Chapter 15
“You finally came out to see me. Lydia, come home with me, please?” Julian lay bloodied and disheveled on the ground.
Lydia looked down at him, her lips curling into a slight smile. “Home? You don’t have one anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Julian’s heart skipped a beat. His mind had been so full of Lydia that he hadn’t yet returned to the Hayes mansion. “We can go to the family mansion, or the villa.”
Seeing the panic flash across his eyes, Lydia delivered the crushing news. “I sold the villa, and the bank will soon repossess the Hayes mansion. Done playing dead? Now trying resurrection?”
“Julian Hayes, did you really think everyone was a fool?”
Julian shook his head. “Lydia, you knew all along? I was wrong, I’m sorry. It wasn’t until after I left with Vera that I realized I love you.”
“I was out of my mind to do something so outrageous. I’m back now-we can start fresh. We’ll have a baby, I’ll take you traveling…” Julian’s voice grew increasingly frantic until he suddenly coughed up blood.
Lydia quickly stepped back, disgust flickering across her face.
Julian caught her expression, feeling as if his heart were being carved by a dull knife, the pain spreading throughout his body.
Lydia had changed-she no longer loved him.
In the past, whenever he felt unwell, Lydia would immediately show concern. Once when he had a mild fever, she had stayed up all night caring for him.
She had loved him so deeply-how could she change so suddenly?
“Lydia, please don’t be like this. I truly know I was wrong.”
Lydia maintained her cold demeanor. “I don’t know you. Stop bothering me-my fiancé won’t be happy.”
“At least give me back my assets….” Julian struggled to his feet, walking toward Lydia.
Lydia retreated behind the gate, twisting the knife further. “Those are all inheritance from my late husband. They have nothing to do with you.”
Julian’s expression changed dramatically. He stepped forward, grabbing the gate bars, his anger and desperation overwhelming him until he collapsed unconscious.
Rain poured down, cold droplets falling on his body as he gradually regained consciousness.
He was still lying outside the Winters mansion gate, ignored by everyone. He crawled up pathetically and dragged his injured body back to the Hayes family home.
Julian thought that once he reclaimed his identity, Lydia would reconsider.
He staggered to the Hayes mansion gates before collapsing again.
When he awoke, he saw his mother’s tear-streaked face. She looked nothing like her former elegant self, her pale face sickly.
His father had also lost weight, appearing exhausted.
“You bastard! Faking your death for a woman! Look what you’ve done to the Hayes family!” His father angrily struck Julian across the face.
“Why didn’t you just die out there? Why come back? The Hayes fortune is gone-everything’s gone!” His father wept as he continued beating Julian.
Julian learned from them that after his departure, his grandfather’s condition had worsened until he passed away.
Hayes Group stocks plummeted as many business partners terminated contracts, resulting in incomplete projects and massive penalty payments.
The Hayes Group was a shadow of its former self, already selling properties for cash. Behind it all was the Winters family.
Chapter 15
“The woman you rejected is now treasured by the Winters family, clearly targeting us for revenge. You’re such a fool!”
Julian was shocked. He couldn’t believe Lydia would do this-a woman he had manipulated so easily should be equally easy to control.
“Don’t worry, Lydia’s just angry with me. Once I win her back, everything will return to normal,” Julian confidently assured them.
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