Chapter 89: His Injury
Vivian Lowell looked at Julian Faulkner beside her.
She just noticed that he had taken bandages and cotton pads from the car’s first-aid kit, seemingly about to treat a wound.
Wait! There was blood on the back of his hand!
Startled, Vivian hurriedly leaned over to see what was wrong. But in her haste, she forgot about her seatbelt. The moment she lunged forward, the belt yanked her right back into her seat.
She felt a little foolish, but her mind was entirely focused on his injury.
"Are you alright?"
Vivian was incredibly worried. Recalling how Julian had swung his fist, punching Ethan Grant so effortlessly in the face, she couldn’t help but wince inwardly.
Ethan was skinny; there couldn’t be much meat on his bones.
When Julian’s fist connected with Ethan’s cheekbone, it must have hurt like hell. At the time, she was too busy revelling in the satisfaction of seeing that scumbag get beaten up.
She completely forgot that Julian could get hurt, too.
"I’m fine." Hearing her concern, Julian dabbed a cotton pad with iodine and wiped the back of his hand. "It’s mostly Ethan’s blood. I’m fine, so don’t worry."
"No!" Vivian wasn’t having any of it. She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned closer to him.
Taking the cotton pads and bandages from his hands, she muttered, "Look at you. If you’re hurt, you should tell me instead of trying to patch yourself up!
"It’s not easy with just one hand! Let me clean it up for you and then wrap a bandage around it, okay?
"Will this affect your driving? If it hurts, I can drive for you!
"It isn’t too serious, is it? I heard that severe hand injuries require stitches! Someone like Tanya even had to be hospitalized!
"Julian, taking a shower tonight will definitely be a hassle. I’ll draw a bath for you when we get home so you can have a nice soak, alright?"
Vivian’s mind raced with a million thoughts at once.
She thought of all the precautions he needed to take while injured, and how he really didn’t need to push himself so hard. But then again, it was only natural for him to want to protect her.
In the end, Vivian was completely at a loss when it came to Julian.
Julian looked somewhat helpless, yet visibly pleased. With a doting tone, he replied, "Yes, okay. Whatever you say. I know."
"Mhm..."
After wiping away the blood from his wound, Vivian let out a soft sigh of relief. Hearing him agree so obediently, she glanced up at him.
In that instant, she realized Julian was gazing down at her.
She had always known he had long eyelashes.
But at this moment, as he looked down at her, she noticed how his long lashes cast faint, fluttering shadows over his eyelids.
It made him look exceptionally gentle.
So gentle, in fact, that it made her heart skip a beat.
Too shy to hold his gaze, Vivian hastily grabbed a bandage, wrapped it around his hand, and said, "There. That should do it.
"There’s still a small cut on the back of your hand, but it’s hard to treat it properly in the car. I’ll take a better look at it when we get home, okay?"
Julian nodded, his eyes filled with infinite tenderness.
Vivian’s heart fluttered again. She averted her eyes, feeling a sense of relief when she saw that the injury didn’t seem to impede his driving.
By the time they returned to the Faulkner villa, it was already nine o’clock.
Feeling it was a bit late, Vivian walked in very carefully, afraid of waking Grandma Faulkner.
Surprisingly, the older woman was still awake. She was sitting in front of the TV, chatting with Rachel Faulkner while seemingly looking at something.
Old photographs, perhaps?
She wasn’t entirely sure. Just as she was wondering, Grandma Faulkner and Rachel heard the commotion at the door and looked over.
"Julian, Vivian, you’re back?" Grandma Faulkner asked. "Did you two eat out tonight? What did you have? Was it good? Rachel just said she found some of your childhood photos, Julian.
"Vivian, Julian, do you want to come over and take a look?"
"Yeah, Julian," Rachel chimed in. "They’re pictures of you when you were four. You looked quite cute when you smiled back then.
"You looked very different from how you are now."
Vivian hesitated.
Normally, she would jump at the chance to see photos of a smiling, chubby little Julian.
But right now...
Julian was injured. The only reason she was standing so close to him was to hide his bandaged hand from his grandmother.
If she walked over, Julian would be exposed. If Grandma Faulkner saw the wound, she would definitely worry.
"Grandma, maybe next time," Vivian said. "Julian had a long day today. He took me out to a Western restaurant for dinner and put a lot of effort into planning everything."
As she spoke, she stepped even closer to him and even reached out to hold his hand.
"We can look at the photos another day," she continued. "I want to head upstairs with him first and draw his bath for him. Is that okay?"
Grandma Faulkner was actually a little surprised.
It wasn’t that she was oblivious to the true nature of their relationship.
Even though she had practically forced them into marriage, their dynamic had always been more akin to friends or business partners.
They certainly didn’t act like a married couple.
Now, seeing that they seemed to have taken a step forward, the older woman beamed, unable to hide the wide grin on her face.
"Okay, okay!" she agreed enthusiastically. "You two go on ahead! I’m getting tired from looking at these old photos anyway. I’m going to head to bed soon, too!"
"Okay. Good night, Grandma."
Still holding Julian’s hand, Vivian led him upstairs.
With her back turned to them, Vivian didn’t notice Rachel’s gaze fixed on their intertwined hands.
A smile played on Rachel’s lips. Like Grandma Faulkner, she seemed genuinely happy to see them getting closer.
But in reality, Rachel’s eyes were dark and unreadable. She stared intently at their clasped hands, lost in thought, pondering who knew what.
Meanwhile.
Vivian was completely oblivious to the piercing gaze boring into her back.
All she felt was the comforting warmth of Julian’s hand. It felt so nice that she almost didn’t want to let go.
However, she had only grabbed his hand to hide his injury from his grandmother. Now that they were back in their room, she had no choice but to release him.
Just then, as they stepped inside, Julian glanced at her empty hand and suddenly asked, "What’s wrong? Done acting?"