"What he divorce the only thing we have left to talk abonat?" Julian hadn''t even realized that, despite his inual packed schedule, he was wasting time throwing incaningless wonhvat Rosalir.


    losalie iet mit? endilugh and answered, "What chr the you think? You''ve had a wlede year, and you will love


    with me, liave you?"


    Her tone wasced with mockery, every word a jale straight to his chest


    Julian stiffened, momentarily speechless. He wanted to argue, but he couldn''t find a single word to refure her.


    it found another topic to diseas


    She was damn right. Over the past year, he had never once made an effort to speak to her. The resentment from the clouded his judgment, making it easy to take lids frustration out on her.


    forced marriage had always


    she


    Julian had thought that once his grandfather passed, he would finally be free of her. But now, he realized that letting her go wasn''t as easy as he had imagined. Even if he pushed her away, it felt as if something had been ripped out of him, leaving behind a gaping wound.


    Faced with Rosalie''s question, he found himself at a loss for word.


    Rosalie used to long for just a single conversation with Julian. Even one extra word from him was enough to make her happy for an entire day:


    But once she let the expectations go, they became meaningless.


    People said a woman could fall in love with a man in an instant, and in another instant, she could learn to hate him just as deeply.


    She fell for Julian in a heartbeat, but it took her a lifetime to take back that love.


    Heaven must have pitied her to grant her a chance to start over, and Rosalie swore she wasn''t about to waste this second life on the same mistake.


    So when Julian didn''t respond, she lost her patience and replied, "If you didn''t call to talk about the divorce, then don''t waste my time. Whatever we had, it was never deep enough for long, meaningless phone calls?


    After speaking. Rosalie was about to hang up when Julian''s voice cut through again, cold and sharp. "Who is that man with you?"


    Rosalie''s fingers paused over the screen. She turned her head slightly and nced at the figure moving around in the kitchen. "You mean Eddie?"


    She let out a short, amusedugh and continued, "What, since when do you have an interest in men? Hate to disappoint you, but Eddie is straight. He''s not


    interested in you, so stop prying"


    Without waiting f


    for a response, she ended the call.


    "Damn it" Hearing the busy tone on the other end, Julian mmed the receiver down. His eyes were stormy, his entire body tense with frustration. "Eddie?" He grined the name our between clenched teeth. "She says it like they they''re close."


    Meanwhile, Rosalie had already put Julian out of her mind. Eden brought the chicken pot pie to the table and gave her a knowing look. "Julian called?


    She nodded, taking a seat and grabbing a piece. "Yeah. He even asked about you. You think he might be into you?"


    Eden rolled his eyes and replied, "You spent a whole year being a lovesick fool, and now you don''t understand the basics!"


    Rosalie looked up from her te and casually asked, "Understand what?"


    Eden scoffed, "He''s jealous. He thinks you''re cheating on him


    "Jealous? He?" Rosalie blinked, momentarily caught off guard, then shrugged indifferently. "You seriously think he''s pathetic enough to only start caring about me now that I want a divorce?"