Chapter 2

Just as the humiliation and anger threatened to overwhelm me, Anna’s phone rang.

She glanced at the caller ID and smirked, then accepted the video call with the speaker on for everyone to hear.

Julian’s handsome, slightly tired face appeared on the screen.

“Anna, what’s wrong? Weren’t you going to inspect the new development today?” His voice was as deep and pleasant as ever, with a faint trace of exhaustion.

“Julian.” Anna instantly looked as though she’d suffered some terrible injustice, her eyes reddening. “An unwanted visitor showed up at the office. She insists she’s your wife, and now she’s demanding to take over Strategic Development. She’s been absolutely awful to me.”

Julian’s brows drew together at once, his gaze sharpening.

“Really? Show me.”

Anna turned the phone toward me.

The instant our eyes met, I saw shock in Julian’s face. But it vanished almost immediately, replaced by bottomless coldness and disgust.

“Sophia Bennett?” He used my full name without a trace of warmth. “I thought we’d already settled this. I left you the house on the west side and fifty million out of consideration for our past. Don’t get greedy. My patience has limits.”

“Coming to my office like this—do you want everyone to know about our shameful history?”

He paused, his voice thick with anger.

“Anna Parker is the only wife I have ever had. As for you… I don’t want to see you again. Ethan will handle the rest. Do yourself a favor and behave.”

Then he ended the call.

The lobby fell deathly silent. Everyone looked at me as though I were a joke.

Anna stepped in front of me, raised her hand, and slapped me hard across the face.

“Did you hear him, you fraud?” Leaning close, she whispered so only I could hear, “You’re just something he got bored with and threw away. Did you really think you mattered?”

The burning pain spread from my cheek into my chest. But I laughed.

At my own innocence. At my own stupidity.

So his two-month “business trip overseas” had just been an excuse to slip away.

All those sweet messages—“I love you,” “I miss you”—had been lies to keep me quiet.

All along, I’d been the other woman without even knowing it.

“Throw her out!” Anna straightened, resuming her haughty air. “Hayes Group doesn’t welcome people with no morals!”

Several security guards immediately surrounded me, reaching to drag me out.

“Back off!” I snapped, sweeping an icy gaze over everyone present. “I’m Sophia Bennett, heir to Bennett Group and the second-largest shareholder of Hayes Group! Go ahead. Let’s see who dares lay a hand on me.”

My identity had always remained hidden in the shadow of Julian’s success. We’d agreed not to disclose it before I officially joined Hayes Group.

Now it was the only weapon I had to protect myself.

At the mention of Bennett Group, several faces changed. Everyone in Fairhaven knew the Bennett name.

Even Anna went pale for a moment, but she quickly recovered and sneered. “The Bennett heiress? That’s ridiculous. Everyone knows the Bennett daughter has spent years abroad recovering from an illness. She’s a recluse who never appears in public. Do you think making up an identity will scare me?”

“You’ll find out soon enough whether I’m making it up.”

Ignoring her, I called my father’s executive assistant, Charles Morgan, and put him on speaker.

“Charles, it’s Sophia.”