Chapter 477

Chapter 0477 Watching the slump in Julian’s shoulders and slight barely-there drag of his feet as he left, had me immediately and overwhelmingly worried. I quickly asked Veronica and Jessica to keep an eye on Elva, and hurried to follow him.

I came out into the hallway just to watch him slip back out onto the deck.

I hurried that way, opened the door, and rushed through. I caught up to him at the base of the stairs from the deck to the beach.

“You can never leave well enough alone, can you, Piper?” he asked, but there was no real heat behind it. If anything, he seemed relieved to not be alone anymore.

“You know me,” I said with a playful shrug. “Always sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong.” I paused enough to let the playfulness pass. I wanted him to know I was serious when I added, “At least with the people I care about.” He gave me a small, grateful smile, then tipped his head toward the beach.

“How about a walk.” “Okay.” Side by side we moved along the edge of the water as the waves lapped at the sand. Sometimes, unexpectedly, those same waves would push a bit farther and tickle the bottoms of our feet as well.

Over the ocean, the sun was starting to set, painting the sky in a rainbow of color: blues and purples, and golden

reds. A beautiful day was becoming a beautiful evening.

I smelled the salty sea and was grateful to be here, to be witnessing this. This was an once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. I’d return home and likely never see the beach again. But with these memories, I could be satisfied.

Unfortunately, the man-shaped raincloud beside me did not seem to be enjoying this as much as I did.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.

He had to know I was here for him.

With everything we had faced together, I had hoped this would be a given. Yet sometimes, people needed to hear the words said many times before they started to believe them. Hopefully this would be that time for Julian.

“I don’t know why I keep going back to her,” he said, and kicked at the sand.

“It’s like a bad habit I can’t break. An addition, maybe.” @ I kept quiet beside him, sensing that he needed me to listen more than he needed me to speak. That he had recognized his addiction was a good step forward. My advice to him now would be the same it had always been before. It seemed like he already knew it. He didn’t need it repeated.

“But she’s all I ever wanted for so long.

No other woman has ever been able to compare. And being with her is like a measurement of success for me,” he said. “I feel like I'll always be a failure without her by my side.” He really had given this a lot of I thought. Good for him. To see these

things about ourselves was oftentimes the hardest part. At least in hindsight. I In the moment, the healing, the part— I that came next, was always the hardest.

I thought of what I could say that might help him. Of course, I had to agree with his words and continue to encourage him.

“You are seeing her as a trophy, not a person,” I said. “And I suspect that after wanting her this long, you are imagining her as more than she is, as well. No one person is perfect. We all have flaws. Bridget has several. You can’t continue to be blind to that.” He grew quiet for a moment, and I wondered if I said too much or was too harsh. As Julian’s friend, I wanted him to confront these ideas he had of her,

but I didn’t want to push him so hard that he broke. It was a delicate line to cross. I felt I was playing a dangerous game here.

Still, I couldn’t stop. For the sake of our friendship, I needed to tell him the full truth.

“She’s treated you poorly, Julian. She’s led you on just to reject you multiple times. She’s gaslit you, she’s made you feel like you aren’t good enough. When she is around, you change into someone that I don’t recognize. It’s like you are a shadow of yourself.” I shook my head. “You deserve better, Julian. You deserve to be with someone who likes you the way you are.

Someone who brings out your best qualities. Not someone who pushes you into hiding your true self.”

He laughed a little, bitterly, though I didn’t feel like his anger and frustration was directed at me. “You act like women like that are so easy to come by.” Once more, unbidden, I thought of Veronica’s words to me not all that long ago, that perhaps I should just date Julian for real. And while I could appreciate Julian as a man who was handsome and funny and smart, I couldn’t do that to either of us.

My heart was too entangled in Nicholas.

But what if the person Julian needed to date wasn’t me, but wasn’t someone so far away either.

“What about Veronica?” I asked.

He glanced at me sideways.

“Veronica?” “You should spend more tirne with her, { Julian. I know you two get along. She obviously cares for you a great deal.” “She does?” I nodded.

Julian considered it for a long moment.

Then several more, longer moments.

“She is beautiful,” he said at last.

“Intelligent, too. And her dry wit never ceases to make me laugh.” He laughed now, perhaps thinking back on something that she said.

For a moment, my heart took flight in hope for the two of them. But then his laugh faded.

“1t wouldn't be fair to her,” he said. “I don’t want to lead her on when I still

I care so much about Bridget.” I nodded, even as I sighed. Julian and I really were too similar. i Eventually, we made our way back to the mansion, where there seemed to be some disagreement spilling out into the hallway.

“What's going on?” I asked Veronica as Julian and I approached.

Nicholas was speaking with Selma, while Bridget stood beside him, her arms crossed.

“There's been a mix-up with the rooms,” Veronica told us. “With your arrival Piper, they are one bedroom short.” Oh. God, so no one really did think to call ahead? I glanced at Julian. I didn’t I want to accuse him, but... he was the

one who asked me to come. He should have been the one to make certain the arrangements had been made. — I He looked at me with genuine innocence. “I told Nathan myself what was going on. He assured me he would pass word on, so that the arrangements could be made.” Nathan. Someone in league with Bridget. Someone who never seemed very fond of me. Someone who worked directly under a King who wouldn't want me to be on this trip.

[ wasn’t mad at Julian, and I told him so. At least I tried to. The minute I opened my mouth to speak, someone else’s voice spoke up louder.

«The solution is simpler than you are making it,” Bridget said. “11 just stay in Prince Nicholas’s room.”