Chapter 6

Zoe Vance POV

Dressed in an oversized hospital gown, I stood at the doorway with Adrian supporting me. My face was still pale, but my eyes were terrifyingly clear.

In the hallway, Vanessa Shaw was wrapped tightly in Julian Lennox's arms. They looked intimate, like a perfect couple.

At the sound of the door opening, Julian snapped his head up and locked eyes with me. In that split second, he shoved Vanessa away as if he'd been electrocuted.

"Zoe, let me explain, it's not what you think..." Julian took a step forward, desperately trying to speak.

"Mr. Lennox," I cut him off, my voice flat and devoid of any emotion, as if looking at two complete strangers. "There is no need to explain. You and Ms. Shaw make a lovely couple. I wish you eternal happiness."

There was no anger, no jealousy, not even a trace of lingering emotion. The eyes that once overflowed with love for him now held nothing but a barren, dead silence.

"Zoe Vance! What kind of nonsense are you spouting!" Julian panicked completely. His eyes bloodshot, he lunged forward, trying to grab my shoulders. "You clearly know I hate her! You clearly know—"

"Mr. Lennox, mind your manners." Adrian stepped forward, shielding me firmly behind his back. A frost covered his usually gentle face, and his sharp gaze locked onto Julian. "Zoe is my fiancée now. She hasn't recovered yet, so please stop yelling and upsetting her."

"Fiancée? How dare you mark your territory in front of me!" Julian's sanity seemed to snap entirely upon hearing the word "fiancée."

Watching Adrian's protective stance, he suddenly threw a punch with brutal force, slamming it directly into Adrian's face.

*Bam!*

Caught off guard, Adrian stumbled back several steps. Fresh blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his glasses fell to the floor, shattering.

"Adrian!" I gasped. Without a second thought, I flung my arms wide and shielded him, glaring at Julian like a lioness protecting her cub. "Julian Lennox, what are you, crazy?! If you want to hit someone, hit me!"

Julian's raised fist froze in mid-air.

I let out a bitter, silent laugh. For ten years, I had thrown myself in front of him countless times, shielding him from harm. But now, the person I was protecting had changed, and he was the one trying to inflict the pain.

"For him... you would stand against me?" Julian's voice trembled violently, his red-rimmed eyes shattered with despair.

"Julian Lennox, I only ask you to let me go. Consider it my plea." I didn't answer his question, only dropping those cold words before turning to support Adrian. "Let's go."

Supporting each other, we slowly walked down the hallway. From beginning to end, I never looked back at Julian Lennox even once.

...

Late at night, Glamour Lounge.

Entrusted by Clara Lennox, I came here to pick up Julian.

Deafening heavy metal music masked the decadence in the corner booth. Julian sat inside, surrounded by empty bottles. Like a soulless husk, he poured glass after glass of hard liquor down his throat.

"That's enough! Stop drinking!" Paul Preston snatched the glass from his hand, glaring at him in frustration. "What's the use of drinking yourself to death? If you knew it would end like this, why did you do those things in the first place? If you had been a bit nicer to her back then, would you have driven her into another man's arms?"

"You don't understand!" Julian glared back with drunken, blurry eyes, like a wounded beast making its final stand. "She won't leave... She loved me for ten years. How could she just stop loving me out of nowhere? She's only mad at me. She's just throwing a tantrum..."

"A tantrum? She literally risked her life to sign a contract and wouldn't even spare you a glance, and you call that a tantrum?" Paul sneered. "Julian Lennox, face it—you've fallen in love with her. You can't live without her. The pathetic state you're in right now is the best proof of that!"

"I haven't! How could I fall in love with a servant!" Julian bolted upright, only to crash heavily back onto the sofa because of the alcohol. He buried his face in his hands, letting out a cornered wail from his throat. "I'm just... I'm just not used to her not being by my side. Yes, I'm just not used to it..."

Paul looked at him and sighed helplessly.

Wearing a thin trench coat, I walked over expressionlessly. If Clara hadn't called me weeping, begging me because Julian was drinking himself to the brink of a stomach perforation, I wouldn't have stepped a single foot back into this man's world for the rest of my life.

The moment I appeared, Julian's dull, vacant eyes instantly lit up. Like a drowning man grasping a lifeline in the dark, he stumbled forward and pulled me tightly into his embrace.

"Zoe... you came. I knew you wouldn't abandon me..." Julian buried his head in the crook of my neck, his voice heavily nasal like an aggrieved child.

I was choked by his tight grip. Coldly pushing against his hard chest, my voice held no warmth whatsoever. "Mr. Lennox, you're drunk. Mrs. Lennox asked me to take you home."