His Belated Love for the Abandoned Ex-Wife Chapter 278: A Proposal Rejected

Rain began to fall outside the window, tapping softly against the glass—a steady rhythm that seemed to echo the fractured beat of Iris' heart in that moment.

She didn't answer Julian's question. Instead, she looked down and rested a hand on her rounded belly, feeling the gentle but persistent movement within.

"Iris, there was never an engagement between me and Lily. That was something she imagined—and our parents encouraged. I held a press conference months ago to make that clear."

Iris remained silent.

Julian slid from his chair and went down on one knee beside the hospital bed. He took her hand in his, his grip firm and earnest. "Iris, marry me again. Please. Give me—give us—a real chance. Let me be your husband, and let our baby have my name."

Iris turned to meet his gaze. His eyes were deep, shadowed with pain and raw honesty.

"Marry you again?" She offered a faint, weary smile, tears pooling along her lashes. After a steadying breath, she asked quietly, "Haven't I been through enough already?"

"I won't let you go through any more pain," Julian vowed, his voice low and intent. "I'll make sure you're happy—every single day. I'll give you everything I have."

"Do you know what I want most right now?"

"What?"

"Peace. A quiet life. Some comfort... and ease."

A layer of defeat settled in Julian's eyes. He held her hand tighter. "What if we go overseas? Just the three of us. No drama from your family, no interference from mine."

Iris shook her head slowly. "Lily was willing to die for you. What wouldn't she do? She'll find us no matter where we go. If I take you from her, she'll haunt me until her last breath. Do you really think moving abroad will fix this?"

Julian bowed his head, pressing his face into the curve of her wrist. His breathing grew unsteady, shoulders slumped as though bearing the weight of something too heavy to name.

"One wrong step, and everything falls apart," he murmured, voice thick with self-reproach. Now he deeply regretted pulling Lily back from the edge that day.

Iris gazed up at the ceiling and released a long, tired sigh. "I heard Lily say your parents have started planning the wedding."

Julian straightened in his chair. "I'm not marrying her."

Iris looked at him, tears glimmering. "Whether you marry her or not is your choice. But if you don't let me go, your father and Lily will never leave me or our child alone."

A bitter smile touched Julian's lips, his eyes rimmed red. His voice came out rough and worn. "If you walk away with our baby... what happens to me?"

Iris couldn't bear the sadness in his eyes. She closed her own and turned her face toward the window.

Julian looked utterly drained. He leaned back heavily into the chair. "Why do you have to be so cruel to me?"

"Julian," Iris said, tears spilling quietly down her cheeks, her voice soft and fraying at the edges, "it's not me who's being cruel. It's the people around you—the ones who don't want you with me. They're the cruel ones. And since you can't make them stop, you're asking me to just accept it and move on. I can't do that."

Julian dropped his face into his hands, elbows braced on his knees, posture folded under the pressure.

"If your father hadn't been so against us, if he hadn't worked so hard to break us up—and if Lily hadn't kept getting in the way—I never would have signed those divorce papers. Even when I didn't know you loved me back then... I never wanted to leave you."

Julian let out a slow, ragged breath. "I could cut them off."

Iris gave another weary, humorless smile. "No, you can't. One is a woman you've known almost your whole life. The other is the father who raised you. Just like I can't completely walk away from my own family—those ties are bound by more than feeling. They're held together by law, by expectation. If we push too hard or burn those bridges, we're the ones society will judge."

Julian's hands tightened into fists, trembling slightly. Veins stood out along his knuckles, pale under the strain. "Then what do you want me to do? Tell me how to make this right for you."

"You're the eldest son of the Everhart family. Your father has plans for you—legacy, responsibility. Love is beautiful, but in the end, it's just one part of your life. But family duty... that's about generations. It's about reputation, continuity, the kind of obligations that shape more than just personal happiness."

Julian cut in, tone flat and drained. "Plain English, Iris."

She drew another breath and said simply, "I'm afraid of what your father might do. I can't afford to make an enemy of him."

"I would never let him hurt you."

Iris gave a soft, cynical laugh, helplessness washing over her. "Julian, you were raised sheltered. Life has mostly gone your way. You don't fully understand how ugly people can get."

"What does that have to do with now?"

"You saved Lily out of decency, but she isn't going to repay you by stepping aside. She'll hold on tighter—she'd rather be miserable with you than happy without you. That's human nature.

"And your father," Iris went on, wiping her tears with the back of her hand, voice growing calmer, "he's from another time. He believes that being your father gives him authority over your life. The more you resist him—the more you choose me—the more he'll see me as the problem. And he'll come after me harder.

"Then there's your stepmother and your brother. They'd love to see you and your father locked in a fight. The messier it gets, the better for them. They're waiting in the wings to take advantage."

Julian's eyes were red-rimmed. He smiled faintly, a broken, weary sound escaping him. "Iris, picking apart everyone's motives like this... doesn't it exhaust you? Why can't we just... follow what we feel and try to be happy?"