Chapter 4: The Daughter Who Never Needed Revenge

Three months later...

I stood inside my father's office for the very first time.

Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city.

The company logo behind his desk carried our family name.

Ashford Global.

I still wasn't used to hearing people call me "Miss Ashford."

My father smiled as he handed me a small wooden box.

Inside lay my mother's wedding ring.

"I promised your mother," he said quietly, "that I would never let wealth decide who loved you."

Tears filled my eyes.

"So you pretended to be poor..."

"...for me?"

He nodded.

"I wanted the man you married to choose your heart."

"Not your last name."

I hugged him tighter than I ever had.

For the first time, I understood every sacrifice he had made.

Months later I saw Ethan again.

He was leaving a job interview.

His expensive suits were gone.

The confidence had vanished.

When he recognized me, hope flashed across his face.

"Sophie..."

"I was wrong."

"I loved you."

I smiled kindly.

"No."

"You loved the life you thought someone else could give you."

"You never loved me."

I walked away without anger.

Without hatred.

Without revenge.

Because life had already given him the punishment he deserved.

Some people lose money.

Some lose power.

Ethan lost something far more valuable.

The woman who would have loved him even if her father had truly been nothing more than a mechanic.

And that was the one fortune he could never earn back.