Chapter 3

Julia hung up the phone and sat frozen in silence for a long while.

Like a meteorite from the far cosmos, the number landed in her grasp.

It felt overwhelming and unfamiliar.

She had known her father had left her a substantial inheritance, yet she'd never imagined professional long-term asset management had grown the fortune to such an unimaginable size over seventeen years.

For nearly two decades, she'd sat atop a mountain of wealth yet chosen to live like a pauper.

The absurdity of her wasted years weighed heavily on her chest.

Lily noticed her mother's dazed expression and frowned with worry. "Mom, what's wrong?"

Julia snapped back to reality, shaking her head with a wry smile. "Nothing at all. I just suddenly realized all those past years were nothing but a ridiculous joke."

She pushed the wooden box toward Lily. "Read this letter. It's written for you by your grandfather."

Lily picked up the aged envelope.

The paper had yellowed with time, yet the handwriting remained sharp and clear.

Her grandfather had written it for her.

The letter was pretty lengthy, kicking off with Julia and Bruce's first meeting.

Richard Bennett, Julia's father, had once been a towering, influential figure in the business world, with Julia as his only beloved daughter.

Raised in luxury and privilege, she'd enjoyed a top-tier education and a carefree life from childhood.

However, she met Bruce during her college years.

Born into a remote impoverished town, he was the first person from his hometown to gain admission to a prestigious university.

Intelligent, ambitious, and fiercely driven to succeed, he had captivated Julia completely.

Defying her father's strong objections, she insisted on marrying him.

Richard could not bear to break his daughter's heart and finally relented, yet he harbored deep doubts about Bruce's character.

He understood human nature well and doubted a poor young man could resist the overwhelming wealth and status of the Bennett family.

So he set one non-negotiable condition for their marriage.

He would allow them to wed, but Julia must hide her family's true wealth and social standing from Bruce.

He established a lifelong trust fund and purchased a luxury apartment under her name, granting her permanent financial security.

But his only wish was for Bruce to build their future through his own hard work and perseverance.

Richard wanted to test the man, to see if Bruce loved Julia for who she was, or only for the wealth and privilege attached to her name.

Julia had agreed without hesitation.

For love, she'd been willing to stand beside Bruce and start their life from scratch, believing their affection could overcome any hardship.

The latter half of the letter held Richard's final life advice for Lily.

He wrote that if she ever read this letter, it meant her father had failed the test.

He asked Lily not to harbor hatred, for the darkness of human nature was unpredictable and hard to fathom.

All he wished was for his granddaughter to stay kind-hearted forever, while learning to protect herself wisely.

At the letter's end, he explained that the pendant inside the box was the ancestral token of the Bennett family.

With it, she could access all the family's global connections and business resources at any time.

Tears welled in Lily's eyes as she finished reading.

She picked up the smooth, cool pendant and clutched it tightly in her palm.

She finally understood the whole truth. Her mother had once been a true princess, draped in fine clothes and surrounded by every comfort life could offer.

For love, she'd given it all up to live a simple, humble life in a small apartment.

And the man she'd sacrificed everything for had secretly built himself a glittering empire of wealth behind her back.

*****

The plane took off, piercing through layers of clouds until the city's twinkling lights shrank to tiny distant specks far below.

Leaning against the window, Julia stared out into the vast dark night sky.

Seventeen years of marriage had been nothing but a long, hollow dream.

Now she was awake at last.

Their destination was Wingodian, a city where her parents owned properties and kept many close friends.

The plane landed at dawn, with bright sunlight spilling over the airport runway.

At the airport exit, a poised young man was already waiting. "Ms. Bennett, I'm Mr. Grant's assistant. He's currently away on business and asked me to escort you."

Edward Grant was Richard's most trusted right-hand man and the kind of butler who had watched Julia grow up.

Following her parents' passing, he had single-handedly overseen all the Bennett family's overseas assets and business interests.

Edward drove them to a sprawling seaside villa.

It was spacious, elegant, fitted with a wide terrace and a blooming private garden.

Staring at the luxurious home, Lily still struggled to process the sudden, drastic change in their lives.

"Mom, are we going to live here from now on?" she asked.

"Yes." Julia nodded. "Do you like it?"

"I love it. It's just so big that it feels a little empty all alone," Lily replied honestly.

Julia smiled and ruffled her hair. "You'll get used to it."

Julia inserted her new private SIM card and logged into an old, seldom-used email account, finding dozens of unread emails waiting for her.

All were sent by Barry back home, containing full investigation reports on Bruce's company background and financial dealings.

She read through each email one by one, her expression growing colder and more distant with every line she absorbed.

Bruce's company was named NewWave, founded fifteen years prior with a registered capital of 150 thousand dollars.

That exact sum was the emergency medical fund Julia had begged from Richard years earlier, when Bruce's mother had fallen seriously ill.

Bruce had claimed he would invest the funds in a friend's project for a quick return to cover medical bills, and Julia had trusted him completely without a second thought.

But she had never guessed the so-called "friend" he spoke of was himself all along.

The company had grown rapidly in its early years, quickly rising to become a dark horse in the local industry.

Shockingly, the second-largest shareholder listed on all official business documents was none other than Helen.

She was not merely a shareholder; she was the company's co-founder.

That so-called "best friend" had been Bruce's ally from the very beginning.

They worked shoulder to shoulder, expanding their business together.

And Julia? She stayed trapped at home as an unwitting, unpaid housewife.

She ran the household, raised their daughter, cared for his parents, and even supplemented their "poor" family's daily expenses with her own money.

All the while, Bruce had zero distractions to focus on building his career, sharing his success and wealth with another woman.

Reading this, Julia began to tremble with rage.

All this time, she had believed Bruce's toil was for the family.

Only now did she realize that there had never been a place for her in his empire.

At the end of the email was a record of transferred assets.

Over the past several years, Bruce had used complex financial tactics to divert most of the company's annual profits into a private trust fund.

The sole beneficiary was not himself, nor Helen, but Helen's teenage son.

A cold chill swept over Julia from head to toe.

Her own daughter wore faded school uniforms and stressed over every exam question, striving to build her own future through hard work.

Meanwhile, Bruce was quietly laying out a perfect, wealthy lifetime future for another woman's child.

Her phone slipped from her hand, landing softly on the carpet with no sound.

Yet in her heart, she heard the crisp, irreparable shattering of every last illusion she'd held onto for seventeen years.