Chapter 4

Anna shuddered and stared at him in disbelief. Her lips trembled, but she couldn’t get a word out.

“Speak!” Julian’s voice sharpened, heavy with threat.

“I… I…” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “Julian, how can you treat me like this? I’m… I’m carrying your baby!”

That revelation caused an even greater shock than the announcement of my identity.

An uproar broke out around the conference table.

Even I froze. A baby? They were already having a baby?

But at the word “baby,” Julian’s face grew darker and more frightening.

He shot to his feet, grabbed Anna by the throat, and pinned her against the table, his eyes bloodshot and wild.

“A baby? Who gave you the nerve to lie to me about something like that?”

“Cough… Let… let go…” Anna’s face turned purple as she struggled desperately.

The directors sat frozen in horror. No one had expected Julian to snap.

I was the first to react. I rushed forward and pried at his hand.

“Julian! Have you lost your mind? Are you trying to kill her?”

I shoved him back, making him stumble. Breathing hard, he glared at me with red eyes, as if I were his enemy.

“Sophia, this is my business. Stay out of it!”

“Stay out of it?” I shook with anger. “Do you really think I’m an idiot, Julian? Someone you and your mistress can play with however you like?”

“What am I to you? Your wife? Or a pawn you can sacrifice whenever you need to secure your position?”

My questions struck him like knives.

Julian went rigid. The madness slowly faded from his eyes, replaced by overwhelming pain and exhaustion.

He looked at me, his lips moving as if he wanted to speak. In the end, he said nothing.

He turned to his assistant, Ethan Reed. “Take her away. Clean this up. I don’t ever want to see her in Fairhaven again.”

Ethan immediately stepped forward and hauled Anna up from the floor.

She sobbed and struggled. “Julian! You can’t do this to me! You promised you’d love me forever! Have you forgotten our time together? You said Sophia was just a tool you were using! You said I was the one you really loved!”

Her cries made Julian tense again.

He didn’t turn around. He only said coldly,

“Take her.”

The conference room door closed, cutting off Anna’s heartbroken screams.

Julian sank back into his chair and closed his eyes, as though he had nothing left.

A long time passed before he opened them and looked at the directors. His voice had regained its usual composure.

“Everyone, today’s incident was a misunderstanding. Anna Parker is a distant cousin of mine. She came to me after some trouble in her family. I felt sorry for her and gave her a place to stay temporarily. I never imagined she’d be so ambitious that she would impersonate my wife and cause this much trouble.”

He turned to me, his gaze unreadable.

“Sophia and I are legally married. We kept our marriage private to protect her from unwanted attention. She is the only woman I have ever loved.”

It was a seamless explanation.

He had distanced himself from Anna while announcing my position as his lawful wife to everyone.

The directors were all seasoned operators. They knew exactly how to respond, nodding and expressing their understanding.

And just like that, he brushed aside a scandal that could have shaken all of Hayes Group.