He Didn’t Know She Was The Heiress Chapter 08
Julian looked at her ruined clothes. “I didn’t know. She never told me.”
“That idiot.” Mia pulled at her wet shirt. “Her parents have that much money, and she gave it all up to live like this with you?”
“What the fuck is wrong with her? If I’d known who her father was, I’d never have crossed her.”
She stripped off the filthy clothes and threw them at him. “Wash these. And fix this mess. If it hurts me or Lily, I’ll make you pay.”
She wasn’t even trying to hide who she was anymore. Every word out of her mouth was another demand, another threat.
Julian began to laugh. He couldn’t seem to stop, even when his voice broke and tears ran down his face.
“What’s so funny?” Mia snapped.
He wiped his eyes and turned toward the stairs without answering.
She reached for him. He shoved her away, sending her to the floor.
Mia opened her mouth to scream, but the look on his face stopped her.
“It’s already out,” he said. “You have nothing left to hold over me. Stay out of my way, and don’t you go near Aiden again. Or get out and take that little bastard with you.”
“That’s your daughter!” Mia scrambled up. “You cried and begged me to keep her. Have you forgotten?”
“Because you lied to me!”
He went upstairs, leaving her shouting after him.
…
Over the next few days, they could barely leave the house without someone recognizing them. The children stopped going to school after their classmates began taunting them.
Julian posted apology after apology. He wrote about our early years, about the things I’d done for him, about how much we had loved each other.
All the things he’d dismissed when I was there to hear him, he now told strangers online.
He begged for another chance. If I wouldn’t give him that, he asked, could he at least apologize to my face?
I never answered.
My parents couldn’t stand reading his posts. They asked the lawyers to move things along. I stayed with them and let myself recover, away from the arguments and the constant demands for my attention.
By the time the final hearing came around a few months later, I felt like myself again.
Mom and Dad went with me. Julian was waiting outside the courthouse.
He hadn’t shaved. His suit hung loosely, and his jacket was buttoned wrong. He didn’t seem to notice.
When he saw me, his whole face changed. He hurried forward, but my bodyguard stepped between us.
“Chloe.” His eyes filled. “I’m sorry. God, I’ve missed you.”
“I know I was wrong. Please, give me one more chance.”
Aiden stood with his grandparents. “Mom, I’m sorry,” he cried. “Please come home.”
I looked at the two people I’d once loved more than anyone. For years, a tear from either of them would have been enough to make me forget what I wanted.
“I’m not coming back, Julian. Neither of you can change that.”
Julian took a step back. Aiden began to sob harder.
“Hate me if you want,” Julian said. “But Aiden’s innocent.”
Mom moved closer to me. “He’s ten, not two. He’s old enough to know he shouldn’t hit his own mother.”
She looked at Aiden. “The day you helped that woman hurt my daughter, you stopped being my grandson.”
Julian tried to speak again, but it was time to go inside. I left him there and took my seat beside my attorney.
Mia’s so-called friends had handed over messages and photos. The bank statements showed how much Julian had spent on her. He had called me a freeloader while paying for another woman’s life with our money.
The judge finalized the divorce. Our settlement gave me seventy percent of the marital assets, taking into account what Julian had spent on Mia. He had promised I’d leave with nothing. I watched him stare down at the papers as the judge finished speaking.
It had been agreed that Aiden would live with Julian’s parents in their hometown.
After the hearing, Julian’s mother came to say goodbye.
“We should have raised him better.” She held my hand. “You’ve done enough, sweetheart. Go live your life.”
They were quiet, decent people from a small town. They had never interfered in our marriage. Whenever they called, they always reminded Julian to be good to me.
After everything, they were still being kind.
My eyes filled. “I’m sorry.”
His mother shook her head. Neither of them asked me to reconsider. They took Aiden and left.
I turned to my parents. “Let’s go home.” Mom held out her hand, and I took it.
Behind me, Julian called out, his voice breaking.
“Chloe, is there really no chance for us?”
I knew that voice. Once, I would have turned around before he finished calling my name. This time, I kept walking, my hand still in Mom’s. “I never want to see you again, Julian.”
Mia had already disappeared. My lawyers were still tracing the assets Julian had transferred to her.
She thought leaving town meant it was over.
It wasn’t.
THE END