His Belated Love for the Abandoned Ex-Wife Chapter 168: What's Left Unsaid

Caleb didn't move, standing firmly between them like a line that couldn't be crossed.

For Julian, everything came down to what Iris would do next. Whether she stepped forward or stayed where she was felt less like a choice and more like a verdict.

"Iris," he said again, quieter this time, the roughness still there but edged with something more fragile. "Come with me."

Caleb turned his head slightly toward Iris, his voice low but urgent. "You don't have to go."

Iris understood exactly where everyone stood.

Out of everyone here, Julian was still the one she had the deepest history with. Two years of marriage, complicated, flawed, and far from perfect, but real. He had let her lean on him when she needed to, never asking for anything in return.

She didn't want to revisit any of it. The past had already settled where it belonged.

But she also wasn't going to turn this into a scene just to spare Caleb's feelings.

After a brief pause, she stepped out from behind him.

She met Caleb's gaze, her tone calm but clear. "This isn't your call."

The words hit harder than she intended. Caleb's expression shifted immediately, the frustration on his face giving way to something quieter, something closer to disappointment.

Iris didn't linger. She walked straight toward Julian, stopping just in front of him. Her eyes met his, steady and unreadable.

"Where are we going?"

Julian didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached for her hand, holding onto it like it was the only thing keeping him grounded, and led her away from the crowd without looking back.

They walked toward the shoreline, where the noise of the party faded behind them, replaced by the steady rhythm of waves rolling in and breaking against the sand. The night stretched out around them, dark and open, the kind of quiet that made everything feel heavier.

The sand shifted softly beneath their feet as they walked side by side. For Iris, each step felt like it pulled her deeper into memories she had already tried to leave behind.

By the time Julian finally spoke, his voice carried the weight of everything he hadn't said before.

"Iris... I'm sorry," he said, the words coming out uneven, filled with regret. "Honestly, I should've knocked some sense into myself a long time ago. I should've done something, anything, instead of letting things get this far."

Iris pressed her lips together, the bitterness lingering despite how much time had passed. Those nights she had spent alone, crying without anyone to see, weren't something she could just erase.

"You don't need to apologize," she said quietly. "This wasn't just on you. Arthur played both of us."

It sounded like reassurance, but it didn't fully feel like one.

Julian let out a faint, humorless laugh, shaking his head. "No. I made my choices. If I had just been honest from the start, if I'd told you everything instead of hiding it... maybe we wouldn't be here."

Iris cut him off gently but firmly. "It wouldn't change anything now. There's no point going back over it. Julian, we need to move forward."

She tilted her head slightly, looking up into the dark sky, blinking away the sting behind her eyes.

"I can't," he said, and this time there was no attempt to hide it. His voice wavered under the weight of it. "I can't just let this go."

Iris exhaled slowly, lowering her gaze. Her hair fell forward, shielding her expression.

"When did you figure it out?" Julian asked, his tone tightening again, like he was reaching for something he couldn't quite grab.

"Before the divorce."

The answer was simple, but it landed hard.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" There was frustration there now, mixed with something more vulnerable.

"I didn't want to," she said, turning her face slightly away from him.

Julian hesitated for a moment before asking the question that had clearly been sitting with him the longest. "Did you ever have feelings for Arthur?"

"No." The answer came instantly, clean and certain.

The silence that followed stretched out, filled only by the sound of the ocean.

Julian's voice dropped when he spoke again. "What about me?"

Iris stilled.

For a moment, it felt like something tightened in her chest, making it hard to breathe. She tried to answer, but the words caught, refusing to come easily.

When she finally spoke, her voice was quieter.

"Not anymore."

The words settled between them, heavier than anything else that had been said.

Julian let out a slow breath, the faintest hint of a bitter smile pulling at his lips.

Not anymore.

Which meant there had been something before.

That realization settled deep, sharp and persistent, until it felt like it was pressing in from all sides.

He tipped his head back, dragging in a breath of the cold night air, trying to steady himself.

The wind coming off the water had picked up, carrying a chill that cut straight through.

Iris shivered slightly, instinctively wrapping her arms around herself.

Julian noticed immediately and reached for his jacket, already starting to shrug it off.

"I'm not cold," Iris said quickly, stopping him before he could take it off. "You don't have to."