His Belated Love for the Abandoned Ex-Wife Chapter 100: Sweet Morning

"When she's sick, she should take her medicine and get treatment to get better. She can't use being sick to guilt-trip others. Give in once, and she'll just keep pushing for more." Julian spoke slowly, his voice calm. "Besides, she knows my limits. She chose to cross them anyway, so she's gotta deal with the consequences."

Iris was curious. "What are your limits?"

Julian didn't say a word.

Iris looked up from his arms, speaking softly. "Can't you tell me? I wanna make sure I don't step on them later."

Julian's tone got heavy. "With you, I don't have any limits left."

"Really none?"

Julian leaned down and kissed her forehead softly. "You already stepped all over them a long time ago."

He switched gears, his tone turning a little serious. "But that doesn't mean you can keep stepping on them. It's like how I hate being dirty. I can put up with you throwing mud on me, but you can't do it every day. It'd drive me nuts."

Iris sighed, not sure if Julian was just messing with her. "That's too vague."

Julian let out a long breath, patting her back lazily. "Go to sleep."

"Julian, I can't sleep." In his strong, warm arms, Iris's heart never settled. Her body stayed tense.

"Me neither."

"Can you sing?"

Julian laughed softly, kissing her hair. "A song or two. What do you wanna hear?"

"Anything works."

"Heard 'Love Transfer'?"

"Nope."

Julian cleared his throat, singing slowly in a light, deep voice. The pretty melody and sad lyrics sounded even more sorrowful through his magnetic tone.

Iris had never heard the song before, but she could feel the sadness in Julian's soft singing, like he was pouring out something through the words.

"Memories are like moonlight you can't catch. Hold on too tight, and it turns dark... How much courage does it take to stay with someone and spend a lifetime together?"

Iris drifted off to sleep slowly to the bittersweet song.

When Julian finished singing, he held his breath for a second before taking a deep breath, hugging Iris even tighter.

He tried to calm the pain the song brought back.

Iris was sound asleep in his arms, breathing steadily.

After a while, Julian took Iris's hand, pulled it up to his face, and stared at her soft fingers by the faint light.

He also felt the rough size of her ring finger.

It looked even smaller than his pinky. He held her hand gently, lifted it to his lips, and closed his eyes to kiss it.

*****

The next morning, the alarm went off. Iris woke up from her sleep. She followed the sound, grabbed her phone, and turned it off.

She rubbed her eyes, glanced around the room, then looked down at the blanket. The memories from last night came back clearly.

For the first time, she felt like marriage could be happy.

Iris sat up carefully, slowly got out of bed, and lifted the blanket to check the clean mattress.

Thank god, she didn't leak.

Iris let out a sigh of relief, tidying up Julian's blanket.

She combed her hair with her fingers, put on her slippers, and walked into the bathroom. She noticed the dirty clothes in the basket were already taken out to be washed by Julian.

A minute later, Iris left Julian's room. He wasn't in the living room, but there was noise coming from the kitchen.

She went back to her room to change into a clean pad.

When she came out, Julian was already sitting at the dining table. There were two different breakfasts on the table.

"Morning." Julian's eyes were warm.

They didn't do anything last night, but Iris still felt a little shy. Hugging and sleeping together felt warm and deeply intimate.

"Good morning." Iris's cheeks turned red. She sat across from him, staring at the cup of rich ginger tea in front of her, a little shocked.

In front of Julian were boiled eggs and sandwiches.

"Did you make this for me?" Iris felt a little shocked and touched.

Julian nodded, staring right at her face.

Iris picked up the spoon, gently scooping the ginger tea.

It was warm ginger tea, simmered with fresh ginger, cinnamon and a touch of honey.

Iris couldn't hide her smile. She glanced at Julian, then bowed her head to taste it.

The ginger slices were mild and warm, mellow after slow simmering. The cinnamon blended smoothly into the brew, sweet and comforting. A light touch of honey softened the sharp spice—warm enough to soothe every frayed part of her.

After a few sips, Iris couldn't help but say, "This is so good. I've never tasted ginger tea this wonderful before."

Julian smiled softly, picked up a boiled egg, and tapped its shell to crack it open. "No one's ever made it for you?"

"Ethan did, but it was just simple ginger tea, with nothing else mixed in." Iris took another sip of the ginger tea.

It was so sweet.

Julian's smile faded. He stopped peeling the egg, frowning at her. "You never had it in college either?"

"Nope," Iris said. "Who taught you..."

Iris froze mid-sentence, remembering what Jenny and Luke had said before.

Julian had specially learned this from May, making it every day and bringing it to his first love when she had her period in college.

It was like someone paved the hard path, and she walked it in ease.

Even though there was a little jealousy in her heart, Iris was still grateful to his first love. Because of her, she could also have the ginger tea Julian made with his own hands.

Julian smiled faintly, muttering, "Then your roommates must have had it."

"Huh?" Iris didn't hear him, looking at him confusedly.