All Chapters of My Husband's $50 Million Lie: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Nina's mother, Vivian Sullivan, showed up three days later.Instead of entering the hospital ward, she knelt outside the main entrance, surrounded by more than a dozen reporters."Miss Shaw, my daughter made a mistake, but she only did it because she loves Mr. Hawthorne so much! We're willing to return the fifty million dollars. Please, I'm begging you, give her a chance!"With livestream cameras trained on the hospital building, Vivian tearfully recounted how Nina had devoted years of her life to Caleb. Even if she hadn't accomplished anything remarkable, surely all her hard work counted for something. She went on to claim that my return with Nellie had destroyed her daughter's previously peaceful life.I had Julian call the police and stayed upstairs.Vivian soon changed tactics, though. She began showing reporters Nina's medical records from over the years, claiming her daughter suffered from severe depression and had only taken the money and forged those documents because she'd los

By the third day without Caleb, the hospital ward was finally peaceful again.Nellie's platelet count was slowly improving. Her nosebleeds had stopped, and the bruises on her arms were beginning to fade. Every afternoon, the thing she looked forward to most was spending ten minutes in the sunshine at the end of the hallway.One day, as I wheeled her past the nurses' station, she suddenly asked, "Mommy, is that man never coming back?""Do you want to see him?"Nellie shook her head, then hesitated. "I'm just scared he'll show up again."I crouched down to look her in the eyes. "He won't. Mommy already told him he can't come in without our permission."Only then did she relax.At five years old, Nellie didn't understand marriage or what fifty million dollars meant. All she remembered was that when she'd been terribly sick, the man who called himself her father had refused to help her and accused her mother of lying.Being related by blood couldn't erase those memories....Caleb had arra

Caleb agreed to see Nina.In the interrogation room, she studied him across the table for a long time before speaking."You've lost weight."Caleb didn't respond."I heard you resigned from the foundation, and the board suspended you from your positions. Was it worth it, doing all that for Zoe?""I didn't do it for her.""Then who did you do it for?""I'm taking responsibility for what I've done."Nina suddenly laughed. "You're doing a pretty convincing impression of a good man these days."She admitted buying the medication and visiting me that night. She'd told me the pills were prenatal supplements prescribed by a doctor to relieve morning sickness, and I'd believed her because she'd been responsible for all my household expenses and medical arrangements since I got married.Soon after taking the pills, I'd developed severe abdominal pain. Rather than call an ambulance, Nina had brought out a stack of documents and told me I had to sign them before she could arrange for a doctor.Mi

The verdict came two months later.Nina Sullivan was sentenced to prison for misappropriating funds, forging documents, intentionally causing bodily harm, and illegally disclosing personal information. She was also ordered to return the money she'd obtained illegally.The properties, vehicles, and bank accounts registered under Vivian's name were subject to court enforcement, while proceedings to recover the overseas assets were also underway.The court also confirmed that I'd never had control of the fifty million dollars and had nothing to do with the overseas property purchases or luxury spending, finally clearing my name of the accusations that had hung over me for five years.The livestreamer who'd harassed me at the hospital and several other accounts that had circulated Nellie's medical records also received their judgments. They were ordered to pay compensation and post public apologies, pinned to the top of their original accounts.The livestreamer who'd first cornered me at t

The weather was beautiful on the day Nellie was discharged.The nurses and other patients came to see her off. Holding a bouquet of paper flowers, she solemnly thanked everyone who'd helped her. When we reached the hospital entrance, she looked up at the sunshine as though she'd only just discovered how vast the sky was.I'd rented an apartment not far from the hospital. It wasn't luxurious, but it had two south-facing rooms. Nellie chose the one by the window and covered the walls with little suns she'd drawn herself."Mommy, is this our home?""Yes, sweetheart.""And nobody's going to kick us out?""Nobody.""Do I still need someone else's permission to buy medicine?""Never again."She threw herself into my arms, smiling so widely that her eyes crinkled.Once we'd settled in, I used part of the recovered money to establish an independent assistance program.It wasn't named after Nellie or me, and it accepted no funding from Hawthorne Group. Its purpose was limited to three things: p