Three years of loving him, three days to erase myself from his world novel Chapter 8

She forced down her bitterness and looked directly at the man. "Now, with just one word from you, you want us to scrap everything and start over. Why? Can you give me a reason..." Julian listened quietly, a look of surprise on his face. It was his first time seeing Clara lose control like this. In his memory, she had always been calm and never teared up in front of him. "Clara..." He pushed back his chair, walked up to her, and explained, "It was indeed my negligence not to tell you about this in advance." Clara avoided his hand. Julian paused, his voice softening a bit, "I saw that you've been too tired lately. The designer you booked, Alex, is notoriously hard to book in the industry. I didn't want you to exhaust yourself." Clara was stunned. Julian held her pale, delicate hand. Clara struggled, but couldn't break free. She frowned slightly, suppressing the small wave of emotion in her heart, and asked, "Then... who is the new designer you found?" Julian remained silent for a few seconds, looking into her eyes as he said, "It's Sera. She majored in design in college, and over the past few years, she's won quite a few awards. Her skills are good. She's been idling at home lately, so it's good for her to come here and practice. Maybe she can make a name for herself..." Clara couldn't really hear the rest of his words. She only felt a heavy boulder pressing against her chest, causing a dull, suffocating pain. Hah, he kept saying he was worried about her suffering, but in reality, he just wanted to give Sera a chance to practice. What a great way to show 'worry'. In a daze, she couldn't help but think of when they first got together. At that time, she had just graduated from college and was the same age as Sera, twenty-two. The difference was, back then, she was accompanying him to business dinners, drinking with other men, and throwing up miserably in the bathroom afterward. But Sera was the flower he kept in a greenhouse. He couldn't bear to let her suffer at all. She said she wanted to practice, and he immediately parachuted her in as the chief designer. Unlike Clara, who had to practice by drinking with people and securing projects first. Even now, she still remembered the foul, mocking words those men threw at her. But she endured it all. Because she always believed that if she just held on a little longer, things would get better. She would climb higher and be able to stand beside him as an equal. Looking back now, she was truly such a fool back then. Pulled back to reality, Clara's eyes were forced red. She stared blankly at the handsome man in front of her. For a moment, she really wanted to ask him: Did he even have a heart? Otherwise, how could he be so cruel to her. Julian noticed she didn't look well and involuntarily tightened his grip on her cold, small hand. "Clara..." Clara brushed his hand away and forced a smile. "It's fine, I understand... You can get back to work. I have things to do, I'll take my leave." After saying that, she turned and fled. "Clara!" Julian subconsciously took a step forward, furrowing his brow. He wanted to say something more, but the phone in his pocket suddenly rang. A special ringtone. Sera. Julian's footsteps faltered. In that instant, Clara felt an incredibly suffocating tightness in her chest. Biting her lip, she quickly walked away. Hearing her footsteps, Julian looked up. But the only response he got was the heavy thud of the door closing. —Bang! The phone in his pocket was still ringing. For once, Julian ignored it. Looking at the closed door, he couldn't help but clench his empty palm. The woman's warmth that had lingered there was slowly dissipating... He unconsciously gripped tighter, his frown deepening. Just now, he actually wanted to say: If she didn't want it, he could arrange for Sera to practice somewhere else. The moment this thought arose, he startled himself. Outside the window, the sparse winter sunlight shone through. Julian covered his face with his hand and let out a heavy sigh. "What am I thinking." The one he loved was Sera. Toward Clara, it was just guilt. She was just a young girl throwing a tantrum; he just needed to make it up to her more in the future. Thinking this, he pulled his phone out of his pocket...