Chapter 131: The Faulkner Family’s Secret
Julian shared a secret of the Faulkner family with Vivian. It concerned his late mother and his father, who had always remained abroad.
Julian’s mother was the daughter of overseas Chinese immigrants. Having grown up abroad, her family wasn’t wealthy, but she was a cheerful and lively girl who played the piano exceptionally well. Her romance with Felix Faulkner had been incredibly romantic. They first met at a stage play.
Julian’s mother was highly talented and had helped the drama club by playing the piano. Felix, who was in the audience, was instantly captivated by her at first sight and began to pursue her. He was extremely handsome and came from a well-off family. At first glance, he seemed like the perfect gentleman, and since he genuinely treated her well, the two eventually got together.
In the third year of their marriage, Julian’s mother gave birth to Julian. He was a brilliant child from a young age and was deeply adored by Felix. The family of three lived happily—at least until Julian turned six. But then, Julian’s mother fell ill. She was diagnosed with a blood disease.
Even spending a fortune at the best hospitals could only delay the inevitable, and the treatments were agonizingly painful. When Felix first learned of her condition, he tried everything to cure his wife, willing to exhaust the Faulkner family’s entire fortune if necessary. Julian’s mother was deeply moved, but she didn’t want to be a burden to him. Yet, Felix insisted on continuing her treatment. When Grandma Faulkner found out, she also comforted her daughter-in-law, urging her to focus on recovering and not overthink things.
Just when things seemed stable, tragedy struck. As her illness progressed, Julian’s mother aged rapidly. Meanwhile, in the very same hospital, Felix had an affair with a pretty nurse—Annie.
One night, Julian’s mother called him to her bedside. She talked to him for a long time, telling him to work hard in the future, find a girl he truly loved, and live happily together. That night, a bewildered Julian had agreed. He was a little scared, not understanding why his mother was suddenly saying all this.
"Mom, can I stay in the room with you tonight?" he had asked.
Julian wanted to stay, but his mother refused. That very night, she passed away.
She had taken a lethal dose of sleeping pills and disconnected herself from the life support machines. By the time the nurses made their rounds the next morning, it was already too late. At seven years old, Julian lost his mother. He was utterly devastated. Felix was also grief-stricken, and at the time, the Faulkners were completely unaware of his infidelity.
It wasn’t until the following year that the truth came to light. Annie showed up at the Faulkner family’s home heavily pregnant, demanding that Grandma Faulkner acknowledge her unborn grandchild and allow her to marry into the family. The shock caused Grandma Faulkner to fall ill for the first time. Through this incident, she finally learned about her son’s shameful actions.
"If you dare marry this woman, I will no longer acknowledge you as my son! I’ll take Julian back to the country and raise him myself!" Grandma Faulkner delivered her ultimatum to Felix. She made it abundantly clear that Julian was her one and only grandson, and Annie’s child was never to be born.
Felix compromised. It wasn’t out of respect for his mother, but because Grandma Faulkner still held a significant portion of shares in the Faulkner Group. If she wanted to, she could kick him out of the company at any moment. Should that happen, Felix would lose everything.
In the blink of an eye, Julian turned sixteen. He finished high school abroad and received early admission to an Ivy League school. At that time, the Faulkner Group was performing terribly under Felix’s management, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Grandma Faulkner stepped forward once again, demanding that Felix hand over control of the company to Julian.
Felix refused. He didn’t want to give up his power. As long as he remained the CEO of the Faulkner Group, he could continue his life of debauchery, spending his days merrily with countless women.
However, Felix had miscalculated. It was at this crucial juncture that Annie reappeared. She showed up with her nine-year-old son, demanding that Felix pay for the boy’s medical expenses.
As it turned out, Annie had deceived both Grandma Faulkner and Felix all those years ago. She had never aborted the child; instead, she had secretly given birth to him and raised him. Seeing the Faulkner Group struggling, and with her son falling seriously ill, a desperate Annie demanded a massive sum of money from Felix. If he refused, she threatened to take the Faulkners to court. This became the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Felix paid the money. Grandma Faulkner was completely disappointed in Felix, and Julian finally learned the agonizing truth behind his mother’s death.
After this incident, Grandma Faulkner pulled some strings, utilizing the overseas connections Grandpa Faulkner had left behind to wrestle the crumbling company back under her control. Although it was nothing but a complete mess by then, she couldn’t bear to watch the business she and her husband had painstakingly built be destroyed by their own son.
For the next few years, Julian juggled his studies while managing the company. He could have stayed abroad for his master’s degree, but he chose to return home to further develop the Faulkner Group. Vivian already knew a bit about what happened after that. Under his leadership, the Faulkner Group thrived.
Around the time Julian took over the company, Rachel Faulkner got married. Although what Rachel did was somewhat similar to Annie’s past actions—which had infuriated Grandma Faulkner—she ultimately chose to support Rachel. True to her promise, after her marriage, Rachel utilized her husband’s resources to help the Faulkner Group tide over its difficulties.
As for Felix? Julian nearly severed their father-son relationship entirely. In the end, he simply left Felix abroad to live alone in a countryside estate. He provided a monthly allowance to ensure his father wouldn’t just die neglected and alone. However, that allowance was far from meager. Felix continued to live a very comfortable life overseas.
"Annie’s son died later on," Julian continued, his eyes lowered. "I heard she never actually used that money to treat her son, or perhaps his condition was already beyond saving.
"That woman was purely after the Faulkner family’s money, from the very beginning. It’s been that way for all these years.
"After I left Felix abroad, I had people keep an eye on Annie for a while. She apparently got married to some minor tycoon.
"She was living quite well, so she stopped pestering our family.
"I never expected she would return to the country. And of all things, to show up here and bump into Grandma."
Grandma Faulkner harbored a deep hatred for Annie. It takes two to tango; her son was no saint, but neither was Annie. In Grandma Faulkner’s eyes, her daughter-in-law’s death was entirely their fault. It was no wonder she had become so agitated the moment she laid eyes on Annie.