When he wasn't busy, he would accompany her to wander around the city.

Xie Yuzhou was very knowledgeable, and no matter where they went, he could always talk at length about the history and culture of any given landmark.

Elara always listened with great interest.

Until one time, when Xie Yuzhou came home late from work, Elara saw him clutching his abdomen with a pale complexion, and she guessed he must be suffering from stomach pain.

Her cooking wasn't great, but she made him some instant noodles, and Xie Yuzhou ate them with relish.

The relationship between the two grew much closer invisibly, gradually turning into friendship.

Elara had almost stopped thinking about the past with Julian for a long time.

However, on this day, Xie Yuzhou was finally taking a rare day off and planned to cook himself.

The two of them went to the supermarket together to buy a large haul of food, and at the entrance, Elara saw a familiar figure.

The bag of apples she was carrying dropped.

The apples rolled out of the bag, tumbling along until they rolled to Julian’s feet.

Julian’s current appearance looked even more wretched than it had a month ago.

He wore a long trench coat, his frame extremely thin, and his eyes stared fixedly at her with a fanatical intensity.

Ever since waking up in the hospital, he had rushed back to the Jiang residence the very next day, despite his injuries.

However, the Jiang family gates remained tightly shut, and no matter how he begged, no one would open the door for him.

He simply knelt at the gate of the Jiang residence, guarding it day and night, begging for Elara to see him once.

After kneeling for two days, he collapsed into a coma from a high fever and was sent back to the hospital.

In the end, an old maid from the Jiang family who had watched him grow up took pity on him and told him that Elara had long since gone abroad and wasn't at home.

Julian looked at Elara with red-rimmed eyes:

"Elara, I’ve been looking for you all this time. Your brother deliberately gave me a lot of wrong information. I’ve been flying all over the world for the past month, searching one place after another, and I’ve finally found you."

"Elara, I really know I was wrong. Please, give me some time; can we just talk, please?"

Seeing Elara’s poor complexion, Xie Yuzhou lowered his eyes and said gently:

"Do you know him?"

Elara pressed her lips together and bent down to pick up the apples on the ground.

Julian also bent down to help her pick up the ones by his feet.

However, Elara ignored the ones in his hand, and after picking up the others, she said directly to Xie Yuzhou:

"Let’s go. Let’s go home."

From the moment Julian saw them, he had been observing Xie Yuzhou calmly.

Hearing Elara mention the word "home," his pupils constricted, and he stepped forward a bit ungracefully, blocking Elara’s path.

"Elara, who is he to you? Why are you going home together?"

Xie Yuzhou raised his hand, holding Elara’s arm, and shielded her behind him.

He narrowed his eyes, looking coldly at Julian: "And who might you be?"

Julian said without hesitation:

"I am her husband!"

Elara couldn't help but let out a light scoff: "Husband?"

She looked at Julian with icy eyes; even without stating it outright, the mockery in her gaze was sharp enough to pierce.

"Mr. Julian, you’re quite young, is your memory already failing you? You signed the divorce agreement yourself; have you forgotten so soon?"

"If you really can’t remember, go home and flip through the divorce certificate; you’ll surely remember then."

Chapter 22

Elara’s heartless and mocking words pierced him without mercy.

Pain spread through Julian’s heart, and he spoke with difficulty:

"Elara, I admit, I was stupid back then. I arrogantly thought you were just acting out of spite and that you couldn't really divorce me… I never thought of truly divorcing you, never thought I would lose you."

Elara repeated the word "never" from his mouth with a sense of amusement.

She raised her eyes to look at him:

"Julian, you are an adult. The moment you signed your name, you knew very well that it was truly possible for us to divorce."

"Stop deceiving yourself. In your heart, Julian, wasn't there a moment where you were also hoping to divorce me?"

Julian was startled and immediately said with a trembling voice:

"I didn't..."

Elara chuckled, her tone very certain: "You did."

She looked at him, her gaze as cold and thin as if she were looking at a stranger.

"We grew up together, and just because I loved you, you indulged yourself and indulged Chloe, encroaching on my bottom line time and again."

"You watched me heartbroken for you, in agony for you; my pain became your pleasure. You arrogantly believed that I couldn't leave you, that no matter what you did wrong, I would only stand in place foolishly waiting for you to turn back."

"But there was also a moment where you actually thought about divorce. Because the ingrained flaws in your character made you loathe such peaceful happiness. Like your father, you pursued excitement and thrills. You had long since fallen for Chloe."

"That is why you chose to indulge Chloe in hurting me, even though you knew full well I could never forgive it. That is why you ended up out of control and intimate with Chloe in the office!"

Elara raised her hand abruptly and pulled up the sleeve on her arm, revealing the three scars.

Standing to the side, Xie Yuzhou’s pupils constricted as he looked at the wounds on her arm.

And Julian’s face turned deathly pale.

Elara smiled mockingly, looking at him with tears in her eyes:

"Julian, stop playing the part of the devoted lover!"

"If you had truly never fallen for Chloe, if you had truly just been deceived, how could you have cut me three times for her sake, nearly costing me my life?"

Julian’s lips trembled, and he was left speechless.

Elara’s words were like a powerful hand, tearing away the last layer of fig leaves hiding his heart.

Julian had deceived himself countless times, believing he, too, had been deceived, that even if he had made mistakes, there was still redemption.

He had turned back before it was too late, and he had even made Chloe pay the price.

But Elara’s words left him no room for self-deception.

Even though he realized that the person he loved most would always be Elara, even though he had turned back in time and had even furiously punished Chloe…

He could not hide the fact that he had truly thought about letting Chloe be his woman.

He had even tested Elara’s bottom line time and again, and once Elara retreated again…

Julian opened his mouth, but couldn't speak; his language became powerless and pale.

Watching his颓然 (dejected) state after being exposed, Elara sneered, walked straight past him, and went directly home.

Xie Yuzhou gave Julian a cold look, then carried the bags and followed behind Elara.

Julian raised his eyes, looking at Elara’s back: "Elara..."

Elara turned a deaf ear to his call and went straight home.

She sat blankly on the sofa for a long time, only coming back to her senses when the scent of food hit her nose.

Turning back to look, she discovered Xie Yuzhou had already cooked many delicious dishes and was placing them on the table one by one.

Elara felt awkward: "Sorry, I thought I was supposed to help you."

A warm smile appeared on Xie Yuzhou’s face as he handed her the chopsticks: "Finishing all these dishes can count as helping out."

Elara took the chopsticks and began to eat.

Xie Yuzhou didn't ask much about the situation between her and Julian, but she subconsciously began to pour her heart out to him.

She didn't dare tell those stifled feelings to her family, afraid they would worry.

But facing the half-familiar Xie Yuzhou, she didn't have such scruples.

She didn't have much of a tolerance for alcohol, and as she talked, she drank more than half a bottle of red wine and became drunk before long.

Yet, she kept clutching the wine bottle in her hand, refusing to let go.

Xie Yuzhou stood up, took the bottle from her hand, picked her up, and headed toward her room.

Elara leaned into his arms, tears flowing silently.

She suddenly lowered her head and bit down hard on his shoulder.

Xie Yuzhou felt the pain but didn't let her go; instead, he subconsciously hugged her tighter, afraid she might fall.

Lying on his shoulder, her breath sprayed against his neck.

Her voice was so faint it was almost inaudible, but he still heard her regret-filled words:

"Why is it that even when I’ve clearly grasped happiness, I still lose it..."