Rejected Heiress, Reigning Queen novel Chapter 82

Faced with Julian's furious interrogation, the usually domineering Carter remained uncharacteristically silent.

Even though he had his own selfish motives, explaining the gritty details of what Emma had been through would only humiliate her further.

He would rather let Julian hate him than drag Emma's dignity through the mud just to clear his own name.

Julian paced in frustration until Scarlett Harrington arrived with a fresh set of clothes. With an outsider present, his expression finally softened a fraction.

Carter sent his sister away and personally carried the clothes upstairs. When he returned, he sat across from Julian, lapsing back into silence.

When Emma finally came down, showered and dressed, she walked into a tense standoff: her mentor looking furious and rigid, and Carter sitting quietly with his head bowed, looking oddly pitiful.

"Julian, I had a run-in with someone and got set up. It wasn't exactly safe for him to take me to a hospital."

Emma descended the stairs, casting a fleeting glance at Carter.

Truthfully, nothing had happened between them the night before. Carter had forced her to drink pitcher after pitcher of water to flush the drugs out of her system. When the feverish heat became unbearable, he had soaked himself in a freezing bath and let her cling to him just to bring her temperature down.

Still, the memory of their heated kisses made her face burn. She pressed her lips together and quickly looked away.

Taking the hint, Carter quietly excused himself and went upstairs, leaving the two of them to talk.

Emma sat next to Julian, tugging at his sleeve with a soft, pleading look.

"You know I have too many allergies to risk random medications, and I couldn't get my stomach pumped. I was going to head to the club Travis runs, but given the state I was in, this was better than ending up with some random escort... I mean... well, I'm perfectly fine now, aren't I?"

Seeing the sharp, murderous glint in Julian's eyes, Emma swallowed the rest of her sentence. She assumed Carter had already explained the situation, so she kept her words vague.

Julian let out a dark chuckle. The girl had completely lost her mind. She was actually considering sleeping with an escort?

But the flash of anger in his eyes was instantly swallowed by deep, gnawing guilt.

Julian let out a heavy sigh, his face twisting with self-blame.

"This is my fault. I should have come back sooner to keep an eye on you. Who did this to you?" He exhaled a cloud of smoke, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "I'm going to kill him."

Emma lowered her gaze. Because Phoebe Sterling was involved in the mess, she didn't want Julian interfering.

Julian wasn't a man who just made empty threats. He would actually have the culprit black-bagged and shipped overseas.

Sensing her reluctance, Julian waved a hand dismissively. "Fine, we'll table that for now. Tell me this: what are you and Carter going to do? Is this just a fling?"

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