At 8:00 pm, Willow and Julian returned to Grandview Manor.
Time had passed, and things felt different.
The housekeepers, who had always liked Willow, were already lined up at the entrance to welcome her back. Their faces were full of joy.
“Welcome back, Mrs. Ziegler.”
“Congratulations for making up, Mr. and Mrs. Ziegler.”
“Will you dine together? The kitchen has everything prepared.”
Willow smiled faintly, but there was a touch of exhaustion in her eyes.
Julian gently wrapped his arm around her, playing the role of a considerate husband. He instructed the housekeepers, “She’ll rest for a bit. We’ll have dinner in an hour.”
After the housekeepers left, Julian looked down at Willow and spoke gently, “You’ve had a long day. How about a shower?”
Willow nodded, her attitude still distant.
Julian usually had a short temper, but tonight, he kept it in check.
Upstairs, in the master bedroom, Willow surveyed the room.
Everything she had destroyed before had been fixed, and the wedding photo above the bed had been replaced with a new one. In the picture, she still wore a sweet,
radiant smile.
The only thing that couldn’t be restored was the oil painting. Its empty space now held a new piece–a narrow alley lined with bare willow trees.
Willow stared at it for a long time.
Her fingers traced the familiar details. The empty wall was now adorned with a new painting, and the empty closet was filled with new clothes and new jewelry, but what about her heart?
The place in her heart reserved for Julian was now empty, and nothing could fill it.
Under the bright lights, Willow’s eyes glistened with emotion.
At some point, Julian entered the room and wrapped his arms around her slender waist from behind. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he murmured, “Can we do it tonight? It’s been a while.”
Before Willow could respond, he kissed her skin, trying to spark her passion.
Willow pushed aside her sadness and resisted. “Didn’t you tell the housekeepers that dinner is in an hour?”
He chuckled softly. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder. The housekeepers are all older than us. I’m sure they won’t disturb us.”
Willow didn’t reject him again.
She knew that returning to Grandview Manor meant she couldn’t avoid her marital duties.
She would simply pretend she had arranged for a man to entertain her tonight.
But as Willow was placed on the soft bed, tears silently fell from the comers of her eyes. She couldn’t forget how Julian had treated her in their past intimacy. Everything had been for him to plant his seeds in her body. She truly didn’t enjoy that.
Julian leaned over her.
He kissed her tears and asked gently, “Why are you crying?”
“Don’t ask.” Willow’s voice trembled.
She clung tightly to his neck, not allowing him to ask again. She even lifted herself to kiss his lips and chin.
Julian’s gaze grew heated as he looked at her face. A surge of unfamiliar emotion stirred in his chest,
They were about to become one.
Just then, Julian’s phone rang.
At the foot of the disheveled bed, his phone buzzed and rang from the pocket of his black coat,
Julian was in the middle of something far more pressing and had no intention of answering. But the caller was relentless. The phone kept ringing again and again, making it impossible to ignore.
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Willow pushed him away gently and panted. “You should answer it.”
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