Chapter 5

My dad’s newspaper slipped right out of his hands.

My mom bolted from the patio, still holding a half-folded shirt, her voice instantly rising an octave. "What? Proposed? How long have you two even known each other?!"

"He saved my life, Mom. If it weren't for him, I’d be dead right now."

Those were the exact words I had used in my past life.

Back then, the moment I said that, my dad fell silent, and my mom stopped talking too.

They couldn't argue with that. In their eyes, Julian really had risked his life to save me. Although marrying him felt impulsive, it wasn't completely illogical given the circumstances.

This time, my dad fell silent again.

My mom didn't say another word either.

But I knew exactly what they were thinking. They didn't like Julian.

My dad set his newspaper on the table, took off his reading glasses, and pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice incredibly heavy.

"Do you really know him, Clara? Do you know anything about his family background? Have you really thought about whether his intentions are pure?"

"I know what you guys are worried about."

I leaned over, resting my head against my dad’s shoulder.

"But Dad, he literally took a knife for me. How can I not trust a man who was willing to die for me?"

My dad let out a long, defeated sigh.

My mom stood opposite us, her lips trembling, but she ultimately kept her mouth shut.

In my mind, I whispered, I'm so sorry, Dad, Mom.

But I had to do this.

If I didn't marry Julian, he would never show his true colors, and I would never get the chance to strip away his assets.

The only way to drag him down was to lock him in the cage of marriage first, and then destroy him piece by piece.

The next morning, I called Julian, my voice bubbling with excitement as I told him my parents had tentatively agreed.

On the other end of the line, he let out a joyful laugh, saying that was amazing and that he would immediately have his parents arrange a formal meeting to discuss the engagement.

"But Julian..."

I suddenly trailed off, making my voice sound incredibly hesitant.

"My parents agreed, but... they have one condition."

"What condition?" His voice remained gentle, but I caught a subtle edge of guardedness.

"My parents said they aren't the type to sell their daughter, but we still have to follow traditional family protocols. They want a pre-nuptial security deposit. A financial pledge of five million dollars."

I threw out the number.

The line went completely dead for three seconds.

In my past life, I hadn't asked for a single penny.

Instead, my parents had gifted Julian a massive sum of cash and bought him a luxury penthouse downtown as a "thank you" for saving my life.

Back then, I thought it was only fair. He saved me, so my parents treating him like royalty was completely natural.

This time, I was going to milk him dry before we even signed the marriage license.

"That amount..."

Julian’s voice sounded incredibly tight, though he tried his best to maintain his gentle demeanor.

"Clara, my business is still in its startup phase. I can't pull that much liquid cash out of thin air right now."

"I know," I replied immediately, my tone softening into a whimper.

"I told my parents that your family is just middle-class and can't afford that. But my mom said if you can't even show that much financial commitment, you shouldn't marry into our family. She even said something else... but I didn't dare tell you."

"What did she say?"

"She said... Julian saving me was nice and all, but who knows if he did it on purpose? She said my dad worked half his life to build Vance Enterprises, and they can't just let a random outsider walk away with everything."