She Mocked My “Useless” Husband Then My Family Ended the Party Chapter 09

She Mocked My “Useless” Husband Then My Family Ended the Party Chapter 09

I eased him back just enough to look at his face. 

“Why would you say that?” 

Julian dropped his gaze. His lashes cast shadows 

across his pale skin. 

“I let them… hurt you.” 

He meant Chloe and Felix. 

“I… couldn’t protect you.” 

The guilt in his voice was raw. 

He’d taken the first slap for me, but after that, he 

hadn’t been able to stop anything. 

He’d barely been able to keep himself alive. 

Protecting me had been impossible. 

My chest hurt. I took his face in my hands. 

“Julian, you were amazing.” 

“You took that hit for me. You stayed with me.” 

“You’re the bravest person I know.” 

Julian shook his head. 

“Not enough.” 

He looked up, and there was something in his eyes 

I’d never seen before. 

“I want… to get stronger.” 

“Like Arthur… and Silas.” 

“To protect Clara.” 

He looked so serious I almost laughed, but the 

tears came instead. 

“Okay. Then you’ll get stronger.” 

“But right now, your only job is getting better.” 

Julian spent the following weeks recovering in the 

hospital. 

Eleanor monitored him herself, every reading, 

every day. 

Victoria and Eleanor took turns visiting, and every time they showed up, they brought private chefs and gourmet care packages, so many that the ward started looking like a five–star restaurant. 

“Clara, you’ve been incredible through all of this.” 

Victoria squeezed my hand, her gaze softening 

with a rare, genuine respect. 

“If it weren’t for you, Julian might’ve…” She didn’t 

finish. 

“Don’t. Don’t say that.” 

I interrupted her. 

“He’s my husband. We’re family.” 

Eleanor leaned against the doorframe, arms 

crossed, her tone deadly serious. 

“I swear to God, if anyone comes after you two 

again, they’ll have to get through me first. And I 

know exactly where to make the cuts.” 

When Julian was finally discharged, 

Arthur sent a full motorcade to bring us home. 

We didn’t go to the Sterling estate. We went home. 

Our own place. 

A sprawling modern townhouse Silas had bought 

us as a wedding gift. 

The second we walked in, I collapsed onto the 

couch and let out a breath I felt like I’d been 

holding for weeks. 

“God, it’s good to be home.” 

Julian sat down beside me. 

He didn’t say anything. Just watched me. 

I turned and caught his eye. 

“What’s up?” 

He reached for me and pulled me close. 

“Clara.” 

“Yes?” 

“I… signed up.” 

I blinked. 

“Signed up? Signed up for what?” 

He pulled a folded sheet of paper from his pocket 

and handed it over. 

I unfolded it. A registration form. An executive 

MBA bootcamp. Residential. Eight weeks. No 

breaks. 

I looked at him. 

“You’re doing this?” 

Unfamiliar places, crowds, strangers. Those were 

the things that terrified Julian most. 

A residential program like this would be his worst. 

nightmare. 

“Julian, you don’t have to do this.” 

The words tumbled out of me. 

“We have money. We have family. They’ll take care 

of us forever if we let them.” 

“What’s so wrong with just being completely 

useless together?” 

Julian shook his head firmly. 

“Not good.” 

He looked at me, and every word that came out 

was deliberate. 

“I want… to take care of you. Myself.” 

“So no one… ever looks down on you again.” 

I looked into those clear, steady eyes, and 

something shifted in my chest. My Julian was 

changing. 

He wasn’t hiding inside himself anymore. 

For me, he was willing to walk out of the only place that had ever felt safe and face the world he’d always shut out. 

I wrapped my arms around him and cried into his 

shoulder. 

“Okay.” 

“I’ll wait for you.”