When he saw Clarissa, he stopped.
For a moment, neither moved.
Then he approached slowly.
“You look…” His voice caught. “You look like yourself.”
Clarissa nodded. “I am.”
He swallowed. “I’m not here to ask for anything.”
“I know.”
“I just wanted to say I’m sorry without needing you to forgive me.”
That surprised her.
It was the first decent thing he had ever offered without trying to collect a reward.
Clarissa studied him.
“I hope you become someone who understands what those words mean.”
Julian nodded, eyes wet.
Then he walked away.
No dramatic collapse.
No begging on his knees.
Just a man leaving through a side door, carrying the weight of what he had done.
Chloe did not attend.
Her borrowed diamonds had been returned. Her social circle had evaporated. The last Clarissa heard, she had moved to Miami and was trying to reinvent herself as a lifestyle coach under a different name.
