Chapter 4
Days in Wingodian unfolded peacefully and purposefully.
Julia hired top-tier private tutors for Lily, guiding her through college application preparations for overseas universities.
With Edward's assistant's help, she also began familiarizing herself with the full scope of the Bennett family's global business assets.
Inherited business talent ran deep in her blood, dormant for seventeen years beneath endless household chores and daily frugality.
Now it bloomed again.
She spent her days poring over financial reports, joining international video conferences, and meeting with business partners from all walks of life.
She had grown slimmer, yet her eyes shone brighter than ever.
A quiet, innate confidence and poise radiated from her. It was something the old housewife, trapped in trivial domesticity, had never possessed.
Lily watched her mother's transformation with pure, heartfelt joy.
Back in their hometown, Bruce had spiraled into panic and desperation searching for them.
He'd called their old number repeatedly until the line was permanently disconnected.
He tracked down every relative and friend Julia knew, yet no one knew her whereabouts.
He even filed a missing person report with local police, only for authorities to close the case after verifying their official exit records from the country.
More than a month later, he finally obtained Julia's overseas contact number through a distant family relative.
The phone rang just as Julia was in the middle of a business meeting.
She glanced at the unfamiliar incoming number, muted the call, and finished the conference with composure.
Only after the meeting ended did she dial back.
The second the call connected, Bruce's furious roar exploded through the line. "Julia, where on earth are you?
"How dare you take Lily and disappear without a word! Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"
His voice burned with the anger of betrayal and self-righteous grievance.
Julia held the phone a little further from her ear, letting him finish his outburst in full without interruption.
When he finally fell silent, she spoke in a tone cold, distant, and detached, as if speaking to a complete stranger separated by an icy ocean, "What do you want?"
Bruce froze, caught completely off guard.
He had expected tears, hysterical accusations, angry shouts, anything but this quiet, unfeeling calm.
Her indifference stirred a quiet panic deep in his chest.
He snapped, "What do I want? You ask me that?
"You run off with Lily without a single explanation for over a month, and you just ask what I want?
"What childish tantrum are you throwing now? All because I couldn't accompany you on Lily's SAT day?
"I had a critical company meeting! Can't you ever be reasonable?"
A faint, mocking smile touched Julia's lips as she listened to his hollow excuses.
Even now, he was still playing the part of the hardworking, wronged husband sacrificing endlessly for his family.
"Bruce, I'm not throwing a tantrum," Julia said, her voice cool and steady.
"Then why did you leave without a word?"
Julia fell silent for a moment.
She walked out onto the villa's terrace, her gaze drifting over the seamless horizon where the sky met the sea.
The ocean breeze lifted her hair.
Her voice, when she finally spoke, was clear and sharp as a blade, "Did your meeting relocate to the back of a Maybach?"
Dead silence answered her from the other end of the line.
Julia could picture Bruce's face perfectly.
There might be shock, panic, and a flicker of defensive anger.
"Y-You saw?" His voice was parched.
Julia replied, "I saw everything. I saw you in an expensive suit, driving a car worth millions. I saw you gently escorting Helen's son to his exam.
"And I saw Helen in the passenger seat, smiling at you like you hung the moon."
Her tone remained flat, devoid of inflection, as if she were reciting facts that had nothing to do with her.
However, every word landed like a hammer blow on Bruce's conscience.
He blurted, frantic, "It's not what you think. I can explain!
"The car belongs to the company, for client meetings.
"It was a coincidence. Helen's car broke down, so I gave them a lift. There's nothing between us, we're just friends!"
His excuses were weak, pathetic, and full of holes.
Julia didn't even bother picking them apart.
"Is that so?" she replied coolly.
A quiet, hollow question.
Then she asked the one that had been haunting her, "What about the apartment, Bruce? Which one is yours?
"The one in the suburbs where we pinched every penny for the mortgage, or the one downtown with a garage for your Maybach?"
On the other end of the line, his breath hitched audibly.
This time, no explanation came.
He knew that if Julia was asking this, she knew everything.
Seventeen years of lies unraveled in an instant, the mask shattered on the ground.
That fake persona he'd worn for so long was smashed to pieces, lying broken on the floor.
"Julia..." Real fear tinged his voice now. "Please, just let me explain—"
"No." She cut him off. "I've filed for divorce. My lawyer will be in touch. Don't call this number again."
She ended the call before he could respond.
Silence, profound and clean, settled around her.
She blocked his number.
Just as Julia set her phone down, it rang again.
It was a local Wingodian number she didn't recognize.
Frowning, Julia answered.