Chapter 3

Sylvia's POV

Pinned against the table by Julian, I trembled with pure rage.

"Julian, let me go! You bastard!"

Julian forced the pen into my fingers and gripped my wrist, pressing it down toward the paper.

I clenched my fist tightly, refusing to take the pen.

"Sylvia, I'm saying this one last time: sign it!"

"I won't! Even if you kill me, I won't sign!"

Julian's patience had clearly run out. He grabbed my hand directly, trying to force me to write.

I struggled with all my might.

"Julian! Even if you force my hand to sign, this agreement is invalid! I'll sue you, I'll sue you for coercion!"

"Then go ahead and sue! But even after you do, don't think you'll ever step foot in Boundless Tech again."

I turned to look at him in disbelief.

We were extremely close. I could clearly see the chill in his eyes and feel his burning chest pressed against my back.

Yet, his words were so cold they froze me to the bone.

Was this man truly determined to tear me out of his life completely?

No, that couldn't be right.

Julian and I had stood side by side for sixteen years. From the orphanage to starting our business, what storm hadn't we weathered together?

I knew Julian too well. He was cold, yes, but he was never a fickle person.

It was impossible for him to suddenly kick me out of the company and force me to hand over my shares out of nowhere.

Unless... he had planned to do this all along.

"You knew all along that I didn't do it that night, didn't you!"

I suddenly spun around and screamed at him.

"You planned to get rid of me from the very start! The hotel incident was just your excuse!"

Julian looked down, avoiding my eyes.

"If you want to blame something, blame yourself for crossing my line."

"You really did know."

Hot tears instantly welled in my eyes, spilling over without warning.

Growing up in an orphanage, I had learned to grit my teeth and endure early on. I never cried in front of others.

During the hardest years of building our company together, even when humiliated by clients or crushed by competitors, my eyes hadn't even watered.

But now, I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"You knew I was framed..."

My voice was hoarse.

"You knew Giselle set me up. Even if you didn't want to help me, how could you collude with her to bully me? Just because the Sutton family is wealthy and powerful, and because I have nothing, you think you can treat me like this?"

Tears streamed down my cheeks, dripping onto the agreement on the table and blurring the words "Equity Transfer."

Seeing my tear-stained face, Julian's heart wavered slightly, and his grip on my hand loosened a fraction.

Just then, Giselle chimed in from the hospital bed in a quiet, warning tone.

"Julian, you promised me you would get rid of her. She has ulterior motives toward you."

"Besides, my dad said that Sutton Group won't negotiate a partnership with a CEO who only owns half the company's shares."

Julian's expression instantly turned cold again.

He tightened his grip on my wrist and forced the pen back into my hand.

"Sign!"

My heart plunged straight to the abyss.

With just one sentence, Giselle had completely erased any trace of hesitation he had shown.

To him, the partnership with the Suttons was far more important than I was.

I bit down hard on the back of Julian's hand.

Grunting in pain, Julian let go. Seizing the opportunity, I snatched the agreement, tore it into shreds, and bolted for the door.

Just as I reached the door, I ran straight into someone.

It was Julian's assistant, Ian Ward.

"Ian, move!"

Ian blocked my path, his tone polite but unyielding.

"Thirty million dollars for your shares is a price well above market valuation. If you don't sign now, the terms will only get worse. You know Mr. Kingsley's temper better than I do."

I glared at Ian, trembling with rage.

"Ian, you're forcing my hand too?"

"I am simply helping you make the optimal choice."

"How many years have you endured alongside Julian and me? Don't you know how much of my life's work went into this company?"

Ian didn't reply, merely nodding slightly toward someone behind me.

Julian stepped out of the hospital room and stood right behind me.

With Ian in front and Julian behind, I was trapped in the middle with nowhere to run.

"Sylvia, I don't want to make this ugly," Julian's voice came from behind. "Sign it, and leave with your dignity."

I was still struggling.

Left with no choice, Julian stepped forward, clamped his hand over mine, and forced my hand to sign my name.

Ian handed him a red ink pad.

Julian pried my fingers open and pressed my thumbprint onto it.

The red ink looked as glaringly bright as fresh blood. Utterly drained of strength, I slid down the wall onto the floor.

"From today on, you have nothing to do with Boundless, and nothing to do with me."

Julian handed the agreement to Ian to file away, then looked down at me on the floor.

I looked up to glare at him, my face covered in dried tear tracks.

"In your dreams, Julian!"

"You can forget about getting rid of me. If you think a cheap piece of paper is going to make me vanish, you've sorely underestimated me."

"Even if you throw me out ten thousand times, I will show up ten thousand times more!"

Julian didn't spare me another look. He turned and walked back into the hospital room.

Ian called two security guards, who hoisted me up and escorted me out of the hospital.

I sat slumped on the curb by the roadside, staring down at the thirty-million-dollar check in my hand.

Sixteen years of devotion, bought out and settled with thirty million dollars.

Tears fell from my eyes once again.

Ever since the day I met Julian when I was ten years old, my entire life had revolved around him.

I didn't care about shares or money. I just wanted to be by his side.

But he had pushed me away with his own hands.

He had held me, kissed me, and possessed me with such intensity. I knew that the affection I felt from him wasn't fake.

So how could he force me to sign with such violence and cast me aside without a shred of mercy?

Clasping the check tightly, I shook with silent sobs.

"In your dreams, Julian..." I whispered, as if speaking to him, and to myself. "I won't give up!"