My Billionaire Boyfriend Went Mad After I Left

---- Chapter 14. 'There was no prison time, of course. Money is a universal passport. 'Twenty-four hours later, Julian was bailed out by a shark-tank of lawyers flown in overnight from New York. I thought he would take the hint and crawl back to Wall Street. Twas wrong. On the morning of the third day, I opened the shop to find the long- abandoned bakery across the street sporting a "SOLD" sign. A man in rough work clothes and a cap was clumsily sweeping autumn leaves and vomit left by last night's drunks off the cobblestones It was Julian.

Gone was the bespoke suit that symbolized his power and status. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing blue veins on his arms and fresh scratches-souvenirs from being pinned to the ground by the police yesterday. When he saw me come out, his hand froze on the broom handle. He instinctively wanted to hide, but then he forced himself to stop. He didn't speak. He just looked at me greedily for a second, then lowered his head and continued silently sweeping the cobblestones in front of my shop. Swipe. Swipe. Careful and meticulous, as if he were polishing a rare diamond instead of dirt.

T watched this performance cold-eyed. It was absurd. "Julian Thome," I called out from the steps, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "This is your new play? Buying the place across the street to cosplay as a janitor? Do you think this moves me?" ---- Julian stopped. He straightened up. The arrogance that once defined him was replaced by pathetic groveling. "Elara, 1 don't mean anything by it... I just want to be near you. Even if it's just sweeping your floor..." He looked down. "The neighborhood isn't safe. I want to protect you." "protect me?" 1 laughed, a dry, humorless sound.

I walked down the steps, stepping right up to him. "Did you forget who hurt me the most in the last three years?" I hissed. "It was you. You handed the knife to my enemies. You froze my life-saving money. You killed my father!" "Who are you acting so deep and soulful for now? The dead?" Julian's face went sheet-white. He shook violently, opening his mouth to explain, but finding that no words could stand against the facts Just then, two drunken locals swayed over, whistling as their lecherous eyes raked over me. "Hey, Asian beauty, all alone? Want some company?" One of them.

reached out a filthy hand to touch my face. "Get lost!" Before I could even dodge, a black shadow blurred past me. Julian moved like a violently enraged lion. He smashed the broom handle across the guy's arm and then kicked the two-hundred- pound man to the ground. "Don't touch her!" He stood in front of me, eyes bloodshot, radiating a terrifying murderous aura. "I'll kill anyone who touches her!" The two drunks, terrified by his suicidal intensity, cursed and ---- scrambled away. Julian stood there panting heavily.

When he turned back to look at me, the murderous rage vanished, replaced by a clumsy panic. "Elara... are you okay? I... I'll keep them away from now on. I won't let anyone harass you." Tlooked at him, waiting for praise like a dog, and felt a wave of intense nausea. "Julian, listen to me." I stared into his eyes, enunciating every word. "Compared to being harassed by drunks, your existence disgusts me more." "Every time I see your face, I'm reminded of how stupid I was to love a murderer." "If you really want to atone, disappear from my world. Die, get lost, I don't care.

just don't let me see you again." I turned around, walked back into the shop, and slammed the door. * Bang.* I pulled the blinds down, shutting that stiff, desperate figure out of my sight completely. But what I didn't know was that danger hadn't left just because Julian was playing guard dog. Ina darkalley less than a hundred yards from the flower shop, a pair of eyes filled with venom were watching. seraphina she was wrapped in a ragged black trench coat, her hair matted and knotted, her face covered in grime. There was no trace left of the wealthy heiress she used to be.

She had cut her ankle monitor while out on bail and, arranged by a ---- smuggler, had hidden in a stinking shipping container for half a month to get to France. To avoid the Thorne family's manhunt, she had been living like a rat in the sewers, eating scraps from trash cans. The only thing keeping her alive was hate. She watched the man who used to hold her in the palm of his hand now groveling like a dog for Elara. The hatred in her eyes was toxic enough to kill. "Elara... Julian..." Seraphina pulled a sharp boning knife from her coat, the blade glinting in the shadows.

She licked her cracked lips, revealing a twisted, insane smile. "You two ruined everything I had..." "Since I can't live, let's all go to hell together."