The Heiress's Game

Julie stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the black Mercedes drive away.

She reviewed the conversation she had just overheard in her mind, took out her phone, and typed: "Gu Mingcheng invested more than seven billion yuan in Daheng Group."

I clicked send, then turned off my phone screen, but didn't wait for a reply.

The other party never replies, or at least not immediately.

Five minutes later, the message was deleted after being read.

Julie placed her phone next to the palette, picked up her paintbrush again, made two strokes on the canvas, and then stopped.

Sometimes she feels like she's incredibly lucky.

But then I thought, luck is also given by others.

Because of that mysterious person, she now has both fame and fortune.

Gu Zhenxing is a good person, Julie genuinely thinks so.

He respected her, appreciated her, and never used his power to bully her.

But Julie never forgot two things: first, the gentle and kind Gu Zhenxing was the head of the Gu Group.

In the business world, he can turn the world upside down with a flick of his wrist; the gentler he is to her today, the more ruthless he can be tomorrow once he discovers the truth.

Secondly, their relationship was a transaction from beginning to end—she gave him her youth, inspiration, and undisturbed companionship, while he gave her fame, resources, and real money.

Love? She didn't believe in that.

Love didn't come to her rescue when she was at her poorest, and now she believes in love even less.

The mysterious man gave her all of this, and all she paid in return was some information.

Therefore, she never developed any feelings of love for Gu Zhenxing, nor did she ever feel guilty about her role.

He got what he wanted, and she got what she wanted; neither of them owed the other anything.

Julie knew very well that her window of opportunity was only a few years, and Gu Zhenxing couldn't spoil her forever.

He has many people around him, and an entire Gu empire that requires his attention.

In the end, Julie's place in his life was nothing more than a corner where he could breathe.

This corner could be taken back at any time, and she must gather enough of what she needs before it is taken back.

She wasn't greedy. She never thought about becoming Mrs. Gu, nor did she ever think about taking any shares or assets from the Gu family.

The amount she wanted was specific—enough money for her to live comfortably in any city in the world until old age, plus her existing fame, enough for her to hold exhibitions whenever she wanted and not sell her paintings if she didn't want to.

When that day came, she left, cleanly and decisively, without leaving a trace.

She was only twenty-five years old.

At twenty-five, one is still considered a newcomer in the art world, and in life, it's just the beginning.

She didn't want to waste the best years of her life on a man decades older than her.

She kept him company, talked about art, listened to him talk about the business world, and handed him a cup of coffee when he was tired—all of this was something she earned with her youth and time.

When she leaves, she wants to take enough money to live a truly free life.

Painting, traveling, drinking coffee in a linen dress under the sun in a small town in southern France, without having to chat with anyone or guess what anyone is thinking.

Just thinking about that kind of life makes me feel lighter.

As for that mysterious person—she had guessed it several times.

It's highly likely that it's Gu Zhenxing's enemy, or a competitor who has been suppressed by the Gu family in the business world for many years. It could also not be a person at all, but a team or an organization.

But she would stop halfway through each thought, as if it were none of her business.

All she had to do was do her job, take the money, and leave. That was all.

She knew that the mysterious person would contact her again, maybe tomorrow, maybe next month.

Before that, her life continued as usual—painting, drinking coffee, chatting with Gu Zhenxing about art, and listening to him talk about things he didn't want to tell others.

Then, take the parts that are worth conveying, turn them into a message without any emotional fluctuations, and send it out.

This is the path she chose; she doesn't regret it and won't turn back.