Three years of loving him, three days to erase myself from his world novel Chapter 157

Julian had been blatantly shut down multiple times today, and his mood was foul. He paused with his hand on the door, shooting Arthur a dark look. "What?"

Catching the sheer hostility in his boss's eyes, Arthur felt his throat close up. He instinctively tightened his grip on the envelope.

After a long beat, he mumbled, "Nothing. I just... wanted to say that women need to be coaxed with patience. Ms. Vance cares about you deeply. If you just show her a little genuine affection, she'll come around."

Julian fell silent. The sunlight hit the sharp angles of his face, casting shadows that made his expression impossible to read.

A few seconds later, he gave a curt grunt of acknowledgment, told Arthur to drive safe, and walked away.

Arthur watched him enter the house before looking down at the sealed document in his hands. He figured it was best to wait a couple of days until the current drama blew over and Julian was in a better headspace to process this.

...

Inside the house.

Julian walked in and immediately scanned the room. He found Clara standing by the kitchen island, drinking a glass of water. She had taken off her coat and was wearing a soft, pastel pink sweater. She looked effortlessly beautiful.

His Adam's apple bobbed. He walked over, his voice dropping low. "We had some premium wild mushrooms delivered a couple of days ago. I know they're your favorite. I'll have Susan prepare them for lunch."

Clara paused, setting her glass down, and lifted her gaze to meet his.

She wasn't some naive, inexperienced twenty-something anymore.

She saw straight through this pathetic masculine tactic.

It was nothing but the thrill of the chase kicking in.

The second she pulled away, he scrambled to appease her. But when she had been devoted and clinging to him, he had kicked her to the curb, treating her like a convenient plaything. No, a tool.

Clara offered a thin smile and rejected him flat out. "No thanks. I've lost my appetite lately. I'm exhausted, so I'm going upstairs to rest. Don't bother waking me for lunch."

Julian easily picked up on the icy distance in her tone. Seeing her try to leave, he instinctively stepped forward, caging her against the counter. Leaning in close, he murmured, "Still angry? Clara, about everything that happened..."

Clara's eyes turned freezing cold. She raised a hand, pressing her fingers against his lips to silence him. "It's in the past. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Drop it."

Julian stiffened. He caught her hand, his dark eyes locked intensely onto hers, his voice dropping to a gravelly whisper. "Clara, what is it going to take for you to let this go? Just tell me... tell me what to do."

Clara was genuinely taken aback.

Julian himself seemed shocked the words had even left his mouth.

Julian's fingers twitched around the cigarette. The cherry burned dangerously close to his skin, but he didn't even notice.

Because in that exact moment, it fully hit him—Clara was only twenty-five.

And when he factored in the absolute hell she had been dragged through over the last few days...

Julian frowned, taking a deep, ragged drag of his cigarette, his hand trembling slightly.

Seeing his reaction, Susan sighed again, delivering one final piece of advice. "Sir, stop making her suffer. Otherwise, she really is going to leave you."

Leave.

Julian's eyes grew impossibly dark. After finishing his cigarette, he slowly looked up toward the second-floor bedroom.

He told himself he wasn't in love with Clara.

But he absolutely was not going to let her walk away. Not now.

For one thing, if word got out among their elite social circle that she had dumped him, it would be a massive blow to his ego. Men of his status didn't just cycle through partners casually.