My Husband and Cousin Stole My Design

After my parents died in a car crash, my cousin stole the compensation money and moved overseas to start a business.

My aunt begged me on her knees not to call the police. Then, she locked me in a dark basement for three months.

I was close to breaking down and ending my life when Julien Lawson, the neighbor’s son, broke down the basement door and saved me.

“Joyce, what they did is unforgivable! They stole the compensation money for your parents’ deaths. You were going to use it to open your own studio!

“Marry me. I’ll protect you.”

He was the only person who cared about me after my parents died.

I was so grateful that I married him and had his child.

I worked three jobs during the day to help support the orphanage that Julien ran. At night, I took care of our child and created design sketches. But no matter how hard I tried, none of my work was ever accepted.

Even though Julien told me to keep at it, I felt discouraged and thought of giving up on my design career to focus on our family.

One day, our child was sick. I went to take over the shift from Julien when I overheard him talking to my aunt on the stairs.

“Julien, it’s been ten years. Joyce’s designs are getting better and better. She even passed the first round of the national competition. Are you really not going to tell her about the next round?” my aunt asked. Her voice trembled.

Julien said coldly, “For years, I’ve been sending Joyce’s design sketches to Mindy to copy and enter in the competitions or publish as her own.

“To help Mindy’s career, I can’t let Joyce move on to the next round.

“Joyce has talent. If people notice her, she’ll be a threat to Mindy’s career!”

I clenched my fists. My nails dug into my palms.

“I was planning to email the design competition organizers and tell them we made a mistake with the name on the submission. It wasn’t Joyce who sent it in. It was Mindy.

“Anyway, the organizers are in Central City. They won’t come to our small town to check who actually sent the design,” Julien added.

His tone of voice was calculating.

After we got married, Julien would massage my temples while I worked on my design sketches.

He would gently say, “You’re working and taking care of the child. It must be so tough. All you need to do is design. I’ll handle the submissions and responses for you.”

At that time, I trusted him completely and gave him all my design sketches. He would send them from his email and take care of the responses.

Even though he told me over the years that my designs were rejected, I never doubted him.

But I never imagined he would heartlessly send all my designs to Mindy Stanley to copy and publish as her own!

My aunt’s voice turned anxious. “Julien, don’t do this. Mindy has already used enough of Joyce’s work. We all see how hard Joyce has worked.

“When Mindy took Joyce’s compensation money after her parents’ car accident, I felt so guilty. That money was supposed to be for Joyce to open her own design studio.

“I want to help Joyce start her studio. I don’t want her to work odd jobs and waste her talent. Otherwise, I’ll feel like I wronged her parents and never be able to face them again,” my aunt said with a quiver.

“That’s Mindy’s hard-earned money! How can you give it to Joyce?! Don’t you care about Mindy?!” Julien said angrily.

“But… without the compensation money from her parents’ death and her designs, Mindy wouldn’t have made so much money.”

Julien raised his voice. He sounded frustrated and annoyed. “Back then, I helped Mindy take the compensation money, and I’ve been sending Joyce’s designs to Mindy for years. I know I’ve wronged her.

“But to make up for it, I sacrificed my own happiness and married her!

“I’ll take good care of Joyce. Don’t worry.”

Marrying me was a sacrifice?

My heart felt like it was being torn apart. The pain I felt was so intense I could barely breathe.

Julien said he would take care of me. Did he not feel guilty?

For the past ten years, I felt sorry for him because he was running an orphanage that was failing. I worked three jobs during the day to help him, and at night, I took care of our child while also working on my design sketches.

My family and the person I loved turned out to be a complete lie!

“Joyce Stanley? Go pay your son’s overdue bills. If you don’t, the hospital will stop his medication!” A nurse’s voice echoed down the hallway.

The door to the stairwell suddenly opened, and Julien appeared. He looked shocked and panicked.

“When did you get here? What did you hear?”