He Sold My Future to Please Her, I Bought My Freedom With His Money Chapter 10

He Sold My Future to Please Her, I Bought My Freedom With His Money Chapter 10

A window at the end of the corridor was open, and the breeze stripped the antiseptic smell from my skin. Outside, the sun hit hard enough to make me squint.

Mark was waiting at the curb. One tap of the horn. I got in.

“All done?” Mark handed me a bottle of water.

“Yeah.” I cracked it open. “It’s over.”

Three months later, the court sentenced Chloe to three years in prison for assault.

She sobbed through the hearing, begging Julian to speak for her, dropping to her knees in front of the whole courtroom. Julian sat in the gallery and never looked at her once.

His eyes were empty. A few weeks later, he flew home.

Without Starlight, the company unraveled fast. Clients pulled out one by one, cash flow collapsed, and within weeks they’d filed for bankruptcy.

He sold everything — every property, every car — and barely covered what he owed. Word was, he’d taken a junior developer job at some small firm.

Late nights, low pay, a boss who made it his mission to make Julian’s life miserable. Nicole sent me a photo.

Julian at a cheap noodle shop counter, a bowl of plain broth in front of him. He’d lost so much weight I barely recognized him. Half his hair had gone white.

The wound on his back had never healed right — he couldn’t sit up straight anymore, only hunch forward like something was pulling him down. His phone was clenched in one hand, and tears dripped into the broth.

Nicole’s voice note said his lock screen was still the photo from our old apartment — three years ago. I couldn’t imagine how many nights he’d spent piecing it back together from the ribbons I’d fed through the shredder.

Every day, he sent messages to my deleted account — apologies to a profile that no longer existed. I would never read a single one.

I looked at the man in the photo and felt nothing. Love that arrives after it’s needed isn’t love. It’s just guilt wearing a mask.

Everyone pays for the choices they make. He chose to betray me. He chose to look right through me. Now he could live with what was left.

I deleted the photo, closed the chat, and slipped my phone into my pocket. A knock at the door — my assistant leaned in. “Ms. Hayes, the meeting’s about to start.”

“Got it.” I stood, straightened my jacket, and crossed to the window. The city spread out below me — alive, moving, waiting for me.

I was the Regional President of AE Corp’s Oakhaven office. My own title, my own office, my own future — and none of it borrowed from anyone.

No more shadows. No more begging for scraps of someone else’s attention. I walked into the conference room, and every person at the table stood.

I took my seat at the head of the table and opened the file in front of me. “Let’s begin.”

Sunlight fell across the table, catching the lisianthus in full bloom. I picked up my pen and signed.