Aurora’s body, like a red butterfly in autumn, traced an elegant arc through the lingering glow of the sunset before fluttering down into the ocean.
Over the past few years, she had learned many new things: taekwondo, kendo, golf, painting, and more. However, among all these activities, she had not learned to swim. The incident where she had fallen into the ocean had become the darkest shadow of her life.
The rational part of her knew to think of ways to save herself in dangerous situations. If she couldn’t swim, she would relax her body to float to the surface and wait for rescue. But at this moment, her mind was a complete mess, and her body was too numb to move.
The only person she could think of was Julian. “Julian, help me…”
When Hayden saw the crazed look on Susan’s face, he slapped her hard, “If anything happens to her, I will never forgive you.”
With those words, he leaped into the spot where Aurora had just fallen into the water.
Aurora’s eyes were closed, and she felt her breath fading slowly, her body sinking deeper.
Was she going to die? Memories of her times with Julian flashed through her mind.
After sorting out his affairs in the study, Julian’s mood had slowly calmed down. He stretched lazily and returned to the bedroom, only to find the bed was wrinkled but Aurora was nowhere to be seen.
“Little Bunny?” he called out a few times without a response, assuming she had probably gone downstairs.
“Mrs. Hill, where did Aurora go?”
“The young lady said she was bored at home and went out for some air. It’s almost dinner time; she shouldn’t have gone far,” Mrs. Hill responded while chopping meat in the kitchen, preparing dinner.
Julian called Aurora, but the phone rang inside the house, so he had to go out to look for her.
For some reason, not seeing Aurora made him very uneasy. At first, he mocked himself for being so overly concerned. “What could possibly happen just by going out for a walk?” He didn’t think much of it; she liked the sea, so she must have gone somewhere near the shore.
Halfway there, he saw someone hurrying past, “What happened?”
“You don’t know yet? Someone fell into the sea ahead.”
“Who fell into the sea?” Julian’s recently steadied heart tightened again. With so many people in the world, how could it coincidentally be her?
“I don’t know, they said it was a pretty girl.”
Julian let go of the man and ran quickly towards the crowd, “Little Bunny, please be alright!”
By the time he arrived, Hayden was already carrying a drenched Aurora, surrounded by people.
Susan was blocking Hayden, “I won’t allow it, you’re my fiance, you can’t kiss her.”
“Have you had enough? Saving her is what’s important right now,” Hayden said impatiently as he pushed her aside to start giving Aurora mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Susan, acting like a madwoman, punched and kicked him. Julian pushed through the crowd, saw Aurora’s pale face, and could no longer care about anything else. He pushed Hayden aside, “Back off, don’t touch her.”
Then he began to give Aurora mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Their lips met and parted, not with the tenderness of the past.
As Aurora’s life hung by a thread, Julian’s heart raced, fearing the worst. It wasn’t until Aurora spat out the seawater and opened her eyes to look at him that Julian tightly embraced her. He said nothing, but Aurora could feel his body trembling in the tight grip, as if trying to embed her into his chest.
“Julian, it hurts… you’re hurting me,” Aurora whispered weakly, feeling that if she hadn’t been drowned by the water, Julian’s grip might finish the job. Julian quickly loosened his hold, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’ve hurt you again.”
“Julian, it’s not your fault, I was just careless,” Aurora replied with a frail smile, knowing that if it hadn’t been for a momentary distraction which Susan exploited, she wouldn’t have fallen into the sea.
“How could you fall into the sea by accident?” Julian retorted, not a fool to believe it was merely an accident with railings around. He glared coldly at Susan nearby, “It was you again.”
Hayden, hoping to reconcile with Aurora, surely wouldn’t harm her; the only possibility was Susan. Under his icy gaze, Susan felt as though a fierce beast targeted her, trembling with fear. “I… it wasn’t on purpose,” she stammered, intimidated by Julian’s presence.
Although Hayden had little regard for this foolish woman, his fiancee in name, she still had her uses for him. He stepped in front of Susan, “You better apologize to Uncle Julian right now. Uncle Julian, she didn’t mean it…”
“Didn’t mean it? She pushed me into the water with her own hands, I could very well press charges against her for attempted murder. Murder is a serious crime, and Susan is no child; doesn’t she understand that?” Julian contended.
Aurora, trembling and regaining her senses, stood up. She had brushed with death once again. At the moment of death, she was not afraid, but now she was terrified at the thought. What would Julian do if she died? What if she was pregnant with his child?
Shivering in the wind, Julian quickly draped his jacket over her. “I really didn’t do it on purpose,” Susan panicked.
“Whether it was intentional is clear to everyone. Let’s leave it at this for now, but if there is a next time, you will end up in jail,” Aurora declared, standing straight despite her disheveled state, water still dripping from her.
Susan’s actions had utterly shocked Aurora; she had not anticipated such cruelty and stupidity. Seeing her shivering severely, Julian scooped her up. She had just recovered from a cold yesterday and now was chilled again; he couldn’t risk another illness.
“Take care of your woman. You might not be so lucky every time,” Julian said sharply, then quickly carried Aurora away.
Looking up at Julian’s icy gaze and tightly pressed lips, Aurora said, “Julian, I’m not even angry anymore, why are you still angry?”
“Had it not been for Hayden’s intervention, would you still be alive?” Julian said, his voice filled with distress.
“It was my oversight this time; next time, I won’t let her succeed,” Aurora said, smiling to appease Julian.
Yet, the coldness in Julian’s eyes did not thaw. Another time? He could not possibly allow anyone the chance to hurt Aurora again.