**Chapter 22**
Eight years ago, on New Year’s Eve.
That year, it snowed heavily, and the temperature was the lowest in fifty years.
Riley was helping her mother prepare the New Year’s Eve dinner at home, while her sister, Chloe, didn’t have to do anything and went out to have a snowball fight with other children.
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9:23 AM
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Riley was helping her mother prepare the New Year’s Eve dinner at home, while her sister, Chloe, didn’t have to do anything and went have a snowball fight with other children.
At noon, her mother told her to go outside and call Chloe back for dinner.
As Riley approached, she saw Chloe leading a group of children, surrounding something and laughing.
She walked closer and found it was a pair of beggar brothers.
The older brother was protecting the younger one and was already covered in injuries.
Chloe grabbed a snowball and threw it, giggling and clapping her hands. “Hit! Hit! Little beggar, dirty, serves you right!”
The other children followed suit, throwing snowballs at the thinly dressed, filthy brothers.
They cursed and insulted them.
At that moment, Riley didn’t know where she found the courage, risking a beating from her parents when she got back, she pushed Chlo away. “Don’t bully them!”
Chloe was pushed down, astonished. “Riley, what are you doing? Are you standing up for these two beggars?!”
Riley spread her arms, shielding the two brothers. “They haven’t done anything wrong. Do the poor deserve to be bullied? Besides, tempc poverty isn’t permanent poverty. They might become important people someday!”
Chloe laughed hysterically, clutching her stomach. “Them? Filthy little beggars? Pfft-”
Riley ignored Chloe and gave the brothers all the money she had. “This is the New Year’s money my aunt gave me. Although it’s much less than my sister’s, my aunt is the only one who ever gives me money. Take this, buy some food. Remember, others might look down on you, bu you must not look down on yourselves. Work hard, be brave.”
At that moment, Caleb remembered the girl.
Although she had a twin sister, and they looked very much alike, she had a tear mole at the corner of her
He wouldn’t mistake her.
He not only remembered her name was Riley, but also her words.
eye.
He began to strive hard, starting with manual labor, then saving up to open a company and become a boss, later fighting through countless challenges, finally achieving his current status.
When he first met her, she was actually younger than him.
But she had taught him to be strong, brave, and never to give up.
This was also the spiritual pillar that sustained him through years of biting determination and fjerce struggle.
When he finally achieved success and became a powerful magnate, he finally gathered the courage to find her, wanting to reveal himself and take her back to care for her well.
But then he heard the news that she was already married.
Julian, he knew that man.
The head of the Fuentes Group, very powerful and influential.
In a way, she had married well.
He was, after all, a step too late.
That day, he personally watched her excitedly buy a man’s tie. It must have been for Julian.
9:23 AM
<
That day, he personally watched her excitedly buy a man’s tie. It must have been for Julian.
If she was
He flew
But he
to
happy, then not disturbing her was the last thing he could do.
Nigeria. It was too far from home, and he wanted to give himself a way out.
never expected to see her again here, less than half a year later.
She was covered in
scars, frail and helpless.
At that moment, his heart felt as if an invisible hand had brutally squeezed it.
Leo said, “At first, I didn’t recognize you, but then I saw how my brother looked at you, and I finally remembered who you were. Don’t wor now that you’re here, this is my brother’s territory. No one can hurt you again.”
