Her Revenge Was His Regret (Shirley and Gilbert) novel Chapter 441

Caleb was supposed to be one of the good ones—the kind everyone said would make a great husband. But honestly, men like him were too set in their ways. Being with someone so rigid was just draining.

And let's not forget the rumors about his face—apparently, it was all thanks to plastic surgery. She could never be with an ugly man. Even if he went under the knife to look handsome, it didn't really count in her book.

So when she first heard there was an actual original version of that face out there, she was over the moon. She'd always thought that look was as good as it gets.

But then she found out the guy was still in college.

Julia's interest dropped instantly.

Sure, college guys could be good-looking and full of sunshine. But they had one major flaw: they couldn't hold their own in real-world situations.

What was she supposed to do—bring a college kid to a business dinner and expect him to intimidate grown adults? Could he outmaneuver people with real power? Not a chance. He'd probably just shrink into the background and get stepped on.

The man she dreamed of would be loyal to her like a devoted dog, but to everyone else, he'd be a straight-up demon from hell—someone who'd take down anyone she pointed at without a second thought.

Definitely not like Caleb, who was just... a regular CEO type, playing by the book. If you're wondering why she didn't see it earlier—

Well, at first, even she didn't fully get it.

Back then, she had more than a few women gunning for her.

She'd just arrived from Virelia.

Marrying Caleb right away wasn't really part of her plan anyway.

She didn't know yet how high Caleb really stood—for all she knew, she could do better.

And to his credit, Caleb treated her with respect.

It wasn't like what Julia later claimed—that he went against her wishes. He married her partly because she was young, yes, but he was still a decent guy.

Another thing about her: she was old-fashioned in her own way.

Once she gave herself to a man, it was for life.

Her goal back then was just to keep Gilbert from stirring up trouble, because honestly, she was attracted to Caleb at first.

But then some things went down. She got hurt—badly—and Caleb got furious. He handled the people responsible in a sharp, merciless way.

Just like she'd always said she wanted.

She didn't just need protection.

She wanted someone who didn't give a damn about anyone else.

No matter the setting, if some woman came at her trying to start drama, this man would shut it down right then and there—maybe even slap the taste out of their mouth.

Keiperian was a messy place.

People who threatened her tended to vanish before they could even show their faces.

Before the wedding, Caleb did pull off things like that a few times.

There was this one woman who almost sliced her Achilles tendon. Later, Caleb got payback. The last time Julia saw her, the woman was begging on some street corner, strung out on drugs, barely able to keep her clothes on.

Then one day, she just couldn't take it anymore. What she really wanted was to stand there looking pretty while her man handled everything, showering her with relentless devotion.

Every woman in the world should envy her.

She finally confronted Caleb and asked if he'd lied to her.

Eventually, she found out the truth: the one who'd done all those ruthless things wasn't Caleb at all.

It was someone he knew—he'd outsourced it, basically, because he was too swamped with his own work.

Julia was livid.

A long time later, she finally tracked down who'd really been behind it all. And that day, she caught one breathtaking glimpse of him.

No one had told her he'd be so young. Just the cut of his jawline, that reckless smile on his crimson lips as he stood there like he owned the place—she knew instantly. That face, that aura... it was the best she'd ever seen.

The way he moved, ruthless and without hesitation, made her fall for him—hard.

"That bitch Sherry... how dare she try to steal my man!"

Yes—her man. From the very beginning, he was the one she'd really wanted.

Caleb had tricked her.

She should've been the one spending her life with that man.

From where she stood now, she could only see the man's chin—but it was enough. She knew, without a doubt, he was the one she'd been searching for all along.