Chapter Eleven;The Rock Bottom

JULIAN POV

I slept on a bench that night.

I had nowhere else to go. I had no money. I had no home. I had no one. I just walked until I could not walk anymore. I just sat down on a bench in a park and closed my eyes.

I did not sleep. I just lay there. Staring at the sky. Staring at the stars. Staring at nothing.

I thought about Nadia. I thought about the way she used to smile at me. I thought about the way she used to look at me. I thought about the way she used to love me.

I thought about Serena. I thought about the way she used to touch me. I thought about the way she used to kiss me. I thought about the way she used to pretend.

I thought about my mother. I thought about the way she used to control me. I thought about the way she used to manipulate me. I thought about the way she used to tell me what to do.

I thought about the son. The son I had celebrated. The son I had loved. The son I had thought was mine.

I thought about everything.

And then I thought about nothing.

The sun came up. The city woke up. People walked past me. They did not look at me. They did not see me. I was invisible. I was nothing.

I sat up. My body ached. My head was pounding. I had not eaten in two days. I had not showered in three. I looked like a man who had lost everything.

Because I had.

---

I walked for hours.

I did not know where I was going. I did not know what I was doing. I just walked. I walked past the office building where I used to work. I walked past the restaurant where I used to eat. I walked past the hotel where I used to meet Serena.

I stopped.

I looked up at the building. The same building. The same hotel. Room 412. The room where I had spent so many nights. The room where I had betrayed my wife. The room where I had thought I was happy.

I did not know if Serena was still there. I did not know if she would see me. I did not know anything.

But I had nowhere else to go.

I walked inside.

---

SERENA POV

I was packing when I heard the knock.

I was not expecting anyone. I was not expecting him. I had not spoken to Julian in weeks. Not since the assets were frozen. Not since everything fell apart.

I looked through the peephole.

It was him.

He looked terrible. Worse than terrible. He looked like a man who had been sleeping on the streets. His clothes were wrinkled. His hair was messy. His eyes were hollow. He looked like he had not eaten in days.

I should not have opened the door.

I knew that.

But I did.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

He looked at me. His eyes were wet. His hands were shaking. He looked like a man who had nothing left.

"I have nowhere to go," he said.

I stared at him.

"Please," he said. "Just one night. That is all."

I should have said no.

I should have closed the door.

I should have walked away.

But I did not.

"Fine," I said. "One night."

He walked in.

I closed the door behind him.

---

JULIAN POV

She poured me a drink.

I did not ask for it. I did not want it. But I drank it anyway. I drank it because I had nothing else to do. I drank it because I had nothing else to feel.

She sat down beside me on the couch. She was close. Too close. I could smell her perfume. I could feel her warmth. I could feel her watching me.

"You look terrible," she said.

"Thank you."

"What happened?"

"Everything."

She laughed. A soft, low laugh. A laugh that held no humor. A laugh that held only pity.

"Tell me," she said.

So I did.

I told her about the board. I told her about the penthouse. I told her about the frozen accounts. I told her about Nadia. I told her about the divorce. I told her about everything.

She listened. She did not interrupt. She did not judge. She just listened.

When I finished, she was silent for a long time.

"You have nothing left," she said.

"Nothing."

"No money. No company. No home. No wife."

"Nothing."

She leaned closer. She put her hand on my knee. She looked into my eyes.

"You still have me," she said.

I looked at her. I did not understand. She had ignored me for weeks. She had hung up on me. She had closed the door in my face. And now she was telling me I had her?

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I love you," she said.

I did not believe her.

But I wanted to.

---

SERENA POV

He was weak.

I could see it in his eyes. I could see it in the way he held himself. I could see it in the way he drank. He was broken. He was desperate. He was mine.

I had been waiting for this. I had been waiting for him to hit rock bottom. I had been waiting for him to have nowhere else to go.

Now he was here.

Now he was in my apartment.

Now he was in my hands.

I poured him another drink. He drank it. I poured him another. He drank that too.

I moved closer. I touched his face. I kissed him.

He kissed me back.

It was not love. It was not passion. It was desperation. It was two people who had nothing left holding onto each other because there was nothing else to hold onto.

We fell onto the bed.

The night was long.

The night was dark.

The night was exactly what I needed.

---

JULIAN POV

I woke up in Serena's bed.

The sun was coming through the curtains. My head was pounding. My body was sore. I did not remember much of the night before.

I turned my head. Serena was lying beside me. She was awake. She was looking at me.

"Good morning," she said.

"Morning."

"How do you feel?"

"Like I was hit by a truck."

She laughed. She sat up. She pulled the sheet around her. She looked at me the way she always looked at me. Like she knew something I did not.

"We need to talk," she said.

"About what?"

"About what comes next."

I did not understand.

"What comes next?"

She looked at me. For a long moment. Then she spoke.

"Nadia."

I flinched. I did not want to hear her name. I did not want to think about her. I did not want to think about anything.

"What about her?"

"She is going to destroy you."

"She already did."

"No. She froze your assets. She took the company. She filed for divorce. But she has not destroyed you yet."

I did not understand.

"What do you mean?"

Serena leaned closer. Her eyes were dark. Her eyes were cold. Her eyes were full of something I had never seen before.

"She is going to take everything. She is going to leave you with nothing. She is going to make sure you spend the rest of your life in prison."

I felt my blood run cold.

"What are you talking about?"

"The fraud. The forgery. The embezzlement. She has the evidence. She has the documents. She has everything. When the trial starts, you are going to be found guilty."

I did not speak.

"You are going to lose everything. Your freedom. Your name. Your life."

I did not speak.

"She is going to win."

I did not speak.

"But," Serena said. "There is a way out."

I looked at her.

"What way?"

She smiled. A slow, cold smile.

"The divorce is not finalized," she said. "You are still her husband. You are still her beneficiary."

I did not understand.

"What are you talking about?"

"Her life insurance policy," Serena said. "If something happens to her, you get everything. The company. The trust. The money. Everything."

I stared at her.

"What are you saying?"

She looked at me. Her eyes were calm. Her eyes were patient. Her eyes were the eyes of a woman who had been waiting for this moment.

"I am saying there is a way to fix this. I am saying there is a way to win."

I did not speak.

I could not speak.

I just sat there.

And for the first time in my life, I was truly afraid.