b+25 /bBonus

Willow couldn’t help wondering how much Julian had to love Catherine for him not to care about rumors and gossip.

She didn’t want to watch them anymore and turned to leave. However, Catherine suddenly called out to her in a rather high- pitched voice. “Mrs. Ziegler.”

Willow turned around and fixed her gaze on the couple.

Catherine seemingly tightened her arms around Julian’s neck. She called out again in her supposed weak voice, “Mrs. Ziegler, there’s absolutely nothing going on between Julian and myself! I was just feeling unwell. That’s why he’s carrying me.”

Without waiting for Willow to respond, Nancy then piped up in an overly polite voice, “You must be Julian’s wife! Catherine and Julian are childhood friends, and Julian just takes care of her often. You don’t mind, do you?”

Willow looked at Julian.

Julian didn’t let go of Catherine. He just frowned a little.

Meanwhile, Willow had no interest in ying the jealousy or possessive game. She was just disgusted by both Catherine’s and Nancy’s behaviors. So, she chuckled coldly and said, “Mrs. Burke, it’s fine if your daughter wants to have fun behind closed doors, but there’s no need for them to poison the eyes of other innocent people.

“It doesn’t matter whether I mind them doing that or not. I think the real question is whether your daughter here minds that Julian is secondhand goods.”

Nancy lost her temper and blurted, “You rude, despicable orphan!”

“Mrs. Burke!” Julian roared, stopping her from speaking any further. Even though he was younger than Nancy, he still sounded like he demanded respect, and Nancy didn’t dare to speak another word after that.

Julian set Catherine on the ground and went over to grab Willow’s wrist. “I’ll exin everything to youter.”

Willow shook him off.

She looked at him and said in a mocking tone, “What’s there to exin? Julian Ziegler, can’t we just each preserve our dignity and move on? There really isn’t anything that needs exining between us.”

Charlie spoke up. “It’s just a misunderstanding.”

“Really?”

Willow turned to look at Charlie. “Can you promise that your daughter will never talk to Julian ever again?”

Charlie suddenly felt put on the spot.

Nancy chimed in at once. “Ms. Harper, in case you don’t know, you’re just an outsider if you’re not the loved one in the

rtionship.”

Charlie immediately yelled at her for that.

+25 Bonus

Meanwhile, Willow didn’t want to continue wasting her time with people like them. She just turned to Julian and said, “Think

about it carefully. The earlier you sign the papers, the faster you can give her the official title.”

Then, Willow turned on her heels and left without looking back.

Life was cruel like that. She had to take it by its horns if she wanted toe out of it alive.

Behind her, Julian stood frozen to the ground, under the maple tree, watching as Willow’s lonely figure disappeared out of sight.

His gaze was dark, and nobody knew what he was thinking about.

That evening, at the top floor balcony of the hospital, Willow rested her arms against the railings as she stared at the whole

scenery of Brindley. The sky was streaked with brilliant oranges, pinks, and purples as cloudszily sailed by in the sky.

Willow thought about the steps she would have to take after today. Just as she was in deep thought about her future, she heard the

sound of heavy yet steady footstepsing up from behind her.

She immediately turned around to see who it was. It turned out to be Jeffrey.

Under her watchful eyes, Jeffrey soon approached her and mimicked her pose on the rusty railing. A whileter, he turned to the

side and quietly observed Willow’s beautiful side profile.

“Was bit /bJulian again?” he asked gently.

Willow didn’t answer him.

Jeffrey didn’t seem to mind. He just turned back toward the sky and said in a low, maic voice, “You used to be so deeply in

love with him. Julian is the most outstanding person among us, the elite, and he knew what he wanted to do since he was very

young.

“I thought that I was already bad enough and greedy enough, but I never thought Julian would be so much more cruel than me.

He’s not just strict with other people–he was also just as strict with himself.

Once Jeffrey was done speaking, he stopped and turned to look at Willow next to him, keeping his silence.

The sun’s rays were quite blinding as it set. The tip of Willow’s nose was a little more red than usual–she’d probably just cried

for a bit just now.

Jeffrey swallowed thickly, his Adam’s apple slightly bobbing.