Sir, Madam Dispeared Again After Divorce! novel Chapter 1028

"If it's so important, then why are you keeping me in the dark? Would you rather turn to a stranger for help than to me? Or do you think I'm a man who can't be trusted?" Julien had no clue what was going on in Sydney's mind. He only wanted to clear things up with her.

Seeing that he doubted his importance in her heart again, Sydney shook her head. "No, it's not like that. The reason I didn't tell you and didn't come to you is that I don't want to depend on you for everything. I told you this before, and you agreed. I was honest with you. I'm afraid that if I ask for your help every time something happens, I'll lose my ability to handle things on my own. I'll become someone who can't stand on her own feet, who only thinks of you when she's in trouble. I don't want to be like that. And..."

"And?" Julien tightened his lips.

She indeed had told him that before.

He had been supportive.

But how could he expect that she would take it to such an extreme, refusing to tell him anything or ask him for help?

He felt like an outsider.

Worse than an outsider.

At least she turned to outsiders for help.

But he had never considered him.

"And," Sydney rubbed her brow wearily, "I don't want people to think of me as just Julien's woman whenever they mention men and that my company developed well because of you. It makes me feel like I'm your accessory, a parasitic plant, only fit to be seen with you, not as an independent person, a boss of her own company. I don't want people to think that I have no skills but just got lucky by hooking up with the most capable man, and that's how I got where I am today and grew my company."

Sydney flashed a bitter smile, and her voice cracked. "I've never told you these things before, but they have always been like a stone, pressing down on my heart. Many times, they have made me breathless. You know, after getting back together with you, I've been under pressure all the time because the Raines family and Skylight Corporation are going down. You have no idea how scared I am when people say in front of me that I don't deserve you, that I don't have a good family background, that how I have the nerve to be with you, and that no one is there to back me up if you fight or break up with me because I don't have parents..."

Bang!

A loud noise cut off Sydney's anguished words.

Julien slammed the table and stood up, his body radiating a freezing coldness, his face dark and grim. "You are my woman, who dares to say that about you!"

Sydney gave a bitter smile. "Sure, they don't dare to say anything in front of you. And ever since we got back together, I haven't heard anyone say anything either. But can you swear that they don't talk behind our backs, in places we can't see or hear?"

Julien fell silent, unable to answer.

He knew he couldn't guarantee that.

After all, he had no control over what others said in private.

Even if he was powerful, he couldn't know what they whispered behind his back, could he?

Seeing that Julien didn't say anything, Sydney sighed. "See? You can't guarantee that. And these words, even if I don't hear them now, I've heard them too many times in the past six years."

"What?" Julien's face changed and his eyes widened. "You've heard them say this before?"

Sydney hummed. "For six long years, you didn't spare me a single glance. My father passed away and Skylight Corporation changed hands. I was left alone, with no one to defend me. I felt it all too keenly. Your stepmother, your brother, your business partners, and all those who admired you taunted me and humiliated me. They had no fear because you didn't care about me. You didn't see me. For six years, I endured the worst cruelty the world could offer.”

She said it calmly, but Julien felt as if a hand was squeezing his heart, making it ache so much that he could barely breathe. His handsome face turned pale and his lips twitched before he managed to speak in a hoarse voice. "I didn't know. I'm sorry."