His Belated Love for the Abandoned Ex-Wife Chapter 224: After the Fall

Julian's grip tightened instinctively, every muscle straining as he held on, his voice breaking through the chaos. "Lily, listen to me. You think doing this will make me regret everything, but it won't. I won't fall apart, and I won't spend my life feeling guilty. You're not hurting me, you're hurting your parents."

His arm trembled under the strain, but he didn't let go.

"They're the ones who won't recover from this," he continued, forcing the words out. "You're their only child. If you let go, I'll keep living just fine, but they won't. Can you really do that to them?"

Lily looked at him, something soft flickering in her eyes, a quiet, fragile clarity settling over her expression. "Thank you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "For coming. For trying to save me. I guess... I mattered, at least a little."

Her lips curved faintly, but the exhaustion in her voice was unmistakable. "But I'm so tired, Julian. Every time I think about you and Iris, it feels like I'm being torn apart. Every day. I can't keep doing this."

Above them, the firefighters were pulling Julian back, inch by inch, their grip tightening as they tried to bring both of them to safety.

And then Lily lifted her free hand. Before anyone could react, she forced his fingers apart, one by one.

For a split second, the firefighters were close enough to reach her.

Julian froze, the impact hitting him like a shockwave straight through his chest.

"Julian, don't let go!" the voice behind him screamed.

Lily was already slipping, her body dropping fast.

His hand trembled violently, and then, in the next instant, he was yanked back up.

The safety cushion caught her, but not cleanly. Her body hit the edge before rolling off onto the ground, the sound dull and final as everything seemed to stop for a fraction of a second before chaos erupted again.

Paramedics rushed in, voices overlapping, movement everywhere.

Morning came quietly.

Iris woke to the sound of her alarm, her mind still heavy as she turned instinctively toward the other side of the bed.

Empty.

Julian hadn't come home.

She reached for her phone, checking for messages.

Nothing.

A quiet unease settled in her chest, growing stronger the longer she sat there.

For someone who had been trying so hard to win her back, disappearing overnight without a word didn't make sense.

Something's wrong.

She carried that feeling with her through the day, but no matter how busy she tried to stay, it didn't go away. By evening, when she returned to an empty apartment again, she couldn't ignore it anymore.

She picked up her phone and sent a message.

"Julian, did something happen?"

The reply came quickly.

"Lily jumped. She's been in surgery all night. She's not out of danger yet."

Iris stared at the screen, her fingers tightening around the phone as the word jumped settled in.

Her hand trembled slightly.

She knew Lily's condition, knew how unstable she could be, but this wasn't a threat or manipulation anymore.

She had meant it.

A woman who could go that far wasn't someone you could compete with.

The realization settled heavily in her chest, making it hard to breathe.

Another message came through.

"I'm sorry. This is on me. Irene collapsed, and Harold is with her. I need to stay at the hospital. I won't be back tonight. Take care of yourself."

Iris stared at the message for a moment before typing back a single word.

"Okay."

She set her phone down and went to shower, but that night, sleep came in fragments, restless and shallow.

The next morning was worse.

Her body felt off, her lower abdomen tightening faintly, and the nausea hit harder than usual. She barely managed a single cracker for breakfast before heading out.

At work, her focus slipped again and again, her thoughts drifting no matter how hard she tried to stay present.

Men really are the biggest distraction.

Feelings were worse and messy. Like a war you couldn't see but kept losing anyway.

She had spent months rebuilding herself, pulling away from everything that had drained her, trying to return to the version of herself that was steady and independent.

And now it felt like she was slipping backward.

"Iris, someone's here to see you."

She looked up, pulling herself out of her thoughts. "Who?"

"A guy and a woman. Around your age."

"Thanks."

She grabbed her phone and headed outside.

It wasn't Zoe. Zoe would've called first.

As soon as she stepped past the gates of the research institute, she spotted them.

Celeste and Ethan.

Iris walked over, her expression calm but distant. "Ethan, what are you doing here?"

A bitter feeling settled in Iris's chest.

Since when does Ethan care this much about Lily? He was never like this before.

Then it clicked, and the thought left a faint sting.

Guess that's how it works now, if she's his girlfriend's friend, she matters to him too.

Ethan looked tense, his voice uneasy. "Iris... you heard about Lily, right?"

A bitter feeling flickered through her chest, but she kept her expression neutral. "Yeah."

Celeste stepped forward, her arms crossed, her tone sharp and unapologetic. "Then you should also know she jumped because of you."

Iris let out a slow breath, irritation rising. "How exactly is that my fault?"

Celeste let out a cold laugh, her gaze cutting. "Her engagement to Julian was public. Everywhere. You're divorced, so act like it. Instead, you keep hanging around, keeping things messy."

She stepped closer, her voice dropping, more pointed now. "If you hadn't gone back to him, would he have called that press conference? Would he have denied the engagement? Would Lily have spiraled like this and tried to kill herself?"

Her eyes locked onto Iris, unwavering.

"This is on you."