The Dream of a Dying Swan

Julius froze mid-motion. For a split second, panic flashed across his deep, dark eyes.

“That’s ridiculous. We work at the same company. It's impossible not to run into each other. If you don’t like her, I’ll have her transferred. Okay?”

I took a deep breath, ready to throw the photo in front of him and demand an explanation. However, before I could speak, a shrill scream suddenly came from outside.

“Mr. Carter! I'm scared! Please don't leave me alone!”

A flicker of concern appeared in Julius's eyes. Yet, just as quickly, he lowered his gaze. When he looked at me again, he was once more the gentle, attentive fiancé everyone admired.

“You weren’t frightened, were you? Don’t worry about her. You don’t look well. You should go back to the room and get some rest.”

As he spoke, he guided me toward the bedroom, but his eyes kept drifting toward the door. Watching his distracted expression, I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

“Go check on her. A young woman came all this way at night because of you. If something happens to her, how will you explain yourself?”

Julius looked at me. He hesitated a little before he finally nodded.

“Clara, it’s late. Stay inside, and whatever happens, don’t come out. I'll... walk her home. I’ll be back soon.”

With the click of the lock, the front door closed.

I stood up and pulled back the curtains. As I watched the taillights disappear into the distance, I felt strangely calm.

Hours passed, and the rain grew heavier, but Julius still hadn’t returned. Lightning split the night sky, followed by a deafening crash of thunder. The sound instantly pulled me back three years. Back to the night I was kidnapped, it had been storming just like this.

As the memories came flooding back, I instinctively curled up, trembling, and let out a cry without realizing it.

“Julius…”

However, the empty room swallowed my voice whole.

Tears rolled silently down my cheeks. Back then, when I was terrified and screaming for help, I had called his name the same way, and he had appeared like a light in the darkness. Without a second thought, he had rushed to my side and shielded me. Yet now, he was with another woman.

Just then, my phone vibrated. A text message from an unknown number interrupted my thoughts.

[Miss Sink, thank you for lending Julius to me. He said he'll be spending the night with me. You don't mind, do you?]

I stared at the cheap trick, finding it ridiculous, and immediately locked my phone screen.

Once upon a time, I believed Julius was my entire world. For him, I had given up my dream of becoming a professional dancer. Yet now, with surprising calmness, I opened the Rusco Ballet Academy’s website, completed an application form, and purchased a plane ticket for seven days later to Rusco.

Even after midnight, Julius still hadn’t come home. Just when I thought he wasn’t coming back at all, my phone suddenly rang.

The voice on the other end sounded frantic.

“Miss Sink? Your husband, Julius Carter, has been in a car accident! He's at Central City Hospital and urgently needs a blood transfusion!”

When the call ended, the text message from the anonymous sender was still displayed on my screen. I let out a quiet laugh before grabbing the suitcase I had packed and heading to the hospital.

In the blood transfusion room, I calmly completed the tests and sat through the transfusion. As I watched the blood bag slowly fill, exhaustion washed over me.

Before I left, a nurse stopped and looked at me with admiration.

“You and your husband are so lucky. You're both RH-negative. It's such a rare blood type. You must be soulmates. Coming all the way here in a storm like this… You both must be so in love.”

I lowered my head and smiled faintly. In love? Maybe we were once. After all, when I was in a car accident years ago, Julius had also risked everything to donate his blood for me.

At that thought, I heaved a long sigh, and my mind became clearer than it had been in years.

I said to myself, ‘Julius, we’re even now.’

Almost unconsciously, I made my way toward Julius's hospital room, thinking I would take one last look at him. However, before I got to the door, a sweet voice drifted out from inside. Through the glass window, I saw Lea lying on top of him.

“I’m sorry, Julius. If you hadn’t been protecting me, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

Julius looked at her with dark, unreadable eyes.

“If you hadn’t shown up at my house without warning, none of this would’ve happened. If Clara finds out, I won’t let you off the hook.”

Lea pouted playfully as her hands wandered across his chest.

“You’re so mean. And what exactly are you going to do to me?”

The next second, desire filled Julius's gaze, and he lowered his head to kiss her neck.

“Just you wait…” he muttered, his voice rough with unbridled ferocity.

Watching the two of them kissing passionately, I simply raised my phone and recorded the disgusting scene before me.

Right at that moment, my phone rang, and everything inside the room froze. Through a single pane of glass, Julius and I locked eyes.