Chapter 3
Chapter 3
“Leave,” Julian ordered, his voice clipped and emotionless.
Martin and Alan exchanged a glance before silently exiting the room. Once the door shut behind them, Julian’s expression darkened even further.
As he leaned back against the leather chair, his gaze grew colder, layer by layer, like ice forming over a frozen lake. He didn’t believe Rosalie had truly agreed to the divorce.
Just yesterday, she had been adamant–unwilling to let go no matter what. He thought there was no way she could have had a sudden change of heart overnight.
A sharp, mocking chuckle escaped his lips as he ignored the divorce agreement Martin had delivered.
Pressing his fingers against his temple, he tried to push down the inexplicable irritation rising in his chest. He grabbed the nearest document, attempting to refocus.
But for some reason, the usually sharp and efficient man found himself unable to absorb a single word. His mind, which usually moved like clockwork, was now a jumble of thoughts he couldn’t untangle.
“Mrs. Galloway, are you heading out?” Clara Berry, one of the housemaids, paused at the sight of Rosalie descending the grand staircase, a suitcase in hand.
Everyone in the Galloway household–and even Julian’s extended family–knew that his marriage to Rosalie had never been built on love. It was an arrangement forced by Issac Galloway, and Julian had never let her forget that.
Now that Issac had passed, Julian had wasted no time in filing for divorce. No one could have been happy about it, least of all Rosalie–because everyone knew she was irrevocably in love with him.
Clara still remembered how the lawyer had shown up yesterday, delivering the divorce papers right in front of the staff, as if Rosalie’s feelings didn’t matter at all. She couldn’t help but glance at Rosalie with a tinge of sympathy.
Rumors had long whispered that Rosalie was nothing more than a substitute for the woman Julian truly loved. And now Clara felt like those whispers had been true all along.
“No, I’m moving out.” Rosalie offered Clara a small smile. “Clara, thank you for taking care of me this past year.”
She wasn’t a demanding mistress, never one to throw tantrums or make life difficult for the staff. The only thing she had ever been particular about was Julian.
Clara hesitated before asking, “You’re really leaving Mr. Galloway?”
Rosalie smiled again and nodded, though for the briefest moment, an ache flickered in her chest. She ignored it and stepped forward, heading for the door.
But after taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped. Turning back to Clara, she said, “Oh, and one more thing. Get someone to get rid of the lilies in the garden.”
“What?” Clara furrowed her brows. “But Mrs. Galloway, you planted those yourself.”
Rosalie’s smile didn’t waver. “Tear them out. Julian doesn’t like them.
She thought, pressing down the slight sting in her chest, ‘Since we’re getting divorced, I should make a clean break. Why leave anything behind to remind him–or to irritate him?‘
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Mon, 3 Mar
Chapter 3
With that, she turned and walked away without a single glance back, her steps steady, her heart resolved.
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When Julian returned home, the first thing he saw was a small excavator in the garden, ripping out the lilies by their roots. His expression instantly dropped to subzero. “What the hell is going on?” His voice was dangerously low.
“Mr. Galloway, you’re back.” Clara hurried over, sensing the storm brewing in his gaze. “Mrs. Galloway ordered it. She said-”
“She said what?”
“Mrs. Galloway said you don’t like them.”
She spoke carefully, choosing her words with caution as she stole a careful glance at him.
Julian’s face remained impassive, but Clara noticed the rigid set of his jaw, the brief flicker in his gaze. Then she hesitated before adding, “Mrs. Galloway has already left.”
‘Left?‘ Julian thought, startled.
The word hit him harder than he expected, stirring up that same restless, inexplicable unease that had plagued him all day at the office.
But outwardly, he betrayed nothing. His expression remained unreadable as he let out a quiet, indifferent hum and strode into the house. “Fine.”
Just as he reached the doorway, he gave a final command without looking back. “Tell them to stop. Restore everything to the way it was.”
“Yes, sir.” Clara didn’t understand what Julian was thinking. It was clear to anyone that he didn’t like Rosalie. She couldn’t understand why, now that they were getting a divorce, Julian still wanted to keep the flowers she had planted.
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