Chapter 25
Nathan stared at the thick stack of engagement invitations in his hands, and it felt like they weighed a ton.
Give up? How could he even consider it?”
If giving up was that easy, he wouldn’t be Nathan.
His eyes
clouded over, the pain swirling inside them.§
On his way out of the hospital, he caught sight of the massive screen across the street. It used to show his desperate apology, but now it was playing Vincent’s grand confession to Julia.
On screen, Vincent–perfect, charming, everything Nathan wasn’t–was down on one knee in a fairytale castle covered in roses. He kissed the back of Julia’s hand, poured his heart out, and told her everything he felt.
Julia smiled, soft and sweet, and said yes.
De by that her
Watching it, Nathan couldn’t help but remember his own proposal to her. He could still feel that summer night: the city lit up with fireworks, the two of them beneath the bursting colors, him kneeling and telling her he loved her.”
Julia had smiled at him then, too. She’d said yes.
Back then, her world had revolved around him.§
But now, she looked at someone else with that same light in her eyes.”
The pain in his chest was so sharp it nearly knocked the air out of him. Nathan’s face went pale, bitterness flooding his heart.}
He went home to the villa–he’d already turned it back into the place it was before she left, down to the tiniest details.)
He kept buying new things, over and over, but Julia never came back.
He became obsessed, clearing out every florist in the city of red roses, just because Julia loved them.
He’d bid on and won that over–the–top necklace that was supposed to mean “true love,” and he’d learned to bake her favorite cake, making it himself, wanting it to be perfect.
When everything was ready, he headed to the Crown Hotel.
He filled the hallway outside her door with roses–endless, dazzling red.
Nathan stood with a homemade cake in one hand and a gift box in the other, waiting. He knocked, heart pounding.
The door opened. Julia stood there in a bathrobe, hair dripping wet, water trailing down her neck.}
“What are you doing here?” she asked, frowning, scanning him up and down.”
He held out the cake and the box, gesturing to the sea of roses behind him. “I wanted to surprise you. I want to try again, Julia.”§
“I remember everything you love. I brought it all. I know I messed up before, and you can hate me, blame me, whatever you want–just give me another chance.”
Julia’s gaze was icy. “Nathan, people change. I don’t like these things anymore. And honestly, I don’t like you anymore, either.”
She brushed past his hands and started to close the door.
“Wait!” Nathan jammed his hand in the doorway, ignoring the pain, refusing to let her shut him out.
“Tell me what you want. If it’s mine, it’s yours!“}
Julia let out a cold, almost amused laugh. “I want nothing. I just want you to hurt.“@”
Nathan froze, then nodded, determination hardening in his eyes. “Alright. If you want to see me in pain, I’ll show you.” Without another word, he snatched a fruit knife from the table and, without flinching, dragged it across his arm.
Blood welled up, spilling onto the roses at his feet–so red it was impossible to tell what was blood and what was flower. But Nathan didn’t stop. He kept going, cutting again and again, as if hurting himself could somehow bring her back.
