The Billionaire Ex-Wife and the Beggar He Became novel Chapter 463

"What?" Frank, the lawyer, Julian, Felicity, and even Yves Prescott all stared at Winona in unison.

Frank thought he had misheard. "Miss Perkins, you... could you say that again? What do you mean, it was you?"

But Winona didn't look at Frank or answer him directly. She spoke in a pained voice, as if talking to herself. "When I was sixteen, not even seventeen yet, I was homeless. I didn't have a penny to my name and nowhere to sleep at night. To stay safe, I would sleep in the lobbies of hospital inpatient wards. At least there, I didn't have to worry about bad people or freezing to death..."

Hearing this, Yves Prescott felt a sharp pang in his heart. "Winona, you went through such hardship..."

Xander's eyes reddened with pain. "Nona..."

Julian, too, looked at her with immense guilt. "Winona..."

Winona continued in a bleak, hollow voice, "That's when I got my first job. I was a caregiver for a dying patient with a contagious disease. She was covered in sores, weeping pus. It was highly infectious, and none of the other caregivers would go near her. But I desperately needed the money and a place to stay, so I volunteered."

"The patient was an Italian woman. Her name was Irene Chase."

At the mention of the name 'Irene,' Frank's eyes lit up. Even his lawyer looked at Winona with sudden clarity.

But Winona remained cold. She gave a faint, bitter smile. "At that time, my parents had just abandoned me. I was completely disillusioned with the world, so I never initiated contact with anyone. Even though Ms. Irene Chase emailed me several times after that, I rarely replied. I felt we didn't know each other well and had no real connection."

"Yes, yes, that's what Irene said too, sob..." Frank wept like a frail old man.

Winona was unmoved by his tears. She simply continued, "A few years later, Ms. Irene Chase sent me another email. She asked if I had a boyfriend and if I was interested in moving to Italy. She said she could help me and even find me a boyfriend there. I told her I was already married."

"I saw that email you sent back to Irene..."