Chapter16
Charlotte Wynn was immersed in hope overseas. Back in Northbridge, however, Julian remained mired in grief.
When Bianca Sterling stepped into the Lancaster estate, she found Julian Lancaster sitting quietly on the swing in the courtyard, hunched over, meticulously carving a small block of wood.
Northbridge had just seen its first snow.
The clouds had parted, letting crisp sunlight stream through the sky, but on him, the light seemed
to lose all warmth, swallowed up by the heaviness clinging to his frame.
The blade of the carving knife slipped and cut into his finger, but he didn’t even flinch.
Only when the blood seeped into the wood did he pull his hand back in a daze.
Bianca reached into her bag, took out a band–aid, and offered it to him.
But Julian pressed his lips together and turned his gaze away, as if avoiding something.
Rage surged up inside her.
She snatched the wooden carving from his hand and flung it far into the snow.
Facing Julian’s suddenly cold and venomous glare, her chest ached, but she still managed to twist
her lips into a sneer.
“You could hurt Charlotte so easily when you’d lost your memory, and now that you’ve remembered everything, I get the cold shoulder instead?”
“Julian, I once believed you were her unwavering guardian. But now I see you’re just a coward- hiding your tail and running when it matters.”
“You broke her heart. The least you could do is beg for her forgiveness, drop to your knees, and
spend the rest of your life repenting!”
“She had a terminal illness and still chose to save me. She was brave enough to give you up. And what about you? You’ve been hiding here like a coward, not even daring to try. You make me sick.”
Julian froze, his eyes flickering with confusion.
“But I betrayed her… she probably thinks I’m filthy…”
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“You really think you loved me?” Bianca laughed bitterly, tears slipping down her cheeks.
“If you truly loved me, why did I always feel like I was walking on eggshells in this relationship?”
“I snuck you out of the hospital, dressed like her, copied her mannerisms, and still, there was always a piece of you looking past me.”
“I kept lying to myself that you loved me… but lies are lies. That time when Charlotte and I fell into the water, even with no memory, your instinct was to save her first.”
“Tell me, Julian, did you ever really love me?”
That single question sliced through the fog surrounding him like a lightning bolt.
Julian snapped out of his daze.
He stood up abruptly, eyes burning with a determination she had never seen before.
“You’re right. I’ll spend my life begging for her forgiveness. And if she won’t forgive me in this life, I’ll use my soul to make it up to her in the next.”
Before he even finished the sentence, he was already bolting toward the garage.
His steps were so frantic he almost stumbled, but he didn’t care.
It was like someone had pumped new life into him.
That dead weight, that hollow silence, gone.
Bianca stood frozen, watching his figure disappear.
A sharp, sour ache bloomed in her chest.
Looking back, she realized she’d been nothing more than a desperate clown, pulling every trick in
the book, only to lose what she could never hold in the first place.
She shouted after him, her voice cracking:
“When you see Charlotte, tell her I’m sorry!”
A
Because she had never met someone like Charlotte, someone who returned cruelty with kindness, who never clung to injustice.
A girl like that deserved every bit of love the world had to offer.
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The plane touched down right at noon.
Julian stepped off, lips chapped with cold sores, dark stubble shadowing his jaw, his under–eyes tinged with purple.
It was clear he hadn’t slept at all.
He had already tracked down Charlotte’s medical appointment schedule.
Now, he sat outside the hospital on a bench, heart pounding like it was about to break through his
ribs.
But just as the moment approached, panic swelled inside him.
His clothes were wrinkled, his face pale and
gaunt.
Charlotte was already mad at him, if she saw him like this, would she hate him even more?
But all his fears vanished the instant he saw her walking out of the hospital doors.
The cold wind played with the ends of her hair.
She was thinner now, so fragile it seemed a strong breeze could carry her away.
She glanced in his direction, a flicker of surprise flashing across her eyes, and then, she smiled.
A clean, light smile, free of bitterness.
“You’re here too?” she asked casually, looking past him. “Didn’t you come with Bianca? Where is
she?”
Julian’s heart dropped.
A cold dread crept up from the soles of his feet.
Why wasn’t she angry?
He couldn’t even forgive himself for what he’d done.
With Charlotte’s personality, there was no way she should be smiling at him like this…
Unless…
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Unless she didn’t care anymore.
The thought nearly made it hard to breathe.
He took two hurried steps forward, but just before reaching her, he stopped.
“Charlotte… I came to apologize.”
Charlotte blinked at the sound of that name.
That voice. That expression. It took her a second to realize,
He remembered.
But she didn’t understand why he was here to apologize.
By now, he should’ve been living out his so–called “happy ending” with Bianca Sterling.
She paused for a moment, then softly shook her head.
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“I know Bianca means a lot to you,” she said calmly. “That’s why, when I chose to let you go, I
never intended to hold a grudge.”
Chapter16
