Chapter 8
After investigation, it was discovered that Regina had accepted an $8,000,000 bribe to leak Thorne Energy’s new technology parameters, then fled to avoid punishment.
Afterward, Dominic had always believed it was a system security issue, focusing only on repairing the system, never suspecting deliberate information leakage.
After rebuilding the company with more advanced technology, Dominic never thoroughly investigated the matter.
Meanwhile, Regina, who had been abroad all this time, had nearly depleted her funds.
Learning that Dominic hadn’t traced the leak back to her, she decided to return.
Fearing he wouldn’t accept her, she played the sympathy card, keeping him by her side until she could get pregnant with his child–then everything would fall into place.
Dominic finally realized he had been a manipulated fool from beginning to end.
The woman he had protected wholeheartedly, waited for three years… had nearly ruined Thorne Industries and had driven a wedge between him and his wife!
“Mr. Thorne,” his assistant hesitated, “Regina is causing a scene at the board meeting… demanding a divorce and
half your assets!”
Dominic said nothing and took no action. Instead, he appeared before me like a wandering ghost, time and again.
Standing in the rain outside Zimmer Corporation until late at night, stubbornly refusing an umbrella from a
concerned security guard: “She needs to see me…”
At the coffee shop I frequented, he pushed a document toward me with trembling hands: “I established a foundation in your name… Didn’t you always want to help those children in the mountain regions?”
When I tried to leave, he blocked my path with reddened eyes: “Riley, let me atone…”
But I was tired and never raised my eyes to look at him again.
Until one time when he mentioned our unborn child, and I paused briefly, my voice barely audible: “…I had even…
chosen a name for her!”
Dominic instantly fell to his knees, as if his soul had been ripped away.
Later, while I was trying on wedding dresses, the shop assistant alerted me to a swaying figure peering through the glass window.
I turned to see Dominic clutching a bottle of alcohol, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the wedding dress I wore.
Jackson, somewhat displeased, immediately positioned himself in front of me.
Attempting to Steal My World? Easy! My Rebirth Comes with a Playbook
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Chapter B
Seeing this, the man outside barged in.
“Screensaver…” he rasped, pointing with shaking fingers at the phone on the table. “Where’s our photo?”
The lock screen displayed a picture of Jackson and me skiing in Switzerland.
I calmly picked up the phone: “Mr. Thorne, it’s illegal to look at someone else’s phone.”
Those words seemed to pierce him. He staggered backward, the bottle smashing on the floor.
“I don’t believe it. After three years, he can’t mean more than me! I just made a mistake. I’m a victim too… Regina didn’t just deceive me, she deceived everyone…”
“Riley, give me one more chance. Let’s both get divorced and get married properly, okay?”
The boutique owner, not recognizing the famous Mr. Thorne, saw her customer being harassed and immediately had security throw him out.
I continued trying on my wedding dress, completely unfazed.
As the glass door slammed shut, Dominic’s voice still filtered through the crack-
“Riley! I’ll make things right! Wait for me-”
His obsession grew like wild vines, increasingly intense.
A week later, Regina was forcibly admitted to a private hospital and injected with special drugs.
Dominic stood outside the hospital room, coldly watching her struggle until weakness overtook her, until the doctor diagnosed: “Late–stage lymphoma.”
“Does it hurt?” he asked her through the glass. “More than an abortion?”
“You liked pretending to have cancer, right? Now you can live the rest of your life with cancer cells.”
Under his ruthless tactics, the Reed family business went bankrupt shortly after.
My brother was arrested for commercial crimes.
My parents knelt before me, confessing through tears: “We were blind, deceived by that ungrateful daughter for twenty years… Save your brother. If you just go back to Dominic Thorne, you can save your brother, save the family
business…”
I let out a cold laugh and publicly announced I was cutting ties with them at a press conference.
Even if the law doesn’t support severing blood relations, I wanted the world to know-
I would provide exactly what the law requires for filial support, not a penny more, not a penny less.
When Dominic learned that I would rather cut ties with my family than return to him to bail my brother out of jail,
16:23
Attempting to Steal My World? Easy! My Rebirth Comes with a Playbook
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he finally realized there was nothing left in this world that could threaten me…
Later, Jackson gave me a lavish wedding ceremony, broadcast globally.
News of Dominic’s car accident came that same night.
I stood outside the ICU, watching through the glass as he lay covered in tubes, his life slipping away not long after.
The nurse couldn’t pry open his tightly clenched right hand and looked to me for help: “I think it’s for you…”
It was a blood–soaked birthday card.
Opening it, the writing had already blurred:
“Riley, I was so lucky to have met you.”
It was dated from my first birthday after becoming Mrs. Thorne.
Attempting to Steal My World? Easy! My Rebirth Comes with a Playbook
