Chapter 3
Julian didn’t come home, so I immediately called my private investigator.
Sure enough, an hour later, I had the video of them ‘doing their thing’ at a hotel.
I was determined to get my share of the Thorne family’s assets.
After we got married, Julian always wanted to start his own company. So, I handed over the millions of dollars my family gave me as a wedding gift, letting him go all in.
He just happened to catch a massive trend, and the company took off, making the Thornes richer and richer.
But Julian, with his pea-sized brain, couldn’t even manage to pass his classes back in the day – how did he think he could run a company? He actually believed he was some kind of business genius!
If I hadn’t called in financial executives from Vance Group to advise him, he’d have lost his shirt by now, along with everything else.
But instead of gratitude, Julian only became more arrogant, and that whole pack of ungrateful wolves in the Thorne family looked down on me even more.
How they saw me no longer mattered. Sooner or later, they would reap what they sowed.
I just considered all the money and time I’d invested over the years as wasted, thrown to the dogs.
First thing the next morning, as I was packing my bags to leave, Julian called and told me to attend the Thorne family dinner.
“Don’t forget the family dinner at noon. Just dress casually, nothing too fancy. You know my parents don’t like you dressing too extravagantly, and it wouldn’t look good for the relatives and friends to see you overly made up. Even if the Thornes are rich, we can’t have you being too wasteful.”
Before I could refuse, he’d already hung up.
Maybe he was afraid I’d argue with him again, or perhaps he was afraid I’d beg him to forgive me over the phone, considering I was always the one meekly going to him to make up after every argument.
Whatever he was afraid of, it didn’t matter anymore. I was about to be completely free.
My family’s fortune was waiting for me to inherit. No need to work hard, no need to endure being belittled. How great would it be to just ‘lie flat’ and still get paid?
The divorce papers were already effective, and I had collected all the evidence of his infidelity. Attending one last family dinner wouldn’t hurt.
But when I arrived at the banquet hall, I was stunned. Everyone was dressed to the nines, while my outfit could only be described as pathetic in comparison.
No wonder he told me to dress simply. He was setting me up!
The most dazzling person in the crowd was undoubtedly Seraphina, wearing a haute couture gown, its skirt shimmering with diamonds, making her look absolutely radiant.
Julian had clearly gone all out to make me look bad and let Seraphina shine, putting in a truly pathetic effort.
But when I looked closely at the design of the dress, I froze.
Wasn’t this the gown design I had personally created?
I stood at the entrance of the banquet hall, watching Julian put his arm around Seraphina’s waist and dance elegantly.
People around me started whispering.
“Is that Julian’s ex-wife? Why is she dressed so shabbily? How embarrassing!”
“She clearly knows she can’t compare to Seraphina, yet she still showed up? Talk about overconfident!”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, she looks way too much like Seraphina. Did she get plastic surgery to look like that?”
A wave of laughter swept through the room.
Seraphina spoke up, feigning concern for me.
“What’s so funny? Amelia spends all day slaving away in the kitchen at home. It’s perfectly normal she doesn’t know how to dress herself up.”
Anyone who didn’t know better would think Seraphina was being noble, but in reality, she just wanted to embarrass me, pure and simple.