Casually, Willow replied, “It’s good that you’ll be back.”

Julian wanted to say more, but Willow hung up on him. She put her phone away and took the two concert tickets out, which had them seated side–by–side.

Her head was lowered as she stared at the tickets for a long time, remembering how excited she had been when she received the news that day. Now, she just felt like an idiot.

Thankfully, she wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Willow ended up throwing the two tickets into a trash can on the side of the road.

She wrapped herself in a thick down jacket and stepped into the cold night. Sometimes, even clothes treated her better than a man. At least her clothes kept her warm on a cold night.

It was bthe /bafternoon in Grandsburg. A castle–likeplex stood near the cathedral. That was the most famous hospital in the area, which had the best doctors in the world. A lot of rich people would have their seriously ill family members treated there.

Julian stood at the end of the corridor, quietly smoking a cigarette. He was thinking of his wife, who was back in Brindley. 2

The sun was shining brightly outside the window, but it couldn’t prate the icy ss, let alone warm his body. He was thinking about how Willow must have trudged through the ice and snow in Brindley that day. Was she freezing? Was she in pain?

Julian’s slender fingers trembled as he held the cigarette, and his gaze deepened. At that moment, he heard a woman cry out from behind him.

“I’m not leaving! I want to see Julian! Where is he? He said I could stay in Brindley as long as I did what he said-”

There was amotion, and someone tried taking Catherine back to the ward to draw her blood, but she insisted on seeing Julian.

She broke free and ran over to Julian barefoot. The hospital gown she was wearing hung loosely on her thin body, making her look frail and without her former innocence.

She clung to the sleeve of Julian’s coat and desperately begged, “Don’t be so cruel, Julian! I’ll listen to you. I won’t be so stubborn from now on. I won’t swap blood bags again. Don’t leave me here!”

Julian turned around to look at her expressionlessly. “Can I even trust you anymore?”

the

Tears streamed down Catherine’s face. She tightly grabbed Julian’s sleeve as if he was herst hope. She kept apologizing, saying that she would never harm her sister again. 1

Julian didn’t fall for it, though. He wouldn’t have made it to where he was if he was such a softhearted person.

He shed Catherine a sneer. “Someone almost died because bof /byour nonsense. There’s a limit to how stubborn you can be, Catherine. I don’t want something like this to happen again.”

At that moment, Catherine’s parents showed up. There was an indescribable expression on Charlie’s face.

Julian shot the nurse a look, who quickly dragged Catherine away. Nancy followed them with tears in her eyes, leaving Julian and Charlie behind.

Julian passed Charlie a cigarette. “Mr. Burke.”

Charlie lit it and took a deep puff, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly. “I’m so sorry, Julian. You’ve given us so much over the years, both financially and emotionally. We wouldn’t have made it this far without you. I’m sorry that Catherine is bso /bimmature. She’s caused byou /ba lot bof /btrouble. Your wife doesn’t me you for it, does she?”

Obviously, Julian wasn’t going to talk about his personal rtionships. All he did was sh a bitter smile. Any man would understand what it meant.

Charlie hesitated for a momentb. /b“Make sure to exin everything when you’re back in Brindley. Don’t let this create a rift between you and your wife.”

At the mention of Brindley, Julian added, “Things have pretty much calmed down over bhere/bb, /bso I’m nning bto /btake ba /bspecial flight back to Brindley tomorrow morning. Willow’s grandmother is undergoing surgeryb, /bso I have to go back no matter whatb./b”

Charlie seemed to understand. “Of courseb, /bof bcourse/bb./b”

Once he was done smoking, Charlie left. Julian stood there on his own for a long time, checking his phone from time to time to see if Willow had sent him any messagesb. /b

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