Chapter14
Julian Lancaster could hardly believe his ears.
His voice came out raspy and hollow, as if he were trying to convince himself.
“That’s impossible…”
“Charlotte promised she’d marry me. She said we’d be together forever. There’s no way she would
leave…”
His hand clenched the doorframe so tightly, it was as if he might crush the wood to splinters.
He turned to his parents, forcing a smile more pitiful than tears.
“She must just be mad at me. You’re helping her lie to me, aren’t you?”
“She’s angry, that’s all. I’ve always been good at making her forgive me…‘
He remembered it clearly: when they were little, if he snatched her candy and she pouted with teary
front of her until she
eyes, he’d pull out a giant lollipop he’d hidden just for this and wave it in
smiled.
Later, when she got mad at him for never taking care of himself, he’d shamelessly follow her
around until she finally broke into a laugh.
“Mom, Dad, just tell me where she is. I promise, I’ll make it right…”
“Enough!”
Mrs. Lancaster finally snapped.
She gripped his arm, her eyes filled with a kind of sorrow he didn’t understand.
“Charlotte broke off the engagement when you lost your memory. Even if you win her back now…
she’s not coming back.”
Her voice dropped lower, worn and weary. “She didn’t want to drag you down, Julian. That’s why
she begged us to stop trying to restore your memories. That’s why she chose to leave the country.”
“Drag me down…?”
Julian echoed the words without thinking, as if they had burned him.
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…..
Mrs. Lancaster closed her eyes and took a deep breath, finally saying what they’d kept hidden all
this time.
“She didn’t want us to tell you. But you deserve to know. Not long after we found you… she was diagnosed with ALS.”
“She brought us the report and asked to break off the engagement. Said your heart was with Bianca now, and while you didn’t remember her, she could leave quietly and set you free. That way, you
wouldn’t spend the rest of your life burdened by her.”
There was a deafening roar inside his head.
Julian froze, eyes blank.
ALS? Set him free?
Those words pierced through him like ice–tipped needles, tearing into his chest with unbearable
force.
He could smell the acrid scent of smoke, like his blood had caught fire.
It spread to every nerve in his body. His heart felt like it had been ripped in half.
“She… she promised…“.
Charlotte had promised to stay by his side forever.
The world tilted violently, and before he could catch himself, darkness swallowed him whole. He
collapsed down the steps in front of the villa.
Just before he blacked out completely, his gaze fell on the Hydrangea shrub in the courtyard.
He could’ve sworn… there was supposed to be a Wisteria Swing there.
Julian was rushed to the hospital again.
Mr. Lancaster sat in the hallway, running a hand over his face, his voice low and choked.
“If we’d just kept him locked up and brought in a specialist to restore his memory… maybe things wouldn’t have turned out like this. Even if Charlotte was dying, at least he could’ve been with her at the end…”
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Mrs. Lancaster had no answer.
But if Charlotte were there, she would’ve said no.
Because forcing his memory to return would also mean forcing him to face the guilt of what he did
with Bianca.
So the Lancasters had no choice but to take turns watching over him at the hospital.
Bianca Sterling lingered around the ward too.
The scheming in her eyes was gone now, only blankness and silence remained.
Everyone knew how stubborn Julian could be.
No one dared relax, and yet… he still found a way to escape the hospital.
They found him again inside Charlotte’s old room at the Lancaster estate.
He was curled up on the replica of her bed, clutching the snow–white sheets, his
with tears.
The fire had long since destroyed her original room.
eyes red–rimmed
Even though the new furnishings matched the old ones perfectly, they could never bring the past
back.
Julian knew that.
But the hollow ache in his chest wouldn’t go away.
Whenever he missed Charlotte, he couldn’t find even a trace of her.
So he hid in this recreated space, drinking poison just to feel something.
Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster stood at the door, sighing softly. In the end, they couldn’t bring themselves
to wake him.
Later, the Hydrangea shrub in the courtyard was filled in.
Julian personally planted new wisteria there and built a swing beside it.
He spent most of his days sitting quietly under the blooms, like a soul untethered.
Only his gaze would occasionally drift to the front gate,
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As if he were waiting.
Waiting for a chubby–cheeked little girl to push the gate open, dimples flashing as she smiled and
asked in that sweet voice,
“Julian, can I have a piece of your cake?”
But it was just a fantasy.
One day, Julian finally remembered that morning, right before the accident that stole his memory.
He had a ring in his pocket.
He was going to propose to Charlotte Wynn.
