Chapter 10
Bowen argued, “I had no choice-‘
I cut him off sharply. “Enough, Bowen. Don’t act like you’re the victim here. You had your own agenda. If I became the heir, staying by my side worked for you. If I was out of the picture and Levi became the heir, you’d still benefit. You’re just as selfish as Helena. You two are the same.”
Bowen’s face turned pale as I called him out. He pleaded, “But the care and love I showed you over the years were real. Can’t you forgive me for the sake of the ten years we had together?”
“No, Bowen. You made your choices, and now you have to live with the consequences,” I said firmly.
I pressed the call button for the nurse and told her not to let Bowen visit me again. He was escorted out, leaving me in peace.
A week later, news broke that Helena would face a public trial. I tuned into the live stream, where Helena looked as defiant as ever. “Do you seriously think some questionable chat logs are enough to convict me? If you don’t have solid evidence, just let me go!”
However, my lawyer, Fabian, was relentless. Since Helena had no concrete proof, he spent two hours tearing her apart, dragging her and Bowen’s sham marriage into the mix. Helena was fuming but could not argue back.
“Opposing counsel, don’t you think this behavior is utterly shameless?” Fabian quipped, even turning to Helena’s own lawyer for agreement.
Helena’s lawyer buried his face in his files, muttering under his breath, “Money isn’t everything. If I’d known I’d be publicly humiliated like this, I wouldn’t have taken this ridiculous case.”
e
The courtroom struggled to hold back laughter. By the time the trial ended, Helena’s gone from red to deep purple, absolutely livid from the verbal beating she had just taken.
Honestly, I found it hilarious. Then again, I felt it was a shame that she only faced public humiliation in the country. It felt like she got off too easy. What I did not expect was that my parents and Bowen would take matters into their own hands. After the trial, the atmosphere at home was tense. Dad, who had been ousted from the board, rarely went to the office anymore, and Mom spent her days crying. She begged Bowen to bring me back, but he told her I refused to see him.
That was when they finally realized—I had erased every trace of my existence in that house. Every gift my parents had ever given me, every memory of Bowen and me, every single thing that tied me to them–I had burned it all in the study until nothing but ashes remained. Not even a single photo remained.
“Maisie must hate me so much. I never should’ve listened to you all back then…” Mom sobbed, her cries grating on Dad’s nerves.
“Enough! We all made this mistake together. Crying about it now won’t change anything,” Dad snapped.
He added, “Bowen, didn’t you say Maisie had surgery abroad? Find a way to send her some money. It’s the least we can do to make it up to her.”
Helena, who had been sitting quietly, suddenly exploded. “Dad, you can’t send her money! She’s the reason we’re in this mess, treated like outcasts. How can you still take her side?”
Her shouts startled Levi, who burst into tears. Bowen quickly picked up Levi, comforting him while scolding Helena. “You scared Levi! This is all your fault, to begin with. We’ve been trying to protect you and make up for what you did to Maisie. How can you blame us now?”
Helena’s eyes darkened with anger. “Don’t act like you’re innocent. You’ve slept with Maisie countless times over the past five years, but I didn’t call you out for being disgusting. Yet, you’re here lecturing me?”
Chapter 11
