Chapter 5

Clara remained silent throughout, unwilling to continue playing along.

"It’s getting late. I’m heading home."

Julian immediately stood to follow her, but his friends quickly stepped in to stop him.

"Come on, Julian! Clara needs rest, but it’s been forever since we’ve all hung out. You can’t leave yet!"

"Exactly. Let her head back for some beauty sleep while you stay and catch up with us."

Clara gently pulled her hand from Julian's grasp, her tone steady. "The driver can take me home. You should stay."

Before he could respond, she turned and walked away, her pace quick enough that Julian didn’t have time to stop her.

Not long after the car pulled out, Clara felt something unfamiliar in her coat pocket. She reached in and found a phone that wasn't hers. It was a sleek black device that belonged to Julian.

Frowning, she asked the driver to turn back.

The car had barely stopped outside the bar when Clara spotted Sylvia stepping out of a taxi.

Sylvia was busy checking her makeup in her phone's reflection, oblivious to her surroundings as she made her way toward the lounge.

Clara's grip tightened around the phone, her knuckles whitening as she instinctively followed Sylvia.

As she suspected, Sylvia stopped right outside the lounge where Julian was.

The moment Sylvia walked in, she threw herself into Julian's arms.

He caught her with ease, his hand slipping around her waist as he brushed a lock of her hair aside with affectionate care. "Why did you get here so fast?"

Sylvia leaned against his shoulder, her smile coy. "I missed you! The second you called, I came running."

Julian chuckled softly. "Then you deserve a reward."

With that, he leaned in and kissed her, a deep and fiery kiss that quickly turned into a heated tangle of lips and tongues.

"Alright, alright, enough of that! Not in front of us!" one of his friends teased, breaking the moment.

Julian's friends didn't seem the least bit surprised.

Instead, they laughed and teased him as if it were all perfectly normal.

Standing just outside the door, Clara stared through the crack, her body turning as cold as ice.

So, everyone knew.

They all knew about him and Sylvia.

And yet they had been putting on an act in front of her this whole time.

"Hey Julian, now that Sylvia's here, how about we play something a little more daring?" one of his friends joked, grinning suggestively.

With that, they clapped their hands, calling back the women who had been sent away earlier.

Soon, every man had a woman draped over him, and the room buzzed with laughter.

The game was simple: spin the bottle. Whoever the bottle pointed to had to answer a truth or complete a dare.

The bottle spun again and again, each turn raising the excitement in the room until it finally stopped on Julian.

The atmosphere reached its peak as everyone cheered loudly, urging him on.

"So, Julian," one of the men asked with a knowing smirk, "when was the last time?"

His tone left no doubt as to what he meant.

Julian arched a brow, his expression calm and composed, before replying flatly, "Yesterday. In the car."

The room erupted in uproarious laughter and cheers.

"Wow! That’s impressive! Come on, tell us—how was it?"

Sylvia, already blushing furiously, buried her face into Julian's chest, too embarrassed to look up.

Julian, his lips curving into a smug smile, drawled each word deliberately. "She did well. Very... unforgettable."

"Hahaha, I’ve always said that wildflowers are sweeter than those at home!"

"Exactly, Julian. Guys like us—how could we not have a few women on the side?"

"As long as you keep it hidden, you can enjoy it for a lifetime. Clara will never find out."

As they spoke, the men each leaned in to kiss the women beside them, their hands wandering freely.

Hearing Clara's name, the smile on Julian's face instantly froze. His expression darkened, and his tone turned serious.

"Don't let this reach Clare. If she finds out... you know the consequences."

"Yes, yes! She’ll never find out," they quickly assured him.

Every word of their conversation reached Clara's ears.

The laughter and teasing inside carried on, oblivious to the fact that Clara's world had shattered. Her body felt numb, her legs shaky beneath her, as if she were no more than an empty shell. Without thinking, she stumbled out of the building, moving as though on autopilot.

The driver, noticing something was wrong, rushed toward her, intending to inform Julian, but Clara stopped him immediately.

"Don't take me home. I'll walk by myself," she said, her voice hollow. "And don't tell Julian I was here."

The driver hesitated but obeyed, watching as she turned and disappeared down the empty street.

Rain began to pour in torrents, drenching her in moments, but she didn't seem to notice.

The icy drops falling against her skin only sharpened her clarity.

She had no idea how long she walked. It felt endless, like a lifetime, even longer than that snowy night when she was seventeen, the time Julian carried her home after she sprained her ankle.

"So, this is how quickly love can change," she thought to herself.