For years, he’d convinced himself I was madly in love with him. But the truth was now clear—he was nothing more than a pathetic substitute. All that he had, all that he thought was his, had been built on a lie.
And now, the lie had been exposed. He was left with nothing.
His breakdown was inevitable.
For twenty-five years, we had all been acting. The show was over now, and the curtain had dropped.
I motioned for the housekeeper to pack Gregory’s things, then kicked him out of the Johnson family villa without a second thought.
“Mom, I’ve been working with an international medical institution on a project to stimulate the nerves of coma patients,” I said, changing the subject to something more important.
My mother-in-law’s eyes lifted with hope, a glimmer of something she hadn’t allowed herself to feel for a long time.
“You mean…?”
I nodded. “Jason’s brainwaves are showing activity. The doctors believe he might wake up soon.”
Tears instantly pooled in my mother-in-law’s eyes as she breathed out, overwhelmed. “Jason… my Jason…”
Meanwhile, Gregory stumbled down the street like a man who’d just had everything ripped away. His years of false prosperity, the illusion of power and privilege, had shattered in a blink.
He returned to the apartment he’d bought for Brianna, but the welcome he received was far from warm.
“It’s all your fault!” Brianna screamed, her face twisted with anger. “Now we’re completely ruined!”
Gregory’s eyes burned with fury as he retorted, “My fault? If you hadn’t messed with the eggs all those years ago, we wouldn’t be here in the first place!”
Brianna was taken aback. She hadn’t expected him to shift all the blame onto her.
“You… you agreed to it, too!” she stammered.
Gregory grabbed her arm, his grip crushing, his voice low and venomous. “Shut up! What’s the point of rehashing the past now? We have nothing, do you hear me? How are we supposed to survive on fifty thousand dollars?”
Brianna struggled to pull away, but his grip didn’t loosen. “Then… what do we do now? We can’t just go out and work!”
Gregory released her, his shoulders slumping as the weight of their situation sank in.
What could they do? They were used to a life of luxury, accustomed to having everything handed to them. Now, they were left with nothing.
Suddenly, Brianna’s eyes lit up with an idea.
“Five million!” she exclaimed. “Chloe still has the five million I gave her!”
Gregory’s face brightened. “Let’s go get it from her!”
Together, they staggered to Chloe’s apartment, desperation evident in every step.
After an eternity of ringing the doorbell, Chloe finally opened the door. Her expression remained unfazed, like she was expecting them.
“What do you want?”
Without waiting for an invitation, Brianna stormed past her into the room. “Give me back my money!”
Chloe’s lips curled into a cold smile, clearly unbothered. “Why should I?”
Brianna, seething with fury, pointed a trembling finger at Chloe. “That’s my money!”
Chloe casually sat down on the sofa, crossing her legs with deliberate ease. “Ms. White, that five million was notarized as an unconditional gift to me.”
“So no, I’m not giving it back.”
Brianna’s face turned pale as the words hit her like a ton of bricks.
“You… you…” Brianna stuttered, struggling to put together a coherent sentence. “You—”
The words were too much. A sharp pain shot through her chest, and before she could say another word, she collapsed backward onto the floor.
Gregory stood frozen in shock, unable to process what had just happened.
“Brianna! Brianna!” he shouted, his voice thick with panic, as he rushed to her side, trying desperately to wake her.
Chloe, on the other hand, barely spared them a glance. She picked up her book again, dialing for an ambulance as though nothing had happened, as if their drama didn’t even exist in her world.
