Chapter 4
Julian left Vera in the villa.
In the middle of the night, however, he returned to the bedroom,
Lydia felt the bed sink as Julian pulled her into his arms.
She instinctively struggled, moving toward the edge of the bed, when Julian’s low voice reached her ears:
“I’m sorry for putting you through this. You’re enduring so much just to fulfill my dying wish.”
Lydia froze, slowly opening her eyes, unsure what he meant.
Was he feeling sorry for her?
“Even if I have a wedding ceremony with Vera, you’re still the only Mrs. Hayes. No one can replace you, and you’ll get everything you deserve from me.”
Julian’s voice grew increasingly gentle. “So, give your ‘Eternity’ project to Vera. I can’t leave my inheritance to her, but I need to give her something valuable after I’m gone.”
Lydia’s heart clenched painfully, her eyes instantly reddening. Julian wasn’t sympathetic or grateful-he just wanted to take her creation for Vera!
“Eternity” was a code suite she’d designed with groundbreaking applications in renewable energy development.
Her design had already passed validation and was ready for patent application and licensing.
“Eternity” would not only bring tremendous wealth but would establish her as a respected leader in the field.
Julian knew perfectly well how important this project was to her….
“Julian, I refuse,” Lydia shook her head, prying his arms away and sitting up. “That’s my achievement, my baby. I will never give it to anyone else.”
Julian’s expression flickered as he sat up straight, studying Lydia carefully. Seeing the determination in her eyes, he felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest.
She seemed different from before.
“Julian, I’m begging you. Please don’t take ‘Eternity’ from me,” Lydia pleaded, her eyes glistening with tears as she grabbed his arm. “You can leave your inheritance to her. I just want the Reed shares.”
Something in her words triggered Julian’s anger. He suddenly grew furious, looking coldly at Lydia. “You really despise my money that much?”
Lydia shook her head, opening her mouth to explain, but Julian had already pulled his arm away.
“I’m not discussing this with you. All your research was done with Hayes family resources, so you have no right to refuse,” Julian said as he got up and left, slamming the door so hard it shook Lydia to her core.
Within half an hour, news about “Eternity” appeared online.
Vera, claiming to be the designer and developer, gave a late-night media interview, announcing she would submit patent applications at dawn.
Lydia grabbed her phone and burst into Vera’s room, but before she could speak, she was seized by Julian’s bodyguards.
“That concludes my presentation on the design concept of ‘Eternity.’ I apologize for disturbing everyone so late, but I was just too excited to share my achievement with you all. Good night,” Vera waved at the camera, her face radiating joy and confidence, as if truly introducing her own work.
“Don’t believe her!” Lydia cried out, immediately gagged by the bodyguards until the interview ended.
She stumbled over to Julian, her eyes blood red as she demanded, “Julian, why are you doing this?”
“I told you, I need to give Vera something to rely on,” Julian said, avoiding her gaze with a hint of guilt.
“I can compromise on anything else, but not ‘Eternity.’ I will reclaim my work,” Lydia wiped away her tears and turned to leave.
Julian watched her retreating figure, strangely reluctant to let her walk out.
“Julian, it’s her design, and she probably has evidence. What if she exposes me tomorrow? What should I do? Waah, I shouldn’t have listened to you and done that interview. I don’t want people calling me a fraud,” Vera shook Julian’s arm and began crying.
H
Julian snapped back to reality, frowning slightly as he comfortingly stroked Vera’s head before coldly instructing the bodyguards, “Take Mrs. Hayes to the basement. Don’t let her out without my permission.”
“Let me go! I’m not going to the basement! Don’t touch me! Julian! JULIAN!” Lydia struggled and shouted the entire way, but Julian showed no mercy.
She was locked in the dark basement, the door closing as if pushing her into an abyss of despair.
