Chapter 1

Julian’s voice came through the phone, thick with irritation.

“Vivian is a rich heiress. The only reason I’m swallowing my pride and sucking up to her is for the company, for this family, and for you.

“If you can’t understand that, fine, but you also keep holding me back.

“Enough already! It’s just a minor surgery. Tell the doctor to postpone it for a while. Once I calm her down, I’ll head over to the hospital and stay with you, okay?!”

He hung up impatiently.

I did not call back. Instead, I dialed a number I had not touched in years.

“Lucas, I lost. I’m willing to leave him now and accept whatever arrangements the family wants.”

Lucas let out a quiet sigh.

“You fought so hard for him back then. Can you really let him go?”

I looked around the hospital room. Every other patient was surrounded by family members, while there was no one beside me.

I put on a bitter smile.

“There’s nothing left for me to hold on to.”

Back then, my parents had strongly opposed my relationship with Julian. They insisted I enter a business marriage instead.

To be with him, I gave up my identity as a wealthy heiress and cut ties with my family, all for the sake of what I believed was love.

Before I left home, Lucas said to me, “You two don’t have a future. If the day ever comes when you regret this, call me.”

He would help me no matter what happened.

However, it also meant giving up Julian.

I refused to accept defeat.

I truly believed our love could survive anything.

As such, for the past five years, no matter how hard life became, I never bowed my head to my family.

That was until Vivian appeared.

At first, Julian did not pay any special attention to her.

After Vivian revealed she was a rich heiress and landed the company a million-dollar deal as a newcomer, everything changed.

Julian started getting close to her. He took her out to dinner, went shopping with her, and played games with her.

The two of them became inseparable.

Our coworkers did not know Julian and I were married. They even praised them right in front of me, calling them the perfect golden couple.

I became furious and confronted Julian about it.

However, he calmly repeated the same excuses he used today; that it was all for the company, for our future, and for me.

He spoke to me about dreams and ambition like some inspirational speech. I believed his lies.

Even though it upset me, I still forced myself to accept it.

Afterwards, Vivian failed to bring in a single deal for six whole months.

If it had been anyone else, people would have questioned whether she was really some rich heiress at all.

However, Julian was different.

He still firmly believed Vivian would eventually bring huge contracts to the company. Not only did he constantly favor her, he even pressured me into handing over my own clients to her just to protect her position.

Vivian felt no shame whatsoever about being dead last in performance rankings. Instead, she acted arrogant.

“My dad refusing to give me business is just his way of testing me.

“Once he sees how much I’ve improved, he’ll hand our company contracts worth hundreds of millions. When that happens, even the scraps of commission I casually toss your way will be enough to feed you for life.

“If Julian hadn’t begged me, I wouldn’t even bother helping you. Don’t push your luck.”

No self-made billionaire becomes successful by being stupid.

There was no way someone would just hand out money for free.

I never indulged in such fantasies, yet Julian did.

He became tempted, using every threat and promise he could think of to force me into giving up my clients.

In the end, just as I expected, Vivian could not handle them. The profits we were supposed to earn disappeared right before our eyes.

As for the massive contracts she promised, they never came. The company suffered huge losses because of it.

Despite all that, Julian still did not change. He continued trying to please her.