Countdown To My Escape From Autism Castle Novel - Chapter 16

Chapter 16 Julian did leave in the end. He walked alone down the road to his hotel, feeling strangely hollow. He couldn't even make sense of his own emotions anymore. Sloane's last words echoed in his ears. "Julian, do you even understand why you came looking for me? If all you want is that obedient, compliant wife from the past, you can find any number of women who'd cling to the Shaw name. But I won't be coming back. I have my own life now. So... stop wasting your effort." The night sky fell heavy, shadows swallowing him whole.

He looked up at the darkness, where a few dim stars flickered faintly. They couldn't light the sky, and they couldn't pierce the gloom inside him. Was that really all he wanted-just a docile wife? He didn't think so. He wanted to tell her he loved her. But she wouldn't believe it. "You say you love me? So your 'love' means barging into my life now, disregarding everything I've built, and ordering me to come back with you? Julian, love means respect. It doesn't mean treating the other person like your property." He had no answer. He didn't even know what respect was, not really.

All his life, he'd been told he could have anything he wanted. That no matter how rare or precious, if he asked, it would be given. This was the first time he had ever been refused. Meanwhile, Sloane and Elias locked the doors of Meadow & Bloom behind them, the shop peaceful again. They walked home side by side through the flower fields, the night alive with crickets and frogs. Elias reached for her hand, feeling the lingering chill in her fingers. He let out a faint sigh. "I'm sorry, Sloane. I didn't always understand you before. I didn't always give you the support you needed.

I won't make that mistake again." His voice was soft, tinged with regret. But Sloane had already left the heaviness of the past behind. She squeezed his hand and smiled, shaking her head. "I know you care. And you never really stood in my way. When it mattered, you always supported me." She knew the truth. Without Elias, she wouldn't even have had the chance to settle in Mistvale, let alone build a flower shop. If Meadow & Bloom were measured by investment, Elias was its biggest backer. He had never once tried to take her freedom away. He had given her the opposite-support and space.

Why would she ever hold resentment toward him? After Julian left, life slowly returned to peace. Sloane and Elias believed he was gone for good. But months Chapter 16 10.53% later, Meadow & Bloom received an unexpected visitor. The door chimes jingled in the afternoon breeze. Tourist season had ended, the flower fields past their peak, and the town had grown quiet again. Sloane sat behind the register, savoring the rare calm. The door creaked open. An elderly man stepped in, leaning on a cane. She looked up automatically to greet him, but her smile froze the instant she saw his face.