Seven Years of Marriage with Jake

Book 3- Chapter 5

I left home and went directly to the Parker family company.

News of my acquisition of the project and shares spread quickly through the company. The vice president, who previously wouldn't even lift an eyelid when he saw me, now respectfully bowed so low he could almost lick my shoes. Hah, human nature.

I completed the handover procedures and directly became the youngest director on the board.

Looking at the company's timeline hung on the office wall.

It was in the year I died that Sebastian and Sofia expanded the company's scale, leaping to the forefront of the industry.

The company was originally founded by Sebastian and me, but on the timeline, it was all Sebastian and Sofia's names, without even half a mention of me, Julia!

I clenched my fists, the bone-deep hatred gradually eroding my bones. Scenes from my previous life flashed through my mind like a movie.

Back then, to establish this company, I spent half a year conducting market research on the streets.

A full half a year. Sebastian went to his nine-to-five job, while I gave up my iron rice bowl, taking research reports to the streets, pleading with one person after another.

The sweltering heat of midsummer caused heatstroke, menstrual cramps were suffocating.

But for Sebastian's dream, I endured it all, not missing a single day.

We were poor then. To save money, I only ate one piece of bread a day, couldn't even afford to buy a bottle of water in the hot summer, and eventually developed a severe stomach illness.

In the early days of the company, we couldn't afford to hire people. I single-handedly took on all the sales roles, running business day and night, enduring countless cold shoulders and grievances. To accompany clients, I drank until I had a gastric hemorrhage.

A word or two of comfort from Sebastian would make me happy for a long time.

I was truly blinded by love, debasing myself to dust for the sake of so-called love.

"Helen! What right do you have to take this project?"

"Give the project back to me!"

Philip's voice interrupted my thoughts. I shook my head, those painful memories making me increasingly clear-headed.

I'm no longer the Julia I used to be. I've been reborn. A man's sweet words and promises can't be relied upon. Only power and money that belong to oneself are eternal.

I will take back everything that originally belonged to me!

Philip ran over, red-faced, to question me. It seemed he had just received the news.

llooked up at him, feeling completely calm inside.

"Why don't I have the right to take it? Philip Parker, your father personally handed it to me."

"He also said that you couldn't even handle one project, that you're useless, and that the company can't possibly be handed over to you."

"Impossible! This project was clearly mine! He said that once I got this project, I could enter the board of directors! Why has it now been given to you!"

"The company is mine! Why would he rather give it to you, an outsider, than to me?"

Philip roared, like a wild beast gone mad.

I shrugged and spread my hands.

"Wel, you'll have to ask that good father of yours!"

When I returned home that evening, ambulances and police cars were parked downstairs.

Curious, I asked the housekeeper what had happened.

It turned out that after I left, Sebastian dragged Peter to get a paternity test.

Sofia refused to allow it at all costs. In the midst of the three of them pulling and pushing, Peter lost his balance and fell from the second floor, landing headfirst and dying on the spot. When an avalanche occurs, no single snowflake is innocent.

Sofia couldn't accept this reality. She held the lifeless Peter and started singing a nursery rhyme.

That lullaby was the one our mother used to sing to us when we were young to put us to sleep.

So Sofia still remembered things from childhood, remembered the times of the past.

How does it feel to lose a child?

Sofia, is this your first time experiencing it?

I've experienced it three times!

Sebastian, although Peter wasn't your biological son, you raised him for over a decade. He called you dad for so many years. How does it feel to watch him die right in front of you? It wasn't until I saw how much you doted on Peter that I realized.

It turns out it wasn't that you didn't like children, but that you didn't like my children.

Even now, I still don't understand. It was you, Sebastian, who approached me first. It was you who pursued me for three years.

Why was I the one who ended up falling in love and getting hurt in the end?

Are sincere people destined to be betrayed?

Do people who truly fall in love deserve to be killed by you?

There was no point in staying in this house any longer. I had already found an apartment and decided to move out on my own.

I pulled my suitcase and walked over to Sofia's side.

"Sofia, your son is dead. Does it hurt?"

She glared at me furiously, as if she wanted to eat me alive.

"It's all because of you, you harbinger of misfortune! You jinx! If it weren't for you, my son wouldn't have died! I'll strangle you to death!" She reached out to grab my neck.

I sneered, firmly grasping her wrist and pushing her away.

She was clearly shocked. Helen, who had always been weak and accustomed to their bullying, had resisted once again.

I immediately informed Lilly about Peter's death.

She brought the new project contract as promised.

A strong alliance, invincible.

She wanted to uncover the truth, while I just wanted to make money.

Now that the truth was out, getting the new project was what I deserved.

I moved into the apartment, enjoying the peace and quiet of being alone.

Philip went to confront Sebastian about why he gave the project to me. The two had a big fight, father and son falling out.

Sebastian suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and nearly went to meet his maker.

The Parker family was in chaos. The exposure of the scandal had a huge impact on the company's business.

Sebastian lost all face at the company's board meeting.

I secured another new project and secretly acquired some of the company's shares.

Using interests as leverage, I allied with several directors who held significant shares, proposing to remove Sebastian from his position as chairman at the board meeting.

I held numerous latest projects in my hands, determining the company's life and death.

The wind vane had changed, and those directors naturally sided with me.

Following the wind has always been human instinct.

After all, I was also a member of the Parker family. Nominally, the company was established single-handedly by the Parker family. No matter how much turmoil, it was still a family matter. They could both reap benefits and cling to a strong backer.

Seeing that Sebastian's influence was waning and Philip had no projects in hand, they agreed with unprecedented enthusiasm.

At the board meeting, more than half of the members agreed to remove Sebastian from his position as chairman.

Except for Sebastian, I became the largest shareholder in the company.

Watching Sebastian's eyes full of disbelief, every nerve in my body was excited.

The pleasure of revenge brought me joy, and I smiled from the bottom of my heart.

Money can make the devil push the millstone.

Although Helen didn't have much money in her hands over the years, I was now a company director. With a little maneuvering, the money I could control was enough for me to operate what I wanted to do. In the chairman election voting session, except for Sebastian's one vote, I passed with full votes and became the company's newest chairman.

I watched Sebastian slump in his chair, his head drooping, his eyes hollow and desperate.

I seemed to see that year's snow, stained red with blood, falling piece by piece in front of me.

The blood melted the ice of that time, telling its tale of helplessness and pain in the icy snow.

I came back to my senses, the warmth around me pulling me back to reality.

Sebastian, how does it feel to be betrayed by those old cronies who've followed you for so many years?

The company has fallen into the hands of the daughter you least liked. This taste must be quite bitter, right?

You've only lost control of the company, yet you're still sitting here, holding a large number of shares. But what about me?

What about Julia?

She's dead!

A vibrant life, just killed off by you like that!

Every project in the company, every office, is soaked with my blood, Julia's blood!

Every penny you've earned is bought with my life, Julia's life!

I've only taken back a small part of what belongs to me, and you already can't bear it?

Great revenge needs to be exacted slowly. I'm in no hurry.

I glanced at Sebastian and left the conference room amidst the crowd's adulation.