Chapter 3

Julian tossed me into the back seat of his Maybach and told the driver to drive.

"Julian, this is illegal detainment!" My heart pounded faster as I watched him tell the driver to raise the privacy partition. Ignoring the fact the car was moving, I fumbled with the door handle, ready to jump out and run.

But Julian was too quick. He grabbed my wrist, pulling me back.

The car screeched to a halt. The sudden stop sent my body lunging forward, almost hitting the partition, but Julian swiftly caught me, pulling me back into his arms.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?!" Julian held me tight, his arms trembling slightly, clearly shaken.

His warm, familiar embrace made me momentarily lose myself.

Memories flooded back, but immediately followed by the words of Julian's mother.

I closed my eyes, suppressing all the emotions welling up. Taking a deep breath, I pushed Julian away with all my might and sat in the furthest corner from him. Then, I deliberately twisted the knife.

"Don't hold me so tight. My husband will get jealous!"

With that, I deliberately displayed the diamond ring on my finger.

Julian's eyes flashed with a momentary ruthlessness when he saw the ring, but it was so fleeting, I thought I’d imagined it.

"Where's he from?" Julian took a cold beer from the car fridge, opened it, and chugged it down, as if making idle conversation.

"What?" I hadn't registered the question at first.

"I asked where your husband is from." Julian crushed the beer can in his hand as he spoke.

"Oh, right." I caught on, thought for a moment, and said, "He's French."

"Hmm, good. How old is he?" Julian casually pulled off the beaded bracelet from his wrist, fiddling with it as he asked, seemingly offhand.

"Twenty-nine." I replied, a little absentmindedly.

*Was I imagining things earlier? I swear I saw a lot of scars on Julian's wrist.*

"Is he in good shape? How tall is he, how much does he weigh?" Julian pressed on.

My thoughts were pulled back. "He's in great shape. Six feet tall, and… about 165 pounds."

I was still a bit distracted and didn’t notice the increased urgency in Julian’s tone.

"How did you two meet?" Julian followed up instantly.

I racked my brain, paused for a few seconds, and continued to spin my tale. "He lost his wallet, and I lent him some cash, and then..."

I hadn't finished speaking when Julian cut me off. "Who else is in his family?"

"...He has a mom and dad, and a younger sister..." My answers were starting to falter.

Julian's intense interrogation was making me incredibly nervous.

He asked me seven or eight more questions: What does he like to eat? Where was your first date? What movie did you watch on your first date? Where do you usually like to hang out? What are his hobbies, what's his favorite position, and so on.

His questions were getting increasingly tricky.

As I grew more and more anxious, Julian asked, "How old is he?"

"Twenty-eight!" I blurted out.

"And his height and weight?" Julian's voice was rapid-fire.

"Six-one! One-forty pounds!" The words tumbled out. As they did, I saw Julian’s fingers, which had been fiddling with his bracelet, still. He chuckled softly, raising an eyebrow. "Hmm, sounds like he's in great shape."

My mind raced. Wait, something wasn't right. What was going on?!

**截断点**

As I struggled to figure it out, Julian gently took my hand, slipped off my ring, and with lightning speed, replaced it with a cushion-cut pink diamond—it looked like it was easily over ten carats.