Lost and Found

This was the third time Vivienne had barged into our room without knocking, interrupting the conversation between Julian and me.

She walked straight up to Julian’s side, picked up a knee cushion, and strapped it onto his knee.

Her mouth was filled with gentle, solicitous instructions: “Mr. Julian, it’s raining outside today, your leg will hurt. Let me massage it for you.”

Julian looked at her with a faint smile, neither refusing nor accepting.

The young girl naturally took it upon herself, busying herself with total familiarity.

I quietly observed their interaction, a storm of mixed emotions churning in my chest.

Ever since Julian was injured in a car accident and forced to recuperate at home, the entire burden of the corporation had fallen squarely on my shoulders.

I was constantly away on business trips year-round, only to return and find my husband sharing sweet, cozy interactions with another girl.

Though my expression remained calm, my heart was boiling with a bitter, sour ache.

Completely oblivious to her own overstepping, Vivienne even turned back to offer me an explanation: “Ms. Clara, Mr. Julian cannot sit for too long. If he sits too long, he needs a massage, otherwise he gets uncomfortable.”

“Of course, these are things you wouldn’t know how to do. It’s better for me to handle it—I’m already used to it.”

“During the few days you weren’t home, it was always me walking outside with Mr. Julian and helping him with his physical therapy.”

In every word and action, the young girl deliberately leaked a sense of showing off and possessiveness, her eyes flashing with blatant provocation.

I curved the corners of my lips in a cold smirk; I had only been away from home for a few days, and already a minor assistant dared to test my boundaries.

“Are you finished?”

“More or less. Oh, and right…”

Vivienne smiled innocently and sweetly: “You two shouldn’t chat for too long, okay? It’s almost time for Mr. Julian’s dinner, and he has to take his medication right after.”

She turned to Julian with a sweet smile: “Mr. Julian, we can’t go for a walk today because of the rain, but the roses in the glass greenhouse are blooming exceptionally well.”

“I know.”

Vivienne seemed thoroughly pleased with Julian’s response, feeling all the more triumphant in provoking me.

As she turned around, her cheeks were flushed pink and her steps were light, practically soaring away with joy.

However, my mood was pitch black; I simply couldn’t stand seeing anyone else look so blissfully happy right now.

“Assistant Vivienne.”

“Yes? Does Ms. Clara have any instructions?”

“You don’t need to come tomorrow.”

Vivienne’s eyes instantly reddened, looking as deeply wronged as if the sky had fallen.

“I… what did I do wrong? I was only caring for Mr. Julian…”

Julian waved a hand dismissively: “You may leave first.”

The young girl’s large, doe-like eyes welled up with big tears, looking pitifully adorable before she finally burst into sobs and fled the room.

“She’s just an assistant, is she really worth getting angry over?”

“I don’t like her.”

“But I think Vivienne is wonderful; she has taken care of me for a whole year.”

I silently looked at Julian.

He was shielding her.

Or rather, he simply couldn’t bear to let her go.

On Julian’s face remained that flawless, immaculate smile, making it look as though I were throwing a completely unreasonable tantrum.

In his eyes flickered a bizarre gentleness: “Don’t you think she looks a lot like you used to be?”

A sharp pain stabbed through my chest; he could actually show such blatant partiality toward an outsider.

Using the exact same excuse.

This was the first time I had ever seriously contemplated divorce.

Yet Julian knew all too well how to manipulate me.

He grabbed my hand, pulling me into a sudden embrace that tumbled me straight into his chest.

His legs still hadn’t fully healed, so I struggled instinctively, afraid of hurting him.

But his waist and arms locked around me with unbreakable tightness.

“Don’t move, let me hold you for a moment.”

“But your injury…”

“It’s fine. Even if my legs were completely crippled, you’d still be able to sit on top.”

My earlobe was gently nibbled by him, carrying an affectionate yet intensely intimate weight: “Wife, I’ve missed you so much.”

My entire body tensed up awkwardly; this man was always like this.

Clearly knowing I was upset, he always chose this exact method to defuse it.

The man’s fingers slid inside the hem of my blouse, his fingertips carrying a chilly, goosebump-inducing coldness.

“Were you injured when you were caught in a robbery in Florence two months ago?”

“Just a minor scratch, it’s already healed.”

“Such a robbery case happened to coincide like that?”

“Just an accident.”

Julian pulled me even tighter into his arms.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t by your side during that time.”

In recent years, the Vance Corporation had been rising rapidly like the tide, inevitably drawing fierce jealousy and envy.

Coupled with how sharp and prominent Julian had been in his younger days, he had offended a multitude of adversaries.

Not only had he been targeted and framed by enemies, but even the peace and safety surrounding me had been shattered.

I knew full well that robbery wasn’t a mere accident, but I chose to keep it from him to spare him unnecessary worry.

I gently patted his back: “It’s already in the past.”

We stood in silence, holding one another close, as if those hidden perils were nothing more than passing smoke and clouds.

After a brief moment of quiet, Julian suddenly broke the silence: “Your current position makes it all too easy to attract the winds that topple tall trees.”

My heart tightened slightly, but a calm smile remained on my lips.

“Rest assured, I can handle it.”

Julian’s pupils darkened profoundly, though in the end, he kept his mouth shut and said nothing more.