One day, he intercepted me on the street. Grabbing my wrist, he tried to drag me back home.
When I resisted, he attempted to pick me up and carry me.
Just then, a car with failed brakes barreled toward us. Silas reacted instinctively, pushing me out of harm’s way. The impact sent him flying over ten
At the hospital, the doctors‘ diagnosis was grim. Silas had sustained critical injuries, and the likelihood of him ever waking up was slim. He was as good as a vegetable.
It was then I learned that Silas, in his efforts to coax me back, had transferred 80% of his company shares to my name. Effective immediately, I was required to take over the company.
When Lila heard the news, she clapped her hands in delight.
“Serves him right,” she declared. “That ungrateful je*k deserved every bit of this.”
I said nothing, quietly accepting the shares Silas had transferred to me.
In truth, those shares were mine by right. When the company was first founded, I had contributed 90% of the initial investment. My family had been well–off, and I had used all my savings to support Silas‘ dream of starting his own business.
He’d promised to give me 50% of the company once it became stable, but year after year, that promise remained unfulfilled. Instead, I became just another employee, working tirelessly for him without recognition.
Now, those 80% shares were simply what I had always been owed.
I took over Silas‘ company and collaborated with Lila’s, leading it to new heights.
As for Silas, his injuries were too severe. Despite receiving the best care money could buy, his body gave out after only a few years.
He passed away quietly, leaving behind nothing but the remnants of the empire I had helped build.
Silas‘ Perspective
When I was four, my mom discovered my dad was having an affair. Their marriage fell apart, and I became the child of a broken home.
Mom and Dad were childhood sweethearts, inseparable from the start. Everyone assumed they were destined to be together, and when the time came, they got married as naturally as breathing.
But happiness was fleeting. Less than five years into their marriage, Dad cheated.
Mom was shattered. She smashed everything in sight, screamed, cried, begged, and even threatened to take her own life. But none of it mattered.
Dad was determined to be with his mistress.
Defeated and broken, Mom packed up our lives and moved us to a new city.
Dad, once the perfect husband who spoiled Mom with everything she could ever need, turned cold. When they divorced, he left her with just enough child support to scrape by. The rest? It went to his mistress and their child.
Those days were the darkest of our lives. Mom cried constantly, her eyes red and swollen from endless tears. Because I resembled Dad so much, she took out her frustrations on me, yelling and hitting me whenever things didn’t go her way.
My once–happy childhood turned into a nightmare. I pitied myself, but I pitied Mom more. I was powerless to help her, powerless to change anything.
I swore to myself that I would never be like Dad. I would never betray the person I loved. I would be loyal. I would never let my woman cry.
When I met Elyse, I poured all my love into her. I thought she was the one.
But the day I proposed, she left me. She walked away with some rich foreign playboy, leaving my world in ruins.
I spiraled. Smoking, drinking, drowning in self–pity… I became a shadow of the man I once was.
Then one night, I saved a woman from being assaulted. Her name was Nina.
From that day forward, Nina latched onto me, confessing her feelings without hesitation.
Having just been burned by Elyse, I wasn’t interested. But Nina was persistent. Eventually, I gave in, not because I loved her, but because I didn’t know how to say no.
I didn’t tell her I still carried a torch for Elyse. Instead, I warned her that I wasn’t the affectionate type, and that I might not be capable of giving her the love she deserved.
She didn’t care. She smiled at me and said, “If I try hard enough, maybe even the coldest heart will soften.”
And somehow, she was right.
Over the next five years, Nina’s unwavering love and care melted the ice around my heart. Slowly, I began to heal.
But just as I was finding peace, Elyse came back.
She arrived with her son, Jude, looking for help. She told me about the hardships she’d endured, claiming she had no choice but to leave me back then.
By then, I no longer loved her, but the bitterness from being abandoned still lingered. That unresolved resentment clouded my judgment, and I found myself drawn back into her orbit… Well, not out of love, but out of some twisted need for closure.
I didn’t cross any lines, but I gave her far more attention than I should have.
Elyse, however, wasn’t satisfied. She wanted more. She wanted my heart… and Nina’s place in my life.
Nina noticed the shift immediately. She began questioning me every time I went out with Elyse, her tone sharp with suspicion.
I didn’t mind. In fact, I relished it. Her jealousy was proof that she cared, proof that she loved me enough to fight for me.
So I pushed her further.
I spent more time with Elyse and Jude, knowing it would provoke Nina. Every time she grew angry or jealous, I felt a sick satisfaction. It was proof she wouldn’t leave me.
I even started disappearing on purpose, just to see her frantic when she couldn’t find me.
I thought it was harmless fun. I thought Nina would always love me, no matter what.
Then one day, while shopping for children’s items with Elyse and Jude, I deliberately ignored Nina’s call. It was just another game to me, another way to get her attention.
But that day, something changed.
Nina stopped caring. She grew distant, indifferent. Even when she saw me holding Elyse, she didn’t react.
For the first time, I felt real fear.
Desperate to win her back, I brought Elyse and Jude to a café where I knew Nina would be. I wanted to force her to look at me, to acknowledge me
again.
But it backfired. Nina seemed even more disgusted by me.
As a last–ditch effort, I took her to see the wedding gown she’d been so excited about. I wanted to remind her of what we had planned, of our future together.
But by then, I had already ruined it.
I’d let Elyse try on the gown, deliberately altering it just to spite Nina. When Elyse impulsively kissed me during the fitting, I lost control for a moment. I didn’t love her, but my unresolved feelings got the better of me.
That kiss was my undoing. Someone captured it on video, and when it leaked, Nina saw it.
She left me.
When I realized she was gone, my world collapsed.
I called her endlessly, begging for a second chance, but she blocked me on every number I tried. I tracked her down to her new job, desperate to apologize, to explain.
When I realized she was gone, my world collapsed.
I called her endlessly, begging for a second chance, but she blocked me on every number I tried. I tracked her down to her new job, desperate to apologize, to explain.
mind.
But Nina wouldn’t even look at me.
Every day, I waited outside her office with flowers, hoping for even a glance.
Elyse caught wind of my attempts and showed up with Jude, creating a scene. When Jude nearly hurt Nina, something inside me snapped.
I had Elyse and Jude locked away, but she didn’t stop. She tried to drug me, to force me into a relationship.
That was the final straw. My lingering resentment for her turned to hate. I lashed out, and Elyse didn’t survive. Jude, after witnessing it all, lost his
Even after that, I couldn’t stop chasing Nina.
One day, when I tried to force her to return home, a speeding car came barreling toward us. Seeing my chance to be her savior, I pushed her out of harm’s way and let the car hit me.
That moment didn’t win her back. It only left me in a coma, a shell of the man I once was.
Before the accident, I had transferred 80% of Crowe Holdings to Nina, hoping it would make her life easier. Now, as I lay in a hospital bed, unable to move, the company was hers.
I had made too many mistakes… I clung to things I should have let go of… My current state? Exactly what I deserved.
