Chapter 5

Audrey POV

When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I saw was Julian's bloodshot eyes.

"Audrey!" He frantically gripped my hand, his voice hoarse and broken. "I'm so sorry... It's all my fault..."

I didn't cry, didn't scream. I didn't even ask about the culprit. I simply pulled my hand back, my voice calm. "How many days have I been asleep?"

"Three... a full three days."

Good. Four more days until I can go home.

I lowered my gaze, silently counting down the days.

"Audrey..." Julian's fingers brushed mine. "Don't you have anything you want to ask?"

I merely glanced at him, my gaze distant. "What do you think I should ask?"

Julian fell silent, completely at a loss for words.

After a long pause, Julian's eyes suddenly lit up. "Our wedding will be held on the island where we first met. I'll take you to see it when you have time, okay?"

The island...

My gaze softened slightly.

In a haze, the image of Julian, holding a vibrant seashell like a treasure, presenting it to me, became clear again.

His eyes then had shone brighter than the stars, saying, "The old fishermen say making a wish on it really works. I just wished for us to be together forever."

In my previous life, I'd clung to these warm fragments, repeatedly telling myself, "Julian loves me."

My phone buzzed, interrupting my thoughts. A concise message flashed across the screen.

"All arrangements completed."

Julian instantly clamped onto my wrist. "What arrangements?"

At the same time, his phone vibrated wildly. Julian abruptly hung up, but it rang three more times, the caller insistent.

"Answer it," I said, gently pulling my hand away. "Don't keep them waiting."

He hesitated for a moment, then finally got up.

Watching his frantic departure, a mocking smile touched my lips.

We had both silently agreed not to mention it, but I knew. The person who wouldn't stop calling, who wouldn't rest until she got her way, could only be Cassandra.

I looked down at my Aethelred travel documents, arranged by my brother, displayed on my phone. I whispered to myself.

"What arrangements?"

"Of course... the arrangements that will let me escape you completely."

Julian appeared to take my safety seriously now. Two bodyguards stood constant watch outside my door. Every move I made was shadowed.

But I knew the truth.

He wasn't protecting me. He was pacifying his own guilt.

The next evening, under the guise of a walk, I led my escorts to the hospital's secluded back garden. When the bodyguards' view was blocked, I reached up and unclasped the blue diamond necklace from my throat.

Julian had fastened it there himself. "Audrey, this has a GPS tracker. Wherever you are, if you're ever in danger, I'll come for you. Immediately."

But hadn't every storm and every danger in my life come from him?

I calmly broke the chain and tossed the necklace into the fountain.

The diamond caused a tiny ripple on the water's surface, just like the last bit of sincerity in my heart for this love, sinking silently.

Suddenly, footsteps rushed behind me.

Before I could turn around, a sharp pain shot through the back of my neck-

When I opened my eyes again, I was somewhere else. Somewhere ruined. I was tied up, unable to move.

A man with a scar across his cheek gripped my chin, his smile a cold slit. "Mrs. Thorne. You've been difficult to catch."