Julian is very busy.
"You don't want to, she was choosing between her empire and a dying friend," Emily answered, tears in the eyes of her clients. "So I disappeared. I gave birth alone. I fought chemotherapy alone. And by some miracle... I'll get the diagnosis."
Julian's hands clenched into fists. Anger, sadness, betrayal—all of it grew at once.
"You didn't trust me enough to strike at your side?"
Emily sobbed quietly. "I didn't trust myself to survive."
A small hand tugged at her sleeve.
"Mom... I'm sleepy," Lila whispered.
Julian knelt down, reaching for his help, which reached the child's high eyes. His voice was broken. "Do you want to sleep in the bedroom tonight?"
The girl nodded.
He turned to Emily, his tone firm and unyielding. "You won't leave. Not tonight."
Emilia shook her head. "Julian, I can't—"
"Yes, you can," he interrupted. His eyes burned with a mixture of anger and longing. "You're not a stranger. You're my child. And I lost you once. I won't lose you again."
Emily stared at him, tears streaming down her tired face. For the first time in years, she was taking a breather.
And in that vast, silent mansion, where solitude had reigned for so long, something stirred—fragile, unfinished, but alive again.
