After My Husband Died

Julian, my late husband’s younger brother, brought his girlfriend home for the first time. To welcome her, I cooked a lavish dinner myself. At the dining table, the mood seemed great. Julian cut a slice of steak, placed it on her plate, and smiled. "Try it, Chloe. Evelyn makes the absolute best steak." The smile on Chloe Vance’s face vanished instantly. She slammed her fork down with a sharp clatter. Her glare flickered between Julian and me like two poisoned daggers. "The two of you living under the same roof... there isn't something going on, is there?" The dining room went dead silent. Seeing that both Julian and I were stunned, she curled her lips into a knowing smirk and waved her hand dismissively. "Relax. It’s totally normal for young adults to have urges. You don’t have to act shy." I took a deep breath, fighting the urge to slam the steak right into her face. Young girls had wild imaginations. I decided to let it slide. "I’m finished. Enjoy your dinner." I set down my napkin and stood up, heading toward my bedroom. "Look at that! She’s guilty!" Chloe’s shrill voice echoed behind me. "I touched a nerve, and now she’s running away with her tail between her legs!" I couldn't be bothered with her and walked straight to my room. Around midnight, I went downstairs for a glass of water. The moment I stepped into the living room, the lights flicked on with a loud click. Chloe was standing by the switch in a skimpy silk slip dress, her arms crossed, eyeing me with pure contempt. "Evelyn, dressing like a nun in the middle of the night—who are you trying to impress?" She scanned my full-coverage cotton pajamas from collar to ankle and sneered. "Cut the act. You knew Julian would come down for water, so you waited here to seduce him, didn't you?" "Too bad. We just finished, and he’s sleeping like a rock. Your little scheme failed." She deliberately pushed out her chest, flaunting the dark hickeys across her neck. I looked at her with a blank expression. "First, I have zero interest in your boyfriend. Second, if I actually wanted him, you wouldn't even have made it through my front door." "You!" She trembled with rage. "You old hag, Julian would never look twice at you!" Watching her fume with hollow bravado, I felt surprisingly relaxed. I went back upstairs and slept like a baby. Early the next morning, Chloe’s shrieks and sobs woke the entire house. "Julian! It’s either her or me today! If you still want to be with me, throw this shameless woman out of the house right now!" Julian sat on the sofa with heavy dark circles under his eyes, looking utterly exhausted and saying nothing. The moment I walked downstairs, he dropped his head in shame, avoiding my gaze. Right then, the doorbell rang. Julian opened the door, and a loud group barged right in. The middle-aged woman in the lead spotted me and immediately rushed over, grabbing my hand with fake warmth. "Oh, you must be Julian’s sister-in-law! You really are stunning. No wonder our Chloe feels insecure." "Hi, I’m Chloe’s mom, Margaret. You can just call me Aunt Margaret." Behind her stood a greasy man in his late twenties, leering at me with an oily grin stretched ear to ear. Seeing her backup arrive, Chloe puffed up her chest and stepped in front of me, pointing at the creep. "Evelyn, this is my cousin, Brad. He’s still single. My mom said as long as you agree to marry Brad, I’ll believe you and Julian are innocent!" "Otherwise, I’ll blast your dirty laundry all over Oceanview University’s student forum! I’ll let the entire campus see how Julian lusts after his own brother's widow!"I glanced at Julian. He stayed silent the entire time, tacitly approving of this whole circus. My heart turned to ice. My husband, Ethan, had passed away early. I had raised Julian like my own younger brother—almost like a son. I sent him to an elite private university and gave him a life of pure luxury. I never expected to raise an ungrateful leech who would hand a weapon to outsiders the moment his loyalty was tested. Brad rubbed his sweaty palms together, grinning repulsively. "My cousin’s boyfriend’s hot sister-in-law... hehe, you’re gonna be my wife soon..." Looking at the disgusting faces of this greedy family, I suddenly chuckled. "Alright." The two words slipped quietly from my lips, and the entire living room fell dead silent. Chloe and her mother looked at each other with triumphant glee. "However," I shifted my tone smoothly, "before any wedding, we need to settle family matters first. Julian, go to the study and bring out your brother’s will." Julian froze. Chloe waved her hand impatiently. "What will! Why would anyone care about a dead man's papers!" I ignored her, fixing my gaze on Julian. Under my piercing stare, he shuddered and reluctantly brought the documents from the study's safe. In front of everyone, I handed the papers to Arthur Davis, our family attorney, who had been quietly standing in the corner the whole time. Arthur cleared his throat and read aloud in a firm, resonant voice: "I, Ethan Hayes, bequeath all assets under my name—including a 70% controlling stake in Hayes Group and full ownership of Hillcrest Estate—exclusively to my lawful wife, Evelyn Hayes.” “My younger brother, Julian Hayes, shall receive a monthly allowance of thirty thousand dollars from the family trust fund, but holds zero right to interfere with Evelyn Hayes’s management or liquidation of any of the aforementioned assets." When he finished, you could hear a pin drop in the living room. The expressions on Chloe and her family’s faces were more colorful than a clown’s palette. I stood up, walked over to Julian, and said calmly, "Your monthly allowance will hit your account as usual this month.” “But her, and her family," I pointed directly at the front door, "need to get the hell out of my house right this second." Then, I turned to the head of our security detail by the entrance. "Arthur, take out the trash." Arthur’s phone call connected in a single ring; security had clearly been waiting for my signal. "Escort them out." My voice held no warmth whatsoever. In less than three minutes, four uniformed security guards rushed in, effortlessly hoisting Margaret off the floor where she had thrown herself. "Assault! They're hitting me! The rich are brutalizing poor folks!" Margaret wailed like a slaughtered pig, kicking her legs and throwing a full-blown tantrum. Chloe panicked completely. She grabbed Julian’s arm, shaking him violently. "Julian! Say something to her! Didn't you say she dotes on you the most? If you ask, she'll agree to anything!" Her voice was shrill and piercing. The arrogance from moments ago was completely gone, replaced by desperate begging. Yet Julian merely stood there, pale as a ghost, his lips trembling without producing a single word. Seeing that he was completely useless, Chloe turned her venomous gaze toward me. "Evelyn! Don't look so smug! You're nothing but a scheming gold-digger who climbed the social ladder through your dead husband! Now you're hoarding the entire Hayes fortune and throwing out the only surviving Hayes bloodline! You're going to rot in hell!" A security guard clamped a gloved hand firmly over her mouth. Brad had long since cowered into the corner, praying he could turn invisible. Only then did Julian finally react. He snapped his head up, looking at me with a faint trace of pleading in his eyes. "Evelyn... Chloe didn't mean it... She was just feeling insecure..." In that split second, my heart froze over completely. I didn't even bother giving him another look. I simply waved my hand at the security captain. Moments later, the shrieks, curses, and scuffling were shut out behind the heavy oak double doors. The house was finally quiet.Only Julian and I remained in the cavernous living room. He stood there like a marionette with its strings cut. The confident posture he once carried had collapsed into pathetic ruins. "Evelyn... I'm sorry." Julian’s voice was dry and scratchy, like sandpaper scraping across concrete. "Sorry?" I let out a cold laugh, finally looking him in the eye. "The person you owe an apology to isn't me. It’s your dead brother." I walked toward him step by step, my gaze sharp as a blade. "Ethan isn't even cold in his grave, and you brought home a gutter-mouthed woman. You let her point at my face, call me shameless, mock my grief, and try to pawn me off like cattle to her sleazy cousin." "Julian, when your brother put your future in my hands, what did he say? He told me, 'Evelyn, Julian is young and naive. Please look after him for me.' And how did you repay him?" Every word I spoke landed like a hard slap across his face. His head dropped lower and lower, his shoulders shaking violently. "I just... I loved Chloe too much... I..." "Don't use love as an excuse!" I cut him off sharply. "I only want to know one thing: why did you let her push this far? Why did you stand by and watch her try to throw me out? What kind of poison did she feed you?" Cornered by my glare, Julian finally broke. He snapped his head up, eyes bloodshot, and roared: "She told me... she said why should the Hayes empire fall into the hands of an outsider! She said I’m the only real Hayes man left! The company and the mansion should belong to me!" So that was it. It was never about some petty insecurity or a silly misunderstanding. It was a calculated coup to steal my home and my husband's legacy. The final shred of affection I held for him vanished, crushed to dust. "You're right," I said, nodding calmly. His face flashed with brief confusion at my agreement. "The Hayes empire shouldn't be wasted on an ungrateful snake." I pulled out my phone and dialed Arthur right in front of him. "Arthur, draft an eviction notice. Effective immediately, Julian is banned from Hillcrest Estate.” “His trust fund allowance will still be wired monthly—not a single cent less. But he is never allowed to set foot on this property again." With that, I hung up. I turned around and walked away without sparing him another glance. Behind me, Julian let out a desperate, broken sob. "Evelyn—!"