3 - Who Is He?

“Save your breath, Ashley. I have no use of such a mere amount of money,” Sydney said to Ashley before looking back at Julian. “Make good use of the little money you have left. Trust me, you will need it in the future,” Sydney said to Julian and walked out.

Still shocked that Sydney had rejected his money, Julian watched her in shock as she walked away from him. What surprised him was that someone like Sydney was calling a whooping fifty million dollars a mere amount of money and even had the audacity to tell him to save it for future use. Given what he had heard about Sydney, Julian didn’t want to give her alimony in the first place, but he had thought better of it. Sydney was a gold digger. He knew she would do anything to get money from him after he divorced her and might even slander him for not giving her alimony. That was why Julian decided to give her the alimony. Who would have thought Sydney wouldn’t be satisfied with such a huge amount of money.

“I know you are rejecting the money because given how much of a leech you are, you want more of my money so I will be kind. I will double the money. That will be one hundred million dollars, you will be stupid to reject it.”

Sydney paused and turned to look at Julian, her eyes sharp and piercing. “No, Julian. You will be stupid if you think I married you for your money. You can keep the pennies you are offering to yourself.”

Ashley snorted, crossing her arms. “Drop the act, Sydney. Everyone here knows that you have less to nothing. Your tactic might have worked in making him double the amount he was willing to give you, but don’t think you are worth even more than that! I will collect the money while it is still available if I were you.”

“Then you can have it.”

Ashley frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You claim to be the Steinfeld family only daughter right?” Sydney questioned, knowing how tense Ashley would become when she brought up the Steinfeld family. “Then, you can have the money.”

The line between Ashley’s brow deepened. “What the hell are you trying to say?”

“Whatever the hell you think it means.”

Julian wasn’t pleased with how rude Sydney was addressing Ashley. Ashley was one of the major shareholders of his company, she might be forced to withdraw her shares if Sydney provoked her. Julian didn’t want that to happen. He snapped at Sydney. “Watch the way you talk to the Steinfeld family daughter,” he warned sharply. “Someone like you isn’t even worthy of mentioning their name let alone be rude to their daughter.”

Instead of Sydney apologizing, she laughed. So that was what mattered the most to Julian? Pleasing the Steinfeld family because of the impact their daughter had made in his career? Sydney smirked. Now, he had just made it easy for her to get back at him.

Sydney walked up to Julian and took the check from his hand. Ashley laughed. “I thought you didn’t want the money. Are you collecting it because you realize that you are poor now that you don’t have Julian to leech on?”

Sydney ignored Ashley and headed the check up. To everyone's surprise, she ripped the check to shreds and flung it at Julian. “It is someone like you who shouldn’t be mentioning their family name. Because I know, if there is anything the Steinfeld family hates, it is people like you who hurt others for money. And let me say it for the last time, I want neither you nor your money ever again.”

The coldness in Sydney’s glare chilled Julian to the bones. He had never seen Sydney that cold before. For as long as he had known Sydney, she was alway warm and friendly around him until recently. For some reasons, hearing her say she didn’t want to see him caused a twinge in his heart, but he was done being a fool in love. Sydney wasn’t worthy of him and it was time to let go of her.

Sydney stood outside the mansion with her luggage. She brought out her phone from her purse and dialed a number she hadn’t called for five years since she had married Julian. In no time the person picked. “I thought you would never call.”

Sydney sighed. “You are right,” she said to the other person on the phone. “I shouldn’t have left. I should have known better.”

“So you are ready to return home?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“Alright, I will send someone to pick you.”

“Okay,” Sydney said and hung up.

Five years ago, she had made the wrong decision to leave everything behind and be with Julian. Then, she was ready to risk everything for the love they had once shared. Looking back, she realized she had messed up. No man was worth losing everything for.

Soon a bugatti car parked beside Sydney. The door of the car front seat opened and a young well dressed man who was wearing a refined blue suit got down from the door and walked up to Sydney. He smiled at her. “It is nice to see you again, Miss Steinfeld.”

Sydney smiled and was about to say something when Julian rushed out of the house like a mad man with Ashley walking behind him like his shadow. A haunting one. “So this is the man you were cheating on me with?” He asked, glaring at Sydney. “We just divorced and you are already jumping into the hand of another man! How could I have married you? I should have known you were after me because of my money!”

The man who had addressed Sydney earlier frowned and observed Julian. He dressed wealthy, but something about him made him look average. The man wondered why Sydney had run away to marry a man like Julian. Although the man knew who Julian was, he looked at Sydney and asked. “Who is he?”

Sydney didn’t even spare Julian a look before opening the car back door. “Nobody,” she said and got into the car.

Hearing Sydney called Julian a nobody, the man felt he didn’t need to address Julian. He kept Sydney’s luggage in the boot, went back to the driver seat and drove off.

Ashley was shocked. She had made it up when she convinced Julian that his wife was cheating on him. She wanted Julian to divorce Sydney and he had done that. But who would have thought that Sydney was indeed cheating on Julian.

Feeling pleased that Julian was finally seeing his ex-wife for who she was, Ashley looked at Julian and said, “it is good you are seeing it for yourself, I told you she was a slut.”

Julian tightened his hands, his knuckles turning white. Sydney was the only woman he had ever loved and after becoming rich, he ensured he spoiled her with every good thing in the world, but instead of loving him and being devoted to him, she had gone behind his back to cheat on him with other men. She even had the mind to let one of them pick her up. He was beyond pissed.