I'll pick you up after the exam."

Sophia's mood instantly dropped. "But Dad, I wanted you to take me."

Charles gave me a pleading look, hoping I'd step in.

If a project worth tens of billions of dollars tanked, that'd be a massive loss.

After all these years of marriage, I'd learned to take his sudden departures in stride. I reached for Sophia's hand, comforting her out of habit.

Just as I was about to say something, I saw the comments floating in the air: [Whoa, what did I just see? Was that a mirror selfie from Emily in bathroom? The lower half was all pixelated, but her neck was covered in hickeys.]

[You two are seriously wild! The college admission exam's almost here, and Emily's sending pics like that?]

[Damn, that's way too hot. I bet Charles is losing his mind right now.]

[Black lingerie, lace slip...]

[I just remembered on Julia's birthday, Charles was late coming back with the cake. In fact, the first cake was actually with Emily, and he spent the whole night 'eating' her instead.]

No wonder he just had a single bite and didn't touch the rest that day.

Because he'd already had his fill.

I didn't comfort Sophia. Instead, I spoke calmly to Charles, "Today's Sophia's college admission exam. Is there something more important?"

Charles gave me a look like I was being unreasonable. "It's company stuff."

He turned to Sophia and explained gently, "Sweetheart, Daddy didn't mean to, but I have to make money for my princess. I promise, once you finish your exam, I'll be waiting for you right at the school gate."

Sophia pouted but nodded, clearly disappointed.

Charles smiled and said, "That's my girl."

He finished speaking and hurried out, drove off at once, clearly unable to wait any longer.

The floating comments were going wild.

I didn't ask John to drive us. Instead, I called Ryan Evans to pick us up.

Sophia was happy to see Ryan. All the disappointment from Charles ditching her just melted away.

"Ryan!"

[Who's this guy?]

[He's pretty good-looking. And Sophia knows him too?]

[Probably a relative.]

But after Sophia and I got in the car, the comments disappeared.

The car pulled away quickly, and Sophia was bubbling with excitement, peppering Ryan with questions about college life.

I gazed out the window at the scenery flashing past, lost in memories of years gone by.

I was the overlooked youngest daughter in the Wynn family. My elder brother and sister were both geniuses, always shining in the spotlight, and my parents adored them.

Surrounded by those prodigies, I was totally ordinary. I didn't start speaking till I was two, and all I could do was babble meaningless sounds.

Unlike my elder sister and brother, who could recite poems and do arithmetic fluently by the age of three.

My parents even wondered if I'd been switched at birth.

After running a bunch of DNA tests, they finally had to accept that I was their average, run-of-the-mill daughter.

In the company, my brother and sister each held twenty percent of the shares, while I only had one percent.

My parents never really expected much from me, so they pretty much let me do whatever I wanted.

Since I was little, I was always tagging along behind Charles, following him everywhere.

Everyone in the elite circles was shocked by my devotion, and some even whispered that Charles really hit the jackpot.

He was rich, powerful, the only heir to the Sterling family, and in a world where everyone was chasing after new flings, he had someone like me so loyal to him.

Charles only ever had one real relationship, back in college, with Emily.

Emily was a small-town beauty. Right before she was about to study abroad, she dumped Charles and cursed him out.

"Just because you've got some money, you think the whole world revolves around you!

"Charles, I really can't stand you. Do you think your money can buy everything?

"We're done. Don't stand in the way of my future."

She said she just wanted to date a rich guy for fun, and that her own future mattered more to her than anything else.

Charles was about to chase after her, but within a week, Emily was already dating some blonde, blue-eyed guy.

That was when he realized that all the talk about "future" was just bullshit.

Emily was set on marrying a foreigner so she could change her nationality.

After they broke up, Charles called her short-sighted. It was just a matter of changing nationality. "Isn't that something I could do for you?"

The year after their breakup, Charles finally noticed me and proposed.

"Julia, marry me. I'll give you whatever you want."

After we got married, he treated me really well. He always remembered my birthday and our anniversary, always with great ceremony.

Everyone thought I was living the dream. It was obvious to everyone that Charles loved me.

But then, in the third year of our marriage, I found a bit of red lingerie sticking out from the sofa cushions in Charles' office.

He was cheating.

I was four months pregnant back then.

I didn't say a word. Maybe it was just the pregnancy hormones, but tears streamed down my face as I stared at him, eyes red and swollen.

Charles was panicked, grabbing my arms and guiding me to sit. "Julia, please, don't get upset."

He dropped to his knees, apologizing over and over. "I was out of my mind. It was my fault."

He held my hand, trying to calm me down. I turned my head away, refusing to look at him, and he buried his head in my lap.

He kept insisting it was just this one time. While I was pregnant and angry at him, his ex Emily came back from abroad.

When I lashed out at him, he got all mopey, had a few drinks, and ended up hooking up with Emily.

Charles had been spoiled, used to getting whatever he wanted, always thinking he was above everyone else, and never owning up to his mistakes.