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Chapter 13
Full City usually had more rain than snow.
But that winter, it snowed several times.
On my birthday, my department went out for dinner My coworkers surrounded me, a lit candle on
the cake.
They cheered for me to make a wish.
My wishes had changed so much over the years.
Once, I wished my dad would love me more.
Then I lived with my mom, tried to please her new family, and prayed she’d give me a little love too.
Later, I just wished I could stay with Julian forever.
After so many years of pain, I finally realized I’d spent my whole life begging others to love me.
I should have been wishing I’d love myself.
I closed my eyes and whispered my wish.
This year, I hope Lina Moore loves herself more.
Somewhere I didn’t know, Julian worked through his injuries for months.
He’d been healthy before, but he grew weaker and weaker.
Mrs. Hale kept telling him to rest at the family mansion, but he went back to that small apartment every night after work.
On one of those drives home, his assistant called.
The custom jewelry they’d ordered had a defect–should they pick a new color, or wait for the right materials?
Julian stared out the window, ready to answer–then his voice caught. He told the driver to pull
over.
He rolled the window down, and his heart skipped.
He saw me, completely out of nowhere.
I looked at him like he disgusted me, every time.
Chapter 13
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Julian hadn’t been able to face me for a long time.
But that day, he saw a different side of me.
The air outside was freezing.
But I looked happy, laughing genuinely with the people next to me.
When I glanced toward the car, Julian quickly rolled the window up.
In the dark silence, I faded from his sight.
And with me went the last bit of warmth in the car.
Julian sat frozen, a sharp, suffocating ache spreading through his chest.
Every lie he’d told himself these months fell apart.
Everything he’d done–all the control, all the manipulation–had only pushed me further away.
His assistant waited patiently on the line. “Sir?”
Julian closed his eyes, letting darkness take him.
“Never mind.”
It didn’t matter anymore.
He’d never have the right to give me anything again.
Chapter 1 Let’s get divorced
