From His Ex-Wife to the World's Most Sought-After Restorer (Jade and Hudson) novel Chapter 283

Julian's words, the weight of his gaze, the relentless chanting from the crowd... it was a suffocating wall of fire.

She had just managed to crawl out of one cage, and now someone was trying to pull her into another.

The pressure was too much. The hope she'd felt that morning began to turn into ash in her chest.

She felt exposed. Raw.

Jade shook her head, a flash of panic in her eyes as she took a small, instinctive step back.

Julian, sensing her withdrawal, took a step forward, the ring and the flowers moving with him.

"Jade..."

The shadow he cast over her snapped her back to reality. She looked at the ring as if it were a weapon. She backed away again.

To her, a ring wasn't a symbol of love anymore.

It was a shackle.

A promise of a lifetime of being controlled and broken.

Julian's face went stiff. Seeing his pain, Jade moved back toward him, her hand reaching out as if to steady the air between them.

Julian felt a jolt of hope. He tried to press the box into her hand.

Maybe he'd saved her enough times that she'd let him in.

The whispers started again.

"She's going to do it!"

"Of course she is. Look at that ring."

"Please. Julian is one of the most powerful men in Habor City. He's rich, he's hot, and he's obsessed with her. She's a divorcee with a golden ticket—she'd be crazy to say no."

...

The comments reached Julian's ears, giving him a boost of confidence.

But in the next heartbeat, Jade's hand came down, snapping the lid of the box shut. She buried the brilliant blue sapphire in darkness.

"Julian, stop," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I think of you as a friend. I don't want this to be the reason we stop talking."

Julian went rigid. His fingers turned white against the flower stems.

"I don't... I don't want to be just a friend."

Jade took several deep breaths, her hands shaking as the emotions finally boiled over.

"Julian, you saw what it took to get out of that marriage. You saw what Hudson did to me. Why would you try to drag me back into another whirlwind when I finally just found some peace? I thought you understood me—"

"I'm not him!" Julian said frantically. "I promise, Jade. I would spend every day making you happy!"

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