9
Julian was still pursuing me.
That afternoon, Marcus and I met for coffee at a cafe.
I looked down, sipping my coffee, when he suddenly reached out and brushed a fallen leaf from my shoulder.
“Haven’t been sleeping well lately?”
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Tue, 5 Aug
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“No, maybe I’m just too tired from revising proposals,” I said, looking up and smiling at
him.
I didn’t want to bring up Julian.
Marcus subtly frowned.
He probably knew I was deliberately hiding something.
But he didn’t ask further.
“Alright, then after coffee, we’ll go get some rest.”
He chuckled softly, his eyes filled with an unspoken tenderness and affection.
Just then, hurried footsteps approached.
I instinctively looked over.
It was Julian.
He strode quickly towards us, an undeniable aura of anger around him.
His gaze was fixed on Marcus’s hand, which was resting on my head.
Marcus followed my gaze, frowned, and turned to me, asking, “Who is he?”
“Julian,” I said calmly. “A kind benefactor who once helped me with my university tuition.”
That single phrase, “kind benefactor,” completely detached me from Julian.
Julian’s eyes looked even more wounded as he stared at me.
“He’s your so–called boyfriend?”
“That’s right. He’s my partner.”
“Partner?”
11:20 Tue, 5 Aug 0
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Julian scoffed, his gaze sweeping over Marcus with unconcealed disdain.
“Lily, even if you’re trying to spite me, you can’t just pick someone so mediocre, can you? What can he give you?”
I frowned, about to retort.
Marcus pressed my hand gently.
Marcus had always been unflappable, even when facing a crisis.
“Mr. Harrington, correct? Your current behavior makes me feel it’s necessary to reconsider our collaboration on Project A.”
Julian’s eyes widened, “You’re… Marcus Sterling?”
Marcus nodded.
“Yes, Mr. Harrington. The only reason I chose to cooperate with your company was to help Lily repay a debt of gratitude.”
The Sterling family was a much more powerful business empire than the Harringtons.
Julian gritted his teeth.
I sighed.
I gestured for Marcus to leave first.
“Marcus, let me talk to him.”
Marcus always respected my decisions.
“Okay, I’ll wait for you in the car.”
After Marcus left, Julian and I fell into a brief silence.
I spoke first.
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11:20 Tue, 5 Aug O
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“Julian, do you know when I finally gave up on you completely?”
Julian abruptly looked up.
I continued, “When I signed that statement taking the blame, I didn’t feel much sadness. More than that, it was a sense of release – I was finally going to be free.”
“I once thought I loved you deeply, but then I met Marcus, and I realized that wasn’t love.”
“I was just so desperate for affection, so much in pain, that I mistook your occasional
acts of charity as a lifeline.”
Julian’s body swayed slightly, and tears of agony fell from his eyes.
“Lily, I won’t be like that anymore. I used to… I was…”
But the words caught in his throat.
I shook my head.
“Julian, perhaps you never truly loved me. You just wanted the old ‘Victoria’s replacement‘ – the one who was always obedient and only had eyes for you.”
Yes.
The reason Julian maintained an ambiguous relationship with me after Victoria went
abroad was because he saw me as Victoria’s stand–in.
Victoria and I looked very similar.
It was just that her features were more striking and alluring, while mine were more refined and youthful.
Julian frantically tried to explain:
“No, it wasn’t a replacement! I never saw you as a replacement!”
“At first, maybe there was a hint of that, but later I cared about you more and more, I… I
just didn’t dare to admit it”
“Lily, is there really no chance for us anymore?”
I picked up my bag and gently shook my head.
As I passed Julian, my steps paused.
“We’re over, Julian.”
“I’m still grateful for your help to my family, but that’s all there is to it.”
Stepping out of the cafe, the sunlight felt warm on my skin.
Marcus came over and firmly clasped my hand.
He didn’t say anything, but his presence alone was enough to give me the strength to
move forward.
Before getting into the car, I looked back.
Julian was still sitting there.
One side of his face was cast in shadow, and he was surrounded by a sense of
desolation, like a cornered, dying animal.
Finally, the obsession and madness in his eyes slowly faded, leaving only emptiness.
I knew he finally understood.
Between him and me, our time was done.
Yesterday
