7
After Sybil was gone, the best medical teams in the world surrounded me, painstakingly putting me back
together.
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Chapter 2
It took a full six months before I was truly well again.
Throughout that time, Julian came to see me every single day.
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He ignored the cold shoulders and hostile glares from my parents, relentlessly trying to win me over with small kindnesses and desperate apologies. He looked at me as if I were a priceless gem he had almost los
forever.
On the day I was discharged, he was still there, begging.
‘Rosalie, please don’t divorce me. I truly can’t live without you.”
Even the elder Mr. Wheeler came to plead his grandson’s case.
looked at the old man, who seemed to have aged a decade in the past six months, and felt a pang of sym
pathy. He had always been kind to me.
He sincerely begged me to forgive Julian one last time, promising me anything I wanted as compensation-
even a controlling stake in Wheeler Corporation itself.
But I no longer cared about any of that.
sighed and told him the truth. “Grandpa, during the earthquake, my injuries didn’t have to be so severe.
have a degree in architecture. I knew exactly where the safest structural point was in that building.”
paused, letting the weight of my words settle. “But just as I reached it, two people pushed me out of th
way.”
The elder Mr. Wheeler was a sharp man. I didn’t need to say another word. He understood.
He didn’t try to persuade me again.
As he was turning to leave, Julian walked in, a bouquet of flowers in his hands and a hopeful smile on hi:
ace, ready to celebrate my release from the hospital.
He never saw the cane coming. The elder Mr. Wheeler swung it with all his might, catching Julian squarely
on the brow.
Blood gushed from the wound.
‘You monster! How dare you show your face here!”
Before Julian could even stammer a response, the cane struck again, this time at the back of his knees.
“Kneel! Apologize to your wife!”
Julian, realizing his grandfather now knew what he had done on that day, sank to his knees and shuffled towards me.
“My love, please, forgive me. If you hate Sybil, I can make her disappear forever. Just don’t divorce me. I promise, there will never be another woman…”
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Chapter 2
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My father didn’t even have to move. The elder Mr. Wheeler grabbed Julian by the back of the head and sla mmed his face into the hard floor. “Is this your idea of a sincere apology? What kind of animal pushes hi own wife out of a safe zone in a moment like that?”
As Julian lay there, his face bloody and broken, I looked calmly at the two of them.
“Grandpa,” I said, my voice gentle but firm. “Allow me to call you that one last time. What Julian did to me…
no longer care. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
‘All I want now is to never have to see him again.”
‘My lawyers have already drawn up the divorce agreement. This is our last chance for a peaceful separation
f he refuses to sign this time, I’m afraid you’ll find that no company in this country is willing to do busines
with Wheeler Corporation ever again.”
‘Goodbye, Grandpa.”
My parents were waiting for me at the door. I looked at them, my eyes filling with tears of relief.
Then, my steps light and free, I ran into their arms.
