CHAPTER 8
settled into permanent reality.
Julian and Chloe's brief, toxic marriage completely dissolved within three weeks of their public eviction, ending in a bitter, penniless legal separation.
Without his father's money to protect him, Julian was forced to move into a tiny, run-down studio apartment on the outer edges of the city, taking a low-paying job at a local auto parts warehouse.
Every morning, the former high-society heir woke up at five o'clock, commuting on the city bus while carrying a brown paper lunch bag he prepared himself.
His body, once soft from years of luxury and country club lunches, grew lean and tired from ten hours of manual labor every single day.
Chloe attempted to return to her socialite circle, but the viral security video had rendered her an absolute outcast among the city's wealthy elite.
No high-society family would accept her, no luxury brand would work with her, and she was eventually forced to take a job as a receptionist at a mid-tier dental clinic in the suburbs.
One rainy Tuesday afternoon, Julian stood outside the gates of his parents' firm during his thirty-minute lunch break, holding a small handwritten letter.
He watched from across the street as his father’s black sedan pulled out of the executive parking garage, slowing down near the intersection.
Julian took a desperate step forward, wanting to run to the window and beg for a second chance, but he froze as he saw his mother sitting in the front passenger seat.
May you like
Ellen looked healthy, radiant, and happy, her smile warm as she talked with Robert while the car waited for the traffic light to turn green.
Julian looked down at his oil-stained work boots and wet coat, realizing with agonizing clarity that he had traded the purest love in the world for hollow vanity.
