Sunset of Broken Bonds

A calm, steady man's voice came through the phone as soon as the call connected.

"Hello, Dad."

"You should come to tomorrow's shareholders meeting and the inauguration ceremony for the new CEO. And make sure you dress formally, because you'll be the company's new CEO."

I spoke while looking at Julie Setford, who sat across from me.

For a split second, surprise flashed across her face. But it quickly turned into mockery.

The moment I hung up, she sneered. "Uncle Liam, your acting is terrible! Do you really think I'd be scared just because you hired some nobody to call you 'Dad'?"

She laughed coldly. "Everyone in Jesselton knows I'm your daughter. I'm also your only heir. If you want to scare me, at least come up with something believable."

I looked at the "daughter" I had loved and protected for 25 years. Anger and heartbreak twisted inside me.

I had thought she truly cared about me.

I never imagined she would betray me like this.

"You know how much I've spoiled you these past 25 years," I said hoarsely. "How could you do this to me?"

As I spoke, I slammed two documents onto the table.

One was a paternity test she had secretly taken 15 years ago.

The other was a property transfer agreement.

Over the years, I had given her countless houses, apartments, and storefronts.

Yet she had quietly transferred all of them to her biological father, Timothy Nolan.

"Julie, what hurts me isn't that you aren't my biological daughter. What hurts me is that you betrayed me for a man who never raised you."

Julie hesitated. A conflicted look appeared in her eyes.

But a moment later, as if she had remembered something, her expression hardened again. There was even hatred in her gaze.

"Liam, stop pretending to be some great man! If you had known I wasn't your real daughter, you would've kicked me out of the Setford family long ago.

"Dad was right. You're the most hypocritical man in the world!

"15 years ago, you promised to let my mom and dad leave together. But behind their backs, you ran to tell Grandpa and Grandma. If you hadn't done that, they wouldn't have gotten into that car accident! Mom wouldn't have died, and Dad wouldn't have been crippled!

"In a way, you're the one who killed my mother!"

I almost laughed from anger.

Back then, it was Timothy who had taken money from my in-laws. He had planned to abandon Julie's mother and run away alone.

The two of them argued fiercely, and that argument led to the accident.