Abandoned by All I Took It All Back novel Chapter 21

Lying on the large bed, Janina gazed through the half-drawn curtains at the dim yellow glow of the night outside.

To want something you can't have, to have known a deep love in the past—it only makes you understand how seductive loneliness can be. To have loved so fiercely only makes you realize how bone-deep cruelty can feel.

Right now, all she wanted was her freedom, to pull herself out of this painful mess.

Steeling her nerves, she decided to go to the company tomorrow and talk to Julius about the divorce.

The moon hung high and pale.

The night was quiet.

Even the wind outside seemed to hold its breath.

Only the sound of her own heartbeat echoed in the silence.

Her eyes were fixed on the dark ceiling, sleep a distant stranger.

In the pitch-black room, the only light came from her phone screen.

Just as she was about to close her eyes, a notification pinged.

Janina reached over to the nightstand and picked up her phone.

She opened it.

It was a message from 'The Graces' Chat.' Janina scrolled up, reading through the hundred-plus messages, before typing out a reply.

[Time for my beauty sleep, ladies. Goodnight!]

After sending the message, she noticed a small red dot on her contacts icon. A friend request.

She tapped it open. It was a stranger, with the username 'Bunny.'

The request came from a direct account search.

Janina ignored it. She rarely accepted requests from strangers.

Just as she was about to turn off the screen, the same account sent another request, this time with a message attached: the single letter 'Y.'

Seeing that letter, Janina's mind immediately jumped to Yvonne. If it had been Julius using a different account, he would have just used his full name.

But curiosity got the better of her, and she accepted the request.

Janina clicked on the person's profile.

The latest post was from four o'clock that afternoon.

[Watching a sunset, feeling the endless wind. It's not the sunset that's beautiful, nor the wind that's gentle, but that single, slanting shadow.]

Same man.

Same bed.

They were so close, yet they felt like strangers separated by an entire world.

The cloying scent of perfume nauseated her, sharpening her senses.

Janina knew Julius must want something from her. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come back this late and entered her room.

She fought back the wave of disgust and waited for him to speak.

As expected.

A moment later.

Julius's voice broke the silence.

"It's Grandfather's birthday tomorrow. We're going together."

Janina refused without a second thought. "I'm not going."

Julius hadn't anticipated her rejection. He reached out, turning her body to face him. Meeting her defiant gaze, his expression finally softened a little.