Too Late to Ask Too Late to Love (Julian and Eleanor) novel Chapter 8

She gave a bitter smile. “So you mean, you’re just going to let Sophia’s casual remark tarnish my name forever?”

After a few seconds of silence, Julian finally spoke.

“Didn’t you always want the Rose Garden when you were 17? I’ll give it to you as compensation.”

When she was 17, he bought the Rose Garden. They chose and planted the rose seeds together. He said he would give her the Rose Garden when she turned 18.

Later, they had a falling out.

The place remained, but the people had changed, and the initial promises were all broken.

Eleanor’s eyes were red as she raised a mocking smile. “And if I don’t want it? Are you still going to insist on protecting Sophia, even though she’s the one in the wrong?”

His response came without a shred of hesitation.

“Sophia is going to be your aunt, my future wife. And I will only ever be your uncle for the rest of my life. Do you understand?”

How could she not understand?

One was a wife.

The other was an adopted niece with no blood ties.

The difference in closeness was so obvious.

“I understand.”

Eleanor murmured softly, but she straightened her back.

She took off the bracelet on her wrist and looked at Julian, her face expressionless. “I’m giving this back to you.”

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“I’m sorry for pestering you for the past five years, and thank you for taking care of me for the last ten. As you wish, I will keep my distance from you from now on.”

“Uncle.” She would never call him that again.

His indulgence of others had trampled on her dignity. She wasn’t so pathetic as to still greet him with a smile.

That afternoon. Eleanor went to Lover Bridge.

She found the lock she had hung there, ready to destroy it.

As fate would have it, she ran into Sophia again.

“Eleanor, what a coincidence. Are you also here to pray for your romantic destiny?”

Eleanor wasn’t in the mood to deal with her and was about to leave when Sophia grabbed her

hand.

The lock engraved with ‘Eleanor, Julian‘ was revealed.

“Let go.”

Eleanor coldly pulled her hand away. Sophia wasn’t annoyed; instead, she looked at her with a wide smile.

“Lover Bridge may be magical, but it’s best to cut off feelings that shouldn’t exist as soon as possible. Otherwise, you’ll only hurt yourself and others, don’t you think?”

“Oh, right. As his niece, you’ll definitely come to the Formal Engagement Banquet, won’t you?

After all, you grew up with your uncle. Your bond must be very deep.”

Sophia heavily emphasized the word “uncle.”

It was both a reminder and a warning.

Eleanor stared back at her, her voice cold. “Are you done?”

“I’m done. You’d better have understood and taken it to heart. After all, a niece should know her place…”

Before Sophia could finish, Eleanor slapped her hard across the face.

“Smack!”

Sophia’s left cheek quickly became red and swollen.

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“You dare hit me?”

But Eleanor wasn’t the least bit afraid of Sophia’s borrowed authority. “Why wouldn’t I dare?

Go ahead and tattle to Julian. This is what you owe me.”

Eleanor pushed her away and turned around, only to see Julian in the distance, fingering the bracelet. It was impossible to know how long he had been standing there.

Eleanor wasn’t afraid.

She had been spoiled her entire life; she was never a pushover anyone could mess with.

The only reason she could be hurt was because she cared.

Now that she didn’t care anymore, there was nothing to fear from Julian either.

She held up the lock in her hand for him to see, her voice calm and steady. “Sophia was right. Feelings that shouldn’t exist should have been destroyed long ago.”

“Anything that shouldn’t be kept should be destroyed.”

Eleanor tossed the lock into the trash can, right in front of Julian.

Eleanor didn’t linger. She strode right past Julian, brushing by his shoulder without so much as a glance.

She was really treating Julian like a complete stranger.

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She had no idea that Julian’s dark gaze was fixed on her retreating back, the string of beads in his hand pulled taut.

Once the love lock was destroyed, the last proof of Eleanor’s love for Julian was gone.

Her flight to Provence was already booked.

She’d been staying at a hotel for the past few days, and Julian hadn’t reached out to her.

The butler from Blackwood’s Villa did call her a few times to check in, telling her the bedroom was redecorated and asking when she was coming back.

She didn’t mention she was leaving and just brushed him off with a vague answer.

The day before her departure, her agency called her in to discuss terminating her contract.

Eleanor paid the breach of contract fee for her endorsement and promptly released a statement announcing her retirement from the entertainment industry.

Sarah knew she was leaving for good and insisted on taking her to a very private bar for a drink.

She called it a farewell drink.

They had just gotten inside, before they’d even had a drink, when they ran into Julian.

Julian was in a custom–tailored suit, buttoned up tight, revealing only his prominent Adam’s apple and slender wrists, as if he’d just rushed from an international conference.

“Eleanor, come home.”