Chapter 11
After the call, Julian just sat there for hours. When he finally drove back to the mansion, he was a different man.
He walked in the door and found Ava watching a movie, a face mask on.
His only words were, “You knew. Didn’t you?”
She looked
up,
annoyed. “Knew what? And where have you been? Lily was asking for you all afternoon.”
He walked over and stood in front of her, his shadow falling over her. His eyes were glacial. I had never seen him look like that.
Neither had she.
She shrank back. “What is wrong with you? Don’t look at me like that. I’m not your little doormat of a substitute, Julian. I have a
temper.”
At her words, a terrible, broken sound tore from Julian’s throat. It was a laugh, but it was hollow and full of pain. And then, I saw
tears tracing paths down his cheeks.
“I remember,” he choked out. “She had a temper, too. A big one. The day I slapped her…I was sure she would make a scene, ruin the
whole party. But she didn’t.”
Because you only fight when you think you have a chance of winning. By then, I knew my place. I knew I had already lost.
Ava’s face went pale beneath the mask. “Chloe? You found out?
“Yes.”
“What?” she scoffed, her voice rising. “Don’t tell me now that she’s dead, you’ve suddenly realized you were in love with her all
along. Is that the cliché we’re playing at?”
Julian’s jaw was set like stone. “Yes. The wedding is off. I’m not marrying you.”
She shot to her feet. “No! You promised me! You promised you would marry me, that you would treat Lily as your own! You can’t
just take it back!”
His eyes narrowed. “If you hadn’t insisted she stay for the party, she would still be alive.”
Ava stared at him, then burst out laughing, a sharp, hysterical sound.
“You’re blaming me?” she shrieked. “You’re blaming me because you were too much of a coward to deal with your own feelings? Did you think I didn’t see it? The way you looked for her style of dress whenever we went shopping? The way you mumbled her na- me in your sleep? You were falling in love with her, and you couldn’t admit it!”
She jabbed a finger at his chest “The hypocrite here is you, Julian! You killed her just as much as I did! When I suggested she stay. you were relieved. Don’t deny it. You wanted another excuse to see her.”
He stood there and took it, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
I just watched, dumbfounded. What was any of this?
Outside, a storm had broken. Thunder rattled the windows. From upstairs, Lily started crying, calling for her mother and father.
Julian finally looked up, his eyes a web of red veins. He pointed a trembling finger at the door.
“Get out,” he said, his voice a low growl.
“Get out now.”
