Chapter 2
It was past midnight when I finally finished taking care of Mrs. Thorne.
Mrs. Thorne was famously difficult: petty, cruel, and demanding.
Even though I tried my absolute best, she was always finding something to complain about, even if it meant splitting hairs. If anything was even slightly not to her liking, she’d start throwing things around the hospital room and cursing me with all sorts of foul language.
As a daughter-in-law, my conscience was clear.
Tonight was no different. I was only a minute late bringing her food, and she made me kneel by her hospital bed until she fell asleep before I could leave.
In the dead of night, taxis were scarce, so I had no choice but to hobble home, my knees swollen and red from kneeling.
I couldn’t afford to waste time; I had a major project to follow up on at the company first thing in the morning.
Then a notification popped up on my phone.
I squinted, and it was from Julian Thorne. He had never actively messaged me before, and for a second, a flicker of surprise, even hope, stirred in my heart.
But as I opened the message, my heart died completely.
It was a photo of him kissing Seraphina. Behind them, fireworks exploded, and drones lit up the night sky, spelling out a message: “Seraphina, Julian Thorne loves only you, this life and forever!”
All the grand gestures were custom-made for Seraphina.
Julian’s next message was ice-cold.
“Sent it to the wrong person. It was meant for Seraphina.”
“Whatever. You saw it, you saw it. Doesn’t matter.”
In five years, I had only ever made one request of him: to receive a single bouquet of roses from him. But he had refused.
“Roses? Can’t eat ‘em, so what’s the point!”
Hearing that, I had only felt a quiet sadness, assuming he was just a pragmatist, not into grand gestures.
Turns out, Julian wasn’t clueless about romance; he just wasn’t willing to put in the effort for me.
The joyful, blissful expression on Julian’s face in the photo was something I had never seen before.
I opened my social media feed, and it was completely dominated by Seraphina’s posts. The comment sections were filled exclusively with messages from relatives and friends.
“I knew Seraphina and Julian were always the perfect match.”
“When is Julian finally going to divorce that old hag, Amelia Vance?”
“Wishing them eternity.”
Those comments were like daggers plunging into my chest, leaving me breathless.
My finger slipped, and I accidentally liked one of Seraphina’s posts. Her message popped up instantly.
“Today is the 10,000th day since Brother Julian and I met. He insisted on giving me a surprise, and I forgot to block you, Amelia, which might have upset you.”
“But Amelia, you’re such a generous person, I’m sure you won’t mind, right? Oh, and I forgot to tell you, the photo Brother Julian just sent you? I accidentally sent that too.”
“Accidentally”? I almost choked laughing at her ‘accident.’
How she managed to ‘accidentally’ pick me out from hundreds of contacts and send that photo, she knew damn well.
Seraphina just wanted to see me furious and raging, didn’t she? Well, I was truly going to disappoint her.
What once felt like the end of the world now just felt… trivial.
At that moment, I calmly downloaded the photo Julian had sent me and the photos from Seraphina’s social media feed, zipped them into a file, and sent them to my lawyer.
Everything I was owed, I would get every single penny.
I had already wasted too many of my prime years on Julian Thorne. From now on, I would live for myself.
I dialed my family’s number.
“Big brother, I’ve made up my mind. It’s much more comfortable inheriting the family fortune back home. Will you still welcome me?”
My brother was practically weeping with joy.
“My little princess is finally willing to come home! There’s always a place for you here, sis.”