She Quit Her Family and Found Herself novel Chapter 180

It was the weekend, and for the first time in forever, Hulda suddenly had nothing to do. She genuinely didn't know what to do with herself.

During the seven years she was married to Herbert, her weekends were strictly regimented. She was either hauling Miles over to the main estate to play the dutiful daughter-in-law and serve the Jewell family, or she was stuck at home, learning new recipes from Callie to cater to Herbert's needs.

It felt like it had been an eternity since she had done something purely for herself, or even bothered to ask herself what she actually liked.

But then again, looking back, it seemed her entire twenty-eight years of life had been like that.

When she lived with the Sterlings, she was suffocated under Dobbs Sterling's micromanagement. Later, when the old man passed away and Nadia Sterling, the true heiress, was brought home, Hulda—the fake heiress—was unceremoniously thrown out. Following that, through a twisted turn of fate, she became tied to Herbert, married him, and gave birth to Miles.

She had never truly had the space to just be herself. Over time, she had lost sight of who she even was.

Hulda sat on the edge of her bed, lost in thought. If she couldn't figure out what she wanted to do, she decided not to force it. Going with the flow was its own kind of freedom.

She got up, washed her face, boiled two eggs for a quick breakfast, and threw on some casual clothes to head to the grocery store.

After living off takeout and restaurant food for weeks, she wanted a home-cooked meal for lunch. Buying fresh ingredients felt like a good start.

At this time of the morning, the produce at the supermarket was at its freshest.

She was browsing the aisles, picking out vegetables she actually liked, when she suddenly heard someone call her name.

"Hulda?"

Hulda paused, turning around to see a middle-aged man in a white dress shirt. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't immediately place him. "You are?"

"It's me, Hayden Owen! Arthur Owen's son, we met a long time ago," the man introduced himself, his face lighting up with excitement.

"Mr. Owen!" The name Hayden Owen didn't ring any bells, but the name Arthur Owen was etched permanently into her memory.

Arthur Owen. The man who had been her Go mentor.

She had heard he had simply moved back to his hometown to retire.

Seeing Hayden looking so well-adjusted and calm confirmed that Dobbs had actually kept his word and hadn't ruined the Owen family.

"It is so incredibly good to see you again," Hayden said, clearly overjoyed. "You know, my father was still talking about you right before he passed. He always said you were a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy. You were born to play Go. His biggest regret was that he couldn't stay by your side to watch you reach the top."

Hulda's eyes lowered, filled with guilt. "I'm so sorry, back then I..."

"You don't need to apologize. My father understood completely. He told me that you never would have cut ties so abruptly if you hadn't been forced into an impossible situation. He knew why you always had to hide when you competed."

Then, Hayden remembered something. "Oh, right! My father left something for you. Right before he died, he made me promise to make sure it got into your hands. But I couldn't find any way to contact you, so I've been keeping it safe all this time."

"Something for me? What is it?" Hulda asked, utterly shocked that her mentor had left her a final gift after all these years.