Chapter 19 Contract
Juniper stepped into the torrential rain.
In moments, she was utterly drenched.
Clad in an evening gown and high heels, she found her shoes to be nothing but a hindrance now.
With a decisive motion, she kicked off her heels and fell to her knees in the mud.
Standing on the second-floor balcony of his villa, David watched the scene unfold while sipping chilled champagne.
Kneeling and bowing with every step, Juniper ascended the summit.
The jagged granite steps abraded her knees, the soles of her feet, her palms, and forehead.
Yet, David found it insufficient. Rising, he leaned on the white balustrade of the balcony, spectating with amusement, "Miss Beaumont, mere prostrations without an apology won't reach the heavens. Or do you simply refuse to submit?"
Juniper rose and climbed a step before kneeling again.
Her face was a mask of icy emotionlessness as she said, "I was wrong."
She had been wrong six years ago—wrong to betray Magnus.
David chuckled, cupping his hand to his ear with a taunting tilt of his head, "What's that? Miss Beaumont, louder! I can't hear you—and neither can the Almighty!"
"I was wrong."
Wrong to let Magnus endure three years of undeserved misfortune.
"Louder!"
"I WAS WRONG!"
Wrong for ignoring Alexander Beaumont's advice and recklessly pursuing the one she loved.
"Your bows are too soft. How will God perceive your sincerity?"
Juniper swallowed hard.
She stood and knelt forcefully, "I WAS WRONG!"
Wrong...for falling in love with Magnus.
Her forehead hit the stone steps hard.
Blood, blending with the rain, traced a pale red hue that was quickly washed away by the downpour.
Uncertain how many steps she had climbed or how many times she had bowed, the blood mingled with the rain, pouring unstoppably, blurring her vision.
A white figure stood unsteadily atop the staircase...
Standing, kneeling, bowing—over and over, she admitted her fault.
Her strength nearly spent and her voice hoarse, she knelt in the rain with bloodshot eyes.
Through trembling lips she whispered, "Magnus, I was wrong... I'm sorry..."
Magnus had said that during his 1,095 days in prison, he clung to life each agonizing day.
Juniper had forgotten to tell him how, for those six years—2,190 days—she had lived in torment.
Nearly brought low as dust, she genuinely didn't know what she could possibly do to repay her debt.
Sometimes, she even wished that Magnus would end her misery with one swift strike, two, three... until his vengeance was satisfied.
But Magnus didn't do that—he granted her a reprieve.
Not dead, yet living without a shred of hope.
David's mocking tone rang out again, "Miss Beaumont, if you're too weary to kneel, just offer me a few sweet words. Who knows, I might just take pity on you in a moment of good grace."
Juniper's spine was tense, arrow-straight like a tightly drawn bowstring.
In her life, she had only truly let down one person.
If only what David said were true, if only God could hear her remorse and turn back time.
She would rather have never met Magnus.
Would rather have never made that bet with her classmates.
The staircase before her twisted upward, dauntingly steep.
The path seemed endless.
Her sins felt eternally irredeemable.
Stand up, kneel down, bow her head...
She couldn't count how many times she repeated the sequence, how many steps she had knelt upon... she was close to passing out.
A black umbrella suddenly appeared overhead, shielding her from the raging storm.
"Is an apology even useful now?"
That familiar, deep, cold voice made Juniper's spine lock up.
She lifted a hand, desperately wiping away the tears and grime from her face, but her palm was dirty, and the stains wouldn't come off.
She didn't dare raise her eyes to meet his...
In this moment, she felt lower than dust, while Magnus stood lofty as a deity.
Amidst the rain, a solemn black umbrella erected a small sanctuary.
Juniper knelt, Magnus stood.
It was unclear how long the standoff lasted until the kneeling figure finally collapsed.
As she lost consciousness, Juniper felt a pair of strong arms lift her horizontally as they once did.
The warmth from the man's chest, once so cherished...
Alas, it no longer belonged to her.
...
In X City, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
Michael paced anxiously outside the suite, visibly nervous, until the elevator doors slid open to reveal Magnus striding toward him with the unconscious Juniper in his arms.
"How's Juniper? Charles has been waiting inside," he asked.
Charles, Magnus's personal physician, was already present in the presidential suite.
Without a word, Magnus carried Juniper straight into the room and kicked the suite door shut.
The door clicked loudly, a final echo.
Michael stood there, momentarily stunned, on the wrong side of the closed door.
It always seemed that no matter how much he cared for Juniper, he was perpetually the outsider.
So, he respectfully waited outside her door.
...
In the Presidential Suite.
Juniper shivered violently, cold as a block of ice.
Charles had checked her over and said, "She's been in the rain, and with a gash on her forehead, she's running a fever of 102 degrees now. I've prescribed some antipyretics and antibiotics. Make sure she takes them and sweats it out tonight; she should be fine. Her wounds need cleaning, shall I, or..."
"You can leave."
The doctor nodded in understanding, "Alright, then. I'll leave the iodine and ointment here. Call me if you need anything, Mr. Blackwood."
"Mm."
After dropping off the medical supplies, the doctor exited the room.
Magnus sat in the chair beside the bed, silently watching her.
She had betrayed him; he should have been consumed with hatred, but here he was again, inexplicably weak for her.
Juniper was half-asleep, her body chilled as if she were in an ice cellar. She clutched the blanket to her, still trembling uncontrollably.
Her clothes were still soaked.
With a swift motion, Magnus removed the blankets and peeled away her drenched attire.
As her bare skin met the air, Juniper shuddered, "Cold... so cold..."
Magnus rose, intending to adjust the thermostat, when suddenly, Juniper's hand clutched his sleeve.
"Don't go... hold me... please?"
It was so very cold.
Was she dying?
It wouldn't matter if she were gone, but what about Jennifer? Who would pay off her debt to Magnus?
For a moment, as he stood with his back to her, Magnus paused.
For a brief instant, he imagined they were just a normal couple again.
Only the Juniper from six years ago, when sick, would whimper to him like this.
After a rigid few seconds, his reason made him shake off her hand.
But Juniper... she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.
"So warm... Just let me hold you for a little bit..."
Just for a moment. She wasn't asking for much.
Magnus froze completely, "Juniper, do you know who I am?"
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