The Hidden Heir: From Rags To Riches

shattering of a peaceful life

"Young Master Hartley, are you really going to refuse the old master's invitation?"

"My surname is not Hartley. It is Ford."

"Even so, you nevertheless have the blood of the Hartley family flowing through your veins."

"From the moment they chased me and my mother out of the Hartley Family, I have already made the resolve to sever my ties with them."

In that afternoon, a black Bentley was parked in the bustling streets of Clearwater City along the river. Standing out like a crane among chickens, it attracted the attention of all the pedestrians walking by.

In front of a small barbecue vendor, a young man with a delicate face was packing up the barbecue tools and pushing the cart.

The old man in black who got off the Bentley was now bowing respectfully in front of the barbecue stall as if he was requesting something from the young man.

"Young Master, you also know that the old master was forced to do so back then. Although he had certainly wronged Madam, he never intended to chase you two away..."

"More than a year ago, the old master suffered a serious illness and asked us to look for you for an entire year. We used countless resources and connections to search through more than half of Dragon Country. It was not easy for us to find you."

"Would you rather be the son-in-law of a lowly family like the Harrison Family and suffer all kinds of humiliation than return to the Hartley Family? At this moment, you are the only person who possesses the blood of the Hartley Family in this generation..."

Ethan said indifferently, "There's no need for the Hartley Family to delve into my personal affairs, and I don't want to hear about the Hartley Family's matters either. I hope that you will not be disturbing me anytime in the future."

After packing everything up, he turned around and left Riverside Street.

Looking at Ethan's leaving figure, the old man in black could only sigh as he stood in place.

"Hartley Family, ha..."

As Ethan walked out of Riverside Street, he revealed a bitter smile as if he had recalled a painful memory from his past.

The Hartley Family of Imperial City was a renowned aristocratic family in the entire Dragon Country. Countless people wanted to build a connection with the Hartley Family as they would then have the chance to ascend the peak of the country.

To Ethan Ford, on the other hand, the Hartley Family existed as an ineradicable, painful memory in his heart.

Ethan Ford was born into the Hartley Family of the Imperial City as the first grandson of the old master. It could be said that he was born to live in splendor and to be respected. However, when he became eight years old, his biological father, Richard Hartley, was infatuated with another woman. In addition to fighting for the position of successor with a few uncles, he divorced his wife, Claire Ford, who went through the hardships of poverty with him at one point in their lives together, and married the daughter of another wealthy family in Imperial City.

Although Claire came from an ordinary family, she was nevertheless a strong woman. As such, she refused to accept any sort of compensation from the Hartley Family and left the house alone. Since Ethan did not want to be separated from his mother, he ignored the Hartley Family's obstructions and left Imperial City with her. Having disappeared from the Hartley Family's line of sight ever since then, the two of them had been living a decent life together as mother and child.

Since he decided to follow his mother, he ended up changing his surname to Ford.

It had been a whole ten years since that day, and his mother had also passed away three years ago due to an illness. Initially, he thought that he would never need to remember that painful memory ever again in his life. However, he never expected the people of the Hartley Family to discover his whereabouts so soon.

After smoking a cigarette at the corner of the street, Ethan decided to stop thinking about the matter. Instead, he called for a taxi and went straight to Grandview Hotel.

Today was the wedding day of the daughter of the eldest son in the Harrison Family, James Harrison, and the young master of the Sterling Family, the most influential family in Clearwater City. Since it was a grand celebration, they invited all the big shots of the business world from all over Clearwater City, as well as all the members of the Harrison Family.

Otherwise, with Ethan Ford's status as the son-in-law of the Harrison Family, he would never dream of stepping foot into Grandview Hotel in his entire life.

Twenty minutes later, the taxi finally arrived outside Grandview Hotel.

In front of the grand and luxurious manor door, a beautiful, slender woman dressed in a light blue dress was looking at Ethan Ford with an indifferent expression.

This beautiful woman was Ethan Ford's wife, Sophia Harrison.

Two years ago, Ethan married into the Harrison Family under the request of the founder of Harrison's Jewelry Group, Old Master George Harrison.

At that time, this incident caused a huge commotion in the social circle of the aristocratic families in Clearwater City. They all laughed at Old Master Harrison for being senile and marrying his daughter to an orphan without money or power.

One should know that Sophia was known as a famous beauty throughout the entire City. At that time, there were countless outstanding aristocratic men who chased after her for her beauty alone.

However, she was actually married to the irrelevant and ordinary Ethan Ford according to Old Master Harrison's request.

At that time, only Ethan and George Harrison knew the reason behind the marriage.

Since George passed away a year ago, Ethan was now the only one left who knew the secret behind it.

As for his wife, Sophia, she had never agreed to the marriage from the beginning to the end. While the two of them did indeed get married, they never saw each other as husband and wife.

Along with the death of George Harrison, the Harrison's Jewelry Group experienced a drastic change in power and authority. Since Ethan's father-in-law was immediately kicked out of the central power of the group during this storm, he did not end up receiving any shares. As the background and influence of his family worsened, he lived in the Harrison Family while being looked down upon.

His father-in-law and mother-in-law blamed Ethan Ford for being useless. Without any family background or money saved up, he simply could not compare to the other sons-in-law of the Harrison Family.

As such, Ethan was also looked down upon by everyone in the Harrison Family.

"Ethan, don't talk too much during the banquet later," Sophia said with a serious expression. "Today's matter is very important. I brought a big gift to ask Sister Natalie for a favor. Whether the factory managed by Dad can survive the crisis will depend on whether Brother-in-law is willing to help us."

"I know." He nodded.

Upon entering Grandview Hotel, it could be seen just how much effort the staff put into decorating the place. With jadeite decorations all over the place, a pond could also be seen outside in the garden. All these items were properties of the Old Master of the Harrison Family.

Furthermore, rows of luxurious cars were parked outside the hotel, including Maseratis, Porsche 911s, Porsche Cayennes, and even Audis.

"Hey, Sister Sophie, did you come here by taxi? Why didn't you call me to pick you up? I would have sent a car to pick you up. Since today is such an important occasion, what were you thinking by doing so? Isn't it just a disgrace for the Harrison Family?"

At that moment, a young man wearing sunglasses suddenly walked out of the Porsche 911. He then took off his sunglasses and stared at Sophia and Ethan with a playful expression.

Sophia bit her lips and did not utter a single word.

Ethan's father-in-law, William Harrison, was one of the members with the weakest influence amongst the older generation of the Harrison Family. Having been suppressed by a few of his brothers in the Harrison Group in the early years, he was then kicked out later. In the end, he was only assigned to a small jewelry processing factory that was on the verge of bankruptcy and barely managed to keep it running for a year.

With the family's financial situation, it was impossible to buy a car for Sophia's personal use.

"Sister Sophie. If you had listened to my advice when I asked you to divorce this good-for-nothing and introduced you to the third brother of the Sterling Family, would you have ended up in such a dire situation?" The more the young man spoke, the more arrogant his words became. As he revealed his proud expression, it felt as if he did not care one bit about Ethan's existence at all. "Of course, it's still not too late to change your mind. If you want to be rich again, come find me, for I will be willing to introduce you to another suitable partner!"

Saying these words in front of Ethan displayed the man's full-fledged arrogance.

"Derek, have you said enough yet?" Sophia said coldly as her face turned ashen with anger.

"Ah, as your elder brother, isn't it natural for me to feel sorry for you? After all, you are married to such a piece of trash. I was simply showing my kindness by giving you advice and showing you the way. If you still refuse to listen, then you deserve to be poor for the rest of your life!" Derek said in a provocative tone.

After he finished speaking, Derek looked at Ethan with a mocking expression.

"Ethan Ford, how do you even have the face to attend Sister Natalie's wedding?" Derek said sarcastically. "Oh, you're right. I heard about how the funding of your father-in-law's factory will soon be cut off. Furthermore, he couldn't even afford to pay the wages of his employees, and the factory will soon be closing down. Thus, you want to curry favor with Brother-in-law and ask him to lend you money to help you get through these tough times, right?"

Ethan simply looked at Derek and did not say anything.

Sophia’s father, William Harrison, was kicked out of the Harrison Group by Derek Harrison's father, the third eldest son of the Harrison Family, Charles Harrison. In fact, Charles was the one behind all the serious problems that the factory was facing right now.

Sophia took a deep breath and suppressed her anger before saying to Ethan, "Just bear with it and ignore him. I am here to discuss some serious business today."

Ethan nodded as the two of them turned back and walked into the main hall of the villa.

"Well, let's see how long you can hold it in." Derek said as he looked at Ethan's leaving figure. Turning her head around, the corner of his mouth then curled up into a mocking smile.

The banquet hall occupied a large area in the western-style building. Not only was the hall decorated luxuriously, but the floor was even covered with a layer of red carpet.

At this moment, the noble guests from the Harrison Family had already walked in one after another to take their seats.

Sophia carried an exquisite gift box and walked in front of the bride. She then said with a bright smile, "Sister Natalie, I wish you a happy wedding today. May you live a long and happy life together."

Natalie's facial features were extremely delicate. Possessing glabrous skin as fair as snow, she also held an arrogant temperament fitting of her status. Compared to Sophia, however, she was still far inferior.

She looked at Sophia indifferently and said, "Place the gift over there."

"Sister Natalie, allow me to accompany you for a walk," Sophia said with a smile.

"There's no need for you to curry favor with me, for I already know what your main purpose from coming here. My family is not willing to assist with your father's matters," Natalie said coldly without any display of mercy.

At that moment, Sophia's smile froze and was suddenly replaced with an unconcealable grievance.

Clenching her fists tightly, her delicate body trembled helplessly.

Before she married Ethan Ford, she was always doted upon by her grandfather and existed as the shining pearl of the Harrison Family. Remembering how kind Sister Natalie acted towards her back then, she could not understand why she had suddenly turned so cold towards her now.

Today, Sister Natalie will be married to the eldest young master of the Sterling Family, a first-class family in Clearwater City. As such, all the guests came to the wedding to celebrate the grand occasion — certainly an honorable and dignified occasion.

As for her...

Sophia remained silent for a while. When she thought about her father's current predicament, however, she forced out another smile on her face and followed Natalie's footsteps.

When Ethan Ford saw this scene from his seat, he felt an indescribable feeling from the bottom of his heart.