Semua Bab I Stopped Loving Him: Bab 21 - Bab 25

I heard from Rachel that Christian and Jessica had called off their engagement.At the time, I sat on the living room rug, helping Anna with a puzzle. Sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows and spread across the floor, warm enough to make me drowsy.Rachel sounded almost gleeful on the phone. "Julie, did you hear? Christian actually broke off the engagement with Jessica. The whole circle is losing its mind. They say the Fairmonts put out a statement overnight and left absolutely no room to fix it."My hand paused with a puzzle piece between my fingers. I was genuinely surprised.As far as I remembered, Christian's protectiveness toward Jessica had bordered on obsession. Not long ago, when Jessica made that Instagram post, he had replied with absolute certainty: Mrs. Fairmont will only ever be you.He had liked Jessica for years. He had even lived in a church for five years to marry her. Surely, he had not called off the engagement just because he found out she had fr

I knew who Virgil was. I knew we had once been engaged.But I also knew we were not close.I asked why he had saved me. He did not answer. He only looked at me for a long time, with something in his eyes that I could not read.Just when I thought he would not speak at all, he finally did. Instead of answering, he asked, "Do you want lavender pastries?"Before my mother died, they had been her specialty. After she was gone, I never ate them again.I hesitated, then nodded.He made the pastries himself. When I tasted them, they were exactly like my mother's.I cried as I ate.Virgil wiped away my tears and said, "As long as you cooperate with treatment, there will be more where that came from."I looked at him, confused. I did not understand what he was trying to do.In the end, I nodded.Going back into treatment was brutal. It felt as if someone had broken me apart and put me back together the wrong way. Many times, I wanted to give up.Whenever that happened, Virgil would

My father tried to say more, but Virgil had already ended the call.Maybe he could not stand being cornered by someone younger and being disrespected. Maybe Jessica refused to kneel and apologize. Either way, no apology appeared online over the next few days.Virgil did not rush her. He simply released more evidence.The Winslows' assets began to evaporate so quickly that Robert finally broke and called Virgil himself. "Fine. I'll make Jessie apologize. You'd better keep your word."Not long after, Jessica's livestream apology shot to the top of the trending charts.In the video, bandages still wrapped her head. Her face was pale as she knelt on the floor and went through everything, piece by piece. She admitted how she had bullied me and how she had framed me. Then came a string of apologies, along with a plea for my forgiveness.People in our circle saw the trend and began to sigh over it. A few even came to comfort me.I knew they were only trying to get on Virgil's good side