+25 BONUS
Chapter 914
Since Sharon insisted on preparing dinner herself, she didn’t return with Wendy.
By the time Wendy came back carrying the medicinal soup, Julliard’s assistant had already left.
“Julliard,” Wendy said, setting the tray down, “this is the medicinal soup Sharon made for you today.”
Aside from the first two days after he was hospitalized–when he had needed help with everything–Julliard had insisted on eating and drinking on his own.
He accepted the bowl with a faint smile. “Sharon has gone to such trouble for me.”
And he drank every last drop.
Wendy couldn’t help but sigh. “I still remember when Sharon made these for Carter and Theo. Carter would eat halfway, then toss it aside because something came up. Or he’d get so caught up with work that he’d leave it sitting out for hours, and in the end forget to eat it at all.
“As for Theo… he was even worse. Junk food outside tempted him more. He’d take a few perfunctory bites, then refuse to touch another spoonful. He completely wasted Sharon’s efforts.”
Julliard’s eyes darkened. “That’s because they never knew how to cherish her.”
What he himself had longed for, begged for, and never once received… Carter and Theo had been handed so casually.
And now, he had staked half his life, risked everything, just to be granted the same treatment Carter once took for granted.
He let out a sigh. Heaven was truly unjust.
“By the way,” he asked, “where is Sharon? Why didn’t she come back with you?”
“She’s in the kitchen,” Wendy replied, “preparing your dinner.”
His brows furrowed. “Those things can be left to the caretakers.”
Wendy, of course, couldn’t tell him the real reason—that Sharon felt too awkward facing him directly. Instead, she said, “Sharon still feels guilty over your injury. Let her do this. It eases her conscience.”
At that, he fell silent.
But when dinnertime came and Sharon still hadn’t appeared, Wendy said, “I’ll go check on her in the kitchen.”
He nodded. “Alright.”
Yet Wendy never returned.
That was when Julliard finally sensed something was wrong.
He sent Sharon a message–no reply. He called her–no answer. Wendy’s phone too went silent.
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Chapter 914
+25 BONUS
His expression hardened as a chill struck him. He immediately dispatched his men to investigate.
The report came back quickly: Sharon and Wendy had vanished without a trace.
Shock slammed through him. He forced himself up from bed.
“What’s going on? Didn’t we already sweep the entire hospital? How could they suddenly disappear?”
In truth, there had never been assassins slipping into Listoria City to target Sharon.
Those two waves of killers had been nothing more than part of Julliard’s ruse–a bloody performance to win her sympathy. 2
This was Zachemaine. It wasn’t a place where Jamie could simply dispatch assassins at will.
Sharon didn’t know this. But Carter and Xavier certainly did–especially Carter.
The two had been brothers–in–arms for years, entrenched in Zachemaine together. Each knew the other’s power and territory like the back of his hand.
That was why Carter had to be injured and fall unconscious. Otherwise, he would have seen straight through the deception. After all, under such strict guard, how could assassins “slip in wave after wave” without raising suspicion?
Behind the scenes, Julliard had already ordered a lockdown, barring Jamie from setting foot in Listoria City.
So those guards he’d assigned to Sharon were nothing but a show. He had never believed Jamie could snatch her away under his very nose.
The entire scheme had only one purpose: to get close to Sharon and to spend more time with her. 1
And it had worked. In the past few weeks, he’d spent more time with her than in all the years since they first
met.
That last time, when she had stayed three days at his side, had left him addicted.
So he staged another rescue, another chance to play her protector.
It would not only draw them closer, but also burden her with guilt, making her soften toward him.
Never–not once–had he expected her to truly vanish.
His assistant watched his face pale with fury, and whispered, “Sir… according to our investigation, the intruders came in through the kitchen’s ventilation shaft…”
