- 11.
The truth was revealed.
It was Chloe crying wolf. While calling me for help, she also contacted Sierra Maxwell,
asking Sierra to lure the mentally unstable Julian to the rooftop, attempting to stage a
scene where Julian, mad with love, attacked Chloe, and I stood by and did nothing.
She wanted to use a ‘bitter flesh‘ trick to gain sympathy again and push all the blame onto
- me.
Unfortunately, no matter how much she calculated, she didn’t account for Hunter Thorne acting faster than her.
Nor did she account for the phone she used to contact Sierra Maxwell becoming the ironclad evidence to implicate herself.
Chloe’s conspiracy was exposed, She went from victim to mastermind,
She would not only face charges of intentional harm but also one of false accusation.
Her leg was broken, and she might have to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
It was late at night when we left the hospital.
I turned to Hunter beside me. “Thank you.”
“Thank me for what?” He looked at me. “Helping you get revenge?”
I shook my head. “Thank you for showing me hope.”
He paused, then a faint smile spread across his eyes, which were usually so deep and
stern.
“Want to see something even more interesting?” he suddenly asked.
I raised an eyebrow.
He led me to his car. The car sped off, finally stopping in front of a private club.
The club manager respectfully ushered us into a private room.
On the room’s wall hung a huge display screen, showing surveillance footage.
The footage showed the familiar Sterling family mansion.
The villa was brightly lit.
And in the living room sat someone I never expected.
Sierra Maxwell.
Across from her was my father, Robert Sterling.
20:32 Mon, 16 Jun
<
He had actually been bailed out.
I frowned. “How did he…”
4.79%
“I let him out,” Hunter said calmly. “How else could we see a good show?”
I looked at the screen. Sierra Maxwell said something to my father, and his face grew increasingly grim.
He suddenly stood up and grabbed Sierra’s neck.
“You b*tch! You dared to lie to me!”
Sierra’s face turned red as my father choked her, and she struggled desperately.
The surveillance footage had no sound, but I could read some information from their lip
movements.
Sierra seemed to be bargaining with my father using Chloe’s secret.
And that secret completely enraged my father.
I was about to ask Hunter what was going on when the door to the room suddenly burst
open.
A disheveled man rushed in, falling to his knees before Hunter.
“Mr. Thorne! Please! Let me go! I’ll tell you everything I know!”
I recognized the man’s face and was slightly stunned.
It was Julian’s assistant, Leo.
- 12.
Julian’s assistant was named Leo. He usually seemed honest and dependable, but I never thought he was such a coward.
He knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face.
20:32 Mon, 16 Jun
<
79%
“It was Robert Sterling! He made me poison you, Mr. Thorne! Julian was just a front, the
real mastermind was him!”
“He also told me to… to deal with several core executives at your company…”
Leo laid bare Robert Sterling’s entire plan, making my heart pound with shock.
Hunter’s face showed no expression after hearing it all. He just asked calmly, “Evidence?”
“Yes! I have it!” Leo quickly pulled a USB drive from his pocket. “It has all the call
recordings and transfer records I secretly made!”
Hunter took the USB drive, didn’t even glance at it, and tossed it to the bodyguard behind
him.
“Clean it up.”
The bodyguard nodded, dragging Leo, who was still begging for mercy, out of the room.
I looked at Hunter. “You knew all along?”
“Mhm.” He poured me a cup of tea. “That’s why I let him out, so he could go after Sierra
Maxwell.”
I watched my father on the screen, still wrestling with Sierra Maxwell, and suddenly
understood Hunter’s intention.
“What leverage does Sierra Maxwell have over Chloe?” I asked.
“Leverage enough for Robert Sterling to kill her.” Hunter’s eyes flashed with coldness. “Chloe isn’t Robert Sterling’s daughter at all.”
I felt as if struck by lightning, frozen in place.
“What did you say?”
“Chloe’s mother had a first love before she married Robert Sterling. Chloe is that man’s child.” Hunter calmly narrated this shocking secret. “Robert Sterling has been kept in the dark, treating someone else’s child as a treasure for twenty years.””
<
20:32 Mon, 16 Jun
My mind buzzed.
No wonder my father was so lenient with Chloe, even to the point of being pathological,
It turned out that wasn’t paternal love, but the resentment and foolishness of a man who had been deceived for twenty years.
And I, his legitimate biological daughter, became a sacrifice to his and that woman’s twisted relationship.
On the screen, my father finally let go, and Sierra Maxwell collapsed to the ground, coughing violently,
My father paced back and forth in the living room. Finally, he picked up the fruit knife from the table and walked, step by step, towards Sierra Maxwell,
Hunter reached out and covered my eyes.
“Don’t look.”
In the end, my father didn’t strike.
He threw the knife away and rushed out of the villa, distraught,
Meanwhile, Sierra Maxwell picked up the knife from the floor, a strange smile on her
face.
The next day, the news broke.
Robert Sterling, CEO of Sterling Corp., died in a car crash. His brakes failed while driving, and his car plunged off an overpass, resulting in a total wreck.
The police initially ruled it an accident.
But Hunter and I both knew it wasn’t an accident.
- 13.
Hunter, with lightning speed, fully acquired Sterling Corp., integrating it into his own
Mon, to Jun
business empire and creating an unprecedented commercial empire.
And I, as Sterling Corp.’s second–largest shareholder, saw my net worth skyrocket.
But I wasn’t interested in any of that.
I didn’t even go to my father’s funeral.
Chloe sent people to find me a few times, wanting to see me, but I refused every time.
Sierra Maxwell was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder and multiple
counts of fraud.
Julian Hayes was sent to a mental hospital for mandatory treatment due to his mental breakdown.
And Chloe, for false accusation and participation in fraud, was ultimately sentenced to
ten years.
Hunter and I had a simple wedding, inviting no guests, just the two of us.
We exchanged rings.
The moment he put the ring on my finger, I looked into his deep eyes and softly asked, “Hunter, why are you so good to me?”
From the moment we met, he had been helping me, clearing every obstacle in my path.
He held my hand, then lowered his head and pressed a gentle kiss on my forehead.
“Because I’ve been waiting for you for many years.”
After the wedding, he took me to an orphanage in the south of the city.
The director of the orphanage was a very kind old lady.
She smiled widely when she saw Hunter.
“Hunter, you’ve finally come. Your wife is so beautiful.”
2022 Mon 16 Jun 00
The old lady took my hand and, from a well–wom cookie in, pulled out a faded, yellowed photograph
In the photo, there was a seven or eight–year–old girl, wearing a beautiful princess dress. She was offering half of her cake to a scaffy little boy in worth clothes, his face covered in
The little girl smiled sweety, like a ray of sunshine
That little girl was me.
And that little boy with defiant eyes, was Hurter
I looked at the photo, and the floodgates of memory burst open.
Tremenbee
That winter, my mother took me to a charity gala. I slipped away from the party and found a shivering little boy huddled in the back garden.
He was so fain, so small
I shared half of my cake with him, and I took off my cost and draped it over him.
Don’t be scared I told him. “From now on, I’ve got your back
Later, my mother found me and took me away.
I never saw that Kille boy again.
But I never expected that the boy I had forgotten had remembered me all this time.
My eyes instantly welled up.
I turned to look at Hunter, who was gazing at me tenderly.
“You idiot” I sniffled, my voice thick with tears. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
He pulled me into his embrace, resting his chin on the top of my head, gently nuzzling
“The old me wasn’t worthy to stand by your side,” his voice was deep and husky. “Now, I finally am.”
“Aurora,” he called my name, with utmost solemnity, “From now on, it’s my turn to protect
you.”
