I Carried My Husband’s Mistress’s Baby and Walked Away novel Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The moment he finished speaking, the car suddenly flipped over.

The door was thrown open, and a sharp wave of cold enveloped us.

Some who tried to escape first were instantly struck by the relentless snowstorm, buried completely.

Julian gripped my hand so tightly it hurt, just like he used to in the best years of our life, when he’d throw himself in

front of anything to shield me.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “I’m here.”

I tried to pull my hand away, but it was useless, and the crushing pressure in my chest made it impossible to speak.

Around us, curses and cries in multiple languages filled the air.

I could feel my body’s warmth fading away.

Snow buried the entire bus.

The noise inside thinned until there were only a few sounds left.

Julian’s hand, cold and stiff now, twitched twice against my palm.

His voice was so faint I barely caught it.

“If we get out of this,” he whispered, “will you forgive me?”

I trembled all over as my mind began to fad.

With the last of my strength, I pulled my hand back, and my silence was the only answer I had left.

A soft hiss of breath came from above me.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, each word cracking. “If I don’t make it out, will you take care of the Prescott Group, and make

sure Grandma Evelyn doesn’t fall apart?”

“I’m getting what I deserve,” he went on. Just let my death… be the atonement for what I did to our baby.

I gritted my teeth, refusing to bear the burden of his worthless life.

“You chose to come!” I snapped, my voice barely audible. “If you have anything to say, say it yourself!”

He chuckled softly, his voice barely audible as he whispered, “Okay.”

I didn’t know how much time passed, but eventually the bus went completely silent.

In my blurred, drifting consciousness, I thought I saw a helicopter circling overhead, searching for survivors.

I thought I felt hands pushing me forward, forcing my body to move.

I clawed and crawled until my fingers finally caught the rescue ladder.

When I looked back, the white snow swallowed the last trace of Julian’s smile.

“Claire,” his voice floated up. “In the next life, I won’t lose you again.”

“Goodbye,” he whispered. “I love you.”

Epilogue

Julian woke up in an Icelandic hospital after being unconscious for a year and a half.

When his eyes opened again, the first thing he saw was the face he’d been dreaming about every day.

Claire frowned and asked how he was feeling.

He lunged up too fast, wrapped his arms around her, and held on like he was afraid she’d vanish.

“I’m fine,” he said hoarsely. Thank God. You’re fine, too.”

The air stayed frozen for a long moment, until a low male voice cleared its throat twice.

Only then did Julian realize there was someone else in the room.

He loosened his arms reluctantly.

When he lifted his head, he saw an American doctor standing behind Claire, watching him with open hostility.

Julian started to speak, but the doctor calmly rested a hand on Claire’s shoulder.

“Now that you’re awake,” Dr. Ryan Stone said, “things can finally get back on track.

A week later, they prepared to head back to the States.

While he packed, Julian tried several times to ask about what had happened that day, and Claire acted like she didn’t

hear him at all.

When everything was finally packed and his assistant hauled his luggage out to the car, Julian suddenly realized Claire

hadn’t packed a single thing.

He stared at her, stunned.

“Your stuff,” he said. “Where is it?”

Claire looked at him and smiled like she’d finally put down a weight she’d been carrying for years.

“I’m not traveling with you,” she said. “Next month my boyfriend’s coming back, and I’m going with him.”

Behind her, Ryan walked over with an easy smile and gently took Claire’s hand.

That was when Julian saw the ring on her left ring finger, the kind that made it unmistakably clear she belonged to

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someone else.

Watching the way they smiled at each other, Julian finally understood that waking up hadn’t been mercy.

It was punishment.

Five hundred days and nights of nightmares had stopped, but what waited for him was an endless darkness.

He didn’t know it yet, but in a little over ten hours, he would take his second hit.

During the year he’d been in a coma, Grandma Evelyn had handed the Prescott Group to his illegitimate half-brother.

From that day on, Julian’s name was erased from the line of succession.