Chapter 11

With a face filled with rage, Zayn chased after Julie. He pulled her arm back once he reached her. "Did I say you could leave, Julie?" Julie scowled as she shook his hand off of hers, saying, "Let go." Zayn mocked coldly, "Why? Are you scared that your new boyfriend will see us like this? Do you even know who that guy is, Julie? Even if you try to seduce him, do you think the second son of the Chandler family will let you play him around like a fool like you did with me?" She shot him a glance with a poker face and just calmly said, "And is that any of your business?" "Why wouldn't it be? I'm your ex-boyfriend, after all." Julie never expected Zayn to be so shameless that he would even use the term "ex-boyfriend". She wanted to laugh. "Ex-boyfriend? Since when were you my ex-boyfriend?" Zayn's countenance froze as he recalled the words he said to Julie back in the VIP room. He felt a tad guilty, but only for a split second. "Julie, Blaine's not someone you can afford to play with. You can stop putting on an act." Julie just stared at him silently. How odd. She used to think they resembled each other. But now, he looked completely different. Especially now that Lucian was back, the difference was even more apparent. "Zayn, we're strangers now. You said it yourself that you've gotten sick of me." His expression froze. A trace of panic flashed in his eyes, but he quickly straightened his neck and said, "Don't you know what kind of person I am? You're trying to make this a big deal now?" Julie was about to speak, but before she could say anything, she saw Anna coming toward them. "Zayn." Zayn's face stiffened, and there was some panic in his eyes. He seemed to have come up with an idea as he stretched his arm to pull Anna toward him. "Let me introduce you to my girlfriend, Anna Fuller." When Zayn said these words, his eyes were locked firmly on Julie's face, as if hoping to catch even the slightest crack in her expression. But there was none. There was not a single shift in Julie's expression. "I just find you repulsive now, Zayn." Her words sucked the air out of Zayn's lungs, and he felt strangely panicked. He opened his mouth to say something, but Julie had already turned around and left. Zayn released Anna's hand and just said indifferently, "Feel free to leave first. I won't be sending you off." Anna was stunned for a moment and probed cautiously, "What about tomorrow's movie?" "We'll see. Something came up. I have to leave now." After he was done speaking, he did not even check on Anna and just headed straight for his car. Once Zayn was already inside the car, his mind kept replaying what Julie said earlier when she was leaving. "Repulsive?" How dare she? Could it be that she really no longer cared about him anymore? The possibility of her no longer having any interest in him got him feeling some pain in his chest. He whacked the steering wheel so hard that the car's ear-piercing alarm went off immediately. Suddenly, his phone rang. Zayn took a glimpse at his phone and saw that it was Megan who was calling. He answered the call and said, "Hello?" From the speaker, Megan could be heard choking back on her tears as she said, "Zay-Zay, I was wrong. Please don't break up with me. Please?" Zayn let out a loud sigh and said in a distant tone, "Megan, you definitely did me wrong this time." "I know. I won't do it again. I really love you, Zay-Zay. I don't want to break up." Megan's voice was soft and sweet, tugging on Zayn's heartstrings. He felt like Julie had never spoken to him with such tenderness before. She was always so poised. Thinking about Julie got Zayn feeling agitated again. "Will you be obedient from now on?" "Yes. I'll be extremely obedient." Megan's voice was still sad and whiny. "Okay. Stop crying, will you? We won't break up." "I didn't want to cry, but I just feel so sad whenever I think of how I won't get to see you again." "I'll be busy with work these two days. Once I'm done, I'll come find you at your campus. Be good," Zayn coaxed patiently. What was there to be angry about anyway? She was still young. What was wrong with her throwing a little tantrum? When Megan heard this, she smiled through her tears. "Okay, I'll be good. You should also not push yourself too hard at work, or I'll be sad." "Yeah. I have a meeting to attend, so I'm gonna hang up first. Be good." Zayn spoke patiently until he was done speaking. But before Megan could say anything in return, Zayn immediately hung up the phone and drove toward the company. From the window of the second floor, Lucian was watching everything like a hawk. Then, he began talking to Blaine, who was sitting across from him. "Do you know what's going on between Zayn Peyton and Julie?" Blaine hesitated for a while. "Luce, promise me you won't be angry." Lucian held the wine glass to his lips and took a sip. "Spill it." "I've only recently discovered that something's off. I think that Jules could be dating Zayn—" Before Blaine could even finish his sentence, he heard a loud crashing sound. Lucian had slammed the wine glass he was holding onto the table. Instantly, blood began flowing out from between his fingers. Blaine cried out in surprise, "Fuck! What the fuck! W-What the hell were you thinking?" Lucian shook his injured hand slowly and methodically before picking up the wet wipes from the side to wipe his hand. "Continue." Blaine gulped. "I think you've gone insane. I'm gonna leave now." Did Lucian really ask him to continue after everything? What a joke! After having been friends for many years, Blaine was very familiar with Lucian's violent temper. If he were to really continue, Lucian would throw the wine glass at his face instead! Staying away from Lucian meant staying safe and alive. When Blaine reached the door, he suddenly recalled something and said, "Oh, right. I've got something coming up this weekend, so I won't be able to go visit your grandma with you anymore. Bye." After Blaine left, Lucian took out his phone and punched in a series of numbers. The person picked up after ringing twice. "I need you to do a background check on…" As Lucian spoke on the phone, his gaze pierced through the window, locking in on Julie, who was sitting at the bus stop. She was waiting for the bus. His eyes never left Julie until she got on the bus. … Over the weekend, Julie went to visit her father in the hospital. She had just reached the door when she saw a group of people pushing a gurney out of the ward. Julie immediately went to stop them. "What do you think you're doing? Where are you taking my father?" The middle-aged man who was in the lead paused for a moment when he saw Julie. Then, he said, "Ms. Somers, we're arranging for Mr. Somers to be transferred to Emerald Sanatorium." The man who was speaking was Clarence Morrison. Julie recognized him as her mother's assistant. Julie was in disbelief. "My dad's doing just fine in this hospital. Why would he be transferred to the sanatorium?" The medical facilities of the sanatorium were far inferior to that of the hospital's. Julie had also heard of the sanatorium's horrible environment. The patients who entered the sanatorium were just waiting to die. "This was all Mrs. Somers' arrangement. You may contact Mrs. Somers if you have any other inquiries." Julie froze. She never thought that Mandy Kurtz, her mother, would be so cold-hearted. George and Mandy shared a marriage of 20 years. He led a respectable life for the first half of his life. Now, he was just lying silently on a gurney, and his destiny was in the palms of others. Looking at the current state of the man who had adored her for more than a decade made Julie feel sorry for him. She pitied him. This man was her father. Even if there was no hope left, she should not just leave him be. Julie left the hospital. She took the cab and went straight to Somers Residence. She stood in front of the house and rang the doorbell, but no one answered. When she tried to enter the password, it was said to be incorrect. She frowned. Ever since she left home after the big fight with Mandy six years ago, Julie had never once returned home. She did not expect the password to have changed. Jenny Abbot, a maid, was coming out of a car with vegetables in her hand. When she saw Julie, she asked tentatively, "Are you Ms. Somers?" Julie turned around. When she saw Jenny, she nodded her head slightly. "Yeah. It's been such a long time since I've been back. I can't remember the passcode anymore." Jenny immediately walked up to her and opened the door for Julie. Julie walked into the house and scanned the place, but no one was in. Then, Jenny said, "Mrs. Somers must have gone out with Mr. Somers Junior." Jenny felt a little awkward when she said this. Julie nodded. "I see. Thank you." Jenny did not say anything and just looked at Julie with pity. Julie did not mind it at all. She immediately went over to the couch and took a seat. "I'll just wait for her to come back." Jenny nodded. She then brought the groceries into the kitchen. She would peek at the living room from time to time, sighing softly. Eventually, she could not help it and asked, "Ms. Somers, will you start living here from now on?" Julie was about to say something when she heard the sound of the passcode lock coming from the entrance.