Chapter 434

Vivian's tongs hovered over the sizzling beef for what seemed like an eternity when Julian's utensil suddenly slid beneath hers, deftly rescuing the meat from the flames.

She lifted her gaze to meet his, confusion etching lines between her brows.

A wry smile touched Julian's lips. "Charcoal isn't on tonight's menu."

Vivian's teeth sank into her lower lip, her silence louder than words.

Adrian's untimely phone call had shattered their peaceful evening like a stone through stained glass.

Without preamble, Julian's voice sliced through the thick air between them. "Are you certain he's the one you want?"

The bluntness of his question caught Vivian off guard. For several heartbeats, she couldn't decipher his true meaning. But deception had never been her way with Julian.

After a measured pause, she answered, "We've built two years together. There's history between us—"

"History shouldn't mean tolerating disrespect. If he trusted you, that scene earlier wouldn't have happened. I know your heart better than most."

The usually composed Julian had turned razor-sharp. His words, though clinically accurate, pressed against Vivian's chest like an anvil, stealing her breath.

She recoiled from discussing her marriage's fractures with anyone. Love blurred objectivity—both bore scars, neither was wholly innocent.

Vivian shrugged with practiced nonchalance. "I'm no saint either, Julian. You've only seen my best face. That coldness of his? Just armor over a tender heart. The real tragedy is he never learned how to love properly."

Julian's eyes darkened with disbelief. "You're rewriting reality to justify him."

A slow headshake. "Not justification. Perspective. You see this as an outsider while I'm in the arena." Her fingers twisted the napkin in her lap. "We're cut from the same cloth, Adrian and I. Different upbringings shape how we love—sometimes badly. Ask me as his wife, and I'd tell you he's a good man." She met his gaze squarely. "You're dear to me, Julian. But whether as my oldest friend or his associate, this conversation crosses lines."

Her typically animated features had gone solemn, the unfamiliar formality making Julian shift uncomfortably. He'd known her longer than Adrian had—this tension between them felt wrong.

Julian's expression softened, his voice dropping to a murmur. "I overstepped."

The silence that followed was thick with unsaid words, neither knowing how to mend the rift.

Sensing Vivian's discomfort, Julian didn't press further. Instead, he quietly replenished her plate with perfectly grilled morsels, letting the quiet stretch between them like twilight shadows.

The barbecue's smoke curled upward, carrying with it the scent of something precious burning away.