He Lost Me to His Best Friend novel Chapter 876

Scarlett gave a helpless, amused shrug.

She knew for a fact that Julian was the first person to ever receive this kind of VIP treatment from her mother. It was glaringly obvious that Jacqueline was genuinely thrilled with him and was doing everything in her power to speed up their relationship.

Julian's dark eyes deepened. "Don't just stand there, Scarlett. Come sit."

He patted the empty spot on the sofa next to him.

Scarlett walked over, but the moment she sat down, Julian practically pulled a magic trick. He reached into his pajama pocket and pulled out a delicate chain.

"Do you like it?"

A brilliant sparkle caught Scarlett's eye. Looking closer, she realized it was a stunning platinum anklet.

"This..." Scarlett was genuinely surprised. "When did you get this?"

Julian just smiled and didn't answer. Instead, he slipped off the sofa and dropped to one knee on the floor.

Leaning forward slightly, his large, warm hand gently encircled her slender ankle. He wrapped the delicate chain around her pale skin and carefully fastened the clasp.

A subtle jolt of electricity seemed to shoot up from her ankle the moment his fingers brushed against her skin, sending a shiver straight to her chest. Her heart skipped a beat.

She finally found her voice. "Why the sudden gift?"

"Because whenever I see beautiful jewelry, I want to buy it for you."

Julian’s honesty was entirely unfiltered. After fastening the clasp, he kept his hand lightly around her foot, admiring his work under the soft glow of the lamp.

The platinum was cool against her skin, and the embedded green diamonds caught the light with a faint, elegant shimmer, contrasting perfectly with her radiant complexion.

His eyes were filled with pure appreciation. "Your ankles are perfect for this. It looks beautiful on you."

Julian sat back down on the sofa next to her. He gathered his thoughts and patiently explained, "For example, if I bought her a beautiful anklet like this one, I'd give it to her feeling so excited, waiting for her reaction. And instead, she'd immediately complain. She’d ask why the chain was so thin, why the carat weight was so low, what brand it was, or if it was even expensive."

Scarlett instantly understood. "And then?"

Julian knew she was curious about his past, and he had no intention of hiding it. "Or, out of trust, I handed all my credit cards over to her. But almost immediately, my phone would just blow up with spending alerts. I’d get endless notifications of exactly how much she was swiping on which card, constantly, all day long."

He turned to look at Scarlett, his expression entirely serious. "Scarlett, I won't lie to you and say I never did nice things for Sylvia. After all, no matter why two people decide to marry, at the very beginning, you always start with the hope that it will last a lifetime."

"But when two people are fundamentally incompatible, endless disagreements bleed into everyday life. And every single argument just accelerated the death of whatever feelings were there. By the end, she accused me of being cold and emotionally neglectful."

"The truth is, I just gathered enough disappointment early on that I quietly withdrew my heart."

"Hearing that... does it bother you? Does it bother you that I tried to treat someone else well in the past?"

Julian looked deeply into her eyes, waiting quietly for her response.