Three years of loving him, three days to erase myself from his world novel Chapter 368

"Why are you asking about this anyway?" Rosalie pressed. "Do you recognize it?"

Julian's face drained of all color. He stood rooted to the spot, entirely paralyzed on the outside while a catastrophic storm raged within his soul.

Recognize it? That was the understatement of a lifetime.

Years ago, it was precisely because he had seen Seraphina holding a sachet with that exact same embroidery that he had believed her lies. He had been utterly convinced that Seraphina was the little girl who had saved him in the fire.

And from that moment on, he had made one disastrous mistake after another.

Julian closed his eyes, completely consumed by regret. When he opened them again, he stared at the sachet on the headstone. His eyes burned with tears. Suddenly, like a man possessed, he spun around and sprinted down the mountain.

A terrifying thought had ignited in his mind, burning through him like wildfire.

He didn't even dare to fully process it.

"Hey!" Rosalie called out in confusion. Seeing him sprint away without looking back, she furrowed her brow and decided she couldn't care less.

Turning her attention back to the headstone, a faint warmth finally entered her eyes.

She stepped forward, gently removed the black-and-white portrait from the stone, and tucked it away into her bag to be discarded later, no longer needing the prop.

Just yesterday, while she had been pacing the hospital room in absolute panic over Clara's disappearance, Dominic Jarrett had called her.

He had assured her that Clara was perfectly safe. He revealed his plan to take Clara far away from the capital, to start a new life together in Somerset. However, for the escape to be flawless, he needed Rosalie to play a crucial role in an elaborate ruse.

She had agreed without a second thought.

And so, this grand, tragic performance was born.

Looking at the results, the act had been an absolute triumph. Julian bought every second of it. From now on, he could spend the rest of his miserable life drowning in his own regret. It was exactly the kind of punishment he deserved for all the torment he had put Clara through over the years.

A small, satisfied smile touched Rosalie's lips.

...

Meanwhile.

At The Forensic Identification Bureau.

Julian stumbled out of the main doors, clutching the DNA report like a man whose soul had been severed from his body. Blind to the steps beneath his feet, he tripped hard, crashing onto the concrete.

The impact tore open his knees and elbows. It was a brutal, bloody sight.

The pages of the report scattered wildly across the wet ground.

Ignoring the searing pain, Julian scrambled up in a complete panic, desperately trying to gather the damp papers. He looked utterly pathetic.

But as he snatched up one of the pages, his eyes locked onto the brutal, undeniable truth printed across the paper. His fingers froze. The dam finally broke, and he burst into agonizing, uncontrollable sobs.

He crushed the document in his fist, drowning in remorse.

The words were printed in stark, unyielding black ink:

[Forensic Analysis Confirmation: The DNA similarity between Clara Vance and the provided sample is 99.9%]

Clara was the little girl who had saved his life.

"Clara... Oh god, Clara..."

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