Chapter 262
Sharon’s brow twitched faintly.
She looked at Julliard. “You’re Carter’s friend, yet you’re the one telling me this… So should I trust you? Or should I be suspicious that you’re sharing this with me for your own reasons?”
Julliard understood. What had happened last time had left a wall between them.
A flicker of guilt crossed his face. “After I ran into you at the hospital, I went to talk to Carter. He refused to let Wendy go, so 1 thought maybe… maybe I could help Wendy escape on my own.
“I had just found her location when Carter suddenly let her go. But I didn’t expect her to be caught again so quickly. I figured she must’ve offended someone else, and I didn’t want you to worry-so I said what I said.”
He gave a faint, bitter smile. “I didn’t expect you’d already gotten to her first. I’m sorry. I should’ve done more.”
Sharon’s expression softened noticeably.
So it was just as Wendy had said-by the time Julliard was searching for her, Carter had already let her go.
She’d misjudged him. Thought he’d lied to her again.
But still…
She locked eyes with him. “You’re his friend. Why help me?”
Julliard didn’t avoid her gaze. Instead, he let out a quiet sigh.
“I just don’t want Carter to keep making the same mistake. You’re his wife. You have a child together. I don’t want him to take it too far… and end up regretting it later.”
Sharon’s brows shifted again, ever so slightly. “What exactly is he planning to do?”
Julliard hesitated, then drew in a deep breath and told her everything he knew.
She listened without any visible change in expression, unreadable as ever.
“I know you probably still don’t trust me,” he said. “But whether it’s true or not… you’ll see in a month. Think of it as a
precaution.”
Later, when Sharon brought it up with Wendy, she asked what she thought of Julliard’s credibility.
Wendy rested her chin in her hand. “Julliard’s reputation in the industry is excellent. High character, solid word. Normally, I’d say the chances of him lying are low. But…”
Sharon asked, “But what?”
Wendy replied, “Someone like Julliard-so gentle, so polished, such a gentleman-how is he even friends with a scumbag like Carter and that ticking time bomb Nate?”
“They say birds of a feather flock together. But those three? Doesn’t seem like they live in the same universe.”
Sharon said, “They grew up together. Nate’s worldview is twisted, sure-but he’d bleed for his friends.”
Wendy curled her lip. “Bleed for his brothers, stab his brothers for a woman. Just look at how he fawns over someone like Kelly. Says everything you need to know about his taste.”
Meanwhile, after returning home, Julliard went straight into his study.
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He opened a hidden latch behind the bookshelf. The shelves shifted silently to either side, revealing a narrow passageway.
He stepped in.
The air in the secret room was heavy, munky, cloaked in deep shadow. The corners were too dark to make out clearly.
Only the desk lamp offered a small circle of light, cutting through the gloom.
On the desk lay a scattered mess of photographs.
Julliard reached out and gently picked one up, brushing his fingers across the image with a tenderness that bordered on
reverence.
He inhaled deeply, then leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the woman’s face in the picture.
If Sharon had been there, she would have recognized the woman instantly.
It was her.
And on that desk, on the walls-there were countless more. Photo after photo.
All of her.
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