9
Julian Hayes. He had lost a lot of weight, his suit hung loosely on him, and his face was as pale as a ghost. But his eyes were still so dark, so deep, staring straight at me.
“Claire,” he spoke, his voice hoarse and broken. “I finally found you.”
Mark frowned, stepping in front of me. “Who are you?”
Julian didn’t even look at him, his gaze fixing on me over Mark’s shoulder. “Come home
with me.”
The living room instantly fell silent. Mark’s dad turned off the TV. Everyone was staring at
the three of us.
I took a deep breath, walked to Mark’s side, and took his hand. “Julian Hayes, get something straight. We’re already divorced.”
Julian’s eyes finally moved, falling on our clasped hands. “Who is he?”
“My boyfriend.” I looked straight into Julian’s eyes. “Please leave.”
13:36 Mon, 4 Aug A·
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<
Julian suddenly laughed. “Boyfriend? Claire Reynolds, have you forgotten whose woman.
you are?”
He stepped forward, reaching for my hand. Mark violently pushed him away. “Get out!”
Julian stumbled, his eyes instantly turning fierce. It was then I noticed two bodyguards
standing behind him.
“Don’t start anything!” I quickly stepped between them. “Julian Hayes, what do you want?”
He stared at me intensely, pulling a small box from his pocket. “I brought you a gift.”
Inside the box was a diamond ring, three times larger than the one from our wedding.
“Marry me again. I’ll give you anything.”
I looked at his bloodshot eyes and suddenly felt a surge of absurdity.
“Julian Hayes, where were you when your son died?” I asked softly. “Where were you when I almost died on the operating table?”
He looked at me, saying nothing.
“It’s too late for all this now, I pushed the ring back to him, saying word for word, “I’m in
love with someone else.”
Julian’s hands began to tremble. “Because of him?” He pointed at Mark. “A fisherman?
Claire Reynolds, are you out of your mind?”
Mark grabbed his collar. “Try insulting her again.”
The two bodyguards immediately stepped forward. I quickly pulled Mark back. “Ignore him. We’ll call the police.”
Seeing this, Julian suddenly grabbed my wrist. “Claire, I know I was wrong.”
“I think about dying every day, I can’t live without you…”
I forcefully pulled my hand away. “Then why don’t you just die?”
<
13:36 Mon, 4 Aug ▲ 0.
Julian’s eyes widened. He stumbled back two steps, his gaze unfocused.
“Okay…” He nodded. “As you wish.”
He pulled a gun from his jacket and aimed it directly at his temple!
“No!”
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I lunged to snatch it away. The gun went off, the bullet piercing the ceiling. The three of us fell to the floor, the gun sliding into a corner. Julian held me tightly, like a drowning man to a life raft.
“Claire, Claire…” He buried his face in my neck, hot tears soaking my clothes. “Please…”
Mark scrambled to get the gun but was held down by the bodyguards. The scene instantly erupted into chaos.
I pushed Julian away with all my strength, then slapped him hard across the face!
“Are you awake now?” I gasped. “Julian Hayes, look at yourself. You truly disgust me!”
He clutched his face, his eyes finally focusing a little. I said, word for word, “I don’t love
you anymore. The moment you stood by and watched Vivian Thorne kill our baby, I hated
you.”
Julian collapsed to the floor, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, all life drained out
of him.
The police arrived and took Julian Hayes and his bodyguards away. Before he left, he
turned back to look at me one last time.
Mark put his arm around my shoulders. “It’s okay now.”
10
