CHAPTER 6: CHAPTER 6: HER REFUSAL: I’M BUSY

Julian Lawson’s phone kept ringing as he drove back to the villa.

Seeing the note "Grandma" flashing on the screen made him feel a headache coming on.

He finally hit the brakes and answered the call when it rang for the last time.

"Grandma." he spoke gently.

"You still remember I’m your grandma!" The old lady’s voice boomed over the line, "What’s going on with Vera Hansen?"

Julian Lawson pinched his brow and patiently replied, "Vera Hansen is sick, she has no ill intentions."

"Julian Lawson, is something wrong with your brain?" the old lady scolded, "No ill intentions? She knows you’re already married, yet she’s still carrying on ambiguously with you, trying to play both roles, I’ve never seen someone so shameless! You cut it off with her immediately and go coax Serena!"

Julian Lawson’s brows furrowed tightly, and Serena Sterling’s face flashed through his mind.

Annoyance welled up in his heart.

"Did Serena complain to you?" His voice was slightly cold.

"Does Serena need to tell us?" The old lady’s voice was full of anger, "The gossip is everywhere online, Julian Lawson remember this: your wife is Serena, how can you watch her fall to the ground and still stand with another woman?!"

"What will people think of her? And there were so many paparazzi around!"

Julian suddenly recalled the situation just now, and her briefly wounded eyes, it seemed a bit bad.

Immediately, he denied his thoughts.

He said, "No, Grandma, she went to the hospital on purpose to block Vera after seeing things online."

"Let me speak." Old Master Lawson took the phone.

"Julian Lawson." The old man’s voice came through the receiver, "You were the one who brought Serena to me, saying you wanted to marry her, now that you’ve married her, you must take responsibility!"

"Grandpa..."

"Come to the family house for dinner tonight." Without giving Julian Lawson any chance to explain, the old man had already ordered, "Bring Serena."

After saying that, the old man hung up the phone.

Leaving Julian Lawson sitting alone in the car.

His left hand was unconsciously tapping the steering wheel, brow furrowed tightly.

He searched his phone for Serena’s contact.

The message sent before was still not replied to.

Feeling somewhat irritable, but he held back and called Serena.

A long time passed before Serena finally picked up.

"What are you doing?" Julian Lawson spoke coldly.

"Is there something you need?" Serena did not answer, but asked in return.

Julian rubbed his temples, "Why did you go to the hospital to block Vera today?"

"I didn’t." Serena’s voice was very calm, "I just went to find Joy."

"Serena, don’t lie to me!" The irritation inside rose again, and Julian Lawson became a bit impatient.

But there was only a light laugh coming from the other side of the phone.

Carefree.

As if she didn’t care.

Making him even more annoyed.

But thinking of grandpa’s order, he was helpless.

"Come back to the family house with me tonight." He said finally.

"I’m not available." Serena’s voice was clear, without a hint of hesitation.

"It’s grandpa’s order." Julian Lawson frowned and said.

The next moment, Serena hung up the phone.

Leaving only the "beep beep beep" busy signal in the phone.

Julian Lawson was slightly stunned, his brow furrowed into a deep frown.

He tried calling again, but she didn’t pick up.

Watching the traffic flow back and forth by the roadside, Julian Lawson silently looked at his phone for a long time.

Finally, he put away the phone, restarted the car, and drove all the way to the villa where they shared as a wedding home.

Dusk was slowly settling in.

After parking, Julian Lawson walked straight into the house.

The moment the entrance door opened, he had a cold face.

"Serena."

He called her name coldly.

But there was no response at all.

Only then did he realize that the foyer light wasn’t on, the whole house was pitch black.

Julian Lawson was slightly stunned, once, every time he came home, there was at least a small light left on just for him, and many times he would find Serena asleep on the sofa in the living room from reading while waiting for him to return.

"Snap!"

Julian Lawson turned on the light and glanced at the sofa.

But the sofa was empty, with no sign of her.

If earlier he was only bothered by Vera and grandma’s request to return home, but now, inexplicably, he started feeling restless.

"Snap, snap, snap, snap..."

He turned on all the lights in the house, searching from room to room.

No one in the living room, the kitchen, or the bathroom.

No sign of her in any of the bedrooms or study.

She’s not home?

Not answering the phone either.

Where has she gone?

It seems this pretend divorce has made her very angry, she’s really upset.

Never mind.

She will think it through, Vera has only half a year, Mrs. Lawson will only ever be Serena Sterling.

Nevertheless, she throws a tantrum not going to the family house, and he can’t avoid going.

Thinking of this, Julian Lawson went to the storage room.

Took out some dietary supplements.

As he stepped out, he thought for a moment, put the stuff down, and returned to their shared bedroom.

The scent of Chanel No. 5 perfume lingered in the bedroom.

It was a gift from him to her.

Julian Lawson’s brow relaxed slightly.

Took a few sets of his clothes, Julian Lawson hastily left.

He didn’t notice that in the wardrobe where their clothes were once hung together, now only his half remained.

Didn’t notice that all the pairs of items, now only solitary single ones remained.

Appeared to have lost warmth, leaving only a monotonous chill.

...

On the other side.

Beauty salon.

Serena and Bianca Lynch are getting manicures.

Bianca Lynch watched Serena deliberately choose materials suitable for pregnant women and shook her head helplessly.

She said, "Didn’t you say you were going to terminate the pregnancy? Yet choosing pregnancy-safe ones."

Serena smiled, "Given the choice, I prefer to still choose carefully, after all, it’s still inside the belly."

Bianca Lynch shrugged indifferently, looking at her own shiny nails, feeling delighted.

Serena slightly lowered her eyes, looking at her manicured hands.

Julian Lawson has a stomach condition.

After marrying him, she spent every day preparing meals for him, and hadn’t had a manicure in a long time.

"Everything’s fine, everything’s fine." Bianca Lynch said, "As long as you’re willing to change, it’s good."

"Manicure is just the beginning, and there’s your hairstyle, and your attire."

"Serena, I still remember when we were under ten, we secretly wore our moms’ pointed heels and ran around."

"There’s no reason you should regress now."

Bianca Lynch said while admiring her manicure, "Only regret is that now I’m a doctor, I can’t be so flashy anymore."

Serena smiled too.

Indeed, she was originally a flamboyant person.

Only because she fell in love with Julian Lawson, she tried to cater to his preferences.

For countless days and nights before, she thought life’s greatest happiness was being together with the one she loved, cooking for him, giving birth and raising children together, growing old in happiness.

But now it seems it was all just a joke.

Fortunately, there is still time to change everything.

She must get her life back on track.