Chapter 2

My colleague sighed, his face etched with worry.

"Everyone knows the guy is an empty suit. The next phase requires pitching to Lumina Global, the titan of the industry. Good luck getting him to even secure a meeting."

The rest of the team chimed in with their own grumbles.

Even regular employees could see right through Julian's incompetence. Yet Natalie acted like a woman possessed, shoveling every resource at his feet, even using me as a stepping stone to boost his career.

Too bad an idiot wrapped in gold is still an idiot.

I couldn't wait to watch his spectacular failure. When that day came, Natalie better not come crying to me!

After packing my desk, a small crowd of coworkers walked me all the way to the lobby.

Hearing the commotion, Natalie stepped out of her office. Seeing the scene, she called out sharply.

"Ethan, can you stop throwing a tantrum? It's just stepping back from one project. Did you really have to escalate this into quitting?"

"Go apologize to Julian. Do that, and I'll pretend this resignation never happened. I'll even let you stay as his second-in-command."

Her tone was righteous, as if she were bestowing divine mercy upon me.

She honestly thought I was the same desperate lapdog as before—that the moment she offered a sliver of an olive branch, I would shamelessly come running back.

Little did she know, my heart was already dead. Her words didn't cause a single ripple inside me.

"Thank you for the offer, CEO Brooks. But with someone as exceptionally talented as Manager Foster, I'm sure he won't need any help from me."

"You...!"

It was the first time I had ever talked back to her like this. Natalie’s face contorted in anger, and she spat coldly, "Let's see where you can go without this company! Don't you dare regret this!"

I ignored her completely, turned on my heel, and walked out.

Before I even reached the parking lot, a sleek black Rolls-Royce Phantom pulled up smoothly beside me.

The tinted window rolled down, revealing the familiar, weathered face of Uncle Bruce.

"Young Master Ethan," he said gently. "Seven years of rebellion against your father is enough. Time to come home."

"Mr. Vance has been waiting for you. He said the moment you step foot back in the estate, Lumina Global is yours to run."

Once I was seated in the back, Uncle Bruce couldn't stop offering heartfelt advice.

When he learned that I had officially broken up with Natalie and was finally returning home, a massive grin broke out across his face.

"Good riddance! I knew from day one that woman had nothing but dollar signs in her eyes!"

"She only smiled at you because of how much labor she could squeeze out of you. Thank heavens you never told her your real identity, Young Master, or she would have clung to you like a parasite forever!"

I gazed silently out the window at the passing city skyline.

Seven years ago, when I first started dating Natalie, my parents had fiercely opposed it.

After countless brutal arguments, my father finally compromised: he promised not to sabotage Natalie's career or force us apart.

The catch? I wasn't allowed to reveal that I was the sole heir to the Vance family fortune, nor could I tap into a single cent of the family's connections or wealth.

Blinded by love, I agreed without hesitation.

Even when I moved out of a sprawling country estate into a cramped, run-down studio apartment, I never complained.

I bled alongside her for seven years, building her startup from a tiny garage into an industry contender.

She wanted the glamorous title of a self-made female tech mogul, so I handed her the CEO title and gave up the limelight without a second thought.

I genuinely believed our bond was unbreakable.

How pathetic that seven years of sacrifice couldn't hold a candle to her college ex.