He Left Our Engagement, I Forgot Him

Chapter 5

My injuries looked pretty dramatic, but they weren't actually that serious. After four days of observation, the doctor finally cleared me for discharge.

As I was heading out, I ran straight into Julian and Shara.

I had no idea they were in the same hospital. Shara was wearing a gown, leaning heavily on Julian for support.

From what I heard, she had a heart condition, not a leg injury, but she was basically hanging her entire body weight on him. It looked incredibly awkward.

When they saw me, both of them got this weird, unnatural look on their faces.

I remembered Shara, unlike Julian. She was the illegitimate daughter of the Knoxx family. Her biological mother passed away when she was young, and she was brought into the Taylor family's orbit around age three.

The Knoxx family had too many kids to care about one more, so she was never really valued.

In my memories, she was always quiet and stayed in the background. But I also knew she wasn't as harmless as she pretended. Mrs. Knoxx was a ruthless woman, and the fact that Shara survived under her rule meant she was definitely not simple.

Still, what did that have to do with me? I didn't feel like I had any connection to them, so I didn't see the need to exchange pleasantries.

I started to walk past them, but after only a few steps, Julian's voice rang out from behind me, sounding totally incredulous.

"Claire, how dare you just ignore me?"

I turned around, confused. "Are we close? Why should I pay attention to you?"

Julian was so stunned he actually gritted his teeth, glaring at me like I was the villain of the story.

He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly, Shara started coughing violently. Julian immediately panicked, leaning over her and patting her back with this incredibly gentle expression.

Seeing them so focused on each other, I figured they wouldn't care if I walked away, so I turned to leave again.

"Claire, I'm sorry."

Shara's voice stopped me.

She clutched her chest, looking fragile. "I know it's because of my useless body that you and Julian didn't get engaged. But you know, besides Julian, I don't have any friends. Can you not blame him? If you're going to be mad at anyone, be mad at me. I really deserve to die."

She looked up, eyes wide. "You can hit me or scold me, but please, just don't take Julian away from me. He's the only friend I have left to rely on. If he ignores me, I don't know how I'll survive."

Living in the Knoxx household had clearly been a nightmare for her growing up. It was no wonder she was clinging to Julian, the young heir to the Taylor fortune, for dear life.

I nodded, ready to reassure her.

Honestly, I didn't want to take Julian away from her. I wished them a lifetime of happiness together.

But before I could get a word out, Julian snapped, "Shara, no one can take me away from you."

He looked at me with a warning glare. "Not even you, Claire."

I saw Shara's expression brighten with excitement. The look she shot me was pure pride and provocation.

But what was she so proud of? Julian was a guy I couldn't even remember. What did he have to do with me?

I met her gaze directly, watching her falter for a second. "Since you two are such great friends, helping each other is only natural. Relax. I won't stop him from being with you. You're sick and need rest, so please, let him take care of you."

As soon as I said that, Shara's face lit up with joy, but Julian didn't look happy at all.

He just stared at me, his face full of cold resentment.