The Bride They Replaced Came Back Richer Chapter 03

The Bride They Replaced Came Back Richer Chapter 03

I smiled.

“If you insist on putting it that way, then yes, I admit it.”

“But in the end, aren’t you only upset because I didn’t marry you back then?”

Spencer grew anxious.

“What happened back then can’t be undone.”

“If you want revenge, come after me. Don’t make things hard for innocent people.”

“Say it. What compensation do you want?”

“As long as you let Isla marry Oliver, I’ll give you my entire fortune, if that’s what it takes.”

I looked at the man in front of me in surprise.

Then I suddenly laughed.

“Spencer.”

“You’re self-made.”

He paused.

Then he sighed and turned his face away.

“You once swore you’d never let yourself live a hard life again.”

“And now? You don’t even care about your fortune or your future?”

“All for them?”

Spencer sighed.

“They… matter more than wealth does.”

My smile turned bitter.

Once, he had said the exact same thing to me.

Spencer.

In the end, I still had someone escort him out.

As he left, he kept looking back.

“Can we really not talk this over?”

“I wasn’t joking about the compensation.”

“Claire, I’m begging you.”

“They’re really heartbroken.”

I looked out the window.

Then what about me back then?

What about the girl kneeling on the floor, sobbing that she had been framed?

But Spencer had barely left before someone else came to see me.

The moment the door opened, we both froze slightly.

Julian Hayes.

The man I had been framed in bed with.

Serena’s boyfriend at the time.

All these years, he had always believed I was the one who drugged him back then.

And for the past twenty years, just like me, he had never married.

“I didn’t expect you to come too.”

I spoke first.

Julian sat down across from me.

His eyes moved over my home, unreadable.

Then he looked at me.

“I didn’t expect you to still be holding on to this so tightly.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oliver Whitaker. I only found out yesterday that he’s your child.”

I didn’t speak.

“That night?” he asked.

I knew what he meant.

The night my mother framed both of us.

I shook my head.

He sighed.

“You don’t have to deny it. I understand.”

“I really didn’t.”

He looked at me helplessly.

“Of course. You’ve always been good at pretending nothing hurts you.”

“But you should know who I stayed single for all these years.”

I drank my coffee and said nothing.

“To be honest, punishing that mother and daughter is a little much.”

“You’re interfering with my family affairs too?”

I shot him a cold look.

He sighed.

“Claire.”

“Strictly speaking, Oliver is my child.”

“So this is my family affair too.”

“I told you, he isn’t your child.”

Julian looked at me.

“Claire, I have eyes.”

“That boy looks like me.”

I almost laughed.

Julian had the rugged kind of good looks.

Oliver did too.

“He has the same rugged look you do, Mr. Hayes. But you’re not the only man in the world with that kind of face.”

“Mr. Hayes, you’re overthinking this.”

Julian sighed.

“Fine.”

“I’ll take responsibility.”

“I can marry you.”

I froze.

He looked at me.

“Claire, if this is what you wanted, I can accept it.”

“We can go get a marriage license right now. What do you say?”

For a while, I was too stunned to speak.

“I probably still won’t be able to love you, but I’ll do my best to be a proper husband.”

I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Show him out.”

“Claire Whitaker!”

Julian frowned.

“Do you really have to punish Serena and Isla for this?”

I stared at him coldly.

“Show him out.”

Julian looked as if I were being completely unreasonable.

My people escorted him away.

I pressed my fingers to my brow.

“If anyone else comes looking for me, send them away.”

But the next day, a staff member came to report again.

“Chairwoman Whitaker, there’s a guest outside who insists on seeing you.”

“She says she’s your mother.”