Chapter 2

As soon as we left, my dad was fuming. He ranted non-stop the entire way:

"That little minx Seraphina had the nerve to play my son like that. It's outrageous! First thing tomorrow, I'm telling my secretary to cancel all our collaborations with the Montgomery family."

"If it weren't for the Montgomerys' reputation, who'd want to marry that piece of work anyway?"

"Our Brent has girls lining up around the block to marry him, and she dares to humiliate my son at the wedding like this?"

"I need to teach that Fin whatever-his-name-is a lesson. How dare he try to steal from my son?"

...

My mom kept trying to calm him down, but it wasn't working.

I felt like if you gave my dad a machine gun right now, he'd mow down the entire Montgomery family.

I couldn't help but chuckle softly.

My dad finally stopped cursing and looked at me, puzzled. "Son, has the shock made you lose your mind?"

I gazed at my parents earnestly, my hands unconsciously gripping theirs tightly.

At last, their touch wasn't ice-cold anymore. I suddenly felt a lump in my throat.My father thought I was upset and was about to lose his temper, but I stopped him:

"Even if Seraphina hadn't pulled this stunt today, I would have called off the engagement with the Montgomery family anyway."

My father opened his mouth, then forcibly swallowed his curiosity, afraid of upsetting me further.

I glanced at the scenery passing by outside the car window, then turned back to look seriously at my parents:

"If I married Seraphina, and she ended up devouring the family fortune that Sterling Family has built up over years, would you still want me to marry her?"

My parents looked at me in shock, not understanding what I meant.

In my past life, Seraphina had also brought Fintan to wreck the wedding.

But I was dead set on marrying her, even going so far as to cause a huge scene at the wedding venue.

I threw punches, tore my tuxedo, smashed bottles - the whole carefully decorated wedding venue was reduced to ruins.

In the end, under pressure from all sides, Seraphina reluctantly agreed and married me, complaining all the while.

But that only kicked off the tragic second half of my life.

Seraphina treated me with cold indifference because I had "stolen" Fintan's place, and even started maliciously acquiring my family's businesses to get revenge on me.I want to retaliate, but my father-in-law turns the tables on me:

"You're the son-in-law of our Montgomery family, yet you're going against us?"

"I must have been blind to let Seraphina marry such a treacherous snake!"

I want to argue but no one believes me. I can only smile bitterly.

Because of Seraphina's aversion, the entire Montgomery family has grown critical of me.

Later, when Sterling Family was completely acquired, my parents were so heartbroken they jumped off a building in despair. I could only cling to the Montgomery family for survival.

Unfortunately, Seraphina and Fintan ended up having a child.

This became the last straw that broke me.

I look at my parents earnestly:

"That kind of life was hell on earth for me, unbearably painful."

The Montgomery family, everything is about profit above all else.

Marriage alliances are just an excuse to devour others.

Even I couldn't escape unscathed from this family, yet Fintan is desperately trying to get in.

Perhaps it'll be different for him with Seraphina backing him up.But none of that mattered to me anymore.

After hearing what I said, my parents' brows furrowed, seemingly pondering the truthfulness of my words.

After a long while, my dad looked at me earnestly and asked, "So son, what do you want to do in the future?"

"I plan to pursue further studies."

"After all, the future of the Sterling Family is in my hands. I must make it bigger and stronger."

The gloomy atmosphere from earlier was instantly drowned out by my dad's hearty laughter:

"That's my Montgomery boy! Your old man will make arrangements right away."

Soon, my family had taken care of all the paperwork for my studies abroad.

On the day I left, I didn't tell anyone.

Heavy snow fell from the sky, just like that New Year's Eve years ago.

Seraphina had haughtily grabbed my hand and dramatically declared in front of the elders, "I'm going to marry Brent when I grow up."

It had sent the adults into fits of laughter.

In the end, it was all just a big misunderstanding.

I casually scrolled through the news on my phone.

Headlines were plastered everywhere: A rags-to-riches love story between a poor boy and an heiress, the envy of all.

I chuckled softly.

I turned off my phone, picked up my boarding pass, and left.