Lost and Found

Julian’s overseas business trip stretched past a full month.

Aside from brief, functional itinerary status updates, communication between us virtually ceased.

True to his words, this served as a cooling-off period for both parties to recalibrate.

The corporate machinery resumed its standard orbit, leaving me to wield absolute autonomous authority once more.

To my genuine surprise, the exhilaration of wielding unchecked power had evaporated, replaced by a lingering, desolate emptiness.

I actually found myself reminiscing about the days spent hashing out strategies side-by-side with Julian whenever headwinds arose.

At this juncture, I was entirely empowered to ruthlessly chop off the new business units and dump them onto ShengYue for Leo to absorb, cementing an exit strategy for future asset divisions—yet I hesitated, leaving them untouched.

Even I couldn’t rationally explain my own psychological state.

Perhaps deep within my subconscious, I was deliberately leaving a bridge intact for Julian.

I still loved him deeply…

An international news broadcast flickered across the living room television screen.

The news anchor delivered professional dispatch updates in a crisp tone: “An indiscriminate mass shooting incident occurred near the coastal fish market in capital M earlier today, inducing widespread panic among residents. Federal security forces—”*

I stared blankly at the chaotic footage flashing across the display, my ears buzzing violently.

That exact coordinates precisely matched the location of the wellness retreat where Julian was currently stationed!

And the casualty swept past on screen during the live report… bore an uncanny resemblance to him.

A suffocating vice grip of terror seized my windpipe.

With trembling fingers, I frantically dialed his number.

Yet, zero connection!

Redialing a second time yielded the exact same dead, endless ringing tone!

The harrowing nightmare from three years prior instantly resurrected itself.

Lying unresponsive in an ICU bed stripped of consciousness, leaving me stranded in an eternity of agony and despair.

If he genuinely abandoned me this time, our final interaction would forever remain that painfully silent breakfast where we sat avoiding each other’s eyes.

Julian, you explicitly made me promise to wait for your return—how dare you break your word.

Without a single second of hesitation, I immediately booked the earliest available international flight to Country M.

The aircraft tore through the cloud cover toward the horizon, initiating another agonizing twelve-hour trial of purgatorial waiting.

My heart remained suspended in midair, devoid of a single moment of grounded security.

Since when had Julian evolved into my ultimate fatal weakness.

Since when had love morphed into a terrifying demon gnawing at my sanity.

Clearly, he was the one who hauled me out of the muddy abyss;

Clearly, he was the one who avenged my grievances;

And equally, he was the architect who elevated me to the summit of absolute power.

My reflection warped against the airplane window pane—simultaneously familiar and utterly alien.

I unequivocally loved Julian, so why had every step forward morphed into defensive paranoia?

Perhaps deep down, I was terrified of degenerating into a carbon copy of my ruthless biological father.

Yet I foolishly forgot—Julian was fundamentally cut from a completely different cloth.

A dull ache throbbed across my chest as every ominous premonition tore mercilessly at my nervous system.

Turns out, my love for him ran infinitely deeper than I ever dared admit;

Turns out, amidst the ruthless rat race of ambition, I had long since lost sight of my true self.

Julian, I’m begging you, please do not let anything happen to you.

This time, I surrender all my ambitions—I ask for nothing more than your safe return.

Due to stringent emergency security protocols triggered by the civil unrest, airport customs clearance procedures dragged on excruciatingly long.

Three years of holding absolute dictatorial power had forged my outer shell into an unyielding wall of emotional armor.

Yet that entire defensive facade completely shattered within two short, agonizing days.

I had exhausted every tear in my body, reduced once more to a helpless, abandoned child with nowhere left to turn.

Rushing headlong without pausing to catch my breath into the wellness center, I finally laid eyes on Julian.

He sat peacefully propped up against hospital pillows, gazing toward me with an expression overflowing with infinite tenderness.

Every shred of paralyzing terror evaporated instantly as I sprinted forward and hurled myself into his embrace.

“Julian, I genuinely thought I’d never see you again!”*

“I’m sorry for causing you such distress.”*

“Why didn’t you answer my calls!”*

“My apologies, I happened to be right at ground zero when the incident erupted. The chaos was so intense my phone got crushed underfoot… It was a close call—”*

Panic-stricken, I shoved him back slightly to inspect his frame: “Are you wounded anywhere?”*

Only then did I register his abnormally pale complexion and the faint, unnatural stiffness in his right shoulder.

Julian offered a self-deprecating, helpless chuckle: “A stray bullet merely grazed my shoulder, nothing major.”*

“Let me see, does it hurt?”*

Julian stared at me in silence.

“It hurts terribly.”*

I leaned in close to gently blow cool air against his bandaged shoulder through the hospital gown, suddenly struck by how absurdly foolish I had been.

Lifting my gaze to meet the man’s doting eyes, I let out a frustrated huff and leaned forward to capture his lips.

Biting and nibbling in equal measure, venting every ounce of residual terror accumulated over the past forty-eight hours.

Julian locked his arms around my waist, firmly anchoring my center of gravity so I wouldn’t tumble forward.

He parted his lips, yielding completely to my frantic, emotional venting.

Long moments later, I finally pulled back to rest my forehead against his chest, gasping for breath.

“Honey…”*

“Wife…”*

“Let me speak first!”*

I petulantly reprimanded him: “Husband, I was wrong—can we drop the idea of divorce?”*

His arms tightened like steel bands around my waist, his strong heartbeat thumping rhythmically against my ear.

“Granted!”*

Julian cupped my chin, pulling me upward to capture my trembling lips once more.

Overwhelming emotion threatened to swallow me whole, until my movements grew slightly too eager and he began to shift positions.

Panic-stricken, I shoved against his chest, terrified of aggravating his injury.

“Your shoulder…”*

“It’s completely fine!”*

Julian buried his unruly hair into the crook of my neck: “Wife, I’ve missed you so much.”*

“Wife, I want you.”*

I lifted his face and proactively offered a sweet, yielding kiss.

“I want you too.”*

Everything unfolded as naturally as water flowing downstream.

Entwined in fierce, desperate intimacy, we utilized the most primal form of communion to articulate a lifetime’s worth of desperate longing.

Regrettably…

Julian’s stitches ultimately ruptured.

Burning crimson with embarrassment, I hid inside the hotel bathroom, eavesdropping on the attending physician furiously chewing him out outside.

“Your surgical wound has barely closed, engaging in strenuous physical exertion is strictly prohibited!”*

Julian wore a thoroughly satisfied, smug smile, his dark eyes locked unwaveringly toward the bathroom door.

“My apologies, Doctor. I simply couldn’t restrain myself.”*

Mortified to the point of wanting to dig a hole and crawl inside, I had no choice but to submerge myself deeper into the warm bathwater.

Following a thorough cleanup, I obediently crawled back into the safety of his warm embrace.

This quiet, tranquil interval carried a surreal serenity following the violent tempest.

It felt as though that explosive quarrel had faded into ancient history ages ago.

Transcending life and death reduced every petty misunderstanding and friction to absolute insignificance.

Like a speck of dust caught in a breeze—one gentle gust, and it vanishes into nothingness.

“Honey, to be completely honest, sometimes I genuinely feared you.”*

“I’m quite curious—why were you afraid of me?”*

“Probably because you entered my life initially in the posture of a mentor.”*

“You were simultaneously my savior and my educator. Toward you, I always maintained an ingrained habit of looking upward in awe.”*

“Even after standing at the pinnacle of power, I remained fundamentally insecure. After all, every shred of competence I possessed was taught to me by your hands.”*

Julian burst into amused laughter: “Had I known, I wouldn’t have acted so unnaturally untouchable around you back then.”*

“What do you mean?”*

“I mean, I fell in love with you far earlier than you ever imagined, and much deeper than you’ll ever know.”*

“The very first time I laid eyes on you wasn’t at that winter charity concert, but many years prior while your mother was still alive.”*

“During a family banquet where distant cousins conspired to isolate me, you were the only one who smiled brightly and handed me a small piece of pastry, saying 『 Though I don’t know why you’re upset, eating something sweet will make you happy. 』 Your smile was so sweet it caused my heart to skip a beat right then and there. I thought to myself, you must have grown up in an exceptionally happy household.”*

“When we met again later, you had transformed entirely. Your mother had passed away, leaving you brooding, reclusive, and constantly bullied by that stepbrother. I was never a man prone to meddling in strangers’ affairs, but watching you that day inexplicably stirred a sharp ache in my chest.”*

“Perhaps starting from that exact second, I willingly marched into the snare. I knew you were waiting for an opportunity to exact vengeance while constantly being suppressed, stumbling and bleeding in utter helplessness.”*

“Yet despite all of that, you never surrendered. I adored that unyielding tenacity of yours, adored the explosive life force surging within your bones—and I knew my moment had arrived.”*

“Back then I merely wanted to lend a hand, never anticipating that my inherent overbearing aura would inadvertently terrify you.”*

“Clara, as you’ve witnessed firsthand, I am far from a saintly good man, but my affection for you has always been absolute truth.”*

He laced his ten fingers securely through mine: “You have no idea how intensely I envied Leo. Jealous that he crossed paths with you first, jealous that he accompanied you through all those formative years.”*

“Shaped by elite upbringing and personal life trajectories, I have always been fiercely proud. Yet a prideful man like me repeatedly surrendered, fell helplessly, and allowed himself to be tamed by you—transformed into an inexperienced youth tasting first love, willingly sinking into the sweet abyss.”*

I had never imagined that beneath the formidable armor that once terrified me, Julian had harbored such a scorching, devoted heart.

A million words tangled in my throat, ultimately dissolving into a deep, soul-stirring kiss.

“Julian, I love you—from the moment we first met until this very second, it has never changed.”*

“Clara Song, I love you too, exactly as I did from the very beginning.”*

As it turned out, both of us were merely lost wanderers wandering astray in the labyrinth of love.

Fortunately, knowing how to turn back before it was too late, we ultimately rediscovered our initial starting point.