Chapter 4

My secretary hurried in after them, looking flustered and distressed. She hurriedly apologized to me. "I'm terribly sorry, Ms. Spencer. They insisted on barging in. I tried everything I could to stop them, but I couldn't hold them back."

My expression remained placid as I waved my hand dismissively. "It's fine. It was my oversight; I forgot to tell everyone that from now on, neither these two nor dogs are allowed inside our company."

Julian, who had never been humiliated like this before, instantly flushed crimson. "Clara Spencer, what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

I arched my brow and looked at him with a half-smile. "What do you mean, 'what do I mean'? Are you having trouble understanding plain Aelish now?"

"Why you…" Julian was so enraged by my words that he was at a loss for words.

After holding back for a good while, he gritted out, "Clara Spencer, if you know what's good for you, you'll hand the chairman's position back to Mr. Spencer right now, get the hell out of Spencer Group, and never show your face in front of Bea again. If not, I'll make you regret it!"

I almost laughed out loud when I heard that. "Let's get one thing straight, Julian Hudson," I spat out.

"I'm the chairwoman of Spencer Group now. From here on out, every single partnership between Spencer Group and Hudson Group has to be approved by me. Who do you think you are, trying to boss me around?"

I was well aware that the Hudsons' current prestige was nothing but a facade. Behind closed doors, they were hemorrhaging money. This cooperation with Spencer Group was likely Hudson Group's only chance to make a comeback, so there was no way he would give it up so easily.

Noticing how Julian was left utterly tongue-tied by my retort, Beatrice glared at me with nothing but malice and resentment in her eyes.

"Don't be angry on my behalf, Jules. I'm her older sister. If she wants to take her anger out on me, I'll just have to accept it."

Julian gazed at her tenderly and said gently, "I'm sorry you have to go through this, Bea."

His inner thoughts echoed loud and clear in my mind. [Bea's so good to me. She even risked her own life to save mine, yet I can't even protect her now. I'm so useless!]

I watched their disgusting performance with cold indifference before showing them the door without a shred of hesitation.

When the two of them saw how resolute I was and realized there wasn't the slightest chance I would budge, they had no choice but to slink away with their tails between their legs.

After Beatrice and Julian left, I couldn't help but dwell on Julian's inner thoughts from earlier. When had Beatrice ever saved him? As far as I could remember, Julian had only ever had one close brush with death.

At the time, my family and the Hudsons were complete strangers. By a twist of fate, Julian and I got kidnapped together.

While we were trying to escape, Julian ran out of strength and almost passed out. I was the one who risked my life, pushing myself to my limit, before finally managing to get him out alive. That incident was what led my family to form a solid business partnership with the Hudsons.

I was the one who risked my life to save him back then, yet Julian was convinced it was Beatrice.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. My biased parents must've taken advantage of the time I was unconscious and made up lies to deceive the Hudson family, all so their precious Beatrice could win their gratitude.

I had always wondered what Julian saw in Beatrice when she could never hold a candle to me. Now, everything finally made sense. I almost couldn't wait to see the look on Julian's face when he learned the truth.

…

On the eve of Dad's birthday, I finally heard back from my private investigator.

I had a hunch that the reason Mom and Dad favored Beatrice so much was likely because I wasn't their biological daughter. However, when I opened the dossier, the truth written in black and white confirmed otherwise. I was undeniably their flesh and blood.

Mystified, I flipped open the next report. Yet, the information recorded on it hit me like a sledgehammer.

Beatrice didn't share a single drop of blood with Mom and Dad. In other words, Beatrice and I weren't twins. There was absolutely no blood relation between us.