Unmasked My CEO Ex-Husband’s Regret novel Chapter 18

"Julian."

Elara found Julian and asked, "Are you going to mingle now?"

Julian nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah."

"About how long will you be?"

"Not sure."

"Then Melody and I will go wait for you upstairs."

The lounges downstairs were also meant for other guests to use. If they were going to be waiting a while, it wouldn't be appropriate for them to hog the space.

"Sure."

Julian's mind was completely consumed with figuring out how to pacify Vivian, so Elara's suggestion played right into his hands. "You go ahead. I'll come find you when I'm done here."

Sensing his eagerness to leave, Melody gently tugged at Julian's hem. "Dad."

Forced to tear his eyes away from searching the crowd, Julian looked down at his daughter. "What is it?"

When it came to his daughter, Julian was still relatively patient. He wore a smile on his face, and his voice was much softer than when he spoke to Elara.

Melody was still too young to understand why things were like this.

She stared at Julian for a long moment before asking, "You'll come back soon, right, Dad?"

Julian paused, suddenly recalling his daughter's sharp intuition. Briefly shelving his urge to rush off, he crouched down and comfortingly patted her head. "Yeah, I'll try to be quick."

Then, looking past Melody to Elara, his tone lost some of its frantic impatience. "It's quiet upstairs, but there probably won't be any staff to wait on you. Grab some extra snacks for you and Melody."

Elara nodded. "I know."

Julian pinched his daughter's cheek and stood up, ready to leave, but Elara stopped him once more.

"Where is Ms. Winthrop?"

Elara looked around as if genuinely trying to spot her. "I haven't seen her since the speeches started. Will she be alright on her own?"

"She's with her family."

Julian waved his hand, grabbing a glass of champagne from a passing waiter's tray. "I'm heading out then."

Seeing him part ways with his wife and daughter, quite a few guests who had been watching from the sidelines approached to strike up a conversation. Julian exchanged a few perfunctory pleasantries before making a beeline straight for Sebastian.

Noticing his approach, the few young men chatting with Sebastian clinked glasses, took a sip, and tactfully excused themselves.

Sebastian turned to Julian, not saying a word, simply watching him in silence.

With a dark expression, Julian reached out and tapped his glass against Sebastian's. "Happy birthday."

Julian knew this perfectly well, but that wasn't what he really wanted to ask.

Sebastian undoubtedly understood exactly what he was getting at, yet he deliberately played dumb.

As if suddenly having an epiphany, Sebastian looked at him with exaggerated curiosity. "Did you not like it?"

It was a tactful phrasing. What Sebastian really wanted to ask was if his actions had wounded Julian's ego. He only refrained from being blunt out of fear that Julian would snap from sheer humiliation.

Julian denied it. "No."

"Then did I misread the situation?"

Sebastian's smile vanished. "Are you actually upset that I introduced Elara?"

"..."

"Why?"

Sebastian swirled his wine glass. The crimson liquid sloshed against the crystal, casting a blood-red sheen over Julian's reflection on the glass wall, making his features look somewhat distorted and wretched.

"Are you afraid of people knowing Elara is your wife?"

Sebastian fixed him with a half-smile. "Or are you afraid of everyone finding out that you're married?"