A Warm Marriage After Rebirth

Chapter 175: Chapter 175: Beastly Outburst (8)

The word "trouble" didn’t sit quite right with Julian Churchill, but he chalked the feeling up to it being a new adjustment. "Alright."

"Oh, and find me a good tutor. The college entrance exams are next year, so I have to start studying hard!"

Because of the special nature of this exchange program, all the other participating schools had sent their seniors. Only schools of Tollan High’s caliber, which hadn’t been notified beforehand, had sent their juniors instead.

Hearing Genevieve Churchill’s request made Julian Churchill feel even more that something was amiss. The girl who used to hate studying more than anything—the girl who wouldn’t even bother to study properly unless he threatened her with her allowance—was now asking for a tutor on her own initiative? ’What could be stranger than this!’

"But don’t you hate studying? Besides, aren’t your grades already decent?"

"My grades are just okay. If I perform as usual, I can probably get into a local university in Veridia. But they’re not good enough if I want to go to a university in Aethelgard. I know I don’t love studying, but what can I do? It’s my own fault for slacking off all this time."

As she spoke, Genevieve Churchill couldn’t help but sigh. ’It’s not that I was unwilling to study. I just liked seeing the anxious and worried look on Julian’s face when he saw my bad grades. Besides, I could always use the promise of better grades to force him to agree to things! Well, I guess this is karma. When I get back, I’ll have to work my tail off!’

Julian Churchill froze. ’Is she... making plans to leave Veridia?’ He finally understood why she had been making so many strange requests. But why did she want to leave? "Why do you have to go to a university in Aethelgard? Veridia has plenty of great universities!"

"The universities in Veridia are great, but I want to go see other places! Aethelgard is our nation’s capital. I’ve only ever visited as a tourist, for a few days at most. I’ve never actually lived there," Genevieve Churchill said softly, avoiding Julian Churchill’s gaze.

"Practicing martial arts is grueling work, and you get injured often. You’re so afraid of pain, can you really stick with it? And studying is even more tedious. Are you sure you won’t give up after a few days?" Julian Churchill challenged, staring into her eyes.

Genevieve Churchill met his scrutinizing gaze, her resolve firm. "Brother, don’t worry. I promise, this time, I’ll see it through to the end! After all, this is my life. I have to be responsible for myself!"

That one sentence pierced Julian Churchill’s heart, making it ache as if someone had seized it in a tight grip, the pain making it hard to breathe.

’So, in the end, I really did hurt her.’ She had called him for help from a perilous situation, placing all her hope in that single call, but he had shut her down with a tirade of lectures and warnings, just to vent his own frustrations.

In such a dangerous situation, being rejected could easily be interpreted as her having no value. Kidnappers had no use for a worthless hostage; anything without value to them would quickly become a corpse.

’Such a terrifying ordeal... she must have suffered so much to make it through. I forced her to grow up overnight in the cruelest way possible.’

Looking at her pale face, Julian Churchill’s voice grew heavy. "Genevieve, I’m sorry! I promise, something like that will never, ever happen a second time!"

"I believe you! And I accept your apology! But... I should be thanking you. If it weren’t for your ’reminder,’ I would still be ignorant of the fact that I actually have nothing at all!" Genevieve Churchill’s crisp voice was laced with a hint of sorrow.

"That’s not..." Julian Churchill began to argue, but she cut him off.

"Brother, everything I have, you gave to me! My money, the privilege to do as I please—it all comes from you! You are my greatest protector! If one day you decided not to be my protector anymore, I’d be like a cripple without a crutch! In fact, if it hadn’t been for Logan Grant and Seraphina today, I probably wouldn’t have even made it out of there in one piece!"

Genevieve Churchill let out a self-deprecating laugh. "So, the first thing I need to do now that I’m out is learn how to fight. At the very least, if something like this happens again, I won’t just be a sitting duck, unable to fight back! Then, I’m going to leave Veridia and learn how to live a good life in a city where you’re not around. It might be difficult, but I think I’m smart and capable enough to figure it out, given time. I’m an adult now. It’s time I started planning for my own future!"

A buzz went through Julian Churchill’s mind. A single thought echoed relentlessly: ’Genevieve Churchill is leaving. The girl who has lived with him all this time is leaving. There will no longer be a girl named Genevieve Churchill in his life!’

For the first time, Julian Churchill panicked. He could remain cool and collected while dealing with hundred-million-dollar cases, but right now, he was flustered by Genevieve Churchill’s decision. "Genevieve, you don’t have to do this! I told you, something like that will never happen again!"

"Who can say what the future holds? None of us knows what’s going to happen in the next moment! And I, for one, cherish my life! I’m still so young; I don’t want to just kick the bucket like that! I haven’t met someone who loves me, I haven’t gotten a job, I haven’t gotten married and had kids... There are so many things I still haven’t done. It would be such a waste to just die!"

The moment Julian Churchill hung up the phone, the moment the cold steel of a pistol was pressed to her head—the thick, suffocating fear that had bloomed from the depths of her heart, the sensation of Death’s footsteps drawing ever closer, the overwhelming terror, despair, and profound helplessness... she never wanted to experience that again.

She had said "someone who loves me," not "someone I love." In that instant, Julian Churchill finally understood. In the future that Genevieve Churchill was planning for herself, there was no longer a place for him.

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